Today I’m celebrating
the Small Things with some other details about my trip. I am a foodie. Before I
became a nurse, I was a professionally trained chef and even though I don’t do
that for a living anymore, it’s still in my blood, which made our dinner at the
Palace even more amazing.
It just so happened
our night there was on their 130th anniversary, so they had a special
menu: Three courses with three choices per course.
The tea: Whenever I
go to a higher-end restaurant I skip the wine and go for the tea service. I
love to see how each restaurant does it differently, and the Palace was no
exception. There was the typical tea box, with Tazo teas. Then came the cream,
honey, and lemon wrapped in cheesecloth and tied with a bow. Lastly was any and
all kind of sugars; raw sugar lumps, white sugar lumps, packets of real,
packets of fake. I’m not kidding; literally half our table was taken up with
this tea setup.
Course one: I had the
steak and eggs. I wish I took a picture of this to show you, because I know my
words will fail me. There was one tiny little quail egg with three thin slices
of tenderloin on the side. Next to all of this was a sliver of hazelnut brioche
French toast. I was in heaven.
Course two: The
Cheese Platter. I know I put it in caps. It needs to be. I love cheese. Any
kind of cheese. And this cheese platter was a cedar plank overflowing with
lovely goodness. There was a fresh made farmhouse cheese on the far right, followed by tiny
sliced cantaloupe, hazelnuts, thinly sliced prosciutto, cultured butter,
still-warm bread, and homemade crackers. On the side of this was a pot of honey
to drizzle over it all.
Course three: The
creamiest, cheesiest grits covered with creole sauce and shrimp. I wanted to
lick the bowl. I didn’t, but I wanted to.
Course four: I didn’t
have dessert. And if you know me, you know how amazing that is. I just couldn’t
imagine the meal getting any better and I was very full, so I stopped.
The best part? It was
all free. Remember that travelzoo site I told you about a few posts back? Well,
that’s where I got our tickets for the Cinncinatian, and the restaurant
vouchers were part of that package. Amazing.
Have you ever had a
meal that you were literally salivating over a week later?
Shrimp creole over grits? That's really unusual. You picked a good time to go though. I've had a couple meals that lingered for days on my taste buds.
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome. I am a foodie in that I love food! I think it's one of the greatest joys of life, seriously. I am not, however, a great cook. But I enjoy was others can do! :) Sounds like you had an amazing meal!
ReplyDeleteThat meal sounds amazing, I'm so hungry now! Glad you had a great time :)
ReplyDeleteI'm really not even close to being a foodie. I'm so easy to please if someone else is cooking.
ReplyDeleteWhen you said "grits", I knew you were eating the best food ever. My favorite.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an amazing meal. I used to be a chef too, and I love going out to eat. I always pick the thing on the menu I know I couldn't make at home.
ReplyDeleteI suffer from food envy. When I see food, or people talk about food, I always want their food, or to make food, or eat food, or something.
ReplyDeleteI was a nurse first, but I think I want to be a chef after I figure out this writing thing. Which, let's face it, may never happen :)
Why not?
DeleteGosh I love Cheese too, I want some now!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like an incredibly rich meal! I tend to salivate over the simpler things. I just had a rare and truly delicate pizza, the fragrance of the very oil from which drew me in like that.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm hungry -- and one of my favorite restaurants opened up down the street -- and I have a $5 coupon...
ReplyDeleteI went to a very upscale steakhouse in Houston for work, and I've never had a steak like that before. Couldn't believe it. Mouth is watering just thinking about it!
ReplyDeleteMost of my unforgettable meals involve seafood - crab, lobster, etc. You know, that fancy stuff that I wish I could afford more than once a year!
ReplyDelete