Annisa
We went to Annisa on Monday night for dinner. It was our 24th wedding anniversary. 24 years. Wow..and Fred and I have been together for 30 years. Lots has happened over the past 30 years.
We have been to Annisa a variety of times over the years and then there was a fire. Annisa closed and reopened and this is the first time we have been back. One of the things I love about the restaurant is there is something very elegant and modern. Not a place that is happening but a classic. Thoughtful preparation to the food and service. A really wonderful place. A small gem in the village.
We split everything. They brought over a pastry shell filled with chicken livers, currant and chopped scallions to start. One big bite. The crunch of the pastry with the smooth texture of the chicken livers and the little currants was a pretty amazing mouth explosion.
There is only one way to describe this wine, delicious.
For the first course we started with barbecued squid. Tiny bodies of squid that had been barbecued and mixed together with thai basil and fresh peanuts sitting over a mixture of green and black beans. On the right was one panko deep fried large squid. Beautiful presentation.
The other dish was split was lightly fried stuffed zucchini blossoms. They were stuffed with chickpeas and cheese. The blossom was sitting over a mint chutney. I am not a huge mint person except on a rare occasion with the right thing. I didn't love the mint but the blossom was perfect.
For our main course we went with the duck and rabbit. Long island duck sliced and served over a brown herb sauce and chopped papaya. On the side was a rich duck soup with small pieces of duck and tiny vegetables. The other a duck rillette, pulled and shaped into a cylinder with thinly sliced daikon on top. I liked how they presented the duck three different ways. The rillette was a nice surprise.
The other main was the rabbit. Although the fish dishes sounded good but we decided to be a bit adventurous. Lightly crusted rabbit served with a light sauce and a variety of vegetables including carrots fava beans and turnips. This was really delicious. On the side was rabbit wrapped around ramps and a light japanese flavored curry.
Both the appetizers and the mains were good and certainly a lot of effort went into each one in terms of preparation and concept but honestly the best thing last night was the desserts. Beignets stuffed with pecan and salted butterscotch that came oozing out when you bit into the beignet. On the side was a Bourbon milk ice cream.
The other dessert was so incredible that if you had put an entire platter in front of me I might have been compelled to eat the entire thing. Poppy seed bread and butter pudding with Meyer lemon curd. Rich, delicious, lemony and just a huge wow.
After dinner was over we walked over to the Soho Club to see Chiddy Bang. Such a nice guy and the music speaks for itself. He even gave a shout out to Fred which was pretty cool. After a few songs, we walked home. 24 years…and counting.
Comments (Archived):
Congrats to you both!Yay for Freeman’s, too. I got to met Ken and Akiko in Sonoma. Great people. Amazing Pinots.
Happy anniversary to you, congrats!
Thanks daryn
Congratulations!!
thanks Shri.
Happy anniversary to you and Fred!
Happy anniversary!!
Sounds like a perfect evening.Happy anniversary to you and Fred. D
an evening of salty and sweet. an odd and always perfect combination. pretty much like a long lasting love & relationship that is able to stand the test of time 🙂
Congratulations!!
Congratulation for your 30 years together! Which nowaday is quite an achievment.I think finding the right partner in life is really God’ s gift and for a woman a very important resourse to be, beside a mother and wife, even something else.
Congratulations on your anniversary – that’s very cool, as two prominent people in the startup/venture scene you must have seen it all together over 30 years :)Menu reminds me of my last fortnight – just returned from an amazing ‘research’ trip to Mallorca in the Mediterranean. Diet consisted largely of squid, rabbit (a regional speciality) and fabulous local red wine (best European wine destination I reckon)Am actually now questioning why we came back to London…
I love your food blogs! It’s the reason I subscribed. Happy Anniversary!
More should be coming as summer kicks into high gear
Congratz on your 30 years together. That is truly beautiful. And thank you for a wonderful report on Annisa. I watched Jon Yi’s East on Main Street where he featured Anita Lo, the co-owner and chef and the restaurant Annisa. It was already on my list to check out but now it’s on a MUST list. Thank you and congratz again!
Savory, sweet and sublime – the love tested by time.
Wow. Monday night was our 24th anniversary as well! Wish we had had your meal. Yum!
ha! happy anniversary dory!