Our Date

Jarrett and I had a lovely time together last night, out and about in Downtown Decatur, trying out a couple of new establishments. We had dinner at the new steakhouse, Parker's on Ponce, which took over the old Mick's space, and then we finished the evening off with a nightcap at Leon's Full Service, the new restaurant/bar owned and operated by our favorite Brick Store guys.

The dinner was nice, though having to steer clear of dairy and soy proved to be difficult once again, especially because they use vegetable oil (which is most often soybean oil or at least a combination of oils, including soybean) to cook all of their fried goods. But I started with a spinach salad topped with pancetta, almonds, strawberries, and a balsamic vinaigrette (had to leave off the goat cheese), and had the NY strip and a baked potato topped with just some crumbled bacon. Jarrett started with their bibb lettuce salad, which was topped with bleu cheese crumbles, tomato, red onion, and bleu cheese dressing, and had the filet mignon and creamed spinach for his main course. I thought my salad and the steaks were very good. The potato was so-so, but to be expected since I couldn't put anything on it, and Jarrett was a bit disappointed with the creamed spinach because their recipe included nutmeg, which neither one of us are a huge fan of when added to savory dishes. If you receive the SavvyShopper mailing, you are probably aware that there is a coupon for Parker's included this month -- I think the place is worth trying out if you use the coupon, but I am not so sure it is worth paying full price. Maybe I would think differently had I not been working with a restricted diet.

Jarrett and I tried to go over to the Brick Store after dinner, but it was packed (as usual), so that is when we decided to walk around the corner and try Leon's. We bellied up to their (very cool) bar and each enjoyed a beer. We perused their menu as we enjoyed the atmosphere, and it looks pretty tasty, so I am looking forward to going back at some point. A girl sitting next to Jarrett ordered their frites with sauce pairing, and it looked delicious, which Kate and Tim had already claimed to be the case. She let Jarrett try a few and offered the chance to me as well, but I was too burnt out on questioning ingredient usage at that point to even bother. When the time comes that we go back, though, I definitely will -- don't worry.

Our babysitter was awesome. She just seemed perfect, and seemed genuine in saying that she would love to come back and babysit when she can actually play with Elsa. She did get to see her for about five minutes or so because apparently Elsa did wake up, so she went in there to soothe her back to sleep. She admitted that perhaps if she had waited a little longer, she might have gone back to sleep by herself like we had told her might happen, but I think maybe she really just did want to get a sneak peek, which is cute. Best of all? Her husband is a police officer. So -- bonus! -- if there ever was an emergency.

So Jarrett and I had a nice time together, and I'm really glad we took this needed step to start a date night routine. At least I hope it becomes more of a routine.