Spoiled, Michelin stars, Melisse, Spontaneous

There are so many good words I could have named this blog entry with but I couldn't just pick one. This is how it happened. Rick had been away all week on business and was going to be away through the weekend as well. He usually doesn't have to work over the weekend but he was shooting a commercial down in LA which lasted through the weekend. It was to say the least a challenging week for us with out him. The stroller was broken so no daily walks or trips to the gym to take up some of our long days or get us out of the house. And to top it off, the kids pulled down the lamp in their bedroom and broke the bulb all over the carpet. Doesn't seem so bad except that the it was one of those bulbs that has mercury in it. We spent a little time researching what and how to clean it up. We had to turn off the heat, open the windows and air out the room all day, use a wet rag to clean up the powder and mercury vapor floating around the room. Unfortunately the bulb broke in a pile of toys, next to their bed,  on top of their favorite blanket and pillow. Needless to say we couldn't play in the room or with the toys for the rest of the day.

By Friday morning we were all needing a break from our house so we decided to head to San Jose to visit with my dad. As soon as we got to SJ Rick called to tell me that we wasn't going to make it home on Saturday night and that the shoot was going through Monday night. This was a disappointment to us all. He suggested we hop on a plane and head down south. So with a few phone calls I made some quick spontaneous arrangements. I was going to leave the kids behind, get on a plane and enjoy the weekend with my man and I needed to work fast. I headed straight over to my mom's house in Livermore to drop off the kids. This meant no clothes or packing for the kids. Luckily my mom has just about everything they needed for a few days. I then drove to Oakland to quickly pack a bag and then straight to the SF airport. Yes, all in one day - Oakland, San Jose, Livermore, Oakland, San Fransisco, Los Angeles.

Rick had a fancy hotel room in the Casa Del Mar Hotel on the beach in Santa Monica. We had a fancy big Hydro Therapy bath tub which was so awesome. We woke up on Saturday morning and headed to the commercial shoot. It was shot in a home in Pasadena. It was cool to see the production crews and all that was required of the actors and actresses to make the commercial. Since Rick and his team were in charge we got spoiled on set. At about noon we left everyone to finish up the shoot without us. We headed back to the beach for a relaxing day together. We walked along the beach, our hotel was in between Venice Beach and the Santa Monica Pier. We headed over to Main St. to do some shopping. I bought a new outfit for dinner and some new clothes. We had the concierge book us a reservation at one of the top restaurants in Santa Monica, in fact it has 2 Michelin stars. It's called Melisse. The hotel had a driver for us, so we rode over in class - a nice new A8 black Audi.

This was the view from the balcony at the hotel. We watched the sun go down While laying by the pool.

This is a picture of our hotel from the beach.

 
You can see the Santa Monica Pier and ferris wheel in the background.


Melisse - We felt a little under dressed but that was all we had and we didn't know anyone anyway so who cares. The great thing about this restaurant is that it only has chef tasting menus which is perfect because we were looking for a dinning experience and a nice restaurant. We picked the 10 course meal which was going to take about 3 hours to finish. It was delicious. Here was our menu:

Starter: - Heirloom tomato covered in goat cheese and dusted with pistachio drizzled with olive oil, two ways. ( I didn't think about taking pictures until after the first few.)

Amuse - Fresh oyster with lemon and spices

Course 1 - Egg Caviar - Soft poached egg, Lemon Creme Fraiche, American Caviar (this was one of my favorite courses - so delicious)


Course 2 - Reed Avocado - Cucumber, Santa Barbara Uni, Crisp Japanese Eel, Fresh Ginger (raw sea urchin if you didn't catch that. The eel and sea urchin was okay but this was my least favorite course. I didn't like the salmon eggs on it. The eel is on the left with the little fork in it.)


Course 3 - Poisson Cru - French Radish, Rose Geranium Gelee, Butter Milk (raw makereel, this one was good)
 

Course 4 - Roasted Eggplant Veloute - Rosa Bianca Eggplant, Black Olive, Crisp Garlic, Green Zebra Broth (this was delicious, top 5)


Course 5 - Wild Alaskan King Crab - Celtuce, Matsutake Mushroom, Sea Consomme
 
or
Black Truffle Risotto - 7 year Aged Acquerello Rice, Mascarpone, Shaved Black Truffle (This was by far the best thing I have ever eaten. It was to die for. So full of umami, rich and creamy and the best risotto ever. It should have been good, this one course was a $50 upgrade from the set dinner price of $150 a head. Yeah that means $200 a head for this meal. I got the Risotto and Rick got the Alaskan King Crab so we were able to try both dishes.)


Course 6 - Monkfish Roasted with Coriander and Espelette Pepper - Purple Tomatillo, Celeriac, Lobster Mushrooms (this was also delicious, top 5)


Course 7 - Liberty Duck Breast - Fall Tromboncino Squash, Cipollini Onions, Forbidden Rice (This was our main course. However it was just one slice of duck breast not the whole duck breast. I guess you really only need one slice of duck when you have all those other courses to eat. It was delicious, not as good as the Black Truffle Risotto but a good second.)


Course 8 - Blu de Bufala - St. John and Black Mission Figs, Aged Balsamic (this was okay. I'm not a huge fan of blue cheese so for not liking blue cheese it was good. Of course I ate it, I wasn't going to skip a course at that price.)


Course 9 - Flavors of "Banana Split" - (Dessert with banana cake, strawberry foam and chocolate mousse)


Course 10 - "Cracker Jack" - Popcorn Sherbet, Peanut Butter Crunch, Caramel Water - (this was my favorite dessert, so delicious)
 

At the end they gave us a few more plates with fresh peaches and strawberries with creme fraise, french macaroons, valhrona chocolate cookies and one other thing but I forgot what it was called.


Our dinner went until a little past 11:00pm. It was delicious and a fun experience. Our bill came to almost $500 for the two of us if you can believe that. This is probably one of the most expensive meals that we have eaten. Lucky for us someone treated us to a night out on the town.

After dinner we got a ride to the pier and of course took a romantic ride on the Ferris wheel over the water. We then walked along the beach back to our hotel and slipped into a nice bubble bath around midnight.

The next morning Rick had to head back to the commercial shoot and do some work so I enjoyed the nice comfy bed all morning. I then headed out for a walk along the beach and back to Main St. for some more shopping. I bought the kids some new clothes, a super cool yellow paddington bear like rain jacket for me at Urban Outfitters, some new running shoes at Nike and a few books. Rick suggested I continue to spoil myself by getting a massage or mani and pedi but I figured I had spent enough money shopping and have been spoiled enough this weekend. I then headed to the airport and met up with my two little ones. It was a perfect and wonderful weekend away with my man!