i love food

A "date night" almost always involves food -- but I'm convinced that even if lunch or dinner wasn't an expectation for a date, I would make it one. I somehow always manage to point everything back to food.
And don't worry -- I'm still within the average weight for my age and height, although I might not be without constant supervision.
Lucky for me, we went to a stellar restaurant for Valentine's Day!

We got dressed up all fancy (which meant staying in our school/work clothes, actually) and headed out to our surprise dinner location! All I knew was that we had a reservation somewhere...

 

We ended up at an Italian Bistro called Isabella's.

I had actually never heard of this place before, except through facebook, when one of our friends posted how excited she was to be going there for Valentine's Day. (I think we seemed a little stalker-ish, when we realized we were also both going to the same showing of "The Vow" right after dinner...)

The restaurant is so nice. It's about 15 minutes away, and look how adorable?

I never would have guessed this little gem was hidden inside this strip of stores. The inside was romantic and candelit, and had such a nice cozy layout.

 

A restaurant is really only as good as it's beginning bread.

So we knew instantly that this was going to be fantastic.





I got the best salad while we were there. It was a fig and gorgonzola salad, with candied walnuts and an apple dressing. It was so delicious! Right up my alley.

Dusty got the Lobster Bisque (so proud of him, and his seafood-loving ways).

We dined, and laughed, and enjoyed the atmosphere. We were quite fancy, really.
SO fancy, in fact, that I was even wearing lipstick.
You should know that this is unprecedented, except when previously forced.

And since both of us love carbs, erego we love pasta, we decided that this trip to Isabella's should be properly Italian.

My mouth is watering again.

(That really is kind of a gross phrase, I apologize.)

I'm going to skip any kind of ado, and just copy and paste the actual menu description here:

Caitlin ordered:

Roasted Butternut Squash & Sage Pasta 
linguine tossed with roasted butternut squash, sage, parmesan, and brown butter; toasted walnuts

Dusty ordered:
Spicy Chicken & Sausage Orecchiette 

Italian sausage and white meat chicken in a light garlic & parmesan cream sauce

We both ended up agreeing that Dusty's was better overall, but oh, oh, oh, they were so good.

Something about the spicy sausage with the creamy sauce in Dusty's dish was addicting.

Or maybe it was just the pasta. :)

I've already gone this far, so I may as well show you the delectable dessert we devoured.

I'm a coffee person. If you don't know this about me, we're probably not friends...

There are two things I love most in the taste-bud world. Coffee, and spicyness. I started eating salsa around the time I learned how to talk, and started drinking coffee around age 10 - they're the two things Dusty has never tried to talk me out of having on a regular basis.

I think he thinks I'm cute or something :)

So with my cappuccino in hand, we both shared the fluffiest, creamiest, most delightful mocha cheesecake on the planet. Truly, truly, what a cloud would taste like if you soaked it in java. And butter. And cream, maybe, too.

Happy day :)

Bravo, Isabella's. We'll be back.

In love,
Cait