Saturday night was our first night out without Ashwini. It was also our first experience with babysitting. But, it was at her daycare with her usual teachers, so, not a big change for her and she was comfortable being there. That is what we liked about it.

The last time, V and I went out to a restaurant for dinner was sometime in Feb2003, i.e. before Ashwini’s birth. We dropped Ashwini off at around 6pm and our dinner reservation was for 730. So, spent an hour at Borders to do something we like to do: browse books. Predictably, walked out of there with a couple of kid’s books for Ashwini.

Dinner at the ‘Real Seafood Company’ was excellent. Here is what we had: Me: New England Clam Chowder followed by Sashimi-grade yellowfin tuna, grilled medium-rare with a sauce made from wasabi and soy sauce. It was heavenly. V didn’t appreciate the pink-red stuff inside the hunk of tuna, but, that was the best part in my opinion. V: Crab cake appetizer followed by grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa. Her crab cake was tastier than the Mahi Mahi.

We had a bottle of Brancott Estates 2002 ‘Reserve’ Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough region of New Zealand and we liked it a lot. Should buy a case of it, if I find it at a local store. It was not very dry and was full of fruity flavours with high acidity and a lingering finish. I would recommend it to anyone, who is looking for a change from regular Chardonnays.

We wanted to get desserts at another place that has great desserts but, it was full and we didn’t have enough time to wait. So, ended up eating a cheesecake at a small little chocolate shop that was not that great.

Picked up sleeping Ashwini at around 945pm. That was the end of our first dinner date after more than a year. Hopefully, we’ll go out and do this more often now as we know that Ashwini is OK with babysitting in the evenings.