26 Brix

It was the evening of the Walla Walla Frontier Days Demolition Derby. We could have hung with the pseudo cowboys and ate corn dogs for dinner, but we chose to dine at 26 Brix instead (like the two should be compared?). Having a quiet dinner, just the two of us, with a few glasses of good wine and impeccable service was alluring to us. Don't get me wrong, I love finding a reason to wear my cowboy hat and lots of mustard on my corndog, please. But this evening, we wanted to share our day's events with each other while sipping good wine and not having to stop and check the stove. We wanted to be spoiled and we wanted excellent service. We knew that 26 Brix would be an excellent choice.

Located in the historic Dacres Building, we found ourselves very comfortable in this cozy, yet elegant restaurant. We started our dining event with a cheese appetizer plate and glasses of local rose' and Semillon. I chose a very delicious and crisp Sangiovese rose' from Waterbrook Winery and Steve chose the L'Ecole #41 Barrel Fermented Semillon. Once I saw the compote of figs and slices of Manchego on the plate of cheese, I couldn't get beyond two of my favorite flavors - salty cheese and figs. I was in heaven with my glass of rose, sweet figs and Manchego.

For entrees, Steve chose the seared sea scallops. The scallops were layered on herb toasted brioche with heirloom tomato tartare, watercress puree with a Meyer lemon cream sauce. My choice was the fillet of Alaskan halibut. The top of this very adequate piece of fish was layered with a crispy potato like-gratin. It sat on a bed of roasted yellow and red beets and English peas with a fava bean and arugula pesto. Both plates were artistically designed -- almost too pretty to eat.

I told my handsome dining partner to surprise me with the dinner wine. Steve chose a white-wine blend to go with our meal. A proprietor's blend named "Serience" from Washington winery, Zefina. The blend was 50% Viognier and 50% Roussane. It had just enough acidity, and plenty of floral notes, to match the seafood.

Dessert followed - - you didn't think we would pass that up, do you? We chose the "three-stone fruits on almond cakes" and a basket of New Orleans style beignets -- light little cushions of fried dough dusted with powdered sugar. Yum! With our dessert, Steve chose a bottle of Chateau Graves Sauternes - a well known white dessert wine made in the commune of Sauternes located in the southeast corner of the Graves region of Bordeaux, France.

We left 26 Brix feeling relaxed, pampered and a bit giddy. I didn't miss the county fair corn dogs at all this year.