Full Circle

A couple weekends ago - I know, I am so bad at keeping up - we met Ivory and Jamie for Denver Restaurant Week at Oceanaire. It turned out to be our favorite dinner of the week and it wasn't just due to the fun company. I you've never been there, I highly recommend it. The retro space was upscale yet very comfortable, the service was some of the best I can recall, and the food divine. After living in North Carolina for a year, I know what shrimp and grits should taste like and they nailed it. My favorite part was when the executive chef stopped at our table to check on the food....right while Ivory was administering the salt. They have the same sea salt I use at home, that enormous blue container, so it surely did not go unnoticed. Ivory was sheepish, but the chef didn't even blink, which earned another star in my book. I hate being scolded about salt overuse.

Then we went to P.S. Lounge and played @sshole the rest of the night. This evening was an almost perfect recreation of the night two years ago when Ivory and Jamie first met Mike. I wasn't sure about him at that point, but how well he got along with Ivory and Jamie that first evening was a big push in his favor.

Flash forward to today, and look how much has changed. Ivory and Jamie have a beautiful daughter and Mike and I are married. It sure doesn't take long. Just ask Drea, her life did a full 180 in less than six months! So when Mike and I went out to brunch with a certain blond friend the next day and saw how smitten she and her date were, I couldn't help but think hhhmmmm.

For the final DRW recap, here's the ranking:
1 - Oceanaire. 2 - Gabriel's. 3 - Solera. 4 - Elway's Downtown. 5 - Indulge. (very nice, cozy French place. great food, the meals were simply better at the top ranking restaurants) 6 - Restaurant Kevin Taylor (same menu as last year, hence the downgrade). 7 - Opus. 8 - Red Square. I won't go into review details, since DRW is long past and they will be of little value. And now we have to eat at home for all of March, because while we got the stuffed the wallet was starved.