faux 3rd anniversary at Alexander's

Jon: let's go to Alexander's

me: okay

Jon: the omakase is lookin pretty good

me: i'm down! but if we're going to spend so much money on a meal, we should probably get some free stuff out of this. let's tell them it's our anniversary or something.

Jon: really though? what if they ask what the anniversary is for? they're not going to like it if we say it's our Anniversary of Awesome

me: yeah just put down that it's our 3 year anniversary

and so it was! Jon and i pretended it was our 3 year anniversary in order to obtain freebies from Alexanders. at $200/person for a 9 course meal on a sunday, i'll take all of the freebies i can get! 

"happy anniversary! can i bring you some champagne to celebrate and toast?"- yes, yes please!

Jon hates having his picture taken, but i force him into it all the time. especially if there's an opportunity for a super cheesy photo op because it's extra embarrassing for him. "c'mon, let's take a clinking glasses picture. as corny a picture as possible!" i'm positive he's cringing as he's reading this and revisiting the moment. haha!

on to the meal...

(please excuse the crappy pictures as i had to use my iphone)

amuse bouche of tuna tartar

1st course: scallop crudo

with celery. i could understand their reasoning for pairing scallop with celery (it brings a light refreshing element to the dish as well as a bit of a bitter note) but i am not a fan of celery, so i didn't care for this dish. i was a bit worried that it was going to set the tone for the whole meal but it was the only dish i didn't care for. everything else was great.

2nd course: caviar with yellowtail

yeah, those are gold flakes. there's never any real reason for gold flakes except that it's sorta pretty. a nice piece of fish paired with some lovely white sturgeon caviar.

3rd course: wagyu tartare

holy yum! this was sort of amazing! the various accoutrements added different elements to the very tender, very umami taste of wagyu.

4th course: bone marrow

with heirloom tomato and peaches. when i saw "bone marrow" on the menu i got excited. when i saw this land on the table, i was confused. i was hoping to see a bone, but when i didn't i wasn't sure what to expect. but good god was this delicious. the sweetness of the heirloom tomato and peaches cut through the fattiness and richness of the bone marrow quite nicely and the fried leeks added a necessary texture to the dish. i could eat this all day.

5th course: duck breast

with colorful carrots and (i think) leek ash. so very succulent.

6th course: pork belly and squid

pork belly is always a good thing. squid, i like too. i would've never thought to put the two together but somehow it worked marvelously! oh and that squid ink sauce was sort of amazing. i fell in love with it. it had a little bit of a kick and was crazy full of flavor.

7th course: Tajima strip steak

apparently this is a hybrid. i wasn't sure what to expect but damn was this tender and marbled with fat! i ordered mine medium rare and Jon ordered his "black and blue," which i am jealous about. he gave me a bite of his and it was SO buttery prepared just barely seared.

berry parfait

i could have done without the flowers. 

8th course: coconut snow

with mango sorbet. think dippin dots but coconut flavored.

9th course: pistachio parfait

with sour cherry sorbet. the pistachio portion was in between an ice cream and a nougat. this dish sort of tasted like spumoni, minus the gross candied fruit. a nice way to end the meal...

except that they then brought us our "anniversary" dessert!!!

haha so specific!! they actually put "3rd!"

me: want to do the honors and blow out the candle?

Jon: uhhh no, that's okay. it's all you.

me: c'mon together!

then we laughed for a solid 3 minutes because that shit is ridiculous when people blow out candles together.

berry cotton candy

thank you so, so very much for dinner. i had so much fun and it was an absolutely memorable meal. when you come back from LA i'm treating you to Quince!