It’s Friday night and the typical ping-pong Q&A you expect from a 20 plus year married couple trying to decide where to eat out. I routinely attempt to defer to Terry, since his stomach and diet limit our choices some evenings. He was craving a steak and none of the local Leavenworth haunts sounded appealing. Nor did anything at the Legends, which on a Friday night at six o’clock is a frightening experience, especially when looking for a parking spot.
Terry and I occasionally watch KCPT‘s Check Please and recently watched the episode featuring Nick & Jakes in Parkville. We jumped in the car, and enjoyed a sunset drive down K-5, I-435 and MO-45 in the Bonneville, which has new quieter and grippier tires and full synthetic motor oil (again thanks to Terry who took care of all that car maintenance earlier in the week). Once we arrived, we easily found a nearly front-row parking spot. The wait, however, we were informed was at least forty minutes and they were out of pagers. We weren’t in any hurry (knowing that Friday nights can be crowded) so we stood in the foyer. Within five minutes, we had a pager, and we were seated in less than twenty minutes.
Our waitress greeted us and asked if we’d every been to Nick & Jake’s before. We hadn’t, so she cheerfully informed us of the amenities and specials available for dinner that evening. I chose one of the specials, a grilled king salmon with a walnut crunch topping and bourbon maple drizzle, with grilled asparagus and a salted baked potato (as opposed to the steamed potato most often served in restaurants). I substituted the potato in for the sweet potato and apple casserole, as I don’t like either sweet potatoes nor baked apples. Terry ordered the sixteen ounce rib-eye steak (medium rare) , also with a salted baked potato. For an appetizer, we ordered the Irish nachos.
Terry enjoyed the appetizer, which was comprised of thinly sliced potatoes (fried like slithly thick potato chips the size of a potato), smother in jack and cheddar cheese (melted) and bacon with a ranch dipping sauce. I tried a few of the chips with the least cheese (if you know me at all, you know I don’t voluntarily eat most dairy products, especially cheese). We took half the appetizer home with us, as we didn’t want to spoil our appetites for the main course.
I asked for (and received) margarine with my baked potato (harder to come by than you might think) . Yes, more of that dairy aversion syndrome I suffer from. Our main dishes arrived in a timely manner and were presented pleasantly and appealingly on the square white plate.
My first bite of salmon amazed me. Quite possibly the best salmon I have ever eaten. Simply astounding. The asparagus was crisp and flavorful, although slightly larger than I normally prefer to eat it; still excellently prepared and presented. I saved the potato for last, making sure I savored all the salmon and asparagus before dabbling in starch. Terry was proud of me for ignoring
Terry proclaimed the rib-eye the best prepared and tenderest steak he’d ever eaten. I had a couple of bits of the steak and it was delectable.
One final serendipitous perk awaited us, when the waitress informed us desert was on the house for first time guests. Although I desparately wanted to try the chocolate cake, I deferred to Terry’s preference of carrot cake, which we took home to try later. Each of us tasted a bite when we arrived safely home.
We will definitely be returning to Nick & Jakes in the future, perhaps to try their Sunday brunch (next weekend – Sunday – is Terry’s birthday so be sure to wish him well!).
To ensure Terry took his after dinner nap (aka a food coma), I stacked some wood in the fireplace and lit the first fire of Fall 2010 in the Moss residence corner fireplace.
