Our Friday, August 19, dinner at 3 Doors Down Cafe

Milton, Kay and I rode the bus to the restaurant for dinner. We were tired from all of our sight-seeing fun and very hungry. Leland joined us there, and Lamont was in the kitchen, cooking away--the only way it would have been better would be to have Kailey and my brother Howard and his wife Vanessa up from Mississippi with us. Turns out that's for another post.

We four shared the first appetizer: Grilled peaches topped with shredded duck made special for us by my older son, sous chef Lamont


Leland and Milton shared this appetizer: Steamer clams, pan-steamed with white wine, basil, garlic & parmesan cheese


Kay and I shared the two salads.
Organic greens, raspberry poppy seed vinaigrette, hard cheese & toasted almonds


Panko-crusted fried eggplant with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella


Milton and Kay each had this entree: Grilled Painted Hills flat iron steak, potato pave, Romano beans, and roasted garlic butter


My entree, the evening's special: Braised rabbit with house-made capellini pasta and mushrooms, onion and maybe bits of bacon--I forgot to ask.


Leland's entree was the house-made ricotta cheese cavatelli pasta with pork and beef sugo. The photo did not turn out very well, but it's a wonderful dish. I've had it a time or two.

Milton, Kay and I decided on dessert--we have our favorites from the dessert menu at 3 Doors Down.

Kay's banana cream pie


Milton's bread pudding


My bocca negra

Friday evening at 3 Doors Down Cafe

Prickly Pear Margarita, so smooth, barely sweet, totally refreshing


Spring panzanella salad of asparagus tips, English peas, radishes, fried croutons, pureed almond and red wine vinaigrette, perfectly textured, a real taste of spring

Sarah from work and I stopped by for a cocktail and a bite to eat before going to the Hollywood Theater to see a movie. Besides each of us enjoying the Prickly Pear Margarita, we shared the salad, and two appetizers: fried risotto & parmesan arancini with Mama Lil's Hungarian pepper aioli and seared sea scallops, warm romesco and micro greens.

Perfect, sun-warmed dining followed by another side of life, no less satisfying in all of its dark, complex, emotional morality--director Cary Fukunaga's version of "Jane Eyre."

Quite the evening out.

Y'all hungry? Let's go to 3 Doors Down Cafe, SE 37th and SE Hawthorne

What I had on Friday, August 7, 2009


Appetizer: Pan-seared sea scallops, sauteed peaches, honey basil cream sauce.


Salad: Iceberg lettuce wedge with cashel blue cheese dressing (and a sweet and crunch giant onion ring that I think Lamont cooked)


Cocktail: My first ever dirty martini