Oh, and the pasta dish is officially a hit. He walked in this morning eating it (work was too busy for him to eat) and he insisted that I needed to try some because it was really good. So I did, and he was right--even though it clearly isn't as good leftover, the flavor is really nice and not at all overpowering. Somehow melting the asiago (or maybe mixing it in with the creme fraiche) really mellows out the sharpness of the cheese and the end result is a very pleasant and creamy dish. The thyme wasn't very distinct at all, either. I don't know why it got mixed reviews. I thought it was a great dish and super easy. It didn't hold up great, but it was way better than, say, fetuccine alfredo. R & M might even condescend to try it.
Speaking of which, R is still in Tahoe with her family, so we went out with M for dinner tonight. Trying to be thoughtful, I made Open Table reservations for Schooner's Brewery in Antioch. With M, you can't go wrong with brewery grub and beer on tap. Of course, you can't with Jim either. I lean towards other types of restaurants, but I have an admitted weakness for beer battered onion rings, which are the best at an actual brewery.
We left later than I would have liked and predictably hit traffic, and while they gave away our table, we were still seated pretty quickly. I was actually quite surprised at the restaurant itself, mostly because it didn't have a brewery feel to it. It was obviously a pretty new place and very spacious, with high ceilings and modern decor. I liked that they painted pictures right on the wall. The dust on the ledge which made up the back of our booth was very distracting, and I couldn't stop staring at it periodically during the night. They actually seated us in a perfect spot, with one side of the table with chairs and the other a booth bench. M hates booths, whereas that's what I'm all about, so it was truly the best of both worlds.
The food menu was pretty unspectacular, with an unremarkable menu of typical brewery food--burgers, pasta, pizza, and sandwiches. M waffled with choosing a Buffalo Burger but ultimately selected the same thing as Jim, a half-pound bacon cheeseburger. The only differences with their orders was that M picked fries for his side, wanted Jack cheese, and held the onion on his burger, and Jim had beer battered onion rings (probably mostly for me) and cheddar cheese. I ordered a veggie pizza with light cheese, and the three of us shared an appetizer plate of nachos with the sour cream on the side (for Jim).
On the other hand, both guys were very happy with the beer selection. Jim always orders a sampler set whenever it's available, and at $6.50 for 6 samples, it's not at all a bad deal in my opinion. M heard of a Hefeweizen-style beer and was sold. The beer came out pretty quickly, but our server (who pretty much sucked most of the night) just dropped off Jim's samples and walked off. That's something I'm completely unaccustomed to, since I think every other time he's ordered it, the servers explain/describe each beer as they set them down on the place mats. I had already been unimpressed by the service thus far, and this did nothing to improve my opinion. The least the guy could have done was explain the two seasonal beers, which weren't listed on the place mat, other than "Special One" and "Special Two."
Luckily for him, his tip was saved by the assistant manager, who walked up to our table and asked us how we were doing and stayed to chat with us for a bit. He was friendly, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable about the beers. I asked him to describe Jim's sample set and he was thrilled to do so, sharing a couple of stories in the process about the history of IPA and about the various awards certain brews had won in the process. Up until that point, I was quite unhappy with the place. Our waiter took forever to take our order and provided no information about the menu. He wasn't apologetic or even remotely interested in us. Very irritating. I wasn't expecting 5 star service. I just wanted a waiter who did his job.
Anyway, the nachos came out and we all dug in. The guac was somewhat lacking, but overall, they were really good nachos. They had blue and red tortilla chips mixed in with the usual color. I like the different visual effect as well as the different textures. And the salsa on top was very nice. Both of the guys also enjoyed them.
I was very happy with my pizza. Not at first--the toppings were definitely on the skimpy side. I had three pieces of portabello mushrooms on the entire thing, which was super disappointing, since I love 'em. But to give proper credit, they were definitely better toppings than the average veggie pizza, with roasted red bell pepper, artichokes, green onions, fresh garlic, and tomatoes. I just would have been happier with more. However, after my first bite, I pretty much forgot about the lack of toppings and started raving about the crust. It was super thin, flaky, crispy, and absolutely delicious. It wasn't typical pizza dough by any means, so the taste was quite a surprise. I loved it. Jim got probably 1.5 slices of my little pizza, which he was thankful for. I don't think he liked it as much as I did, but Jim always compares pizza to sex. I don't think I need to explain that analogy any further.
As for the guys, M got right down to assembling his burger, adding mustard and cutting it in half before taking a bite. He seemed quite pleased that his burger was medium as he ordered. As I knew would happen, Jim started with his onion rings. Never one to turn down beer battered onion rings, I snuck a couple as well. They were really good. Not as good as Sudwerk's in Davis, mind you, but I absolutely love beer battered onion rings. It takes some pretty crappy ones for me not to like them. And even then, they're still onion rings!
Sometime over the course of dinner, Jim ordered two more beers and M one more. Jim asked for one type the first time and the guy brought him the wrong one. I told Jim to send it back, but he said he was fine with it and corrected it the second time. Even the second time he ordered it, the guy said they didn't have that beer, which was completely crazy since it was one of the samples Jim had. So the guy went and "checked" on it and then finally brought the right one to Jim.
To nail the lid on the coffin, our guy brought us the check without even seeing if we wanted dessert! I actually wanted some creme brulee, but at that point, it just wasn't worth it. The guy even took away the signed credit card slip and tip before we left the table!
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