6 Courses to a Perfect Date Night

My husband, Reilly, and I went on a much deserved and long awaited date night on Monday. I landed a great deal through Tippr for our favorite restaurant, La Spiga, and I knew night of many delicious courses awaited us.

To prepare for our dinner, which I knew would be much more calorie rich then what I would normally eat I planned ahead so I wouldn't feel guilty when I woke up this morning. And I have to say I did a pretty good job! The plans I followed were:

• Fit in an extra cardio workout that day which I did on my lunch break on top of my training in the morning.
• Don't skip any meals throughout the day but no extra snacking at all! This was the hardest as there were all sorts of snacks in our break room but I stuck to my usual oatmeal breakfast, had a pluot to tide me over until lunch. Lunch was protein filled to keep me satisifed with a tuna and egg salad, flourless bread, string cheese, another pluot and a hard boiled egg. And my afternoon snack to get me to dinner was a blueberry greek yogurt.
• I made sure our dinner reservation was early enough that I wouldn't be starving by the time we showed up so we set a time of 6:00 p.m.
• I looked at the menu ahead of time and planned out our courses. I also decided since we would be doing six courses that we would split each plate and my husband could always get the bigger portion if he was feeling deprived.

6:00 p.m. arrived and after finding an awesome parking spot only 1/2 a block away from La Spiga (no easy feat on Capitol Hill) we were seated at a cozy table in the back.

First Course - Formaggi Misti
We selected a trio of cheeses include a hard cow's milk, a soft cow's, sheep and goat mix, and a cheese infused with truffle served with warm flat bread and fig jam. All three were excellent (especially the truffle cheese!)

Second Course - Evening Special Small Plate

Fried duck egg over asparagus and freshly forraged morrel mushrooms topped with shaved black truffles. One of our favorite courses of the night the blend of the egg yolk with the vegetables was rich and savory.

Third Course - Insalata Primavera con Carciofi Croccanti

Bibb lettuce with fava beans, spring peas, asparagus, pecorino and deep fried artichoke. This is our favorite salad at La Spiga with the deep fried artichoke being a suprising burst of salty flavor.

 

Fourth Course - Tagliatelle al Burro di Tartufo

Wide handmade pasta smothered in white alba truffle butter sauce. While the sauce is buttery and the truffle flavor is rich, the pasta still has a lightness to it from the simplicity of it and left me licking my plate.

Fifth Course - Filetto ai Funghi

Beef tenderloin with grilled asparagus, porcini mushrooms and fried potatoes. The beef was incredibly tender and cooked to perfection but the potatoes were definitely the standout on this dish being crispy and rich with flavor and seasoning.

Sixth Course - Crostata di Rabarbaro con Gelato al Zucchero di Cana

Rhubarb and orange tart topped with brown sugar gelato. While I barely saved any room for dessert, I'm so glad we didn't pass it up. Rhubarb and orange is now my new favorite fruit combination and I'm going to have to put together a recipe or make some jam before rhubarbs go out of season. And brown sugar gelato - yum!

Washed down with a bottle of Lambrusco Lini

Lambrusco is a red sparkling wine, best served chilled that is a light and refreshing change to a red or white wine.

La Spiga is one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle. They do a good job of supporting local food and bringing delicious, real food to your plate. Can't wait to go back!