We went out for dinner last night to celebrate my gorgeous hubby’s birthday. On the recommendation of the hotel’s concierge, we had reservations at Newman’s, a French-Italian bistro in a tiny yellow cottage on Hemlock, the main drag of Cannon Beach.
In my mind this was the last indulgent meal I planned to have before easing back on to the Weight Watchers plan. Baby steps.
Newman’s did not disappoint.
The place is intimate and almost entirely candle-lit, with Brat Pack tunes playing and fairly typical Mediterranean decor. Our server was Jennifer and she was prompt and knowledgeable. We ordered a bottle of wine, an appetizer, one salad to split, and two entrees.
The wine was King Estate 2007 Oregon Chardonnay. It was light and fresh, described on the bottle as having vanilla flavor but I thought it was more citrus.
Then we got our appetizer.
Have you ever tasted something so perfect you think, wow, when I leave this planet I will be so happy I tasted this? The plate had two perfect raviolis, velvety pasta pillows stuffed with a salmon mousse and dungeness crab, topped with Parmesan cheese shavings and the lightest, most delicious pesto cream sauce I have enjoyed.
Hubs and I each took our first bite, looked at each other, and made “O” faces. As in OMG, this is the best… thing… ever.
The ravioli just dissolved in our mouths, and we both savored every bite. Then we used the garlic-rosemary wheat bread our server brought us to sop up every drop of the sauce. I would have picked the plate up and licked it if I didn’t have some pride.
Besides, the bread did a fine job of getting all the sauce into our mouths.
Seriously, after that ravioli I felt like I needed a cigarette and I wanted it to cuddle with me.
We split the grilled romaine salad because I get too full to have dessert if I have a full three-course meal of my own. I am a woman with my priorities: a little vegetation, a lot of creamy, sugary goodness. I didn’t get this body without the right mind set, believe me.
The salad was awesome: lightly grilled lettuce topped with Parmesan cheese shavings, bits of pancetta bacon and almond slivers and a balsamic reduction sauce.
I had the chicken picatta, which was delightfully moist and light, with a sauce that was more lemon flavored than buttery-greasy. My dinner also had a wild mushroom risotto cake that was a wonderful balance of creamy and crispy.
Hubby had medallions of beef with a wine reduction sauce and topped with grilled onions and gorgonzola cheese.
Hubby’s dessert is pictured above. He had a lemon cream with fresh berries. I had a coconut creme brulee.
And the tab was under $100. Yeah.
Out-freaking-standing!
