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Tonight morganlf and I celebrated our 5th anniversary! We went to the Inn of the Seventh Ray in Topanga Canyon. It was fantastic! The restaurant specializes in organic, vegan, and raw foods, and they are very proud of that. :) As we were seated, the hostess informed us that their water was double reverse-osmosis filtered, and that the chef ("Chef Michael") was trained in European 4-star restaurants and was brought up as a vegetarian, and if we had any special health requirements, they would see to our needs.
Dinner started with homemade crackers and a cactus salsa. It was yummy! Alison had a curried zucchini cream soup, and I had a vegan tomato, basil, and cashew soup. Both were excellent. Alison had a organically grown free-range venison filet mignon with chestnuts and chanterelles, and I had a grilled salmon fillet with fingerling potatos and a truffle port sauce. Desert was a Vermont maple cheesecake (me), and a papaya-mango-peach cobbler with ginger ice cream (Alison). So enough on the food. :) The restaurant is, I think, the most romantic place I've ever been. You drive for 20 minutes into the mountains on a extremely windy little road, when all of a sudden, a little town appears. Halfway through the town, you make a sudden left turn and you've arrived at the Inn of the Seventh Ray. (Yes, Seventh Ray cubetime, not Scorching Ray.) The restaurant is nestled alongside the mountain face, adjacent to a mountain stream. The outdoor patio is decorated with wrought iron tables and chairs, and every square inch of railing is covered with twinkling christmas tree lights. Portable space heaters keep the area warm and toasty! We like it so much that we want to have our wedding reception there...