Restaurant week, and stuff

I want to start off with a quick note about Sam Smiths Yorkshire Stingo. Yum, really yum. I had a bottle I've had for about a year now, last night. It was fantastic. It is an oak aged ale, but with the year in the cave it had mellowed out to a caramel and malt masterpiece. Tight carbonation from the bottle conditioning and perfectly balanced.

Second, The Mrs. made a Smoked ham and Gruyere bread today. We sliced some farm fresh tomatoes over it for a snack this afternoon. It was lovely.

And finally, for dinner tonight we went with a group to Sonoma for restaurant week. I really knew nothing going in and after checking out the menu online was interested but not overcome with emotion. That's pretty much how I would describe the whole affair. After being seated it was obvious that our server was new to the restaurant world. Thats fine, everyone has to start somewhere. And over all he did fine. It was the little things that were off. He'll get there and be ok. For the appetizer, I had the white bean and chorizo stuffed squid. My only comment is that the flavor of white beans should never overpower chorizo. Never, never ever, never. The squid was cooked well I guess, a little al dente, but since seafood isn't exactly my thing I am not the best judge. But as a non fish eater, I was not offended by it. The Mrs. had the quinoa salad. It was fresh and quite refreshing. For an entree I had the grilled ribeye cooked, well , sort of cooked. This was excellent. I like my meat warmed and that's about all, but still tender. The ribeye was juicy and falling apart and still quite rare. It was served over herbed mashed potatoes. The lamb that The Mrs. ordered was also cooked perfectly but lacked that special lambiness. Dessert was a slice of pecan pie for me and a pear tart for The Mrs. Neither was special but both were serviceable. All in all the the meal was good but fairly pedestrian. Then again for thirty bucks for three courses it's hard to complain when the food is prepared well. I will probably never end up back at Sonoma, but who knows. I wouldn't go out of my way, but I wouldn't protest either.