Happy Anniversary!

Last was more about Peter and I than Sadie it seems.
On Saturday we celebrated our 5Th wedding anniversary by dining at Greens in SF.

Saturdays the menu is Prix Fixe with a wine pairing for each course.



Peter and I enjoyed a delicious vegetarian dinner. The menu that I saved is a little small so I'll recap for you.
We started off with a shared plate of Pan Epi, Andante Dairy Minuet, a small salad of cucumber, radish frisee and olives. This was served with Roederer Estate Brut.

For my appetizer, I chose a fig and melon salad with watercress and shaved parm paired with Domaine Georges Brunet Vouvray 'Demi Sec' and Peter enjoyed and avocado and heirloom tomato salad and Unti Rose. Normally, I wouldn't go for something with figs but for some reason it just sounded good to me. It was definitely the right choice. The figs were so soft and flavorful and really went well with the melon. I'd like to recreate the dish at home if I can.
Peter's salad was so fresh, the avocado and tomatoes, bursting with flavor.

Peter chose a goat cheese, leek and almond filo surrounded by chanterelle and lobster mushrooms paired with Radio Coteau Pinot Noir 'La Neblina' for his entree while I ate every bite of my Masa harina crepe filled with white corn, poblano chiles, onions, summer squash, cheddar, tomatillo sauce and heirloom tomato salsa. The Sean Thackrey 'Pleiades XVI' that was served with it was delicious but I didn't think it complemented the dish. Peter felt the same way about his wine pairing with the entree. Alone the wines were great but paired with the entree, not so much.

By the time dessert arrived we were both feeling pretty good and very full.
My nectarine tarte tatin was perfect. The caramel sauce and homemade vanilla bean ice cream were just to die for.
Peter's Ancho chile pot de creme sounded great but fell short on delivery. The creme itself was light and fluffy but the flavors were lost and could have been so much more pronounced. I also thought the cookie that came with it was overkill. It was a gourmet snickerdoodle, with anise seeds, I think. Had it been a simple snickedoodle with cinnamon and sugar, it would have been delicious.

Overall, we had a great time. It was nice to enjoy a good dinner alone. We managed to talk about things other than Sadie and ignore the fact that the man and his daughter at the table next to us were just staring at us the whole time.

I was actually very surprised at how much dairy was in each dish. Cheese, cream, etc.
This surprised me for a few reasons, 1)all of the produce is in season 2) all of the produce is grown at the Green Gulch farms, owned by the restaurant. 3) if you are trying to show case foods that are in season, fresh and local, why cover them in cheese and cream?

I took a moment to look at the cookbooks they had for sale after the meal. Each recipe had some sort of dairy product in it.
I realize this restaurant is a vegetarian restaurant and not a vegan restaurant, but don't you feel like when a restaurant adds so much dairy to a dish it's a little bit of a cop out? I do.

We both enjoyed trying new things. Especially the wines. I usually don't go for figs or any wine other than red so it was a little exciting to be able to branch out for once.

In other news, Sadie is about to either pop a tooth or crawl. She's up on her hands and knees, rocking back and forth. She's chewing and drooling on everything too.

Sadie has developed a new cry, we're not sure exactly what it means just yet but it's funny when she does. She's probably trying to tell us something important and Peter and I just giggle when she does it.
She must hate us already.

enjoy!
xoxo