AQ: A dinner date

The Kids 4th grade class announced an end of the year camping trip earlier this spring.

As soon as the dates were set, I went about making reservations. I decided we would go "occasion" style dining. Something special, slightly fancier and adventurous than our usual bistro-faire (which is my favorite).

I wanted to go someplace the Manfriend had not yet been. (He doesn't get out as much as me.)

We managed a reservation at AQ and it was dreamy...

ARTICHOKES in the GARDEN, warm pancetta, green olives, raw & roasted roots

SUNFLOWER SEEDS, duck rillette, apricot & lemon thyme, with burnt toast

EARLY SPRING ASPARAGUS, “risotto” of faro verde, sake lees & hazelnuts

SPRING LAMB TARTARE, fava beans, avocado leaf, smoked feta & cress

HALIBUT, sorrel & crème fraiche, celeriac, new potatoes & bottarga

SOFT SHELL CRAB, coastal seaweeds & ramps, cucumber, “cacio e pepe”

BUTTERMILK, lemon verbena, green strawberry, poppyseed
later in the evening a "quick" flash was required.

As you can see, we went big. We ordered thoroughly over the top and that was fun. We loved the artichokes and I could eat that asparagus "risotto" every day.  My halibut was perfectly cooked. The soft shell crab was a little salty, but not as to stop the enjoyment of eating it. The weakest point was the dessert, but I'm not a huge dessert person anyways, and I loved how the presentation reminded me of a terrarium. Presentation was lovely, I could not help but be "that" girl in the restaurant, snapping iPhone photos.

The service as I remembered with HM, was absolutely lovely. One of the servers recognized The Manfriend from his restaurant and recommended a really lovely Chenin Blanc for our meal. So nice of him to come by and say hello (I always worry, they are going to tell us they had a horrible time there, ha! I can't handle rejection!) . The entire staff we interacted with was so lovely and kind.

Since the restaurant is close enough, to ease our digestion, we walked home, hand in hand. A dreamy dinner date, indeed.