Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Tuesday, January 18, 2011:

The weather was great today … again. !! =)  Maintenance came and fixed the kitchen door that wouldn’t lock (even though we had been locking it all this time!) and worked on the drain in the bathtub.  My sister and I are working on a merchandising product…but I can’t really tell you about it – just yet. Suffice it to say…we got our fill of laughter today.

We went down to the pool this afternoon - got to catch up a little more on my tan.  I made sure we were outside of the “bombing range” of the birds drifting by.  Today I saw one of the birds get a little target practice in, but luckily he missed the girls laying there.

I wore my lucky St. Louis Cardinal Swarovski crystal hat to the pool today. A couple came by and commented “Go Cardinals”. Turns out they are from St. Charles! There are actually 3 couples in their group and they are all from St. Charles.  One even used to live up in Lincoln County! How funny is that?!  Their group has been meeting down at the pool and BBQ area pretty much every night.  They make some noise when they get together (mostly laughter), but they are having fun and they don’t go late into the evening. (sounds familiar =)   They are going home Thursday and are hoping the weather holds off until they can get there…and not be stranded up in Chicago!  Down here wouldn’t be so bad…but not Chicago! Brrr.  I would imagine they have kids to get back to as well.

Headed back to the condo to get ready for dinner with Kirby and Andy. Looking forward to that. We’re going to a place they recommended - Salud Bistro – with Mediterranean cuisine and good wine. (think Gerald will like it? Probably not.) They said it’s not too far up the road.  But we’re waiting for our replacement credit card to arrive. It’s supposed to be sent via FedEx and arrive by 7pm.  But it never came. As Gerald would say….GOODIE GREAT!

Kirby and Andy pick us up at 8:15p. We talk about the condo a bit and head up the street to Salud Bistro. They’re right.  It’s not too far at all.  It’s actually in a strip mall and doesn’t look like much from the outside – just like Kirby said.  Inside it’s quite different. Very nice, chic and intimate. And it’s crowded! Apparently very popular, so the food must be good!  And it’s won some Island awards!  Bonus – Tuesday night is 2 for 1 on bottles of Spanish wine. NICE! And the BEST part is that if you don’t finish the wine, you get to take it home! Isn’t that fun! We only ended up drinking one bottle of wine, so we got to take the other home! But I did keep the cork as a souvenir.

We are seated and take a look at the menu, and while it’s fairly limited, it covers pretty much everything. Burger, spaghetti, lamb, ribs, beef, duck, vegetarian but all with a different – Mediterranean – twist.  In the appetizer section they list Truffled Macaroni and Cheese with mushrooms and truffle oil. Sounds yummy and Kirby and Andy highly recommend it.  I love mac-n-cheese, so we order two to split.  Gerald is having a harder time with the menu. But he finally makes a decision. Usually it would be the spaghetti, but the menu says it’s spicy, so after his last experience with “spicy” spaghetti in San Pedro, he stays away from that and orders the Wagyu burger (I think I spelled that right).  I get the vegetable crepe. In the mean time they bring us fresh hot homemade bread and a saucer of olive oil, honey and spices.  They swirl the honey and spices in the oil into a pretty little “S” on the saucer. How divine! (I would have taken a picture, but I didn’t want to embarrass us!) And it is so delicious! Unfortunately, I don’t get to eat enough of it because our entrees come.  My crepe is huge – filling a little more than half the plate. It’s presented more like an omelet, with a side of lettuce greens and this cool foamy garnish atop the crepe. It was very good and I would order it again.  Gerald even likes his fancy schmancy burger, except for the bacon.  He took it off.  It did have somewhat of an odd taste and was mostly fat. But he ate the rest of it, so that’s a good sign. It came with a load of homemade truffled potato chips – which I thought were yummy too! (you know I love the taters!)  

But the very best part of the dinner had to be the macaroni and cheese.  It was TO DIE for! OMG!  It came in this cute little croc (like with onion soup) and had tons of little roasted mushrooms in it. Gerald hates mushrooms so I tried to fool him again and let on like they were they “truffles”…but he didn’t buy it! (I guess after the ceveche incident, he doesn’t trust me!)  And although it came in a small croc, it was a very generous portion.  We couldn’t finish ours, so I brought it home with the rest of my crepe. It was so good, if there had been one noodle left, I would have brought it home! I’m so looking forward to tomorrow afternoon when I get to eat the leftovers!

A wonderful night all in all. Good company, a great location (island and restaurant) and scrumptious food.  Salud Bistro is definitely on my list of recommendations and favorite places for sure.  So if you ever make it to the island…be sure to visit them. Come on a Tuesday to enjoy the Spanish wines, homemade bread and be sure to have the Mac-N-Cheese. You won’t regret it! (Here is their website www.saludbistro.com.)