Matt and I had the pleasure of going out on a date last night. My parents are visiting and thanks to sleep training, after we put Mazen to bed we were free to explore the city!
Since having a baby who might need us to drop everything and come home at any second combined with the fact that we often don’t have hours to spend over a multi-course meal, we’ve really been into bar hopping these days.
So our date took us to two different bars where we got drinks and appetizers.
First the new Glass Haus Kitchen, which I’ve been eying for months! The atmosphere, décor and menu all completely exceeded our expectations. The entrees are quite pricy, but I do want to go back for a fancy dinner sometime in the future.
I should have taken my DSLR with me, but instead I just have a handful of phone photos. The lighting was incredible!
The drink menu featured some really interested hand-crafted cocktails. I’m usually a wine, beer or Manhattan girl when I go out, but in the spirit of trying something new, I went for a cocktail. It blew me away! Despite being really sweet, this drink had some major depth to it. It really grew on me over time and I want to go back for another tonight!
What I do remember about the menu was that it featured a flavored liqueur with pink peppercorns, rosemary and cardamom with Bulliet Rye and candied ginger on the side.
We shared the homemade tater tots with a pimento aioli to eat.
Next stop was Tempo, where we’ve been before but not for a while. I was excited to check out the space from the bar perspective.
We had an AMAZING bartender, Justin, who went above and beyond to help us find the perfect glass of wine. When we did, we decided to share one and he split it between two glasses for us – with a generous pour. Three cheers for Justin!
We shared a Charcuterie platter with local meats and grilled bread and Salmon gravlax with whole wheat pancakes (!) and a salmon mousse and roe butter. Both were awesome!!
Since it was a special night we decided to peek at the dessert menu to see if anything tempted us. The Pecan Bourbon Bar with Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream did just that. It was awesome – especially the ice cream half : )
Such a fun night and a nod to our pre-baby days. But we were quite happy to gaze lovingly at our baby on the monitor when we got home <3
What a fun night out! Have you ever made your own gravlax? I tried my hand at it a month ago and didn’t like it (weird, since I love all kinds of salmon), but my husband looooved it. Your drink looks very tasty!
I haven’t but I’d love to!
My family is Scandinavian and I make my own gravlax every December. So easy and soooooo good! BTW, “salmon gravlax” is a bit redundant. The literal translation of gravlax is ” grave salmon” because it used to be cured in the ground. But you can make it in your refrigerator! 😉
Sounds like a lovely night.
What a cool looking bar! Love the name too!
How fun! My husband and I have a date night planned for Tuesday so I’m going to try to stay out of the Easter candy over the weekend so that I can splurge a little. We’ll see how that works out.
fantastic post really fun change from your usual- equally as good- posts, the glass bar looks awesome as do homemade tater tots and bourbon pecan bar with salted caramel ice-cream! happy parents = happy baby!
I appreciate cost saving and not over indulging much like you do- but dont bartenders and perhaps you find it overly obnoxious to split a drink? Id feel bad or something- its almost as i sometimes feel order guilt?
Not with a good tip! We didn’t ask him to split between the glasses but just said we were going to have one glass.
I would probably feel a little bad too but the bar looks pretty empty which is probably why Justin didn’t mind giving you more attention. I always appreciate when bartenders allow sips and tastes to find the perfect drink!
Also in the south this is acceptable! When i visit south carolina, it is common to ask for a shot 2 ways…when there is 3 of us we order 2 shots 3 ways. I am extremely jealous of this southern hospitality, here in NYC that would be obnoxious to ask a bartender probably.
What a fun idea for a date!
I’ve been to Charlottesville twice and am SO impressed with the local restaurants. I would love to get back — those two look utterly fabulous! I’m so happy you enjoyed a wonderful date night with your man. 🙂
I almost always love your posts but this one struck me as a little bit braggy (it was the “thanks to sleep training” part). Maybe I am hyper sensitive to the blogs that all about “look at me, I am the perfect mom, with an easy baby, and have all the answers”. YOURS is not like that, but please don’t start going there. I love the real feel and when you start getting braggy, it’s a total turnoff. With one baby, lots of things seem might seem easy, but once another one, or two, or three come along, all those words will come back to bite you. Glad you had a good night out. YOU guys definitely deserve it. I hope you don’t take this the wrong way. Sleep training doesn’t work for everyone or every baby:) So go easy, Mama…
This seems to me to be an unfair criticism of Kath – specifically on the topic of her baby’s sleep “perfect” sleep habits. Certainly, she has been far from “braggy” re. Mazen’s often unpredictable patterns until now, and she has been quite open (in a patient motherly-love sort of way) that he has caused her many a sleepless night. So, for me, it’s refreshing to hear that she’s finally beginning to see some regularity, allowing her that rare, anxiety-free date night with Matt.
