Date Night(s) with the Willies

We've had a couple of really fantastic dates lately.  Over the weekend we tried out a new-to-us restaurant in downtown Bentonville called Tusk and Trotter.

The atmosphere was cozy and the food was incredible.

We love a good story and there is a great one on the back of them menu has a great story about the originator of the recipes Jaques Nelson (a descendant of the current restaurant chef) who left his "tyrannical wife" in 1787 and sailed to America with nothing but his leather-bound collection of recipes. The ship was pillaged by pirates, and the cookbook was lost until a couple decades ago, when it was purchased at a garage sale in Canada, and eventually returned to the family of Jaques Nelson.  The recipes are original and totally awesome.

Speaking of awesome. Behold, my date:

The food:
We started with caprese and pork belly on toasted foccacia. Yum. The salads were good, too. Our entrees were "When Pigs Fly" (pork shanks that fell off the bone..you could've cut them with a spoon) drizzled with a fig sauce, roasted root vegetables and peppers, and garlic mashed potatoes for Aaron, and "Chicken and Waffles" for me. The fried chicken was drizzles in a walnut praline sauce and the waffles were actually carrot cake waffles topped with bacon and a butter praline creamy syrup.

Heavenly. 

Then came dessert. Oh my. We ordered two:

Browned butter bread pudding with the same walnut praline sauce that was on the chicken. 

Bacon and praline ice cream. SO GOOD! It was like butter pecan, but instead of little chunks of nuts, they were crunchy bits of bacon. Indescribably decadent.  

It was pretty extravagant and by the time we finished our 2 hour meal, we knew we were cutting it close for the movie, but didn't care because our dining experience was so wonderful.  We made our way home with a plan to catch the movie another time. 

We went to the movies last night (thanks for putting my kids to bed, Bestie!!!) and saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. loved it. Good soundtrack, funny script, pretty scenery.  

Before the movie we shared a quick dinner at Qdoba and there were a few experiences there (witnessed  while people watching, and experienced) that reminded me how great Aaron is. I'd like to say he gets even better with age, but now I'm starting to think that he's always been this wonderful and it was I who wasn't able to fully recognize his greatness.  He is selfless, funny, compassionate, and reliably calm.  He ordered a bag of hot, fresh, tiny donuts at the show before I even had a chance to say I wanted some.  

Date nights sometimes remind us of how "old" we're getting. Like when we decide to head home at 8:30 with a red box and take the sitter home early. Other times are a barrel of spontaneous fun, or courses of gourmet food. It doesn't matter. Dates are always a fun time together and a time to put affection into practice. 

On Tuesday, affection spoke to me in the form of tiny movie donuts.