Dinner with Julie and Julia

Last night I saw the movie Julie/Julia. What a sweet delight. I love food movies (remember Babette's Feast?) I guess I'm just a foodie at heart. Anyway I went with my girlfriend Rebecca and she thought it would be a good idea to have some French food beforehand. It turned out to be a great idea. We went to a great funky little French restaurant in the River Market called Le Fou Frog for Happy Hour. We spent a small fortune (for working girls and for Happy Hour) but it was well worth it. We started out with a huge plate of steaming muscles cooked in a wine and cream sauce (to die for). There was a french baguette on the table constantly with butter- we plowed through several of those and used it to soak up all the delicious sauce that the muscles were served swimming in. Rebecca had a nice glass of Merlot, but I was driving so I had mineral water, but I would have LOVED a glass of wine with this food. Our second course was soup. I had lobster bisque- a delightful pool of reddish creamed soup with little flecks of lobster floating in it- heavenly. Rebecca had potato and leek soup, also a creamy delight. Both soups were pureed so they were just bowls of unadulterated liquid bliss. We soaked up any still clinging to the bowls with our baguettes. The third course was salad. I ordered greens with a citrus vinaigrette and warm goat cheese on a crouton. Rebecca ordered a fabulous looking crab cake served atop greens and slathered in a delicious sauce that was not romoulade. We shared our salads between us. The crab cake was divine. The warm goat cheese generously dolloped atop a buttery crusty crouton, was a delectable accompaniment to the tangy citrus-y greens. I was in heaven. For dessert we split my favorite: creme brulee. Damn those skinny-assed French with all their fabulous sauces. The tab came to $60 including the tip, which we split down the middle. But who can put a price on time spent with a good friend over good food?