A Story About Saturday Night

Inspired by our good friends Kim and James Buckley, Glenn and I have tried to take turns planning fun things to do together for the past few months. When it's my turn itusually looks something like this:

K's brain: It's Saturday, I have the day off and am feeling super successful because I went on a long run. I'm going to plan something elaborately extraordinary for Glenn and I to do tonight!

G's brain: Wow, I'm sure glad tomorrow is Sunday. It was fun to see Kristin when she stopped by after her run (side note - this post-run Chick-fil-A stop is almost weekly), and I'm excited for whatever she's planning tonight. I hope she realizes how little money is in our bank account and just how tired I am from working x amount of hours this week.

K's brain: Yes, Glenn will definitely be ok with us going to this swanky new restaurant and then driving to Los Angeles for cupcakes. It's going to be so fun!

You get the idea. He slaves away all week so we can live this awesome life; I plan elaborate date nights and vacations for us. Needless to say, occasionally my "brilliant" ideas need some taming before they actually happen, especially on Saturday nights.

One particular Saturday night, however, I was determined to plan something we were both equally thrilled with, and something that would not cost half my paycheck. I was also wanting to experience a restaurant I either had not been to, or had only been to once, for blog research, of course. (A business expense! I could write it off!) And so, I decided we would make the trek up to a small town north of us called Encinitas.

For dinner, I made a reservation at Vigilucci's Trattoria Italiana. I did a tiny bit of research on the Vigilucci family, as I noticed they have several restaurants around town. The Trattoria was the first place they opened, and has won several awards for outstanding cuisine and a great wine list. I should interject here and say that I was never a huge Italian food fan until I spent a semester in Lugano, which is part of Ticino, the Italian section of Switzerland. My roommate was a sweet girl from Milano who had a way of saying Dolce Gabbana that would put Giada's "mozzarella" to shame. She, along with the rest of my friends there, introduced me to the lovely food and wines of Northern Italy, which has since become one of my favorite regions.

Vigilucci's Trattoria Italiana put me right back into the streets of Milan where I sipped an aperitif and snacked on house cured meats, fresh foccacia, and grilled vegetables. We sat outside on the patio (is there any other way to sit when San Diego is your home?) where twinkling white lights surrounded us, local surfers drove by, and our waiter entertained us with stories of all the foods and wines he loved.



Finally, a picture. This was our appetizer - the 'sampler' platter, for lack of a less American phrase. Everything on the plate was delicious, but my favorites were the mozzarella di bufala, the salami, and the olives. For dinner, I had the veal cutlets with a light mushroom and caper sauce, served alongside linguini. I honestly don't remember what Glenn ordered, but I do know it was delicious, just maybe not as delicious as mine. We shared a lovely bottle of crisp Italian white wine our waiter recommended, and at the end of the night the server handed Glenn the bill and me a long-stemmed rose! If that isn't the perfect end to a Saturday night, I don't know what is. Oh, maybe this... my plate at the end of the night.