Our February date was a cold and rainy day – the Saturday after Valentine’s day. Due to the weather, we didn’t go out for as long as usual.
We started the afternoon with a quick stop in at Reconsidered Goods, one of our favorite little thrift/reuse shops. It is such a fun treasure hunt – they have traditional thrift store finds for the home like plates, cups, decor items, etc. But they also have a sizable amount of craft and art supplies that have been saved from the landfill. I always check out their fabric and notions, but they have leather, yarn, scrapbooking supplies, frames, canvases, paints, and so much more. I’m working on making some reusable fabric gift bags so I picked up a little roll of fabric.
Next we stopped off at World of Beer for a quick drink before our dinner reservations at Osteria, in the same shopping center. I had never been to World of Beer before, and I would like to come back when the weather is nicer. It was a bit empty, but it looks like a fun place to spend a warm afternoon out on the patio. I’m guessing that the tall windows also bring a lot of sunlight in on brighter days.
We had early dinner reservations at Osteria, an Italian restaurant that Ian had recently been to for a work event. For being in a nondescript shopping center, it was cozy and welcoming inside. We enjoyed the crepes appetizer, their warm bread with white bean topping, the pesto gnocchi, a fish special, and desserts of tiramisu and a chocolate lava cake.
We were so stuffed that we headed right home and promptly laid down in a food coma! I highly recommend Osteria for a special occasion, the cost was a little higher than we usually go for – but we enjoyed everything and did not leave hungry!
We are pescatarian (only meat we eat is fish/seafood) so finding restaurants that offer more vegetarian friendly options than just a salad, a black bean burger or subbing an Impossible patty into a hamburger can be difficult. There were a couple of options on the menu at Osteria – and Ian has tried both of them and says they are great. The main course options were a pesto gnocchi with mushrooms and a mushroom risotto. The crepe appetizer was also vegetarian with artichokes, spinach and ricotta cheese inside. As mostly plant based eaters, we love a good bean dish and we have been trying to recreate their white bean “salad” that comes out with the bread. So simple yet so delicious!
