Monday, April 02, 2007

restaurant mojo


Another weekend has come and gone.
it was cool and rainy, and in some ways, my favourite kind of weekend.
there's no rushing to get out of the house, it's more mellow and relaxed when the weather is dreary.
it was nice to be able to sleep in (8:30 is now considered sleeping in...)
slowly sip coffee in bed with lulu and big daddy and catch up on a bit of reading.
We watched movies and cooked a few great meals.
I was on a bit of a Leo kick and so we rented The Departed and also Blood Diamond.
I now officially have a crush on Leonardo DiCaprio.
Dare I say he has become quite hunky and much more manly in his past few roles.
I thought he was excellent in both movies and I think his South African accent was not only believable, it was super sexy.
grrrr.
I especially loved Blood Diamond-it was a very powerful film and I'm really surprised Leo didn't get an Oscar for his performance.
I did feel slightly guilty putting on my wedding ring afterwards though.
Big daddy assures me it was from an extremely reputable place, and that the diamonds are "clean".
One would only hope.
Any-who, despite feeling lazy we still managed to get a bunch of stuff done and go out for a delicious dinner on Saturday night.
We ended up going to a regular spot that we always seem to enjoy.
Tabule.
Lulu put in a request for hummus and pita, so it was a natural choice.
The service and food are excellent, and it's something different if you are craving a good tabbouleh, fattoush or baba ghanouj.
I love Mediterranean food, not only is it full of flavour but it's super healthy.
We usually just order a bunch of appetizers and while you are waiting for your food they bring a little plate with good olives, lightly pickled pink daikon, hot peppers and small dills.
Two of my favourite dishes are the fried cauliflower with tahini sauce, and the chicken livers.
strangely addictive.
who knew chicken livers could be so appealing?
The rice with lentils, browned onions and spicy tomatoes and cucumbers are also good.
The kubbe, which is ground meat rolled round a heart of onions and pine nuts, wrapped in cracked wheat and deep-fried is also delicious.
For dessert we shared the kunaffa, angel hair phyllo layered with light custard and Lebanese coffee.
Sunday after stocking up at Whole Foods I made a colon cleansing Bulgar pilaf with raisins, cinnamon, cumin, carrots and organic chicken breast.
But despite the nice healthy dinner, enjoyed one too many glasses of red wine (and chocolate macaroons for dessert)
I believe I've had wine every night for four days straight.
can we say "water retention?"
It's so hard not to want to enjoy good wine with good food.
but that's what life is all about isn't it?

3 comments:

kittenpie said...

I'd like to see The Departed - a coworker said it was really good, too.

moplans said...

I never got my water served like that at Tabule. V jealous of your fancy server.

Friends of my brother's who are Lebanese and live in the 'burbs actually trek downtown (uptown? midtown?) to eat there.

Gabriella said...

Another restaurant to add to our growing list.
And oh yes, Leo, very sexy in the Departed!