Something Old and Something New

No silly, I am not getting married again. One time is enough for me. What I am referring to is some of our local restaurants. This summer I went on a bit of a mission. I felt like I had been in a rut. You may have been there before too, always the same place for girls night out or date night. BORiNG!

One of my foodie friends (her husband is a professional chef, so I think that qualifies her), and I decided to tease my cousin. You see one of my cousin's favorite dishes is steamed clams and she has since moved to Phoenix, so they just don't quite compare. Anyway foodie friend and I were at the Boat Shed and decided to order some and of course send my cousin a picture of us eating them.

The Boat Shed has some amazing steamed clams. They are in this creamy butter sauce and are so delish! Add a glass of white wine as you sit out on their balcony, well, life cannot get much better or tastier! Then my foodie friend and I started talking about what other places has yummy clams besides the Boat Shed. That was usually our go to place, they are so good and we would know they would be hard to beat.

The second place we went was Tides Tavern. OK, sorry about that as I usually try to keep the places here in good 'ol Kitsap County. However I had never been to Tides before, so for me this was a new place. For those of you reading and who maybe have just moved here, Tides Tavern is in Gig Harbor. It is this cute older building with an amazing view of the marina. Again a perfect place for relaxing and eating clams, while enjoying a glass of wine while the sun sets. As you can see, the clams were pretty similar so it was hard to compare. The picturesque views are gorgeous from both places so I would recommend going to either for just that reason. Another is the Loft for their view. Clams are good too, just didn't get any pictures of theirs!

However the place that amazed me was another place in Poulsbo. It is right on Front Street. You walk in to this quiet inviting courtyard, that is under the Magnolia Tree. That place is Sogno di Vino. Before you go running out, let me tell you a little bit more about my experience. They do a completely different version of their clams. Theirs isn't the typical butter, garlic and and white wine sauce clams,

these a white wine, tomato, oregano and garlic sauce clams. Oh my! The sauce was amazing! But here is why I said don't go running out. They had a lot of sand in them. Yes, we did talk to our server and said the flavors were magnificent, but due to the sand we had to send them back. They were removed from our bill, which was nice, but dang I really wish I could have eaten them. Whether you decide to try their steamed clams, definitely do not pass on their desserts. I rarely order desserts, but these were both amazing!

Kingston Alehouse Steamed Clams with Rosemary

The final place I need to recommend is the Kingston Alehouse. Chef Andy is awesome and I always look forward to his dishes. He adds a unique twist to his dishes and I enjoy the flavors and his creativity. I hadn't been there in awhile and I definitely wasn't disappointed. Plus, who doesn't enjoy some time walking through beautiful Kingston? To tempt you even further, I am going to tantalize you even further with the simple but beautiful dinner from that evening.