the week in review, and it's not even over yet!

let me tell you about gary danko. if you don't know about gary danko... (we were treated to an amazing dinner this past tuesday night by n & k - THANK YOU!) you're about to get a play by play.

5:30pm reserve, right on time... this is the kind of place that they pull out your chair, put your napkin on your lap, and give you a table hook for your purse. FANCY! you have the option of a 3, 4 or 5 course meal - we all went with 4 - and the opportunity to take any of the items on the menu and do a "choose your own adventure" dining experience. dessert can be first, appetizers last and anything you want in between. i refrained from my typical MO of taking pictures of every course, but only because i had forgotten my camera at home that day. bummer! (side note: we had a similar type of dining experience at a restaurant in ny last year. i took pics of every course, and the maitre'd came over to ask if i was a spy!). they brought out a lobster bisque and a toasty smoked salmon and caviar "amuse bouche" to start, along with sparkling wine for everyone and a glass of cider for me. all grown up!

here's my menu:

course 1 - lobster risotto: just the right amount of creamy richness, but not overpowering. the risotto was cooked just to the right point... tender but not mushy.

course 2 - i love beets. who knew i loved beets so much? yellow and red, perfect presentation and a small dollop of goat cheese on the side. but... i wasn't sure if that was pasteurized. so i steered clear of that.

course 3 - filet: ok... YUM. i don't know what it is right now, because i am typically not a red meat person. but this was what looked good. i had it cooked through, more than it's "supposed" to be, but it was still tender and juicy. there was the cutest mashed potato snowman on the side, layered with these crispy potato things and some tiny green beens. i was feeling way more than full by this time, but dessert was still to come.

course 4 - trio of creme brulee: (s - i thought of you the whole time); three normal sized portions of the delectable cream in vanilla, earl grey and chocolate. i was fairly basic because i actually preferred vanilla, but they were ALL yum.

and to top off the meal, they brought out a small tray of the tiniest dessert bites, which we wrapped to go because there was no way anything else was fitting in the stomach after all of that. oh, and there's more... they give the girls (it's good to be a woman sometimes, just not always in the first trimester) a breakfast cake for the next day! THANK YOU AGAIN n & k... what a treat!

weds' dinner wasn't quite as glamorous - chicken burritos from our favorite spot. tonight i'm heading to a business dinner at tres agaves, which has some of the best guac! oh, and my week hasn't been just about great food. i've actually been feeling a little more queasy for the past couple of days. but that just means i turn it up a notch on the shock bracelet. it's got 5 settings, and i've worked my way up to 3 so far.

12 weeks tomorrow... pics to come!