231 To Go

For the anniversary, I spent the day taking a 6 hour simulated bar exam but got to come home to flowers and a gorgeous pair of earrings, champagne and pastries from our favorite bakery.  Then, Joe and I got all dressed up and went to Amada in Philly.  Two Amada dishes are on the list, though the entire menu is list-worthy as far as I'm concerned.  The restaurant is beautiful and we enjoyed the best meal I've had in a really long time.  Spanish tapas and sangria.  Perfect.

The menu is large and everything looks amazing, so we decided to divide and conquer by picking at least one thing from every category on the menu.  It's very important to approach life's challenges with a clear strategy.

We started with a soft, spreadable goat's milk cheese, served with soft bread, sliced green apple and a fig and cherry marmalade.

Then:

Clams & chorizo. We asked for extra bread three times so as not to miss a single drop of that incredible broth.

Spanish flatbread with beef short ribs, horseradish, Parmesan & bacon (this was the item on the list - I could eat this everyday forever - it's as good as it sounds).

Parmesan artichokes

Empanadas with spinach, manchego and artichoke

Chicken breast with fried egg, mojama, & truffles

Calamari linguine and vermicelli with clams, diver scallops and sweet onion cream (so that's what a scallop is supposed to taste like)

With tapas, every dish is only 2-6 bites divided between two people, so at the end of such a rich and amazing meal, we weren't stuffed.  Just really, really happy.

We came home, put on our pj's, popped the bottle of champagne, split a mini strawberry, blueberry, white chocolate tart, and settled on the couch to watch episodes of Lost on DVD.  (We just finished season 4, don't tell me what happens next!)

All in all, it was a day worthy of 10 years.