Coming back to work after a three-day weekend can be rough on re-entry. But Dan, the kids, and I had a fairly low-key weekend, and so Tuesday has not gone too badly. Knock on wood. (I do that a lot, don’t I?)
We did a lot of cleaning over the weekend, and quite a bit of napping (yes, me too, on Sunday! Very exciting stuff.)
The highlight of the weekend (aside from that nap) was our anniversary dinner out at BRiX, a brand-new restaurant on the North Shore (formerly known as the North Side). (Disclaimer: There is no disclaimer. I am not being reimbursed in any way, shape, or form for this post.)
I will say that I did not eat enough at BRiX, a mistake will not make again. The menu as of yet is still fairly limited (they had been open a week when we went on Saturday). The only vegetarian main dish they offered was a margarita flatbread.
Instead of ordering that I tried to make dinner out of the brie appetizer (which was *wonderful* and I had to fight Dan off to get ANY of it), a salad with portobella, and a potato salad side. Not enough food.
At least not for the amount of wine that I drank.
However, Dan had an excellent meal — my food was excellent, I want to make that clear — and the wine list is very impressive. I built a small flight of reds, because BRiX offers a 2 ounce pour. I had the Undone Pinot Noir from Rheinhessen, Germany, the Nero d’Avola blend from Sicily, and another red that I can’t find on the wine menu PDF I have on my computer. I want to say Baldero? Baldano? Anyway: It was excellent.
The Nero d’Avola was a brand new grape for me, and I liked it so much I ordered an 8 oz. pour. (I should’ve stuck with the 4 oz. pour.) It was spicy and large. Just excellent. The Pinot was very nice, lighter than what I was looking for, but refreshing. My third wine was also excellent, with a rounder, smoother taste than the Nero. I haven’t had that many good wines at one sitting in a while.
The best part was talking about the wines with Dan. Between all the crap that we have to talk about (kids, work, schedules, blah) we seldom get to indulge in grown up conversation. Wine brought Dan and me together.
The first time we went out to dinner, he asked me to pick a bottle of wine. I said, “I’m really in the mood for a big tasting Italian, something dry.” He always says that’s when he knew I was The One.
Anyhoo, Dan had a Bombay Sapphire martini and then paired a white wine with his chicken dinner. He says the acidity of the wine offset the rustic flavors of the chicken and orzo with pancetta perfectly.
The service was casual but impeccable. Our server, Cory, when he learned it was our anniversary celebration, presented us each with a flute of sparkling wine: the Brut Rose from Graham Beck, a South African label. It was lovely. We even got a little tour of the space afterwards from Mike!
Because it was such a great experience, we plan to return for more good food, good wine, and good conversation.
What’s something you look forward to doing again with your spouse or SO?
Red Pen Mama 