"2015-02-17T00:00:00"^^ . . "0"^^ . . "I know what you're thinking. Why go out on Valentine's Day when you can have a quiet, unhurried dinner at home? Sad to say, our beloved kitchen is a construction zone, so here I am with my hubby on Valentine's Day. Why not go to one of our favourite restaurants in the Northwest? Sure enough, despite the fact that all of the tables were booked for the evening(it's always a good idea to make a reservation on OpenTable), Redwater delivered excellent food and top notch service. \nOur server was friendly and attentive throughout the entire evening.\nI started out with a complimentary sparkling wine topped with a half a strawberry. Hubby and I chose the Valentine's Special set menu at $65.95 per person (drinks not included).\n\nWild mushroom velout\u00E9 en croute: a nice, earthy, creamy soup with a light, flaky puff pastry crust. I wished that they'd had served it in a larger crock bowl (like what they use for French onion soup).\n\nSpring artisan lettuce salad, sweet Merlot poached pear, champagne lemon emulsion and sunflower seeds: my poached pear was perfect--it was soft but still firm with a hint of the Merlot. The tartness of the lemon and sweetness of the champagne just brought this dish up to another level!\n\nCoffee and peach pork belly with pear gastrique, arugula and strawberries: I tasted my hubby's dish and went to heaven. What an incredibly clever combination of flavours!\nThe pork belly was so juicy and tender; the flavours of coffee and peach were subtle without being overpowering. \n\nVeal osso buco, thyme mashed potatoes, local vegetables and rosemary demi glaze:\nthis dish was utterly amazing. The veal shank was tender and perfectly seasoned. The show-stopper was the rich, creamy marrow from the bone (some of which I combined with my mashed potatoes). I found the demi glaze a bit salty but most of the sauce was off to the side on my plate (instead of drenching the potatoes or the osso bucco). I also thought the tender crisp carrots looked a little lonely; some baby beets would have been good. \n\nChocolate dipped strawberry sorbetto with roasted hazelnut: oh my... What a refreshing, light dessert to top off an excellent dinner!\n\nBest of all, we didn't feel rushed at any time (it looked like our table was booked for the entire evening)--we must have been there for at least two and a half hours."^^ . "5"^^ . "0"^^ . "0"^^ . .