Monday, September 24, 2007

Anniversary Dinner

Jim & I celebrated our anniversary last week and we did what we do each year - we both took the day off! Quite often our schedules conflict and we end up not getting a lot of time together, so this is one day we plan for. Another thing we do every year is have champagne.

When we got married, we had Dom Perignon and again on our first anniversary. There are lots of great champagnes out there, so we decided that every year, we would try a new one. This time around I found a new favorite.


My favorite so far has been Veuve Clicquot, but it has been toppled from #1 spot by this one. Absolutely lovely!

Even though it's September, the day was sunny & warm - just like the day we got married. In the morning, we took Simon for his annual physical and booster shots. How romantic! Nothing says I love you like sitting in a half full vet's waiting room with a Jack Russell Terrier. Simon got a clean bill of health and was praised for being such a good patient. They are always amazed at how well he co-operates for his vet visits. Then we come out of the exam room, and it's back on - full JRT mode.

After getting Simon settled at home, we took off for Niagara-on-the-Lake. We did a little bit of tasting, but it was such a nice day outside, we decided to walk around some vineyards.

Everything is lush & green. It's getting near the start of harvest time now.

Look at these grapes! So plump & juicy. In a month or so, these will get crushed and made into wine.

We went for an early dinner at a favorite restaurant in NOTL. Old Winery Restaurant is owned and run by chef Tony Deluca who, for years, was the chef at Hillebrand Winery Restaurant. He has a very good reputation in the area and we were glad to find out about this place a while ago. He has a more formal restaurant as well, but this one is considered 'gourmet casual' so no ties required.

They changed their menu recently and the gnocchi dish I used to get disappeared. There weren't any veg mains listed so I inquired about one dish that had a lot of vegetables in it, but beef tips. Could I get it without the beef? Sarah, our server said "Certainly!"

We got a lovely basket of home-made bread & EVOO for dipping. So delicious!

I had a wonderful salad to start. Arugala, beets & toasted walnuts in a lemon vinaigrette dressing. I want to try this at home. It was so simple and such a medley of tastes in every bite.

Of course we got a bottle of wine to enjoy with our meal. The wine list at this place is chock-full of Ontario wines. We chose Wildass Red. It's the second label from Stratus, which is one of our favorite (and pricey) wineries. Wildass is available only in restaurants (or for home delivery) so it's a bit of a treat.

Jim got a seafood linguine dish and here's mine.

Orrechietti with roasted garlic, rapini, sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary. They drizzled & tossed it with sun-dried tomato oil, so it tasted very rich & DELICIOUS!!

We saved just enough room for dessert. We decided to share a Lindt chocolate creme brulee.


This dessert was velvety and chocolately, but not sweet at all. Pure heaven! We relaxed for a bit after our meal and Jim enjoyed an 18 year old scotch, while I savoured a Grand Marnier. The best part for me was getting to spend a nice relaxing day with my husband, having his great company and nice conversation. Cheers!

13 comments:

bazu said...

happy anniversary! you guys sure know how to class it up! ;-)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

happy belated anniversary!! wow, this looks like quite a lovely, exquisite way to celebrate - cheers!!

madeinalaska said...

wow you guys did it up right! Sounds like you had a wonderful day.
Happy anniversary!
cheers.
Julee

Jody from VegChic said...

Happy anniversary. Good food, good wine, good company...great way to spend the day.

The simple salad you posted about reminds of one that a ppker introduced me to at the Brooklyn picnic. Arrugula, roasted corn, and raw beets slices thinky with a lime cumin vinaigrette. It is delicious.

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

Happy Anniversary, Carrie & Jim! What a beautiful day - start to finish. Walking through the vineyards must have been wonderful!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Sounds like a lovely way to spend you anniversary!! What a great idea to try different champagnes every year. Cheers to both of you!!

aTxVegn said...

Happy Anniversary! The vineyard is just beautiful and the food looks and sounds marvelous. Do you know if Wildass is available to order online?

Tanya Kristine said...

how sweet. good for you two! congrats on another year and finding a good champagne! woo hoooo~~~~

i had to take kody to the vet for butt problems...but he's okay. tel lsimon not to worry.

urban vegan said...

Happy Anniversary!

Our anniversary was last eek, too (9/22)

laura k said...

Happy anniversary! I love that you two got to have a special day together, just with each other.

Anonymous said...

I sent you an email. Congrats on your anniversary, too! I sent you something on facebook
HARMONIA

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary Carrie. Sounds like you two had a very romantic day. We used to tour wineries in Sonoma and I loved walking through the rows. Always so peaceful and beautiful.

Ww said...

My wife, I and friends did a mini NOTL wine tour today starting with lunch at the Old Winery Restaurant (after reading your blog). It was a great place to start... I thoroughly enjoyed my Mediterranean Pizza. Friends were interested in finding a source, your blog, for vegan recipes and/or experiences so thanks again. Hope you're taking a load off ... but also hoping you'll be back when its time.. Take care. ... Ww