The weekend rundown, mostly foodwise

Great weekend for food was had by all. Friday night we had a lovely dinner at Cafe Luna, sharing a slew of different tapas. When we arrived for our 9pm reservation our table was not ready and we were encouraged to order a drink at the bar while we waited (which seemed odd given this town's early dinners, but whatever). We ordered a couple tapas as well to tide us over as we had already had a couple drinks at the Blind Pig and were ready for food. The first beer I ordered at Luna, Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale, was not to be had in spite of being listed on the beer and wine list, but again, a trivial aside to the nice evening. The one aspect that rubbed all diners the wrong way was the waitstaff's attitude like they were doing us a favor and that they were a little put out by us for some reason, but thankfully, the food made up for that.

We began with sashimi tuna cubes, served on a layer of toasted sesame oil with toasted sesame seeds on one side. It was a beautiful presentation with a bit of very potent wasabi on the side. Delicious and tuna is always a favorite of mine. We also had the proscuitto and manchego crostini, which was fabulous, toasted nicely with a thin slice of each and a spread of quince paste on the bread underneath. It was much less heavy than anticipated and the bread was amazing (as usual).

Next we ordered the house salad with their garlic dressing, which is always nice and simple, and had the roasted artichokes and beets, which were very tasty. I really enjoy beets in general and the crispiness of the artichokes was a new texture for me with them, which I appreciated. They were doused in a decent balsamic vinegar mixture.

We then followed that with fried goat cheese, which came in four small balls sitting on honey with grilled onions (carmelly and sweet) and bread. Slathering the cheese on the bread slices with the onions on top was amazing. I just love cheese in general and grilled onions are one of my most favorite accompaniments in many meals.

Following these came the beef carpacio, which was served sliced wafer thin with a greens salad in the middle. It was a nice presentation and declared the favorite of the things we tried by my father. It was very rare (perhaps entirely so, I couldn't discern if there was a slight sear around the edge or not) and dad said he got a hit of wasabi or something similar in the salad, though I didn't find what he was refering to. We also enjoyed the beef kabab, skewered with red onion and mushrooms and served with potato gratin. The beef was tender, though a little fatty for my tastes (but I'm not a fan of fat on meat in general) and the potatoes were wonderful with tangy (gorgonzola I think) cheese setting of the meat nicely.

Our last tapas was tied for the best of the evening with the tuna for me. The scallops served on a bed of truffled corn was simply amazing. The scallops were cooked perfectly, a real feat especially in a town that really doesn't know or get good seafood a lot, just on the other side of raw. The truffled corn was spectacular and mom and I both agreed we could have eaten a whole bowl of the earthy sweet concoction by itself.

We finished out dinner with a dessert of red raspberry and white chocolate stratta, which was plenty big enough to split four ways and was excellent. The white chocolate mousse was extremely light for a mousse and not terribly oversweet like they can sometimes be, which set off the natural sugar in the berries nicely.

Overall, the food was simply amazing, though the service was just okay. My one complaint was the overuse of balsamic vinegar in the choices we had, it seemed like it was in most of them in some form. But the food was fabulous, the atmosphere was warm and quiet and we had a lovely evening for the most part.

Saturday's dinner was at home and we smoked salmon on cedar planks and lightly grilled fresh scallops and served them with my mother's spectacular ceasar salad (I kid you not, I have never had a salad of any kind, anywhere that I enjoy more) with homemade croutons and fresh crusty bread.

Sunday we had brunch at one of our favorite local breakfast haunts, the Original Pancake House. I was thrilled to see that fall had indeed arrived because their seasonal pumpkin pancakes were on the menu. Served with real whipped cream on top, these are a favorite of mine and are great as is, no butter or syrup needed. A glass of fresh squeezed OJ was a welcome accompaniment and the meat lover in me couldn't resist their fatty, thick sliced bacon (the one meat I prefer with more fat than lean, heh). Others enjoyed strawberry pancakes (my summer favorite), blueberry pancakes, swedish pancakes with lingonberry sauce and the homemade corned beef hash. We waited about a half hour to be seated which isn't too bad for the place on a Sunday morning, though it seemed a little long for being there around 9am. Usually if you can beat the post-10am church rush, it's more like 15-20 minutes when nothing else is going on in town. Regardless, a nice way to start the day and send off the parents will full and satisfied tummies.

Just me, the hubster and kidlet then headed out to enjoy the weather at Curtis Orchard where we went out and picked a couple pumpkins from the pumkin patch, and filled up our cart with gorgeous blood red mums, fresh apple cider, some hideously ugly gourds and the orchard's famous apple doughnuts.

A great weekend was had by all, and I look forward to our next trip to Curtis Orchard (for our Halloween pumpkins) and can't wait to dine at Cafe Luna again. It has certainly joined Radio Maria and Crane Alley on my husbster and my's favorite places to dine in C-U.