RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR

Being back at work after many days off is never an easy thing. Luckily, I have plenty or organizing and planning to do and it doesn’t involve an extraordinary amount of brain power. Mostly I just have to read lists and then put the information in different places. Good times. My office is freezing. I think I need a heater. When I get home I am totally sitting in front of one.

Since my last post the year has changed. I had a fantastic New Years Eve and a very slow New Years Day. So it goes. Tony and I got all dressed up at around 5pm and left the house at six for our 7pm reservations at MK. We got there at 6:55 and were promptly taken to our table, which was nice and private but still in the middle of everything. We were thoroughly overwhelmed by the wine list and asked the waiter to recommend something, he did and it was delicious. I have no idea what it was. All I remember is it was Spanish and white and had an apricot aftertaste.

Our meal started with an amuse bouche. I had some salsify with a few sprigs of what was either very large sprouts or very small greens, a lemon sauce (we’ll call it a reduction to be fancy), and some black truffle shavings. It was delicious. Tony had some kind of shooter in an oyster shell. I think there was something cucumberish about it. He said it was nice.

Course two was an endive and field green salad for me and a lobster salad for Tony. Endive is an interesting food. It is very bitter and yet somewhat sweet, almost licoricesque. The dressing was light and lemonish and complimented the bitterness of the salad very well. There were also some baby croutons and orange slices in there that went perfectly. Tony said the lobster salad was good.

The third course was, in my opinion, the highlight. I had a sunchoke soup that was poured tableside over two small piles of diced endive topped with an orange slice. It was creamy, just the right temperature, and had the most delicate flavor that I’ve had in quite some time. However, it still really stuck to the ribs. The tiny orange slices were the icing on the cake. The way they just burst apart and complimented the soup was exceptional. Tony had the squab which was served over lentils. His face lit up when he tasted it and seemed to enjoy it most of all. Monica later told him that squab is pigeon. He still thought it was tasty.

My main course was a risotto trio. The first didn’t quite seem like a risotto as it appeared to be made of diced endive (a common thread) but I could be wrong about that. It was topped with baby carrots and delicious carrot foam. I was ecstatic about getting foam on my meal. It just made me think of Marcel and smile and laugh. I was surprised at how carroty and delicious the foam actually was. The second risotto had a delicious parmesan flavor and was topped with I believe oyster mushrooms that were cooked to perfection. MMM delicious. The last was a black truffle infused risotto with an abundance of black truffle shavings. Also divine. We ordered some pomme frites with the main course and they were served with a white truffle aioli. Those were some killer fries. Unfortunately, we were fat too full to eat all of them. Tony had turbot which he said was tasty but he was getting too full to really enjoy it anymore.

The dessert course was also a highlight for me. I ordered the lemon dessert while Tony opted for the chocolate. I was so glad I had the lemon. The chocolate wasn’t bad; warm chocolate cake with some chocolate moose type stuff on the side. The lemon was heavenly. I had a very light custard that just melted on the tongue and it had these sweet lemon curls of wonder on top. Then there was the lemon tart with a caramelized crust on top and a flaky wonderful crust on the bottom. Although I couldn’t finish it I most certainly wanted to. Although we took longer than the 90 minutes we were told we would get the staff didn’t rush us out at all and were more than accommodating throughout the meal. They were an absolute delight.

Then it was into a cab and over to Dave’s place. He assured us that the march to the lake would be optional so we didn’t need to go home and change first, which was good. I don’t know if I would have made it back out had I been able to enter my cozy abode. In true Dave fashion there was a plethora of delicious looking food at his house, sadly we were far too full for anything although I did sneak a couple handfuls of popcorn and a forkful of enchilada at around 1 or so. I did help myself to the rum and hot apple cider though. MMMM. After a march around the block (although some continued on to the lake) and some more chillin, Tony, Brooke, and I headed home and proceeded to drink some wine which I think helped me feel very lethargic on Monday. I went to bed around 3 while Tony and Brooke stayed up until about 7. Crazy. Tony still managed to get up around 9, take a shower, and head to the store to buy breakfast. What a goofball.

I forgot my iPod today, although I did remember to bring my iPod speaker to the office. No songs today.