Anniversary Celebrations

We celebrated our anniversary in stages and in the end did quite a bit of fine dining. Initially I thought Graham had class on our actual anniversary but when I found out he actually didn't, a coworker kindly offered to watch Isla so we could go out. It turns out March is a great time to have an anniversary in Seattle because of the Dine Around Seattle promotion where you can get 3 courses for $30 at many of the finest restaurants in the area. I think we unintentionally started a new tradition because for the 2nd year in a row, we visited the Barking Frog in Woodinville which is probably in my top 5 fav restaurants. Graham had the Grand Marnier Prawns, Mixed Greens, Lemongrass Vinaigrette for his starter, the Ginger Crusted Sea Scallops, Beluga Lentils, Apple Bacon, Pea Vines, Maitake Mushrooms, Cipollini Onions, Smoked Almonds, Green Curry Coconut Sauce for his main and the Chocolate Molten Cake for dessert. I had the Roasted Beet Salad, Orange Supremes, Toasted Hazelnuts, Laura Chenel Goat Cheese, Vanilla Honey Drizzle to start, Braised Short Ribs, Baby Bok Choy Kimchi, Shitake Mushrooms, Asian Barbeque Sauce as my entree and also had the Chocolate Molten Cake for dessert (To! Die! For!) We had the option to add wine pairings with each course for an additional fee which we indulged in, given it was our anniversary afterall! Everything was so delicious and I'm pretty sure this anniversary tradition is here to stay!

On Friday, we welcomed spring break with a trip to Bellingham to attend the Brandi Carlile concert as well as drop Isla off at her grandparents so we could continue our celebration. The concert, by the way, was AMAZING! If you do not yet know Brandi, get on I- Tunes and meet her! I am usually not 100% into concerts but this one was phenominal--she is particularly excellent live. I must admit the highlight for me though was realizing that I actually knew a song that Graham had never heard of before!! He has been in shock and awe for days that I could possibly be that muscially hip.

On Saturday, we hung out a bit with the fam (which included watching the first part of Ben's baseball game in Mt Vernon) before heading off for our getaway.

After much debate, we ended up booking at night at the Woodmark Hotel on the Kirkland waterfront. This was an excellent decision, particularly because, as it turned out, a very close childhood family friend's wife (did you follow that?) is the guest services manager there, saw (and recognized) our names and gave us an upgrade to a waterview king room on the top floor with a balcony AND a complimentary fruit and cheese platter with a bottle of Syrah, and a rubber ducky to take home to Isla (which she loves by the way because it squeaks!) Oh and did I mention that our breakfast that we charged to the room the following morning was removed from our bill? It was so amazing and I felt like royalty!

For dinner that night, we went to Cafe Juanita (in Kirkland) which stole the position of "my new favorite restaurant" back in January when we first visited. This time we had the Seared Foie Gras with Apple, Candied Ginger and Cocoa nibs (again), Alaskan King Crab with Green Apple Sorbetto and Sweet Crab Butter Powder (Sorbet with crab...SO good! We left wondering what other savory foods we could pair with sorbet), Rabbit Agnolotti dal Plin with Sage Butter followed by Local Rabbit Braised in Arneis with Ligurian Chickpea Crepe, Pancetta and Porcini (yes, we really ate little bunny foo foo times two!) I learned a few things about myself through this dining experience: a) I'm not a huge fan of sauces that star the meat's own juices (ie the Braised Rabbit) and b) it really irks me when wait staff pressures you to order more or when they give you a dirty look when you don't order dessert. One should never, ever feel guilty about what one chooses to and not to order, regardless of how nice/expensive the restaurant. I don't care who you are or what your restaurant's reputation may be, but pressure and guilt trips do not equal good service!! All in all, our meal was great, I just would prefer not to have L_ _ _ _ as our server again.

The overnight portion of our trip went well (despite Graham's work calling just before 6 AM to see if he wanted to come in to work....so much for a full night's sleep!) and Isla didn't seem to miss us a bit. Thanks G + G Wilson for taking her so we could get away to celebrate three very good years!