Monday, July 2, 2018

14th Anniversary Celebration!

Paul and I have been partnered for 14 years as of June 28th! It's hard to believe that much time has passed. It seems like just yesterday that I met Paul over a game of pool at Newby's Monday night beer bust. We were 23 and 24; now we're 37 and 38. Still don't feel any older. But then again, I can't imagine going out to a beer bust on a Monday night now, so I guess I am older. Ha!


Since Paul works out of town, we couldn't celebrate until he was home this weekend. We picked our favorite special occasion restaurant, Seasons 52. It's a chain, sure. But it's a high-end chain, and they have a vegan tasting menu. And we had some gift cards, so that made the choice easy.


We started with a complimentary champagne toast (thanks Seasons 52!), and I ordered a glass of Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz. We split an appetizer of Avocado Toast. This was Paul's first time trying avo toast (crazy, I know!), and he loved it. The bread was grilled and topped with a generous mash of avocado, cherry tomatoes, pickled onions, and a 15-year aged balsamic. 


For my entree, I went with the Vegetable Tasting Menu. This changes every season, and I've had it once before. Last time, it featured cedar plank tofu, but this time, there was Wood-Fired Kohlrabi Steak, Vegan Paella, and Pan-Seared Broccoli and Asparagus. 


WOW!!!! The kohlrabi steak was freakin' amazing. I've cooked with kohlrabi at home a few times, and I never really know what to do with it. But this is definitely the best preparation I've had. If you're not familiar with kohlrabi, it tastes a bit like a turnip. Those flavors pair perfectly with smoky char from the grill. I was also super-impressed with the paella. It had sundried tomatoes and vegan beef crumbles. Very good!

After all that food, I was stuffed. But since it was our anniversary, they came out with complimentary dessert. Paul chose a non-vegan smores pudding, but they offered me the only vegan dessert — Summer Berries. After such a heavy meal, I was actually really pleased to just eat fruit for dessert.


Every year on our anniversary, we have to end the night at Newby's — the bar where we met in 2004. It's not the kind of bar we'd hang out at these days since it caters to a mostly college-aged crowd. But we're there at least once a year for this! We toasted with tequila shots.


And then enjoyed local craft beer while we played a game of pool.



Happy anniversary, Paul!! 

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Congratulations! What a wonderful way to celebrate :))
And i am floored paul hadn’t tried avocado toast before?? That looks like a great version of it too
Ttrockwood

Gena said...

Congratulations, B!

Hillary said...

I am shocked this was Paul's first avocado toast! But it looks like a great version to try first, very fancy!!
Happy Anniversary you guys!!!!

Barb said...

How sweet! Congrats! And I agree- Seasons is quite fancy and doesn't count as "a chain" :)

Sarah said...

Happy Anniversary!! I love your celebration and that you continue your tradition of going to Newby's every year. That is so perfect and I love your pics playing pool! What a perfect evening :)

Moby said...

❤️

Susan said...

Happy anniversary! That meal looks delicious. I cannot believe he had never had avocado toast before!

Cadry said...

Happy anniversary! That's fun that you return to the same bar every year, even though it's not one you'd frequent now. It looks like a delicious anniversary dinner. I'm intrigued by the kohlrabi steak. I've never heard of anyone else doing that. I've tried kohlrabi a couple of times and wasn't wowed, but if I ever get it again, it's going to the grill! I also had paella on our recent anniversary, but yours looks & sounds much better!