Date night, sort of

When my turn to plan a date night coincided with the arrival of an email for the "Distill my Heart: Bourbon and Cheese" class running at Murray's Cheese on the exact same night we planned to go out, I thought it was perfect. I wanted to do some fun activity, we both love bourbon, we both want to learn more about food history and pairings, and Murray's is adorable. But, the $150 price ticket for two seemed a bit steep, especially since it came with a 10% discount for dinners that night at Murray's Cheese Bar next door, which seemed to hint at a not-very-filling-tasting-class that would require a meal after. So, we went back to the old standby: dinner & a nice walk.

I've had Rosemary's Enoteca & Trattoria on my list (alongside Locanda Verde) for a long time—it seems so quaint and darling. A rustic restaurant in the West Village with a rooftop farm for the chefs to pluck greens from for the kitchen—sounds (and looks) lovely, right?

{  Rosemary's Rooftop Garden  |  via  }

{ Rosemary's Main Dining Space  |   via  }

{ Stairs up to the Rooftop Garden at Rosemary's  |   via  }

But, we never made it there two nights ago. Well, we made it there, right up to the hostess stand to put our name down for a table (they don't take reservations), and we were told it'd be an hour wait. As the restaurant was obnoxiously jammed with people yelling, and we were famished, we hurried out to the sidewalk to find something else close and good (and less deafening).

We ended up going to a restaurant we'd been to before and liked (but we had a less-than-good experience this time), so date night was a bit of a downer in the end—especially since I was so looking forward to Rosemary's (and had already studied the menu intently!).

Things looked up once we came home and I removed the shoes that were a good idea until we ended up walking home from the West Village. Cozying up on the couch together with a little bowl of ice cream helped, too (pink peppercorn + basil from il laboratorio del gelato, if you were wondering—I will always be the person who orders the oddest food combinations on a menu).

And, Rosemary's texted me 2.5 hours later to tell me our table was ready. They're a little nuts (and need to start taking reservations!).