Dinner date

After the film, we walked over to Spinasse to see if we could get in for dinner.

They squeezed us in at the bar, where I personally love to be in order to watch all the comings and goings of the kitchen. But what we saw in the kitchen seemed unusual to me: A calm atmosphere, with the chefs working next to one another, chatting or laughing together without any frantic scramble or even the clatter of a dish. It was mesmerizing to watch, really, like a stylized dance where spoons twirled blithely through the air and the pans tilted with the sole purpose of catching the overhead light under a flame. I honestly don't remember seeing such calm servers and chefs.
(Our server was also very calm and collected when a man at the other side of the bar asked if they had any strawberry shortcake for dinner. It's a beautiful Italian restaurant. The menu is mostly in Italian. We weren't at Seattle Center, here, people.)

They started us off with a crostini topped with pickled beet greens. Then, because we'd ordered the squab, which took some time, they brought us an amazing fettucine with beef and pork ragu to hold us over. My maltagliati pasta with vegetables was perfect. Refreshing, hearty, warming-I couldn't stop eating it. I also couldn't stop eating the ciogga beets and lentils from Doug's squab, either. Nor could I stop, despite my very full belly, from eating dessert: Mine: gianduja semifreddo (a lovely hazelnut gelato-like dessert accompanied by a chocolate/nut brittle) and Doug's: roasted peach with panzanella dolce (I'm pretty sure this had croutons. Croutons!).

We could not believe how wonderful our lives were throughout this dinner. Blessed and fed, happy and deeply in love with Spinasse, Seattle, life and each other, we left the restaurant bursting.

P.S. At the restaurant I had posted a tweet saying "So delicious," with a picture of our dessert. The restaurant also has someone tweeting because they ReTweeted my post! Thanks, @Spinasse!