Food Pornocopica

Some of you may have known that me and my much better half recently celebrated our 10 year anniversary. Now while I'd like to spend this post talking about how monumental this feat is given the current societal pressures to give into dispose-a-spouse syndrome, I have much more interesting things to write about. If there is one thing that I look forward to nearly as much as the anniversary itself, it is the dinner that usually accompanies said anniversary.

This year I decided to surprise Julie and just go and pick a spot. I thought on this for a little while and wasn't sure where to go. I had a number of ideas - but wanted to try a place neither of us had ever been to, and a place that was going to offer something you can't get at every joe schmo establishment. Where might this be you ask? While not as exotic as I originally was thinking, I eventually settled in on the River Cafe on Prince's Island Park. I have always heard good things about this restaurant, and all the gay foodies rave about the place so I figured it had to be pretty good.

First off - making the reservation was sinfully easy. They even have a spot to do this on their website. Not feeling bold enough to let the world wide web handle the reservations for me, I decided to go the more traditional route and make the reservation the old fashioned way - using a phone. So I phoned on Sunday afternoon for a Friday night reservation for two at 7:00 and had Julie book Nana to babysit. Done and done.

Friday night rolled around and after Julie had tried on a half dozen or so outfits only to settle on the one she tried on first, we departed for dinner. The nice thing about this restaurant is that there is no parking at the restaurant, leaving its patrons to walk in the short distance from Eau Claire or Memorial Dr. While normally this would be a huge turnoff for me, the walk was actually pretty nice, even in the rain that has plagued life in Calgary of late. You can't help but notice the picturesque setting this place has all to itself amidst the huge poplars and freshly cut grass.

Walking into the front entrance I had to push aside some overgrown shrubbery that instantly reminded me of the old forts we used to build as kids in a big patch of bushes. Once inside the vibe was instantly warm with the decor completely consistent with the summer cabin on a river feel. The chairs hand crafted out of rough cut tree branches and numerous wall hangings containing an assortment of fly patterns I could use in my own tackle box. I could already tell I was going to enjoy my dinner and I hadn't even peeked at the menu.

Upon opening the menu the first thing I noticed was how small it was. For the less sophisticated connoisseur of all things food this might send up warning flags. Not so for me. Nothing impresses me more about a restaurant than when it doesn't try to masquerade quantity as quality as so many restaurants do. With such a small menu, you immediately know that every dish on there will be done well.

Starter: When Julie and I met, her standard fare was chicken fingers or lasagna whenever we went out to eat. I almost weep when I think about how far she has come from that point. My little project. I'm so proud. Heh. I wasn't sure if she would bite, but I suggested their smoked fish and wild game platter for two. She bit, and I am glad she did. The platter came very simply presented with some smoked trout, salt cured bison tenderloin, wild boar prosciutto (delicious!), a pork and boar terrine, candied trout (also delicious!), caramelized red onions, a roasted apple and parsnip relish, some Brassica Mustard (delicious!). The dish also came with some very good homemade crackers - but all the items on the platter could all be eaten without the need of a cracker. We were off to a very great start!

Mains: I had a pretty good idea what I thought Julie would have, so I knew to avoid it on the menu. She ordered exactly what I thought she would and went with their Organic Beef Tenderloin. The dish was very simply presented with some roasted potatoes and a chimichuri made of stinging nettle. I decided to venture into the lamb special and I am soooo glad I did. The cut of the day was a lamb loin wrapped in lamb belly (think pork belly, but different...like little lambchop bacon). Served over top of some grilled asparagus and a veal demi glace. The accompaniments were a very delicious Potato and Herb Pave - sort of a really buttery scalloped potato tart - and a more classic pairing of mint marinated tomatoes. Don't know if they were Gull Valley toms - but they sure were tasty. I've never had lamb loin before and I can assure everyone that I will definitely have it again. It was very different from any other cut of lamb I've ever had. Very non-lamby. Most lamb I've ever had had a very unique taste that overpowers most of everything you could ever serve with it. This cut had a very subtle flavor that played very nicely with the other items on the plate. By the end of the dish I was using any bread I could find to mop up the veal demi.

Wine - Not wanting to blow the bank we both decided to order a glass of wine with the meal. I ordered a very nice Calera Pinot Noir - since I was expecting to need something to stand up to the lamb - turns out I didn't need a strong wine, but the pairing was still very nice. Julie went with her favorite - a Glaetzer Shiraz from Bishop Valley in Australia. Shiraz isn't really my thing - but she liked it.

Dessert: All I can say is WOW! Julie had a serious chocolate craving and decided to go with the Hacienda Iara, Single Plantation Chocolate platter. This came with a hazelnut milk chocolate mousse, a white chocolate and cocoa nib gelato and a dried cherry compote. Julie was initially worried that the mousse would be too light, but it wasn't. In actuality it was probably closer to fudge than mousse and that is what she was looking for. The gelato I found a bit harsh as the cocoa nibs were basically straight cocoa beans. I was most impressed with my dessert. I decided on the Maple Wild Rice Pudding with a 10 year Henriques and Henrique Madeira for an aperitif. The rice pudding was perfect and served with a cranberry sorbet and dried cranberries. Not too sloppy like you find with most rice puddings. Just enough velvety custard to bind the rice together. The wild rice was a nice touch - adding a bit of extra texture to each bite. The maple flavor was there but not overpowering. What I was most surprised with was by how well the pudding paired with the Madeira. It was unreal! The Madeira was sweet, but not too sweet, with a hint of caramel that really tied the pudding together. It was literally a party in my mouth. If I can ever track a bottle of this stuff down, I will be buying it for sure.

So that was it - we both were stuffed, but completely satisfied. After half heartedly trying to go see a movie we decided we were both beat and were not really in any mood for Don't mess with the Zohan. We walked back to car in the rain pondering what the next 10 years will bring us. If nothing else, if we get to squeeze a couple more meals like this in, it will all be worth it!