The Hungry Cat + East Beach Engagement Party...
In Style Magazine Eat Your Heart Out
Events associated with work and party planning kept me away from my dear blog for a few weeks.
What's been going on in Santa Barbara lately? Let's see...
Anna made our group of friends aware of a good reason to dine out a few Saturdays ago.
A local girl by the name of Heather Mattoon (we've never met her) had an accident recently that left her paralyzed from the waist down. Local restaurants in Santa Barbara donated a portion of that Saturday night's profits to her to help with medical bills. Full story
here.
We all agreed to make our donation by trying out
The Hungry Cat (finally!).
Two things I loved about the restaurant:
1. The PUG burger. It's not normal how often I think about that hamburger with avacado, bleu cheese, bacon and garlic butter toasted bun.
2. The photography of all the hungry cats. Very cute.
The two things I did not love about that particular visit:
1. Our pushy waiter who Kyle nearly had words with.
2. Our pushy waiter who failed to mention he had already added a 20% tip to our group's bill which after our additional tip probably put him somewhere into the 35% tip range. Cheeky monkey.
Regardless - it was a fun night.
The place has a sense of humor. Exhibit A: Pabst Blue Ribbon in a "man can", complete with paper bag filled with ice and a plate to set it on. That's classy.
See Anna making scary faces way back there? I was clearly in deep discussion with Suzanne about how to string something together. Maybe it was toffee talk. I don't know.
Suzanne and I decided a few months ago that we wanted to throw an engagement party for Pete & Adi. Their wedding is just a few weeks away (visit their site:
peteandadi.com) so we picked Saturday, September 15th for the party.
Suzanne had the ambitious vision of a beach party complete with grilled appetizers and full dinner. It was a lot of work and we pulled it off. Big shout out to Bill for prepping and grilling all day and to Katie our favorite prep chef!
The night before the party at Suzanne's:
Roasted beet, dill and red onion salad
Corsican Orzo salad
White bean dip with oregano & olive oil
Antipasto platter
Homemade pesto and crisp veggies for dipping
The following day we finished marinating and packing up everything we needed for the evening at the beach. Everyone we invited came including Ginger & James from L.A. who we didn't think would make it.
Pete & Adi didn't know we were throwing this party for them. They were instructed to be in Santa Barbara by 3pm, to bring a sweater and that was all.
Bill grilled up chile & lime prawns on bamboo skewers, fat scallops wrapped in prosciutto on rosemary sprig skewers, rubbed skirt steak with jalapeno, garlic, sage, thyme, as well as a ton of roasted veggies. It was all soooo good!
It was such a great afternoon and evening.
I can't wait for their wedding on October 13th. My little black dress has been waiting patiently in the closet. My sister, brother in law and adorable niece Ava will be at the wedding along with just about everyone else I know. Post-wedding Rob and I are off to Mexico for much needed break. Can't wait for that either. Next post...I have no idea but it will be something wonderful.
