Most of today’s food was forgettable until dinner, so we’ll just forgo everything to that point.
Dinner was at a lovely upscale restaurant called The Stumbling Goat.  Walking in, we were greeted with wonderful aromas, however the ambience was bimodal. The wall decor was great, the ambient table lighting were fake LED candles. Dinner, however, which was a surprise, ended up being part of the Seattle Restaurant Week. It allows you to try out great Seattle restaurants and modest prices and in exchange these restaurants get an opportunity to appeal to otherwise untapped markets. For a reasonably additional fee, a wine pairing may be added (which I did).
We started with a cheese plate that, itself, was not part of the deal, but totally worth while. The outright winner was a French blue – bold, creamy, and unafraid. There was a Washington camembert that I wish I could have taken a wheel home of. The cheeses were flanked with thin sliced Washington apples, halved dates, and rhubarb jam. The jam was unfortunately uninspired as I think the chefs toned down the tart of the rhubarb to cater instead of letting it soar on its own virtue.
First course: Artichoke Parmesan Bisque – this was garnished with a black garlic puree and creme freche and was paired with a prosecco. The soup was brilliant, really, but the wine pairing was a mistake. Starting with a prosecco was just interesting: although the pairing most definitely should have been a dry white, I think I would have started with a SauvB or a PinG. I simply cannot say enough good things about this soup, I really just cannot.
Second course: Seasonal Risotto – this was a simple dish that came off quite well. Risottos are notoriously difficult to prepare properly  and this one was spot on. The risotto had leeks and a chlorophyll-based sauce placed about the rim. We had two different people in our party ask the server what it was and no one could properly hear him, so we gave up and just accepted that it was delicious. It was green, so we know it came from a plant. It sounded like “Ramp” to me. This was paired with a simple Sauvignon Blanc. Let me clarify – oftentimes, cheaper wines have too many additional flavors that conflict and ruin it. This was crisp and clean SauvB, no distractions, no BS. I thought it was an excellent wine pairing for the dish. Drinking the wine cleansed the palate so each go back at the risotto was like a fresh taste.  This was a very strong main course – I was really impressed. The girls each got lamb ragu which I had a taste of and it was succulent and impressive. The lamb was lightly breaded and fried and served in a tomato base that was not as boring as that might sound. My mother ordered Pan Seared Idaho Trout. It was served with a citronette and pancetta sauce that partnered well with the fish. Peas and pearl onions were spooned over the fish and helped complete the main dish.
Dessert: Chocolate Ardberg Cremeaux – this was very similar to a chocolate mousse served with chocolate crumbles and hazelnut tuile and a few mini-slices of blood orange. I stumbled into this treasure because I really do not like desserts – key lime pie is my exception – so I chose my dessert based on the wine pairing which, in this case, was a tawny. This was about 2oz of deep desire. But the cremeaux was just beyond amazing. I couldn’t believe how well the blood orange paired with the chocolate, and the hazelnut added to that, well, it was nothing short of perfect. Complex, beautiful. Serving size was great. In the midwest, desserts are unbelievably large. This was the right amount – enough to let you really get to know the dessert, but not so big that you go home one step closer to having obstructive sleep apnea. The tawny was a strong pairing. My mother and sister got Pound Cake which was served on a bergamot and rhubarb curd. It was light and beautiful. Steven had an ice cream sandwich that he didn’t let anyone close to, so you know it was good.
Mom and Libby had a cocktail called a Dark and Stormy – this was a dark rum mixed with homemade ginger beer with a light twist of lime, garnished with a lime wedge. This was a really excellent cocktail. I really like ginger beer, but I find it difficult to drink on its own and am becoming increasingly convinced that ginger beer is like bitters – it’s really only to be used in cocktails.