Orso

My Alaskan friends will be returning to Russia later this week ~ it's been so fun getting to spend time with them this summer ~ it's hard to believe it's already time for them to go back.  The kids stayed home tonight so the grown-ups could go out to dinner.  I haven't had TOO many restaurant outings yet, but everywhere I've been so far has been good and tonight was no exception...

ORSO is in downtown Anchorage and offers a menu of local specialty options in addition to the more traditional steak, chicken, pasta dishes.  Tonight, they offered several specials, including Alaska King Salmon, Halibut, and Rockfish to name a few.  Rebecca ordered the king salmon ~ it was really good.  I opted to venture out of my 'safe' zone and try one of the halibut dishes from their regular menu...description follows below...

"Halibut Cheek Piccata
Tender Alaskan Halibut Cheeks and Scallops pan seared in a garlic, caper-lemon butter sauce. Served with crispy capers and cous cous, topped with a zucchini and king crab salad."

It was REALLY good ~ I just may end up becoming a *moderate* sea food person after all ~ neither the halibut nor the scallops were fishy tasting and they were both very tender...I tried not to dwell on the PART of the halibut I was eating ~ for some reason, the idea of eating cheeks is not initially appealing to me...but it was something I would definitely eat again.

One of the more interesting parts of the restaurant was discovered at the end of the evening when we made a visit to the ladies room...they have heated toilet seats...something that I could see coming in very handy in the winter time...but in the summer?  If I hadn't been told they were heated, I would have assumed that the prior occupant of the bathroom stall had just been IN there for a really long time... :)