During his lesson, I roasted up some veggies: red bell pepper, cremini mushrooms, zucchini, summer squash, and red onion. I made Giada's penne with roasted vegetables for the second time (but first time for my dad). It's the same dish I made for our last potluck with the M & R household. I think my dad will like it since we have pretty similar palettes. The second time making a recipe is always interesting for me. Because I kind of remember it, sometimes I'll get careless and rush and then the end result is different than the original attempt due to forgetting an ingredient or not measuring. I don't think that happened today, but I did remember how to do it and was that much more efficient in assembling it.
While walking Midget, Jim called because he finally woke up. He really is pretty under the weather, which is so unusual that it's hard for me to comprehend. We ended up doing stuff completely out of the ordinary, but not due to his igginess. For whatever reason, I was in the mood for being different, so I planned the day that way. We started out by going to Bo's Barbecue Restaurant in Lafayette, a place ranked as one of the 2007 Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area by the SF Chronicle. As the name of the place suggests, it wasn't exactly vegetarian-friendly, but because I had eaten breakfast, I was okay with it.
Lafayette has one main road, Mt. Diablo, and basically everything is on or off of it, Bo's included, so getting there was a snap. Due to it being a holiday, we parked right on the street with no time limit.
We walked across the veranda to get to the main entrance. What struck me first was how busy it was. There was a steady stream of people in and out of the place the entire time we were there. The second thing I noticed was the simplicity of the menu. There were a very limited number of items and they came with all of the sides, so you literally just ordered your meat and you were done. About the only thing you had a choice in besides the meat was your drink. They had several refrigerators full of bottled beers and various fountain drinks, also in glass bottles. I found it very charming and old fashioned.
Anyway, at Bo's, you just go up to the counter and order your food. They bring your food out to you (a la Carl's Jr) and you're all good to go. Jim ordered the brisket, which came with potato salad, green salad, an Acme baguette (!), and a roasted sweet potato, and grabbed a diet black cherry bottle of soda. We then went outside to enjoy the absolutely gorgeous day.
The patio area overlooked the main street, which I thought might be a problem with the noise, but despite Mt. Diablo being the main road, it is still Lafayette, and therefore a relatively sleepy town. There were plenty of heat lamps, but the weather was so perfect that they weren't at all necessary.
Jim's food came out extremely quickly, like fast food. For $8.50, there was a decent amount of food, and apparently the quality was there. I was a little surprised that Jim didn't order the ribs, since that's what he usually gets. But I am still learning about my meat-eating beau. Apparently I've never been to a place with him where brisket was even an option, which is why I've never seen him eat it. The meat literally looked flaky, and Jim never even picked up his knife. It fell apart and his fork cut through the pieces like butter.
Because Jim doesn't eat potato salad (on account of the mayo), that was mine. I found it decent, but not particularly memorable except that it had a pureed consistency, something I've never experienced with potato salad. The sweet potato on the other hand . . . roasted, buttery, and tender, it was absolutely delicious. There was no special technique used. Certainly I've had them homemade in the exact same way, but I've never eaten it at a restaurant like that. Acme bread is considered the best in the Bay Area, and it didn't disappoint. And the salad was fresh with a very light, non-overpowering dressing. So the sides were good for me. The soda didn't taste diet to me, but Jim caught an aftertaste. I just thought it was very, very good for a diet soda, although it wasn't very carbonated.
All in all, Jim liked his meal and would go back to the place. He wanted to try the ribs and the chicken next time. THERE'S the Jim I know! The only odd thing for me was that his meal was the brisket "sandwich," and other than the little piece of baguette, there was no other bread to be seen. Oh well.
We then set off for a bike ride. That's right. Yours truly went on a bike ride today of her own free will and volition. What's more, it was my idea. And the biggest shocker? I had fun. I was mostly thinking of training for the triathlon. I didn't expect to enjoy it. Don't get me wrong--I am in no danger of turning into a hardcore cyclist anytime in the next millennium. But maybe I don't have to hate it quite as much as I have.
We biked from the car to the Lafayette Reservoir and around the trail. We got to the very end and then realized that we had been biking illegally. Apparently you can only bike on certain days of the week, and guess what? Monday isn't one of them. Isn't that the weirdest? I have never heard of something like that. Crazy. But we went back down Mt. Diablo and turned onto Pleasant Hill Road and rode that to Olympic. There was an actual bike trail that you could apparently ride on every day. We went on that for a bit and then turned around and headed back. It started getting cold, and I was very, very glad to see the car.
Other than a broken va-jay-jay and the bike (as it never fails to do) biting me at the very end, it really was a fun afternoon. It was a little exercise but nowhere near too strenuous. With Jim on his mountain bike and being sick, we were much more evenly matched, although realistically, I was still way behind. I think I am finally getting used to all of those complicated gears. I'm still not very good at biking, but if I go out a few more times, I may be good enough to improve my time for this upcoming triathlon.
We then headed back to Walnut Creek, since we had a 1000 point Open Table reservation for Lark Creek. M & R both recommended the place, and although their recommendations are always potentially sketch, the place also got a good review from Gayot.
We went to Banana first off so I could return a couple of cashmere sweaters that I was over. We went through Macy's Juniors to find a bathroom and I was tempted to buy a Roxy hoodie, but practicality won out. I don't need another sweatshirt right now, and as cute as it is, it probably won't get worn enough to justify the cost, even if it was on sale. Plus it was awfully thin. I've never been inside that Macy's before, so that was quite an experience. I'm so over junior fashions, with the exception of Roxy, so I don't really go in the junior department of any store very often. Although I'm nowhere near too big for junior sizes, they don't seem to fit me like they used to. They're too tight in the wrong places, especially in the hip area. I've never thought of myself as having big hips, but they're definitely wider than when I was in high school.
