A delicious going away dinner

I know it's been a while since I last posted, and I really have no good excuse. I'm just kinda lazy sometimes.

But I'm back! And last night I had a DELICIOUS dinner for Elora's last night in Bloomington. We went to Restaurant Tallent for dinner, a great chef-owned restaurant here in town. The chef uses local ingredients, as well as those in season. Jess and I have been wanting to go for a while, and this was a great excuse! While we didn't get the tasting menu (Jess and I are going to go back for that), we did order some great food. The 5 of us each got appetizers and entrees. Alex, SJ and I ordered the House-Cured Charuterie.

The jar contains duck liver pate with a rich fig topping, which literally made me pause as soon as I put it in my mouth. It was so rich and flavorful that my tongue didn't know what to do. There are also some pickled vegetables, bacon (at least I thought it was bacon), a mustard sauce and some beef. It was DELISH! And only the appetizers. Jess got the crudo.

Last night's crudo was an albacore tune with avocado tempura and micro-green salad. It was really rich but really good. She let me try some :) Jess is also a much better food photographer than I am, so I'm using her photos instead of mine. Her's make the food look way better than mine do. Elora got a delicious leek and potato soup with a dill creme fraiche. Our entrees were also amazing. SJ and I got the sea scallops, with white beans, asparagus, mushrooms and maple-glazed pork belly. OMG was it good.

SJ finished it in no time flat. I tried to enjoy mine for a little longer. But the scallops were perfect. And who doesn't love pork? Jess got the daily special, the Alaskan King salmon.

Hers looks amazing as well, although I didn't taste it. Alex got the Original RT Burger, with homemade bacon, really good fries, and caramelized onions. Elora got a mish-mash of things. Listening to it was like listening to a Starbucks order. But she really liked her dinner and the veggies she got to go with her pasta tasted ridiculously fresh.

We girls ordered dessert. Jess got the tart, which she loved. I got the rhubarb pie with some awesome ice cream, and Elora got the carrot cake french toast. I don't think any of use shared those :)

We had a great dinner and I was glad we all got to be together for one last dinner with Elora.

We're a pretty good looking group. And Elora will be greatly missed :(