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My Compliments to the Chef

Every now and then I go to a restaurant and the first thing I think when I taste a dish is not: "I wonder what's in here..." so I can recreate it.  It's rare.  Tonight was one of those nights.

While the Nonni took the boys to a concert, Jake took me out for dinner at Basil Carmel; a friend had told him about it and he thought that I would love it - seasonal dining, organic produce, and local, sustainable meats and seafood.  He was right.  As we made our way through four different courses, and polished off a bottle of Brophy-Clark's 2006 Pinot Noir, all I could think was "Wow, just wow." 

From the grilled calamari with a balsamic reduction over spiced, sauteed chard and the spinach salad with toasted hazelnuts to the chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream and pistachio sauce, I was dazzled. 

My compliments to the chef!  We will definitely be back there!

Comments

  1. That sounds like one delicious dinner. The picture makes my mouth water.

    ReplyDelete

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