ringing in the new year

(I'm such a later tater getting this post written. I have a little bit of a bug (or perhaps it's just allergies or stress over our Georgie Porgie Poochie Pie?!) and haven't felt like doing much of anything the past week.)

Being the old fogies and stay-at-homes that we are, New Years Eve found us out on the town for an early dinner and swift return home.  We're morning folks, not night owls and I think we've managed to make it to midnight once in the years we've been together.

After tossing a few ideas around we decided to try a new and much talked about, restaurant in Venice that had a vegetarian menu option for us and so convenient, only minutes away.  Well ... except for the nonexistent parking, that is.  Good old Los Angeles, land of automobiles and no parking! 

We just lazed around the house NYE, hoping my stomach would rebound and feel up to dinner out and thankfully we were able to enjoy our evening out.  

We were the second table seated and watched the room fill up with merry revelers.

We forgot to take a photo of the first course ... 

"saffron arancini & gold flakes with smoked tomato soup 

and tea sandwiches"  

 It was very good - 

the saffron arancini turned out to be risotto balls 

and my husband said they were like Tater Tots ahahhahahha!  

The smoked tomato soup came in demitasse cups and was rimmed 

with intense spices.  They gave us the most yummy dainty grilled 

cheese brioche sandwiches for our tea sandwiches.

 

This is the second course ... 

"porcini crudo and ricotta salata"
Tasty, although I couldn't distinguish the paper thin sliced 

porcini mushrooms from the paper thin sliced ricotta salata 

(a dry ricotta) by either taste or by sight in the dark restaurant.

 This is the third course ...
"buckwheat tajarin with truffle caviar"

I'm sorry to say I hated this one! It was AWFUL to me. 

The truffles and creme fraiche were good but the 

buckwheat noodles were so yucky tasting. 
I've enjoyed them before so this dish just didn't work.  

I ate a couple of bites and set the plate aside as did the man 

at the table next to us.

 This was the fourth course, the main dish ... 

"fall vegetable ragout with truffled egg".
Now this was so YUMMY!  

Doesn't look impressive in the photo
but it was so good.  Loved this. 

And then they gave us two desserts.  

First one was a sorbet, to "refresh" us 

and the second was a hot chocolate pudding.  

I liked the lemon sorbetto 

but hated the prosecco granita that came with it.
And first and foremost, I am a total chocoholic but the 

hot chocolate pudding was really just an undercooked lava cake. 
Not that I don't love melted chocolate ... um, I most certainly DO,
I just thought it would be something different than it was. 

So I was disappointed and underwhelmed.

So half of our six courses were yummy and the other three, less so.  WAH!  Oh well, that's what sometimes happens when you try a new restaurant.

New Years Day the hubby made me french toast and we ate and watched the Rose Parade. I guess this is now our New Years Day ritual as we've begun most of our new years this same way.

I still feel yucky and not up to any of our plans (see some museum exhibits and go see The Hobbit and Les Mis).  PHOOEY! 

Hope you had fun ringing in the new year and have been enjoying the first few days of 2013! 

Georgie is to start a sort of "at home" chemotherapy tomorrow.  My husband picked up the new medication yesterday and was given gloves to wear while handling it. YIKES!  This totally freaks me out.  If we can't touch it, what will it do to his insides?!  I know, I'm such a knucklehead - chemotherapy is toxic.  I'm so unhappy and rattled about all of this.  WAH!