Chameau, the killer dinner

Last night Brent and I joined my in-laws for a delicious dinner at Chameau, a French Moroccan restaurant. We were celebrating the 37th wedding anniversary of my in-laws, Michael and Merridee. Happy anniversary! I haven't done this in quite a while, but here's a photographic walk through our meal. This experience is definitely worth sharing! The decor is kind of all over the place, including metal camel cutouts to divide the booths, brightly colored lamps and wood carvings, but it all comes together quite nicely. We started with bread, olives and dipping oil. The bread was super soft and tasty, very reminiscent of focaccia. I won't tell you how many times we asked for more bread, but let's just say when you eat with my bro-in-law, you have to fight your way to the bread basket. My appetizer was the duck bastilla with sweet almonds, cinnamon and cilantro. The bastilla, served between a flaky dough crust and topped with powdered sugar, was one of the tastiest treats I've had in a long time! It was the perfect combination of sweet and savory. And the portion was huge! When I was done eating it, I considered canceling my entree because I was so stuffed. For my entree I had the lemon baby chicken with couscous and olive sauce. If you can't tell by the pic above, the portion was gigantic. I barely made a dent in it, but the little I ate was delicious. Despite bursting at the seams, I still had a little room for dessert. Brent and I split the cinnamon creme caramel with mint cream. This was very flan-like and the perfect way to end our meal. Brent and I certainly enjoyed ourselves, and I'm excited to visit Chameau again. "When I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it . . . and it is all one." - M.F.K. Fischer