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.

Restaurant Review: The Ravenous Pig

Bryan and I had heard and read fabulous reviews about The Ravenous Pig so we knew we wanted to try it eventually. It’s a bit pricier than your average dinner out so we waited for a special occasion to make a reservation. My birthday was this month, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Bryan called on Wednesday to make Saturday night reservations and all that was available was 9 pm. (Note to self: Call at least a week in advance for weekend reservations!)

I love the concept of The Ravenous Pig. It’s owned and operated by James and Julie Petrakis, James is the chef and Julie does the desserts. They offer a menu that changes daily based on what’s in season and availability. Our server explained that whenever possible they try to source organic ingredients and support local suppliers.

We arrived about 30 minutes prior to our reservation to enjoy a drink at the bar. We let the hostess know we were there and she said she would find us when our table was ready. The entire restaurant and bar was PACKED, but we managed to find one empty seat at the bar. Once we sat down, we browsed the wine and beer menu. They only carry micro brews so we decided to try out some of the beers. We both started with the Southhampton Double White Ale. A yummy wheat beer that was perfect for my taste. We also enjoyed a bowl (and a half) of some quite delicious caramel corn.

After Bryan finished his first beer, he tried the Erie Railbender. This one tasted like cranberries. Bryan wasn’t the biggest fan but he managed to finish it (no sense in wasting a beer!). Shortly after Bryan ordered his second beer, our table was ready so we closed our bar tab and followed the hostess.

We had begun to browse the menu at the bar as well as check out some of the goods people around us ordered but there are just so many options, we wanted to try EVERYTHING! We decided to start with the Lobster Tacos.

They looked and tasted absolutely delicious. The lobster chunks were pretty big, but we were slightly disappointed they were lightly fried. The avocado cream and cabbage complemented the lobster. We really enjoyed these, however will probably not order again since they were fried.

We also ordered the House Made Gruyere Biscuits. The cheese was quite strong. They were good, but I don’t feel the need to try them again.

I decided to start with the Gatherer Salad.


Yum! Everything about this salad was delicious. I loved the crunchy pistachios and the plentiful chunks of avocados. All the greens tasted incredibly fresh. I can’t wait to try some of their other wonderful salads.

For our main course, I went with a half order of the Spring Carbonara Pasta. I normally would have not selected a dish that typically has a heavy cream sauce like alfredo, however our server informed us that they don’t use cream in their restaurant. To create the sauce, they use egg and lemon juice. This sold me!

I could definitely taste the lemon and the porchetta chunks were huge! There was no shortage of meat in this dish. The half portion was the perfect size paired with the salad. I even ate (some) of the peas, which, if you know me, is a REALLY BIG DEAL!

Bryan easily enjoyed the star dish of the evening. He ordered the Niman Ranch Lamb Leg.

TO DIE FOR. Everything about this dish was AMAZING. The lamb was incredibly tender and flavorful. I would order this again in a heartbeat. Bryan raved multiple times during this course about how this was one of the best meals he’s ever had.

Finally, since it was my birthday celebration, we ended the evening with some Bread Pudding.

This did not disappoint either. The bread pudding was warm and toasty and the malt ice cream was a delicious accompaniment.

From start to finish, this meal was fabulous. We could definitely tell how fresh all the ingredients were and that everything was made with thought and care. I see another evening out to The Ravenous Pig in our near future. Can’t wait!

Valentine's Day Recap

Bryan and I celebrated Valentine's Day on Saturday night. I had received an email about a special three course holiday menu at Cantina Laredo. We had eaten there a few times and the food was always quite good so we made a reservation! It was fun to get all dressed up and have a nice date night out. We arrived a little early so we could enjoy a few house margaritas at the bar before being seated. The house margaritas were super delicious!

Once we were seated, we ordered the 'Top Shelf Guacamole.' The waiter brought all the ingredients to our table and made it fresh right in front of us. This stuff is seriously good! (Hint, Hint: If you sign up for the email club, you'll receive a coupon for a free guacamole!)

After enjoying our appetizer, we selected our three courses from the Valentine's menu. There was an option for tequila drink pairings with each course that we ordered as well.

Our first course was a Cranberry Pecan Salad with a Pomegranate Margarita. The salad was good, but not particularly special. The margarita (and all the drink pairings for that matter) were not what we expected. They were a lot smaller than the normal margaritas and WAY too sweet. They were almost like a martini as they were not served 'on the rocks.'

For our main course, we both ordered the Fresh Sea Bass Oscar. I though the sea bass was very good. The jalapeno beurre blanc covered the fish filet and the majority of the plate and had a great flavor that I really liked. There was a crab cake on top of the seas bass, but we found it to be overcooked. I would have much preferred just lump crab meat on top.

This is the Sunset Margarita next to the House Margarita. You can see how much bigger the house one is. Also, this drink pairing conveniently came AFTER we finished our dinner course.

For our dessert drink we had a tequila, Bailey's and coffee cocktail.

I ordered the Dia Y Noche Flan which was a brownie topped in flan. It was ok, but would have been MUCH better if served warm.

Bryan had the Strawberry Bunelos which were fairly plain in his opinion.

Overall, we were disappointed in our dining experience. The service was sub par, the food was average and the drinks were, well you saw them. However, it was still a special day and we had fun just being with each other!

Will we dine there again? Probably. Every other time has been enjoyable, so hopefully this was just a one time occurrence. Too bad it was on a holiday.

We ended our night with a few beers and a cigar for Bryan at a cigar bar next to the restaurant. Needless to say, we spent most of Sunday recovering. :)