Toasting to Our First Year - Eat Drink & Be Merry's First Tasting Menu

First comes love, then comes oysters...

Some of you may think we live in this little foodie world where blogging coincides with love and everything is just perfect and merry.

Well it's not.

Dylan continues to walk on my hardwood floors with his shoes on, and when I yell at him, I still get the same response, "Ok ok. I'm sorry. I won't do it again." Dylan also has the bad habit of leaving wine out overnight allowing it to spoil. I finally told him to treat our wine as if it were milk and that it's vital to put it back into the cooler. I'm actually looking at my counter now, and there's a bottle, half full, sitting on the counter. Ugh.

And I'm sure I have a list of things that drive him crazy. I've seen him roll his eyes whenever I can't find my phone, or glasses, or keys. Sometimes he purposely places them right in front of me and watches me run around my tiny studio looking for them. I also heard him grunt as he picks up my Goody ponytail holders around my apartment. For some reason, they always end up on the floor, or on the couch, or in the kitchen. Pretty much if I can't find it, I'll give up and break out a new one from my 30 pack.

In our latest mishaps, we've realized that we have differences on our photoshopping skills. We actually got into a heated debate over this particular image:

While editing this image, Dylan kept telling me to desaturate the blue. So I did. And then he muttered, "Yea, it's still really blue."

Ok Jeni. Just breathe.

I was getting a little annoyed at his nit-picky editing habits, so I told him, "It's fine to me." And then turned away.

Then the Dylan said, "Look, you don't have to have an attitude about it."

"Well, you don't have to be such a BLUE HATER!" Then I pulled up his edited photos and pointed out that his photos tend to be yellow-heavy and I never picked on his pictures.

Silence.

Wimper.

Sniff.

With pouty eyes, I wimpered, "You made me cry'ded." Dylan couldn't help but laugh at my pathetic attempt to make him feel guilty and we ended up making up. It was a silly argument over our photoshop pride and we realized we have a long way to go when it comes to bringing our life of food into our life of love.

Today we're here to celebrate our one year anniversary. And both of us agree, getting to the one year mark definitely took some work and a whole lotta patience.

Before our anniversary, I was prohibited to enter my kitchen. And he actually had the nerve to kick me out of my own place.

Booted! And I was told not to come back til 6!

When I came home, I found Dylan profusely sweating in my kitchen. The poor thing was cooking the entire day and it was like finding a hamster stuck in his little running ball after several hours.

We started our dinner with some Billecart-Salmon champagne. Hints of pear and blackberries, this champagne was very stable from beginning to end. Good choice D!

Our first course began with raw Hama Hama Oysters with a Fresh Mignonette (above) after D and I have recently fallen in love with oysters after our meals at Sushi Zo and The Hungry Cat. His oysters were so stinkin' beautiful. Hot damn! The oysters and Billecart-Salmon champagne were a great pair.

Next up was a Endive Crab Salad with a Honey Vinegar Vinegrette paired with the a Dr. Loosen produced Gerwurztraminer. Oh my goodness. This salad had it all. Sweet, juicy, crunchy, sour.

Dylan wasn't happy with the aesthetics of course number three. But I thought his Shrimp Mousse Ravioli with Salmon Roe and Crimini Cream Reduction was one of my favorites of the night. I loved his mushroom cream reduction and his shrimp mousse ravioli's were so tenderly prepared.

I would have licked the plate clean, but I wanted to appear ladylike, at least for our anniversary.

Next up was course number 4, Maine Lobster Crepe with Pancetta & Vanilla Bean Sauce. By the fourth course I was starting to get full, but that didn't stop me. I loved how he tied the crepes into cutesy little packages. Nothing beats a lobster present floating in a sea vanilla goodness.

Here's J.L. Wolf's/Dr. Loosen Gewurztraminer. I was really surprised Dylan even bought this wine. He's so anti-German Riesling/Gewurztraminer because of the sweetness, but I'm really proud seeing his openness to wine for the sake of a good pairing. Sommelier in the making??? I hope so. The Gewurztraminer was a pleasant pairing against the sweetness of the endive salad and lobster crepe. The dryness in the Gerwurztraminer also paired well with the creamy crimini sauce in the shrimp ravioli dish. Mmmm....soo yummy.

Dylan was hesitant to serve course number 5, thinking I'd be too full to complete his tasting menu. He even asked if I wanted to skip one of the courses.

Hell no!

So he sent himself back into the kitchen to finish preparing course number 5, New Zealand Lamb Ribs with Lentil Quenelle and Mango Relish. The first time I had Dylan's New Zealand lamb was last year when he cooked for our mutual friend for an evening of excessive estrogen. But I thought the lamb he served for our anniversary was taken to the next level with his lentil quenelle and refined mango relish.

Dylan knows I'm a sucker for duck and all things tiny, so for our final course, D prepared a Seared Duck Breast with Raspberry Guwerztraminer Reduction with Smoked Paprika Fingerlings and Broccolini. I knew D embraced this dish. I knew this, not because this dish was perfect, but because the boy didn't eat. Instead, he stared at me with his forehead mildly wrinkled and bulbs of sweat dripping down his face. It was as if he put his entire heart on this dish. And I absolutely loved it.

I was really impressed with Dylan's choice of wine pairing for the lamb and duck courses. Domaine la Millière's southern Rhone blend was a velvety textured wine, abundant with scents of cassis and tobacco. It truly encased the soulful flavors in our last courses.

Like any Top Chef, D cringes at the thought of making dessert. So instead, he sent me back to Scoops to pick up some refreshing Tai Kim concoctions. Starfruit & Lime with Maccha Horchata topped with fresh currants truly allowed Dylan to take a break from cooking and spend time with me under the Silver Lake stars.

Here's D...hot in the kitchen. Literally. I've never seen him so exhausted in my life. I truly loved every part of my meal, and I can now say that he's officially my favorite chef. Yes, even over A.O.C's Suzanne Goin and Sona's David Myers.

We still have a lot to learn about each other, about love, about learning how not to get on each other's nerves. But we're so excited for what's to come. This weekend, Dylan has a one-way U-Haul truck headed to Silver Lake.

And he's going to be my neighbor.

Thanks for joining us for our anniversary dinner.