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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:

  1. 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

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  2. 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!!!!

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

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  4. 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 :)

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

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  6. 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!

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