Anniversary Dinner #2, LeFever's River Grille

For the third delicious year in a row, Nick and I went out for our anniversary dinner at the wonderful LeFever's River Grille. It's become our tradition I guess. I wrote about it last year and this year was just as delicious.

Our reservations were for 7:30 pm and we arrived exactly at that time. We were seated in almost the same spot as last year, a raised booth with just the right amount of light, near the windows. LeFever's is on the river, obviously by the name, but we cannot see it because it's too dark by this time. But the ambiance is there.

Our waitress Samantha brought us their delicious bread with whipped butter (that I detect a slight, very slight garlic flavor in). Nick isn't much for butter so since they have a bottle of olive oil on the table, I put some in one of the small plates and added some fresh ground black pepper and we dipped our bread instead. It was delicious. The olive oil was so rich and fruity.




We both, once again, had our salad with the restaurants delicious homemade Romano peppercorn salad dressing. The salad doesn't have much in it, just some fresh mixed greens, carrot strips and red onion. But when I say fresh, I mean fresh. The greens were so crisp and flavorful. The dressing is stick to your fork thick with just the right amount of pepper.




And then it was time. Time for our other tradition.... the calamari appetizer. Just look how excited Nick is as it arrived at our table!




This is by far, the best calamari I've ever had. Not only are the calamari themselves tender and succulent, but after its quick fry, it is then sauteed with kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes and scallions, then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. A squeeze of lemon over the top completes it. Incredible!




As usual, we both had trouble deciding on an entree. The menu was mostly different from last year (save for the calamari, and some other standards). I ended up choosing pork rib chop stuffed with cornbread dressing, served with sweet potato mash and sauteed spinach. The large pork chop was done to juicy perfection with delicious grill flavor with the dressing added just the right touch. The sweet potato mash was generous and delicious. Sweet, but not overwhelmingly so like you so often get in restaurants. And the spinach melted in my mouth.




My Nick is a pork guy. More often than not, he chooses the pork on the menu. But this time his eye kept going back to the seafood. He was not disappointed. He chose Seared Scallops with Prosciutto Risotto and Zucchini Frites. For me, I'm not a seafood fan but I tried it and it was tasty. Not my thing, but the risotto and zucchini frites were to die for!




And now, our dessert. The choice was clear from the moment we saw the dessert menu. Molten Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. Need I say more?

I now know what Heaven tastes like

Last night, Nick and I went out for our yearly anniversary dinner. We were married on October 30, 1993 on a cold, crisp and yes, snowy day. A beautiful day. The best day of my life quite frankly. But I'll stop with all the cheese for now and fast forward to 14 years, 4 days, 7 hours and 53 minutes later. With much thanks to Mom and Dad, and their generous anniversary gift, Nick and I were able to enjoy LeFever's River Grille, for the second year in a row. And enjoy we did!

Our reservations were for 7:00 pm. I knew, after last year, that I would be ordering the calamari appetizer once again. I have truly never had any calamari so delicious as this. It's not just your standard breaded and fried calamari. After that part of the process, they then take the fried pieces of calamari deliciousness and toss it with Kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes and green onions, then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. It's incredible. The calamari is tender and succulent, and mixing it with those other ingredients brings to a whole new level. It's the perfect start to a perfect meal.

Nick and I both had trouble deciding what to order for our entrees, but for me, my eyes kept going back to the Dijon crusted lamb rack. That ended up being my choice. It came with Cilantro Couscous, but seeing the other side dishes they had on the menu, I wondered if I could substitute. This was not a problem, so after the run down of all the delicious side dishes I could chose from (Garlic mashed potatoes, lobster mashed potatoes, shrimp au gratin potatoes, risotto, mushroom risotto, goat cheese risotto) my choice was clear... goat cheese risotto! The waitress wasn't sure how it would go with the Dijon crust of the lamb, but said if I wanted it, to go for it. I did! It also came with glazed carrots. After much indecision, Nick asked Carrie (our waitress) if he should get the Chipotle marinated pork tenderloin, or the veal medallions. She recommended the pork, so that's what he went with. It came with black bean salsa and spinach saute. He kept his meal as is. We both got salad with their homemade Romano Peppercorn dressing. This dressing was amazing! Creamy and thick, peppery and delicious. I asked Carrie if there was buttermilk in it, because it tasted like there was to me. She wasn't sure but she said it is made with their homemade Ranch base, so it could very well have had buttermilk in it. Funny thing was, it had no hint of a Ranch flavor (which Nick hates!)

Our dinner plates arrived soon after and were a thing of beauty. I had a very generous helping of goat cheese risotto with thin strips of glazed carrots on top of it, and my gorgeous lamb chops (4!!) with their long bones that had been frenched. Interestingly enough though, Carrie was right and the Dijon didn't go well with the risotto so I ended up scraping it off, even though it was really good (Nick ate the crust pieces with his pork!). Nick's plate was equally as beautiful, with the tenderloin of pork sliced on a bias and arranged over a bed of spinach with black beans scattered all around the plate. I had so much risotto that I gave him some, I ate some and I brought some home (mmmm risotto for later). In fact, we both brought home food... he had two pieces of tenderloin and I had two lamb chops and risotto. Every single thing we ate was incredibly delicious from the lamb down to the spinach. We had a truly amazing dining experience, as Nick pointed out when we were leaving. It wasn't just good food, it was a total experience.

What could top off the evening for us? Carrie, our sweet waitress brought us a glorious dessert on the house to celebrate our anniversary! We got an Ice Cream Ball, which was a generous scoop of homemade peanut butter ice cream with toffee chips on top and chocolate ganache on the bottom! What a topper!!

A beautiful restaurant right on the river, overlooking the falls (even though they are difficult to see at night), delicious food, wonderful service, and great company. All in all, it was one of those nights to remember.

Afterwards, we decided to go out to a local coffee house we discovered not too long ago so as to not let this great night end too quickly. It was cozy, comfortable and we talked for hours. Isn't it wonderful to know, that after 14 years of marriage and being with someone from 20 years, you still have things to talk about for hours? And just to put icing on the cake, Angel Falls Coffee Company has XM radio and on this night, they had on a station that was perfect for us... we heard The Clash, Peter Murphy, The Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Ramones, New Order and on and on. It was wonderful! So all this and great music too!! What more could anyone ask for?