The Mona Lisa (Mother's Day, Part One)

For Mother's Day, Sean took me to a very romantic fondue restaurant in nearby Manitou Springs, a quaint town with shops and restaurants housed in architecturally interesting buildings (some look very Victorian). My understanding is that Manitou began as a mining town during the Colorado gold rush. Anyway... it was a beautiful setting with delicious food, and so wonderful to get away with my beloved. We've never done anything like it before (fondue restaurant), so it was fun to try. I felt a little awkward with the silverware at times (is it okay to eat the morsels directly from the long, skinny fondue fork? or should I place the food on my plate and retrieve it with the regular fork?) but it was very fun nonetheless.


lovely setting next to our table

Here we are with our specialty salad, the first of four courses, which we both thought was one of the best salads we've ever had! Spinach with dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, bleu cheese, and an incredible dressing, the contents of which I don't recall. :)

Here's the meat course, which you cook yourself at the table: two kinds of steak, salmon, sausage, chicken, and shrimp, accompanied by six or seven gourmet dipping sauces. I must admit I was a little concerned about handling raw meat (or contaminating my fork) but we managed. :)

I didn't catch a photo of the second course: "Old World" cheese sauce (with gruyere!) complemented by bread, raw fruit, and fresh veggies to dip... or the final course: milk chocolate sauce with assorted fruit and desserts to dip (strawberries, pretzels, cheesecake, angel food cake, wheat crackers, marshmallows, chocolate cake).

It was amazing, and worth the time and cost-- we were there about two hours... and it's not a cheap meal. We were soooo stuffed afterward. :) I really enjoyed how we appreciated each bite and concentrated on the flavors. Just another way to enjoy what God has thought up!