Anniversary Dinner Recap

Bryan and I were married one year ago on Saturday June 13, 2009. I can’t believe it’s already been a year; it seriously flew by! We decided to celebrate with a nice dinner out at The Ravenous Pig. You may remember we ate there for the first time on my birthday a few months ago. Bryan made reservations a few weeks ago online and mentioned that we were celebrating our first anniversary.

We arrived thirty minutes early to enjoy a few pre dinner beers at the bar. We checked in at the hostess stand and they said whenever we were ready to be seated to let them know. After enjoying a beer and some candied popcorn we headed to our table.

Last time we eyed the ‘House-made Charcuterie and Artisan Cheese’ but decided to save it for a special occasion. This was the perfect time to try it! The gourmet meat and cheese board had four different types of salami, two prosciuttos, a wedge of gouda and a wedge of bleu cheese. On the side were thick bread slices cooked in bacon grease which were amazing! The sampler was delicious; however I’m not sure we’d order it on a normal basis – definitely a special occasion appetizer.

We also decided to split the Farmer salad: bitter greens, house smoked bacon, parmesan, soft boiled egg, Caesar vinaigrette and brioche croutons. The egg is served whole on top of the salad. Our server recommended we break the egg up and mix it well with the greens. Oh my, the runny yolk was fantastic on the salad! And the bacon was cut into large, chewy chunks – yum! The entire salad was full of flavor.

For my entrée, I ordered “Grilled Local Cobia.” It was served with Charlie’s new potatoes, grilled artichokes, green olive tapenade and pickled gypsy peppers. The fish was very tender and I loved the artichokes. I’m not a huge fan of green olives, but the tapenade was the perfect complement to the Cobia. This is definitely a dish I would order again.

Bryan went with the “48 Hour Short Rib.” The beef was served over mustard spaetzle, Vidalia onion puree and charred radicchio and topped with rye sauerkraut. The meat was a perfect medium and melted in your mouth. Bryan definitely enjoyed his meal, but I’m pretty sure my fish was better. ;)

And what’s a special celebration without dessert?? Being the chocolate fiend that I am, I ordered the dark chocolate-raspberry tart while Bryan ordered the Florida peach-blackberry crisp with toffee crunch ice cream. Up until this point, the restaurant had not acknowledged that we were celebrating our anniversary as Bryan had stated when he made the reservation. But check out the dessert spread:

This was an awesome surprise and I really like how they handled our special day. The hostess on the way out even wished us Happy Anniversary as we were leaving.

Back to the desserts, in one word: FABULOUS. They were a perfect ending to a wonderful dinner with my husband. Looking forward to another dinner here soon as well as many more happy years with my love.