La Jolla Groves

photo snagged from here

Last night for dinner I told Owen, "I want to go somewhere for dinner where it takes a long time." That might sound strange, but I wanted the anticipation that comes at a restaurant where you actually have to wait, sit down, and order your food.

We decided on La Jolla Groves, a restaurant in the Riverwoods that is run by the same people who opened The Chef's Table (or so we've heard). I was pleasantly surprised because it actually was not that busy when we got there, so a table was open right away. It was strange, but for a moment, I felt like I wasn't in at at restaurant in Utah County where millions of students are always flocking and causing humongous lines (ahem, Texas Roadhouse). It was so nice to go somewhere that wasn't insanely busy on a Friday night! I loved the atmosphere of the restaurant--the trees up ahead, the roses on the table that weren't fake, the adorable menus, and the super friendly staff.

Since we were already splurging by going to dinner here, we decided that we might as well get the full experience. Owen loves Italian sodas, so I let him get one. The server recommended the hazelnut flavor, which initially sounded repulsive to me, but actually turned out pretty good. And since we picked his favorite, the server brought us a free refill! This was what an Italian cream soda should taste like--it had a delicious creamy consistency all the way through, and you weren't left with a big cup of ice cubes at the end. It was wonderful!

We started with some of their fresh baked bread, which was pretty good, and the Watermelon Cucumber Salad. This salad was HEAVEN. If I am ever in the mood for just a salad, I am so coming here. The flavor was so clean, crispy, and springy. We loved it. For the main meal, I ordered a pasta for some reason, and it was pretty good (it was just a pasta after all so I don't know what I was thinking) and Owen got the Chicken Marsala, which was quite delicious, even though I don't even like mushrooms! We even decided to take a peek at the dessert menu, which was a dangerous choice because we ended up ordering the lemon cake as well, which was seriously incredible. As a lemon lover, I could have eaten the entire dessert menu, since there were 3 lemon choices, plus a citrus creme brulee! Call me a Washington freak, but I also loved the fact that all of the produce and ingredients used were local and organic. I'm totally a sucker for those kind of things. But in this case, La Jolla Groves was totally worth it!