25th Anniversary Dinner at Alba
Rob and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary last week. We’d been making plans for the past two years to travel to the Telluride Film Festival for our anniversary this year, but it was, of course, cancelled.
So when we learned that one of our local restaurants, Alba, offered a tasting menu experience, we knew we’d found our alternate anniversary celebration.
There were six courses in all, each with a different wine pairing. I don’t really drink wine, but I did taste a few of Rob’s wines, and I can honestly say I finally understand the point of wine pairing.
Who knew pasta and apple butter could work so well together?
All the dishes were very good, but two were standout dishes. The first was a Spinach and Pesto Agnolotti with Pecan Pesto and Honeynut Squash. Agnolotti is kind of like a ravioli, but rather than stuffed, it’s folded over. This dish included little dollops of apple butter. You read that right, apple butter. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was beyond anything I could have imagined. This was hands down the best pasta dish I have ever eaten.
Pancake or Pan-Cake?
My other favorite course was the dessert. I enjoy sweets, but I’m usually pretty underwhelmed with restaurant desserts. Our dessert was a Spiced Pear Clafoutis with Blueberry Pecan Granola, Noyaux Anglaise, and Vanilla Ice Cream. If you don’t know what those things are, don’t feel bad. I didn’t either. But part of the fun of dining out for us is the experience learning about the food from a passionate server. Clafoutis is kind of a flat cake baked in a cast iron pan. It is heavenly.
Overall, we had a wonderful dining adventure. Big thank you to General Manager Garrett Dotsch for an exceptional experience.
