The lovely and charming Cyrus and I went out to dinner this evening. It’s been a long time since we’ve done that. He’d wanted to go to Maria Pia’s; but alas, they are closed for renovations at the moment. Instead, we went to the relatively new Rouge on the corner of Cuba and Vivian.

To start, we shared the bread+dips. This was more impressive than it sounds. First, the bread – there were all sorts of types of bread – lightly toasted, wholemeal, and a couple of types of white bread. The dips, on the other hand, were presented wonderfully – circular dishes of a pesto, a beetroot based dip, crushed olives, yogurt+cucumber and diced tomatoes; with a dish of olive oil balanced in the middle.

With the dips (and our main courses), we each had a glass of wine. Cyrus went with a Viognier (Shelmer ’03? can’t really tell too much from the receipt(!)), where I went with a Melbus Estate ’01 Merlot. The merlot was lovely and fruity.

For the main course; Cyrus had Chicken ‘n’ Tequila, which came with carrots and leeks; and a verjuice and lime jus. He seemed to be pleased with it. I had poached veal loin on a potato confit with a saffron and chilli vinaigrette. The veal was just delicious, as was the confit. The vinaigrette I could take or leave.

Between the main and dessert, we had cocktails. Cyrus went with a golden margarita which was very nice as margaritas go; but much too salty for my liking. I chose the Apple+Vanilla sour which was suprisingly sweet. As a nice decorative touch, both cocktails were served with rose petals floating on top.

For dessert, Cyrus had Kapiti ice-cream. You can buy it at the supermarket, so it’s not too exotic. I went with a Toffee Pop mascarpone cheesecake. Mmmm. The cheesecake had a really smooth texture; and was drizzled with a sticky caramel sauce; and decorated with strawberries and rasperries.

All in all, it was a wonderful meal, and would certainly go again given the opportunity.