Anyway, after a quick walk-through of Crate and Barrel (and learning to my devastation that Giada will be in San Francisco tomorrow afternoon), we headed towards Lark Creek, which was a lot closer of a walk than I expected. Oh yeah, we did stop at Tiffany, too. :-)
We were promptly seated in a booth in the main dining area. There were already a couple other tables occupied, which surprised me, since we had 5:00 reservations. I hoped it was a good sign. The decor was simple and tasteful, but very much bird-themed (even the chandelier had birds on it!) and heavy with wooden accents.
What I didn't realize was that February is crab month for the restaurant. They had tons of crab-themed appetizers and main courses.
Jim, of course, went for the crab, ordering a crab cake with cilantro aioli (not cakes, as the waiter made sure to point out) and a half steamed crab with chili-lime butter and shoestring sweet potatoes. I decided to be adventurous and select the roasted acorn squash with a warm fruit vinaigrette, mustard greens, and pumpkin seeds. The other vegetarian option was a delicious-sounding pasta, but in the spirit of trying new things, I went out of my comfort zone.
While we were waiting for the food, we got bread and butter. The bread was twisted up into knots and arrived in a cloth envelope. It was so cute! The bread itself was pretty good--warm and flaky, with a very soft center.
The crab cake came out pretty quickly. I know I don't see crabcakes all that often, and it's been awhile, but I swear it looked different than usual. it looked pan fried and finished by baking, and I was used to deep fried-looking cakes. It was topped with this vibrant green cilantro aioli and plated on a bed of greens. Jim liked it a lot.
Our meals came out well after the appetizer, but all of the food came out at once, which was pretty nice. Our waiter started bringing out tons of accessories, all of which were for Jim's crab. There was a bucket for the shells, a steaming hot napkin, and the clarified child-lime butter that smelled amazing. His bucket contained a napkin and the crab pick things.
Finally our main dishes came out, along with the three shared sides we had ordered: mac n' cheese, sauteed spinach, and roasted fingerling potatoes. I wasn't sure what to think of my main dish. Visually, it wasn't all that appealing. It was dark, and there was no contrast of colors.
Jim's dish scared me. It was an entire half of a crab. Eye and all. I made Jim turn the dish so the crab wasn't staring at me. It creeped me out big time.
Our sides were definitely the prettiest things about our meal. The roasted fingerling potatoes were sliced lengthwise and sprinkled with toasted garlic and parsley. The green was so pretty! The mac n' cheese was topped with some sort of bright orange stuff which I couldn't figure out, but it was a gorgeous contrast to the white creaminess of the rest of the dish. And the sauteed spinach had toasted pine nuts, sliced red onion, and golden raisins--gorgeous colors.
As far as the food itself goes, it was okay. Being adventurous kind of backfired on me tonight. The warm fruit was just strange to me, but the squash was so bland without it that I felt the need to use it. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I don't dislike mustard greens. I thought they might be too bitter for me, but they were fine. The roasted squash was topped with shavings of the same. It was kind of an interesting play of the different textures--thin and crispy versus creamy and soft, but taste-wise it was the same. Overall my meal was kind of on the bland side. I ate almost all of it, but it's not a dish I'd like to have ever again.
Jim fared better with his crab. I couldn't bear to look up from my plate while he was picking and cracking and digging, so there wasn't a whole lot of conversation going on over dinner until he was finished prepping. He said it tasted fresh and didn't have a strong fishy flavor. Since I don't know what crab tastes like, I don't know what else to say. The shoestring potatoes were so thin and flavorless, we both agreed that they were nothing but decoration. They were pretty much useless.
The sides redeemed the meal for me. The fingerling potatoes were delicious. The toasted garlic added so much flavor and texture contrast. They didn't add too much oil when roasting the potatoes, so they were light and creamy--absolutely perfect. The spinach was equally good. The red onions lent some much needed sweetness, since the pine nuts were toasted to the point that they were slightly bitter. The spinach itself wasn't sweet either, so the golden raisins also helped out the dish. I never would have thought to add raisins to spinach, but it really did work. I may try to play around with it at home. The thing about the spinach and the potatoes was that they were simple enough that I could probably recreate them on my own. The mac n' cheese was rich, creamy, and absolutely unlike Jim's mom's recipe. This was definitely a roux-based sauce and the white cheddar added a completely different flavor dimension. Jim's mom's mac n' cheese is not at all sauce-y, so it's almost impossible to compare the two, other than to say that they are completely different. I liked it a lot. It was certainly better than that McCovey's crap the boys had the other night.
By the time we finished our meals, we were pretty full. Luckily, Lark Creek offers miniature desserts. So we tried an orange creme brulee, which took forever to come out.
It came with an adorable miniature chocolate-hazelnut biscotti. The dessert was in a 4 oz. ramekin with a candied orange slice. Gorgeous presentation, and luckily, the taste matched the looks. It was thick and creamy, with the orange flavor coming through nicely. As Jim put it, it tasted like orange creamsicle. Although I've never had creme brulee that I didn't like, this was one of the better ones.
Due to my main course, I wasn't overwhelmed with the place. I would go back and give it another shot, but no hurry. Even though Jim had a good dining experience, I don't think he's in any hurry either. At least we got the 1000 points. As far as service goes, our waiter was strictly mediocre--nothing horrible, but nothing great, either. I did like their uniforms with vests, ties, and white waist aprons. The busboy did a good job, though.
No comments:
Post a Comment