Three's a Crowd

Garett, Wyatt and I celebrated the coming of the new year with a dinner at my second favorite restaurant in SLO, Novo, sitting at my favorite table on the patio under the beautiful oak tree at the ripe old time of 5pm. It's a little different making plans for December 31st keeping in mind our nearly ten month old son. We started with the Potato Samosas which come with a perfectly tart plain yogurt and mint chutney for dipping. Garett ordered the Roast Quail and I had the Salmon Salad as our primary entrees. Garett looked a little disappointed when the quail first arrived because it was so small. I'm surprised he ordered it without asking for dimensions of the meat. At another restaurant that we enjoy, Hoppe's Bistro, he used to ask our friend, who also happened to be a server, about the exact measurements of each item on the menu to make sure to avoid the catastrophe of not stuffing his stomach to the brim. The good news is that some of the bones were strategically removed from the quail so he was able to really maximize his carnivorous needs. I enjoyed a perfect glass of wine, a 2005 Barrel 27 Viognier, that made my salmon salad even better.

Wyatt wasn't thrilled to be at Novo. He didn't seem to appreciate our perfect table and the tasty samosas and instead wanted to rip the table cloth from the table and chew a hole in it. He also seemed determined to make sure that all of the other patrons on the patio knew that he was present and was not pleased. We were both a little surprised, as he usually just looks around, eats what we put in front of him and barely makes a peep, but we were determined to not be in a rush and attempted to enjoy leisurely meal.

We finally finished our meal and were ready to head home and restore peace to the patio when our server magically appeared with a dessert plate. He brought us a small portion of creme brule with fresh berries on top. He said that the chef wanted to share it with us to help us celebrate our anniversary. I immediately broke the news to him that we weren't celebrating our anniversary in case we were stealing the real anniversary couple's treat but he kindly left the dessert on our table anyway. Even though he told me why he brought us the dessert, I secretly think he felt sorry for us attempting to ring in the new year a good seven hours before midnight with our noisy son.