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!!