Parents have been happily having their first big date night after baby for probably centuries.I sure remember ours.
I hardly think being pleased sleep training worked so her mom could stay with the baby constitutes “bragging.”
Amy — I completely relate to Kaths statement. I have a 23 mo old and a 4 mo old. We did CIO sleep training around 8 mos for my first kid and doing it now for my 2nd. I’m a total hippy but CIO works for us and I have a great sleeper who only cries when she needs us not because she is bored/lonely/etc. anyway, I have exclusively nursed both (they both hated bottles) so I am needed all the time. It’s awesome when you work with your baby to get great sleep routines in place. As a nursing mom, I love being done at 730pm (until midnight) and able to enjoy alone time. I normally don’t defend statements but I really think its hard emotionally to sleep train and so satisfying when it works and your kid self soothes easily so I would not rain on her parade. Also, I think it is fantastic when parents get some alone time — happy marriages are great for children.
I’m scratching my head trying to figure out what is “braggy” about Kath’s statement, considering all the challenges they have had with Mazen’s sleep. Congratulations, Kath and Matt, on successful sleep training! Well worth the effort, I’m sure! Glad you had a fun night out.
The dessert DOES sound good. What in the world is sable short dough, though?
Could you clear up some confusion for me on pastry flour? My 2 options at my grocer’s are: Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (Whole Wheat Stone Ground Pastry Flour -It is brown and has a flaky texture) and Arrowhead Mills Organic Pastry Flour (Made from soft wheat berries -it is whiter and more finely ground). Are both of these equally nutritious? Is the flakier texture of the Hodgson due to it being Stone Ground?
That’s a great price for dessert! Everything is SO expensive where I am.
We tend to stay at one place for an entire meal, but trying out a few apps at some different bars is a really great idea.
The dessert really sounds delish! 🙂
What a fun night out!!! 😀
Oh that Charcuterie platter looks incredible! What a fun date!
Sneaking peeks at your baby when he is sleeping is one of those un-talked about treasures of parenthood! 🙂 Also, thought of you the other day when washing our humidifier. I was glad you mentioned it in a post awhile back as I am so reluctant to pull it off the shelf to use it because of the cleaning it involves. I rarely can do it well, so I find it frustrating. I find it odd that it rarely surfaces in conversation: “Oh, what are you doing?” “I’m cleaning my humidifier.” Yet I know that there must be others out there that find the task dauntingI! Another un-talked about detail parenthood!;)
I hate the humidifier! But I do use it during colds
I totally agree you ladies – cleaning the humidifier ranks right up there with cleaning my juicer as a dreaded task that causes anxiety in this usual neat-freak! So glad humidifier season is almost over and windows can be opened…yay fresh air!
What a great date night!
Fun date night! It sounds like you guys have a TON of options for food & drink where you live, which is very nice. 🙂
Looks like a fun night! And there’s no problem with phone pictures, sometimes it’s nice to leave the camera at home! (That’s what my boyfriend says, haha)
Looks like a fantastic night out! Glad you had a great time!
looks like a great place… it must be hard to find time to go out without the baby
I have some serious c-ville envy….It is on the top of the list of places I want to visit…or live! 😀
That sounds like a fun date! It’s always nice to have a night out and a little break. I’m glad you were able to go out for the night!
Congratulations on sleep training! I believe it is good for babies… Being able to self soothe has got to be very comforting for them. We did it and our kids haven’t had their nervous breakdown yet, of course they are only 12 & 14.
This post reminds me to thank you for your great list of C-Ville restaurants. My NoVa based friend and I used it after a morning of photography on Skyline Drive and tried Horse and Hound Gastropub off your list. The service and food were DELICIOUS – I can’t wait to get back and try the rest of the places on your list! I love Charlottesville – such a wonderful escape from the DC Metro area!
Wow: “Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream”! I’d like to have one too… NOW!
Hi Kath!
Can you tell me more about your experience with sleep training? (Or refer me to a post where you explained it? I tried searching but didn’t find one.) My baby boy is 12 weeks old and I am starting to think about a schedule. I’m curious what plan you used, when you started it, and how it went. Any insight would be greatly appreciated! : )
Ashley
You’re in luck – I wrote a whole post on it on Baby KERF!
Glad that you and Matt enjoyed the night out. While parenting is a blessing, it’s important to still make time for each other.