Saturday was for anniversaries! We catered an anniversary party for 30 and it went well. My feet and legs got tired as I fried the mushrooms and chicken for the Cacciatore, but Mark helped and I rested in between batches. It is SO weird to feel that way after working only a few hours! I am ramping up my ‘workout’ schedule this week to try to remedy that situation more quickly.
Mark made his fantastic rustic Italian bread for the party and there was enough dough left after four loaves that we got a small loaf for ourselves. It is SO good! Yeasty, chewy, and just really wonderful inside and out. I was very happy with how all the food turned out and I hope our clients and their guests were, too. The kitchen sure smelled good that day!
For Christmas we had given Mark’s parents a certificate for dinner atIndochine, in downtown Tacoma. So later on Saturday we met them there for dinner, along with dad’s brother and his wife. This is a place you have to experience! There are 3 Indochine’s and the one downtown Tacoma is the nicest of them all. The decor is exotic and beautiful, the air is fragrant and the service is very friendly and efficient. You could just as easily have a romantic dinner for 2 as a party for many. The menu is a fusion of several Asian cuisines, as well as Indian, French, and a touch of Italian here and there. They use fresh ingredients and absolutely everything that I have tasted has been wonderful. We each ordered a dish, plus 2 appetizers for the 6 of us, and unless you want lots of leftovers (yes!) then that is way too much food. It is served family style and I had not remembered that from my prior 2 visits, since I had been there with fewer people. The Black Sea was my favorite: It is an innovative play on Spanish Paella that uses black Thai rice and coconut milk with several kinds of perfectly cooked seafood, and kala masala (an Indian curry style spice) for flavoring. Uncle Chuck and Aunt Jan gave us their leftovers since they were travelling to see family for their 50th wedding anniversary! (We scored!) Happy Anniversary Chuck and Jan, we look forward to seeing you again!
Whether you love seafood, chicken, meat or vegetables you will find plenty to eat at Indochine. The prices are very decent, the portions are shareable and our server was really wonderful. She was flexible and playful while keeping food and drinks for 6 straight! I have had good service every visit and I look forward to the next time!
For years Mark has belonged to a group that plays fantasy football and on Monday he went to the draft. He took an antipasti platter with some wonderful cheeses, sausage, olives, etc… It looked great but I think he was nearly booed out for not bringing cookies or some other bakery item. That’ll teach him to change it up!
Thursday I have the new rep for Cave B wines coming in to talk to me about the lineup for our next wine tasting. He also represents a couple of Walla Walla wineries and I may include them in the tasting, we shall see. I am so excited to be able to offer these wines to you! I blogged about Cave B in July if you didn’t read that one scroll down and check it out. We loved their wines and you cannot buy them over here so being able to offer them is quite a coup for us! I will keep you posted about the tasting (Friday, October 3rd).
Have you found any great wines lately? Food? Experiences? Do Tell!!
