Friday, April 3, 2009

A Small Town Success!!

Hola bloggies!

As some of you know I have to travel far away to court on a regular basis. These explorations take me to beautiful mountain locations, gorgeous fruit filled valleys, and to different foodie stomping grounds. Sometimes eating in different places doesn't work out so well (like when there's only a diner to be had) other times you find a place which is a jewel! And yesterday was such a day . . .

I woke up early in the morning and got ready to leave my house. With the blizzards of recent days I decided to get an early start. As a bonus the fiance (no longer known as the boy) came with me so he drove my little Mazda while I snapped some food pictures.


Tee-hee! :oP This was my attempt to take pictures of my Green Monster as the car twisted and turned through mountain roads. I had to wait until the road was a little more flat and the car a little more stable. But I promise to take some awesome mountain pics when the weather cooperates!

And what did I have with my Green Monster?


Oh there I go teasing again!! :oD But note the whole almond in there. Needless to say I was uber impressed. I also managed to catch a little bit more of a winding road this time. It was a bit of a mountain pass and a treacherous one too. If ever I'm going to hit a blizzard on the way to court (or back home) it is in this area! Thankfully the weather was much more pleasant yesterday.

After work we all headed to a local Italian restaurant. It was rather unassuming from the outside. A relatively new building but nothing spectacular. But inside I found a lovely intimate space with an open kitchen! I happen to love open kitchens. It's the best when dining is theater. Besides it assures me that nothing un-toward is going on with my food!

In this kitchen I could see the chef working furiously away. He must have been working wonders back there because when my appetizer came out it looked like this:

My appetizer consisted of a Caprese salad - big slices of ripe tomatoes, fresh basil chiffonnade, chunks of incredibly beautiful mozzarella cheese (known as bocconcino), all drizzled with a bit of balsamic and a beautiful extra-virgin olive oil. Num num num! I was a very happy foodie. Thrilled actually!

Next my main dish arrived:


For my main course I had al-dente tortellini filled with ricotta cheese and ground veal - all coated in a pesto garlic sauce. And yes there was a bread stick but once it posed for a picture I quickly passed it off to the boy beside me.

My main dish was also really good. You could taste a hint of nutmeg in the sauce but in all I would have rather had a tomato based or rose sauce. I love me some rose! In fact I'll admit to stealing some of the boy's tomato sauce (he ordered a penne with a veal milanese) and turning my sauce into a rose. lol Creative license I guess you'd say!

And was it yummy? YES! And so unexpected for such a small little town. I'll likely go back again but mostly for the salad. That salad was to die for! Oh and as a bonus the prices were quite reasonable - score!

I arrived home kind of late and still felt quite full so I was in no rush to make dinner. Eventually the hunger hit me so I whipped up something with spinach, red peppers, onion, and shrimp (with a small side of avocado):


It looked lovely and tasted great but after a lone bite I decided my late lunch had been more than enough. The boy ended up eating the rest of my dinner (since he was still a bit hungry after his earlier in the day) and I grabbed one of these little guys instead:


It was just small enough and sweet enough to hit the spot. I guess you could say I practiced a bit of intuitive eating. I was rather proud of myself actually!

All in all I'd say it was a day of yummy eats and thankfully blizzard free. :o) And today is Friday (wooohooo!!) and that's always a very good thing!

Enjoy the end of the work-week amigos and amigas!

16 comments:

Sharon said...

Oh wow, totally scrumptious eats - everything looks great!!!!! And mmmm delicious!

Krista said...

What a graet Italian meal! I would agree with you on the sauce issue...I prefer tomato based sauces myself!

A Toronto girl out West said...

Sharon,

Everything was totally scrumptious! And SUPER unexpected for a town so small it doesn't even have a Walmart (which I equate with small towns across North America)!

Krista,

Rose or tomato sauces are the way to go. I kind of think that maybe the chef stuck to a creamier garlic sauce so the flavours wouldn't overwhelm the delicate tortellini.

But that's my guess! :o)

Run Sarah said...

That salad looks wonderful and yummy!! Happy Friday :) isn't it fun to be able to call your significant other fiancé now?

A Toronto girl out West said...

Run Sarah,

lol I still surprise myself when I say it! :o) Generally I love it though. I always thought it sounded weird to say "boyfriend." Mostly because they're all much older.

So I would use partner but I didn't like that either. Fiance is just perfect. :o)

PS: Happy Friday to you too!

Chic Runner said...

Wow, that place looks amazing! I'm jealous. What a great pic and your smoothie is SO green! :0 Have a great weekend

Julie said...

green boyfriends are the best haha i guess the real ones arent too bad either..

A Toronto girl out West said...

Chic Runner,

It was seriously good (the restaurant)! Since their menu is seasonal I would love to go back in the summer and see how they put the locally grown fresh produce to use!

Enjoy your weekend! :o)


Julie,

Green boyfriends are often better than real ones! lol But if you can have a green boyfriend AND a real one (a good one!) then BONUS! :oP

HangryPants said...

Wow does that tortellini look amazing!

A Toronto girl out West said...

Hangry,

They were awesome!! In fact when I was at the restaurant I thought I enjoyed the salad way more but then the next day I found myself seriously craving the pasta instead! lol

Marianne (frenchfriestoflaxseeds) said...

I love finding surprise eateries in small towns. When I was up in Prince Rupert last March, there is one martini bar/small plates restaurant there that is AMAZING. Even from outside, you wouldn't think it was anything special, but you walk in, and you feel like you are in a swank martini bar in Vancouver. The food was amazing and fresh - definitely the best eats I had in Prince Rupert.

I'd be all over the pesto garlic sauce - mostly because I hate tomato sauces!

Leah @ Simply Fabulous said...

Thank you for such a sweet message about my bridal shower you left me! It will be your turn soon!

Leah @ Simply Fabulous

Jocelyn said...

Man, you suck because now I am hungry. I'm not even a big fan of Tomatoes or veal, but that looked great!
Fun driving and taking pictures. Blizzards in April...huh. I'm not sure how you can stand it...I guess I'm still a Florida girl at heart!
I'm glad you run around the same pace too! Slow and steady right? That was my first organized 10K!

A Toronto girl out West said...

Jocelyn,

Slow and steady is right! :oP Although I don't know about winning any races! LOL

So do you think you will do more races now that you successfully (!) completed the first one? :o)

Anonymous said...

you have completely put me in the mood for italian! everything looks SO GOOD!

www.dailygoods.wordpress.com

A Toronto girl out West said...

ashley,

It was some seriously good eats! I'm counting down the days until I can go there again! :oP