Anthony's in the Catalinas'

2.07pm 24 April 2006 Monday

Our last two weekends involved rather explosive arguments that involved car shifting and sleeping in separate beds. The one we had over Friday and Saturday finally culminated in a furious baking exercise, which, incidentally ended matters. It is difficult to bake for someone when you're mad at him. The cheesecake, however, turned out really well and I brought some for Renu and Nanao today.

But that was not what I wanted to write about. Last Tuesday was our 6 month anniversary which crept up on us without any notice, and a last minute decision of my group freed up my evening, so we decided to go for a nice dinner spontaneously. He was supposed to surprise me with a place we've never tried before and we took time to dress up for it, which was really fun considering we seldom really wear anything more formal than t-shirt and jeans in casual ol' Tucson.

I remember looking at the online menu offered by Anthony's a couple of weeks ago and gasping in shock, but our experience there was so enjoyable, it was almost worth it. Two doormen opened a big cellar-like wood door that led into the restaurant, which had more seating space than we expected. We were seated by the window facing the garden, which was filled with spring blooms and had a sprouting fountain in the middle. The room itself had a tall, sloping ceiling with wooden beams, which made it look like a comfortable log cabin. A pianist was hidden unobtrusively in one corner, playing timeless classics one after another. There was a mid-sized room immediately adjacent to ours that housed a group of seniors celebrating a birthday, but the glass windows in between the rooms offered a peek at the city skyline below. We thought the event room was the patio/ balcony, but later we realised that there was actually another dining space for those who wanted to be away from the main room and enjoy the cool Spring air with a gorgeous view.

The wait staff came by one after another; the first took our cocktail order; the next set a plate of salmon cream cheese with crackers on the table; the third proffered a menu with the night's specials and someone in between glided in to fill our water goblets. After we sipped our cocktails and had an opportunity to try the appetiser, a sommelier appeared by H's side to offer wine suggestions to go with our dinner. By then, we've already decided on what to order and his photographic knowledge of all the wines in the big tome disguised as the wine menu saved us from having to make a headachy decision.

The appetisers appeared soon after our tour of the facility (very nice Spanish style bathrooms) and while the quality of the lobsters were impressive, the dressing wasn't. The lobsters were really fresh, sweet and juicy with no hint of H's hated fishiness, and perfectly cooked so that they popped out of their shells with no struggle. Unfortunately, they were smothered with an odd herb-y garlic mixture that completely overwhelmed the delicious lobster, that we could have been eating anything from a piece of toast to caviar - it wouldn't have made a difference. Darn the Americans with their desire to overspice and overpower everything.

H's soup, however, was faultless. It was creamy and full without being cloying, although H would have loved it thicker, and the flavours of broccoli and mushroom infused into the soup so... subtly. The sourdough bread provided was an odd choice, because a simple, crusty bread would have been a better companion.

We nibbled on the bread for a while more and chatted with a pianist playing in an appropriately romantic and quiet style. He even played my favourite song, albeit overly upbeat, if you ask me. But then again, the rest of the songs were so soothing, I was ready to fall face down into my food.

The dinner that followed was perfectly executed. My roasted duckling (trust me, I felt quite bad about eating the cute little ducklings and then seeing them at our lake the next day..) had a crispy skin with very tender and plump meat. The accompanying green peppercorn/ honey glaze wasn't too sweet, nor did it soak the whole plate in excess, thank goodness. Unfortunately, I was too stuffed with the appetiser and drinks that I could only manage part of my duckling before giving it up. H's chateaubriand had a very intense, grilled crust and a juicy centre which he enjoyed, but was too meaty for me.

I was a little disappointed when the waiter refused to give me a dessert menu, but it was actually part of the restaurant's celebration of our anniversary. He appeared with a baked Alaska for each of us, and of course, it was absolutely delectable. The meringue shell was doused with Cointreau or Grand Marnier and flambed for a moment, and that created a very bitter, crispy outside which was a good contrast to the soft fluffy and sweet meringue below, the cold neopolitan ice cream in the centre, and the yellow cake on the bottom.

Anthony's seemed like a place for lovers or those with something to celebrate, because the prices weren't as affordable as your neighbourhood kopitiam (coffeeshop). However, the attentive and incongruous staff; and the cosy yet elegant atmosphere made it very romantic and something to really look forward to. We were so impressed that we made reservations for my graduation dinner to be held there, but after a night of impressive service, they actually refused to allow us to book the patio "in case we don't open the patio if the night isn't as busy". Very disappointing and non-accomodating. We're thinking of going to our neighbourhood restaurant Le Buzz with their impecable service instead, but we shall see about that. Anthony's does have that nice pianist and the view is impressive.

Argh. Time for my dreaded Biochem. Sigh. I really hate this class. Dinner last night was a yummy home-style gyros with rice and veggies. H added a cream sauce made from fat-free cream cheese, but you couldn't even tell that it was fat free. I added some milk to the leftovers for lunch and mixed it into a veggie stir-fry that was already emitting sweet juices from the red/yellow/green bell peppers, and stuffed it into a toasted pita. We washed that all down with a mango-orange smoothie - proud of our healthy meals! (It was amazing how H scarfed all that veggie down when it would have been a chore to convince him to eat it otherwise...)

Will be cooking again tonight. Hopefully this spate of cooking will keep up... otherwise we're spending waaayyyy too much on food.