Meet Me

Once upon a time, I thought there was something wrong with me. I think about food all the time. I am that proverbial person that sits at the breakfast table wondering what I am going to eat for lunch and sits at the lunch table wondering what I am going to have for dinner, and so on and so on. (Actually, this pre-supposes that I sit down for meals which is a rare thing with two young kids).

Over time I have realized that there is nothing wrong with thinking about food all the time - it's just what foodies do. Reading bits of this and that in the food blog world only reinforce how normal it is love food and to want to share that love with others. I have so enjoyed some of the stuff I have read recently and it has made me want to start posting a blog of my own. So here I am. I'm a vegetarian. I'm a personal chef. I'm a Microsoft widow (my husband is great). And I'm mom to two of the cutest boys you have ever seen (ages 3 1/2 and 15 months).

Tonight we are going to Trellis in Kirkland for a much-needed date night. I have read great reviews and my mom even liked it (she is a picky restaurant go-er, but not a picky eater). We'll see. Vegetarians get the short end of the stick at restaurants, even in this veg-friendly city. It annoys me to no end. You can just hear the chef thinking, "I've perfected my menu...but oh, I guess I need something for the vegetarians. Well, we'll just give them a (insert seasonal pasta or risotto dish here) and that will be enough.". Ugh. Like Restaurant Zoe - love that place, love the vibe, love the drinks, but EVERY SINGLE TIME I have eaten there, my choice has been beet risotto. I like beet risotto and they do a really nice one, but give me a break. One time I even joked with the waiter about it and he very kindly offered to ask the chef to put together a vegetable plate for me. It was so awful I wished I had stuck to the risotto.

So yes, there is always Cafe Flora and Carmelita but I find the food there so overly flavored and complicated that I get tired just eating it. Why does the pizza have to have 10,000 weird ingredients on it when a simple Pizza Margherita done well would be sublime? I love to eat out. I love dressing up, I love seeing my husband dressed up, I love going somewhere other than my kitchen to eat, I love the pre-dinner cocktail and the wine with dinner (and sometimes the dessert wine). I just don't like the eating part - or at least I always find it disappointing. So come on Trellis!! Make it one to remember!