We usually don’t make a big deal out of Valentines’ Day at our house. Most of the time I make dinner for the family, my husband and I may, or may not, exchange cards and we are often sick of chocolate hearts as they have been on sale at the grocery store since December 26th. But this year, we went all out. We got dressed up, bought gifts and cards for one another and made the long, traffic filled trek into Seattle for dinner at a restaurant that we had never heard of before that night. We did not know what to expect and we were pleasantly thrilled at our choice!

Vestal was listed as one of the top 10 romantic restaurants in Seattle and it did not disappoint, the ambiance was spectacular. The wait staff were attentive and timely and the food was top tier! We had their 5 course prix fixe menu which was specifically designed for Valentines’ Day. Of course we had to start with a cocktail (or two)!

We also opted to start with the wild brook trout caviar which was served with mini buttermilk biscuits and maple bourbon butter. I am not going to lie, the maple bourbon butter stole that show! We also had some of their sourdough bread which was amazing-sorry no pictures of those!

Our first course was the Kumamoto oyster & pink scallop with cara cara orange granita and smoke.

I am probably the only person in Washington State that does not love oysters, so my husband got two and said they were fantastic. I do know the scallop was great too!

The second course was my favorite. It was albacore crude, candied Meyer lemon, pickled shitake, dashi, lemon oil with nori chips. A lot of ingredients that added up to a ton of flavor!

I could have had two bowls of this and been happy!

The third course was pure country pork ravioli, pickled celery, roasted shallot with parmesan froth-yes, froth. There was some molecular gastronomy going on at Vestal.

This was delicious, just delicious!

The next course offered a choice. Either a ribeye steak or cedar planked steelhead, steelhead skin chicharrones and charred carrots. We both chose the steelhead and were glad we did. It was perfectly cooked and had a soy glaze that was incredibly succulent!

At this point we were truly stuffed. My husband also had the wine pairing and was falling behind on his wines (I was driving so only a couple sips for me!). But, there was no way we were going to miss the dessert. Dark chocolate, black sesame tuile cookie, caramelized kasu ice cream with freeze dried mandarin rounded out the menu.

The tuile cookie contained the dark chocolate mousse, but the star for us was the ice cream!

Of course they had to offer us a parting treat with the bill. The final palette cleanser was a house made vanilla macaron and it was executed to perfection just like the rest of the meal. Just a warning, this is not a cheap date! But if you are looking for a unique experience with great food then you will be happy you went! We will definitely be recommending Vestal to our friends and family for a special occasion.

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentines!