Valentine's Day

[winoweenie]

Two of my oldest and dearest friends had reservations at one of our favorite bistros called Convivo for Valentines dinner. Purchased last year by Jeffry Beeson, nationally acclained and winner of the James Beard award, his style is a perfect match for this intimate (9 tables & 8 bar seating) and classy jernt. Some of the things on his VDM that were memorable were Butternut Squash soup with Pasilla chiles and sour cream. Other appitizers weresmoked rock shrimpwith pickeled red onions and boursin cheese, on a crunchy roasted portabella mushroom, drizzled with pesto..Lobster and roasted corn tamale with sweet chile sauce, avacado salsa and pico de gallo. The tastiest main courses were Seared sea scallops with lobster cream sauce, forest mushrooms,yellow tomatoes,roasted red bell peppers, and asparagus. Cashew encrusted Hawaiian Ono with plum vinagerette, basmati pilaf, chinese long beans and radish sprouts..Pork tenderloin marinated in dark beer and soy with smoked tomatoe sauce, with rattlesnake beans with bacon and peppery broccoli..Grilled garlic studded Culotte steak with soy molasses glaze, citrus grileed asparages,and roasted garlic mashed potatoes and lastly my favorite of the evening flown-in that AM, New Zealand lamb grilled perfectly Med-rare over a bed of squash,red bell pepper,sweet hatch chilles and I had a serving of the garlic mashers. Creme Brulee with fresh strawberries and blueberries with a glass of port finished it off. As we can't take wine to Jeffs' place we had 4 bottles of Marietta old vines and CB and another lady shared a bottle of SW.We adjourned to our place where, being thirsty, we opened a 63 Fonseca I'd pulled last week. One of the ladies whose total intake was 1 glass drove the couples home and CB didn't even remember she had a broken wing.Lovely food, people, and all were ginning yesterday. WW