1 post tagged “special occasions”

If this looks familiar, you probably just read it on my blog. Yes, I'm that lazy.

I've had this tab open in my browser for three days. Sorry, I've been in a food coma. But I've read the Sunday paper and had my coffee and there is no foreseeable food orgy in my future, so I feel it safe to post now.

It all started when we were on our way home from work Wednesday night and I decided I wanted to eat out (it's been a couple weeks). We sort of aimlessly drove around the one-way streets of downtown will we saw a place that appealed. That place was The Oceanaire Seafood Room. This won't be a full fledged review, but I can say that once I found out from my foodie boss that it is part of a chain, it explained alot.  The smoked trout for appetizer was really good (and they put pickled herring on your table with the bread), but the main entrees of grilled monkfish and seared sesame black-eye tuna were just eh. They were good (mind you, we say good when it is really adaquate), but not outstanding. Joel was going to order the Cioppino, but wanted to see what the chef did with his own recipes. Turns out it was nothing outstanding. Of course, as with all places that serve creme brulee, he had to try it to compare to his. We were both excited to see actual vanilla bean seeds in the custard, but the first bite from the edge proved disappointing with a curdled texture. Turns out, the closer we got to the center of the dish, however, it go more perfect until the last bite was just like his. I think the dish was too large and to get the center to set perfectly, the outside got overcooked. They were using a clever, shell-shaped shallow dish rather than a true custard cup.

Rereading the above paragraph, we sound incredibly pretentious. Um, sorry? We just know what we like and eating out is probably the one place neither one of us is willing to cut any slack.

Now, we move on to Valentine's day. Yes, I got chocolates (Bailey's truffles, even!), but that's not really the good part. While walking around Writer's Square at lunch, I found this awesome little cheese shop/gourmet shop and thought a "picnic" in the dining room would be a really cool VDay dinner since we weren't going out.

I came away with this triple cream brie, a two-year old Gouda, some really creamy Stilton which is the best Joel says he's ever had (I'll take his word since bleu cheese makes me ill), and a very very creamy goat cheese that I THINK was Blue Moon. I suck because I forgot to save the labels so I could point you guys in the right direction, but I have a feeling I'll be going back there soon and I'll be sure to get the names.

So, those, a couple of boxes of wheat ground crackers and some olive tapanade and we were set. Oh, and on the way out, I had to grab some 75% chocolate!! We opened a bottle of Martin Codax Albarino ($13) that stood up just fine to all the various tastes.

Friday, which is Joel's birthday, we stayed in and had whatever was in the refrigerator. Last night was his birthday dinner at The Brown Palace. I was a bit leery and thought about canceling our reservation when a review came out in Wednesday's food section that was less than complimentary of the service and some of the dishes at The Palace Arms. We'd gone there last year for his birthday and were awed and I really didn't want them to disappoint me this year. Joel, however, logically said that they probably got their collective asses chewed and the service/food should be impeccable, at least for a few weeks. So, we kept our res and showed up a bit early, and were taken straight to our table.

I'll hit the highlights, but the gist of it was, the servers made several mistakes during the course of the evening (including bringing us a half bottle of wine rather than the whole one we'd ordered, and they would have prepared tableside Casear Salads if we hadn't stopped them, since we hadn't ordered any). The appetizer of veal short ribs was the best part of the dinner. I asked if they had the same chef they'd had last year and was told that yes, he's been there a couple of years. I mentioned that I asked because the food seemed quite different and was proudly told that yes, he is very progressive and likes to change things up. Okay, fine. *shrug*

There's way too many restaurants in Denver to try to keep going back for second-rate service (please note that the service, by MOST standards was still excellent, but for a $300 dinner, we expect better than normal with friendly staff, ya know?) and unimaginative food.

Frankly, I can't wait till some friends come to visit in March and we go to Potager again, where I went for my birthday last year. I'm excited to see what the late winter menu looks like.

And yes, it's back to Jenny Craig for me this week. *le sigh*