As you can tell from my last post, I love the Lincoln Café and it never disappoints.

Last night, however, was above and beyond. It was seriously the best meal I’ve had in probably a year.

We had:

Cumin-crusted ribeye over tomato rice, served with pumpkin seed sauce, feta-stuffed fried peppers, topped with a huge shrimp in the shell (it was so big it was like eating lobster; I am a very lucky girl because Denny gave me his), and served with a spicy tomato cocktail on the side.

Just a day or two before, we were sitting around watching the Food Network (notice obvious patterns in my behavior), and we saw a really cool recipe for a tomato martini. I wonder if Matt saw that show too, or if the guy on the show recently ate at the Lincoln Café, because the spicy tomato cocktail was almost exactly like the tomato martini on the show.

It was really cool–it was just the clear liquids from the tomato, so it was basically transparent with only the very lightest hint of pink. I’m going to have to try to make that. The one on TV was served with a skewer of fresh mozzarella and cherry tomato; Matt’s had hot pepper slices floating in it. They are both meant to be served very cold. The one last night was a knockout; it was the perfect complement to the hot flavors and textures of the food. I am definitely going to have to give that a try, what with our bumper crop of tomatoes. Anybody know where I can get cheesecloth around here?

For dessert, I had a cherry mousse with apple-hazelnut compote and a cinnamon churro. The mousse and compote were good, but the churro was a little disappointing; it was tough and chewy when it should have been light and crispy, like in Spain. However, I don’t blame Matt for that, since the pastry chef is someone else.

Denny had a buttermilk biscuit with blueberry/plum compote and yogurt whipped cream.

In other news, Denny did take a picture of the layered dessert from the other night. The lumps in the foreground are raspberries, which you might not be able to tell. It was tasty, and there are four more slices in the freezer.