Happy anniversary

Nick and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary with dinner at Piedmont and a performance of Rent at the new Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC). We had reservations for dinner at 5:30pm, which was when the restaurant opened, and we were the first customers that night. It soon filled up with theater patrons, however.

On theater nights Piedmont has the option of a prix-fixe meal of three courses for $30. I opted out because I was more interested in other things on the regular menu. I ordered the maple-glazed pork belly with sweet potato puree and crispy shallots as my first course and black pepper tagliatelle with parsnips, roasted garlic, and local greens as my entree.

Nick, of course, opted to go with the prix-fixe. He had housemade country pate with dijon, pickled vegetables, and grilled bread for his first course. His entree was a crispy leg of duck confit with potatoes lyonnaise and braised kale, and for dessert he picked the ricotta cheesecake with fig and cherry compote.

I have to say that the maple pork belly was worth the $10 it cost for a tiny portion. The maple glaze was delicious and everything worked really well together. I was less than impressed with my black pepper tagliatelle, though. It was very bland and the black pepper did not go well with the parsnips.

One of Nick's favorite things to eat is pate so his first plate was totally cleaned. I really enjoyed the pickled vegetables, and I'm sure they went well with the pate. I think it's funny how I hate American dill pickles but love just about any other kind of pickled vegetables, especially Japanese tsukemono and Taiwanese pickles.

The crispy skin of the duck confit and the braise kale were the highlights of his entree. The two small bites I had were more than enough to convince me that I should have ordered a meat-centric entree. I think meat is the strength of the kitchen at Piedmont.

He enjoyed his dense ricotta cheesecake while I had one of the better cups of decaf coffee in Durham. We then drove a few minutes to the brand new DPAC and its shiny glass facade. Our seats for Rent were less than ideal because they were at the very top row. It is set up as stadium seating so it was a very steep view to the stage which made me feel woozy.

Aside from that the performance was really enjoyable. This current tour of Rent includes two original cast members in the roles that made them famous. I thought the singing was great and the set worked well for what they were trying to accomplish. I feel that DPAC needs to be more inclusive to the student population of the Triangle area. We were spoiled by the Mondavi Performing Arts Center and their dirt-cheap tickets for students in the orchestra section...

I miss Davis.