DINNER 168: Saturday, June 17, 2006

This evening, we met up with Brian & Milan to dine together, something we’ve enjoyed doing with them for a year or more. We’ll meet and have a ‘grown-up dinner’ at a restaurant alternately chosen by each couple. Tonight was their choice of La Petit Pierre, which was named one of Cincinnati’s Top 25 restaurants for 2006 in CINCINNATI magazine.

The small restaurant evokes a feeling of a French country house. The small garden out front is carefully tended to look wild, and the dining room is intimate and comfortable. Drew enjoyed his Mussels in white wine appetizer very much — the sauce around the mussels was warm and comforting and very, very tasty. Entrees included Scallops with Edamame Puree & Morels, Veal Scallopini atop home-made pasta, and Seared Ahi Tuna, perfectly prepared. As you can tell from the items we ordered, the restaurant focuses on French country food, but isn’t limited to it! Our desserts were good — Brian, who does not like Key Lime Pie, enjoyed his slice very much.

About midway through our meal, a server came to our table and asked, “Okay… Who is the IRON CHEF?”. We discovered that they’d see Drew’s custom license plate and were wondering. Indentifying myself as a foodie, a culinary student, and a sometimes-cook at Jean-Robert at Pigall’s, we figured a visit from the chef was inevitable. And when Suzy came over, she was delightful. We ‘dished’ a bit about the current restaurant scene in Cincinnati and about some plans that Suzy had dreamed up to enhance the chef community in the area.

After dinner, we took a short walk and chatted more about a variety of things — Brian & Milan’s ’empty nest’ experiment (which seems to be going well while their daughter is in Rome), the television show HELL’S KITCHEN, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and more. It was a great evening. Wendy & I are grateful for Brian and Milan and how our friendship with them has grown!