Two Amazing Years

August 22nd  marked a very special day for me and my husband -- our second anniversary! I still get excited calling him my husband and introducing myself by my new last name. We've been on lots of new adventures - East Coast, West Coast, Michigan, Jamaica, Japan, Australia -- to name a few since we've been married, and it's only just the beginning! We've also added a new family member since getting married: our little puppy named Eddie.

Joe worked late with his Marines on our Monday anniversary, so we decided we'd go big on a weekend celebration at Maple City or somewhere in Hiroshima. For our local celebration, we went to a restaurant Joe found on a new blog I'll definitely be following: Iwakuni Foodie!


The waitress at Bistro Café Trois did not speak any English, but they had an English dinner menu that made pointing and nodding an effective way to order. We started with a cold appetizer that had a few slices of potato & breaded chicken, a few pieces of shrimp, mussels, and a salad.

Joe ordered a tasty seafood pizza with a pesto sauce (oops, we each had a slice before we thought to take a picture!):

And I ordered a seafood pasta dish:

Along with a few glasses of white wine for me and a beer for Joe, we were having a great night. We decided that we would give the lotus root crème brûlée a taste test on the recommendation of Iwakuni Foodie. How bad could a dessert be? Plus, we live in the midst of a few lotus farms and see the beautiful blooms every day from our house. It would be a crime not to enjoy them -- especially if they are in a dessert. 

Much to our surprise, the waitress also brought out a scoop of chocolate ice cream with a tiny little sliver of strawberry on top! Japanese attention to aesthetic detail is one of my favorite aspects of dining out here. Just look at that plating! Where else do you get polka dots of kiwi and strawberry jelly on your plate just for visual pleasure?

Crème brûlée always reminds me of one of my first jobs. I was a hostess at Milk & Honey and I used to always bug the pastry chef when I wasn't busy. The pastry chef, whose name I can't remember, went to culinary school because he said no matter how hard times get, you are guaranteed to always have a job if you can cook well. It's true! I can't think of anyone who hasn't been to a restaurant in the last week, much less the last month or year. Anyway, the pastry chef would always get my attention when he'd make an order of crème brûlée because I was fascinated by such a delicate profession making use of a freaking blow torch to crisp the shell. I'm also endlessly delighted by the tap-tap-crack method of taking the first bite. It's so elegant and satisfying!

It was a rainy late night celebration, but Joe and I chatted away and enjoyed a night out. We promised each other we wouldn't get each other anything since Eddie was our gift to each other, but we surprised one another anyway. You can ask Joe personally about his gift, but he got me a Kindle and a cover with a built-in light! He's the sweetest man ever, and I'm so glad we're married. 


Much love,
Heather