Dining after Julie & Julia

As I told you in yesterday's post, the first restaurant we had chosen to try after watching Julie & Julia was fully booked. We went a short block from that location to Petaluma's Central Market where the chef greeted us at the door and promised we'd have a treat in store. Yalda and Olivia joined us there too, so we had quite the party.

The bread and flowers arranged on the table portended good things to come.

Yalda and my Dad chose to start with the Creamy Clam-Corn Chowder that included smoked bacon among its ingredients. I tried a spoonful at others' urging, and it was stunningly delicious!

I have been eying recipes for watermelon salad paired with cheese all.. summer.. long! And there it was on the menu, Summer Watermelon Salad. I thought it would be a great idea to sample one first. Wow! It had Greek Feta and arugula with it, and it was lightly dressed with lavender infused honey. This was definitely a great salad.

I followed that with Linguine with Stuffed Squash Blossoms, which also had ricotta cheese, organic mushrooms, fresh corn kernels and sage. It was also fabulous. However, I was disappointed that the blossoms turned into blossom on my plate. I was expecting more than one.

My father Charles preferred enjoying an appetizer as a main, and ordered the Warm Spicy Lamb Cabbage Rolls. He liked it very much, including the preserved lemon flavor surprise.

Yalda ordered this fabulous looking dish, Seared Angus Hanger Steak which came with blue cheese potato gratin, roasted grapes and onions. She said it was great, and took a doggie bag home with some of its generous portion tucked inside.

Linda went for the Red Wine Braised Black Angus Short Ribs which came with fresh horseradish mashed potatoes and root vegetables. Linda said the rib was divine! And she had the same comment as I, her Ribs was a Rib and she could have easily eaten more of this deliciousness!

The only hiccup in our food contentedness, other than wanting more, was that the other audience members of Julie & Julia must have had the same idea as a crowd showed up right behind us. With all that sudden business, the service was a little slow. Even so, I would definitely go back to Central Market again. Slow pace aside, it was friendly, and we loved that the chef came to our table a couple of times to check on how we were enjoying our meal.

Restaurant Inspection Results
Critical: 2
Noncritical: 2
Last inspected: 2/4/2009