Rocket to Venus Recap

I guess I have started moving towards not tracking every little thing I eat every day - mainly because it is hard to keep up with and I think it gets sort of boring when it is the same thing over and over again! But that doesnt mean I am going to stop eating healthy (and splurging at times)! So hopefully I can keep everyone's interest with recipes, restaurants, races, training, workouts, and new foods.

Last night Kevin and I had a date night at Rocket to Venus in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore city. Even though we have been together for awhile now - I still like it when he calls me and asks me out on a date randomly when I am not expecting it. Keeps things fun and exciting!

We arrived around 7:30pm and it was packed. The host told us it would be about a 20 min wait. We decided to hang at the bar and have a drink while we waited. They have bowls of wasabi peas at the bar - but they wisely put spoons in the bowls, so people dont put their grubby hands into the bowl. I grabbed a few while Kevin loaded up the jukebox. They have a ton of his favorite local bands' music in there, including Lazlo Lee and the Motherless Children - the band I had play at his surprise 30th b-day party that I threw back in March. They are a great band.

Anyways, so I had a glass of Pinot Grigio (Lagaria: Authentic Grigio from Northern Italy- crisp, herb-tinged citrus fruit, provides good flavor in an easy drinking style) and Kevin had a Tommyknocker draft beer. I think this is a type of wheat beer because it was pretty light and they served it with an orange. I took a sip and it reminded me of Blue Moon, which is one of my favorites. Check out my glass of pinot grigio - nice, generous pour!

While at the bar, I started getting reeally hungry, so we decided to order Pork Dumplings as an appetizer. The menu described them as "Pork and bacon stuffed dumplings, pan-fried and served with jalapeno relish". We ended up getting seated before they came, so the bartender brought them over to our table after we closed out with him. As you will notice by the picture, we had already begun digging it - it was hard to wait! These were so delicious and the jalapeno relish had a great spicy kick!

One of my favorite things on their very cool menu are the Brussels Sprouts appetizer which are described as being roasted in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I would love to know how they get these to caramelize the way they do, because I havent been able to replicate it yet - and have tried. We scarfed these down in no time.

For my meal, I went with the Szechuan Noodles entree which was rice noodles with a spicy sauté of fried tofu, leeks, shitake mushrooms, cabbage and carrots. I have to admit that I didnt eat much of the tofu. It just tasted like it had been soaked in oil and I couldnt stomach it. The rest of the dish was great, but it would be ten times better if they baked the tofu. The portion size was huge!

We decided against dessert because we were extremely full, but I do need to mention a dessert that we have tried before - Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly. Need I say more? They dip the PB&J in pancake batter, fry it up and serve with vanilla ice cream drizzled with caramel sauce. It is decadent and so rich, but I recommend trying it once in your life! :)

I have already been out to eat twice this week have two more dinners planned tonight and tomorrow night! eeek. But, they are all for good reasons! Tonight, I am excited to be going to a Baltimore Bloggers Dinner at Woodberry Kitchen. Kevin is coming along and it will be fun to meet some of the Baltimore bloggers and eat some amazing food. Woodberry Kitchen is known for their "farm to table" approach and a menu that is constantly changing, so I cant wait!

Friday night, I am heading down 95 to Washington DC for a dinner with a bunch of my friends from college. We are trying this restaurant CoCo Sala, which is described as a chocolate boutique, but they also serve tapas, etc. Check out the menu when you get a moment - I am so excited for this also!

Back to work - hope everyone is having a great day!