25 Years of Good Eating

I think, sometimes, that my life is all about eating. I love to eat. Tonight, Ron and I went out to Nicaro's, a restaurant in Silver Spring, for our 25 anniversary "special" dinner. We had a wonderful time, and a wonderful meal.

What Ron ate for dinner

We started out with soup and salad. Ron finished off a cup of sweet potato and corn bisque. He gave me a taste, and it was creamy, earthy, and corny - a deliciously sweet dish that tastes much lighter than it sounds. I buffaloed a mozzarella and tomato compote salad, set off with a white anchovy. The cheese was seasoned with herbs and fresh basil. The compote had an assertive taste that complemented the cheese, and the anchovy, well, who wouldn't love an anchovy in that moment?

What Happy ate for dinner

For a main course, Ron had grilled waluu, a firm tuna-like white fish. It was served on a bed of vegetables and greens. He gave me a taste, and it was yummy. I had a difficult time ordering, but settled on the crab cake special. It was served with mussels on a green tomato "polenta" in a sea of golden broth, and topped with fried ramp. It looked spectacular, and was a wonderful mixture of flavor and textures. The green heirloom tomatoes had a surprising, strong and fresh tomato taste, and the broth was an amazing, homey liquor finally sopped up with the bread.

Dessert? I don't know where it went.

Dessert? Of course. Chocolate bread pudding with vanilla ice cream. It was light, and we should not have shared it. Next time, we'll order two. I ended with coffee.

I say two thumbs up. The service was unobtrusive, but efficient. The menu offers surprises; the chef takes chances and delivers. Nicaro's is a new restaurant, and the chef is out to make a name for it. We hope he's successful. We really enjoyed our meal. We'll go back before our 50th.