Goodbye, Hello & Thank You

Goodbyes are always hard.  Hellos are always fun.  And Thank Yous make the world go around.  Last night we had some of each to do, so it was a bitter-sweet evening.  However, there was nothing bitter-sweet about the food.  Remember when I went to “France” to eat crepes the other week?  Well, since then, Miss Connie has been desperate for crepes, and, as this evening was her leaving do, she got to pick where we went.  It took her about 3 seconds to let me know.  “I want those crepes!”, she said emphatically.  Then crepes, my dear Miss Connie, you shall have.  Off to La Cote we shall go!

We ate two bowls of the World’s best salad between us.  You know, the salad that made me weep & want to have it’s enfants.

Butter lettuce, shaved fennel, apple, chives & a vinaigrette dressing worthy of marriage.

I drank Peppermint Tea to calm the butterflies in my stomach.  You know, the butterflies that you get when in the presence of your paramour.

We tried not to eat too much bread, but really?  5 girls & a pile of bread.  It never was destined to end well for the bread.

The French-ness of La Cote still makes my knees wobble.  All the French servers speaking in their heart-thumping accents helped that along.

I’d been dreaming about the Duck Crepe Special since my first visit, but when faced with a crepe filled with leeks, cream, scallops & scallions, my head was turned & my heart set aflame.

Oooh, la la.  Perfection on a plate.

We had two “Hello!”s to do:  Polly & Kay.  Welcome to our world, ladies: we work {very} hard, we have {a lot} of fun & we like to eat {great} food.  And we get {extremely} excited about our little dining adventures, especially since they don’t happen all that often.

Mic & “The Nugget” just had to have the Croque Monsieur.  I snagged a bite.  Oh-so-good.  Perfectly crisp on the outside, perfectly creamy & delicious on the inside.  Mic has a thing for Croque Monsieurs, ever since we went to Cafe Campagne back in January.

I admit, the service was a bit slow, I think because there was 5 of us.  It’s hard to get a pile of crepes all ready at the same time.  Mic & Polly were kept waiting a little longer than we’d have liked.  Having the apology delivered in a charming French accent definitely helped.

Polly went for the quiche.  That quiche rivals my #1 world’s best quiche at Honore Bakery.  Seriously good, and not a small slice either.  Polly swooned.

Yes, we had more bread.  It was just the right thing to do.

Kay got things started with the French Onion Soup.   Oh my.  Hot, gooey, cheese-y, onion-y goodness in a bowl.

Followed up by La Fermiere crepe: chicken & mushrooms in a creamy sauce with creme fraiche.  Awesome.

Miss Connie had some bacon, potato, cheese plus I-can’t-remember-what concoction.  La Cote’s website isn’t fully functional yet so I can’t check.  Sorry about that.  But really, who cares?  Bacon, cheese & potato.  What else do you need to know?

Then.  Then came desserts.  Pears, ice cream & chocolate sauce in a crepe.  Heavens to Betsy.

Miss Connie, Mic & Kay invented new crepes, right there on the spot.  I remember it involving a lot of peanut butter, apples, ice cream, chocolate maybe.  We were having {way} too much fun for me to recall the details now.  I am pretty sure that our adorable French waiter thought we were completely mad in the what-tastes-good-together department.

I secretly wanted what Polly had – La Citronnee – crepe, lemon juice, sugar.  Simple.  Magnificent.

 We said goodbye to Miss Connie, we said hello to Polly & Kay and I said “THANK YOU” to everyone.  I have the best team ever.  They deserved a night eating the best crepes in Seattle.

La Cote – j’adore!