Friday night date night (with friends)

As a rule, John and I rarely go out on Friday night. For the most part all we ever want to do after a long work week is collapse in a heap on the sofa and watch TV—House and Numbers. We love our ritual, and we like staying up late and sleeping in on Saturday morning while the kids gorge themselves on TV. But this past Friday night (4/20), we had an invitation from our friends Dave and Sarah to help celebrate their birthdays (they're married, with birthdays on April 18th and 20th, respectively).

John and I met Dave and Sarah and Colin and Helena for cocktails at The Monte Carlo, which was our stomping grounds throughout our 20s. The Monte Carlo has this fantastic mirror-backed bar and a dining room patina-ed with timelessness. The bartenders mix cocktails big and strong, which is exactly how I like them. The restaurant has added a large patio since we've stopped hanging out there regularly. And, this Friday evening was absolutely gorgeous so we took advantage of the lovely, as-of-yet bug-free evening and sat outside.

After drinks, we headed to Saffron for dinner. Saffron is located in the Warehouse District, across the street from 112 Eatery, in one of those great spaces with sturdy columns and high ceilings, made intimate with walls painted dark red and saffron. The menu features upscale Mediterranean food, leaning heavily toward the spice combinations (saffron, cumin, coriander, and sumac) and food stuffs (merguez, kibbeh, lamb, chickpeas, couscous) of Morocco.

We started by sharing some mezzes (eastern Mediterranean small plates, like tapas) that included a house-made, spicy lamb merguez with red pepper confit, braised beef ravioli with eggplant and harissa, a grilled leek and sheep's feta tart, tuna and veal carpaccio with preserved lemons, chilled rare tuna with tabbouleh, and scallops with fried clams and saffron.

All the guys had the beef strip loin served with a smoked potato gratin. Sarah had the salmon and clam tagine with potatoes—the salmon was silky and rich. I had a braised lamb shoulder, melting and unctuous, served on a bed of stewed chickpeas that, to my mind, redefined the potential of dried legumes. We drank a passable chianti (Castillo Chianti Reserva '01). Organized by characteristics (e.g., semi-dry, medium bodied, lush), it's an easy, but not great, list to navigate. We wrapped up the meal by sharing a few desserts—a chocolate ganache cake, a banana tart, and a saffron rice pudding that nobody liked (and, I've noticed, is no longer on the menu).

In all, it was a fun evening out with friends. Lots of laughs and very good food. I can't wait to eat at Saffron again as there were other things on the menu that I'd like to try, such as the salmon and clams or the sumac-rubbed chicken, as well as other mezzes, such as the lamb brains. The house lavash and hummus that appeared from the kitchen as an amuse-bouche were also noteworthy.

Go eat there now!