Marmalade and an Elf Parade

While walking back Sunday night, we came across a restaurant for which we'd read good reviews.  Once I spotted the "tasting menu" sign in the window, we decided to book a reservation for the next night.

The only spots they had open were either 5:00 or 10:00.  We went for the 5:00 and happily the beach day lent itself to just the right schedule.  We came back from the beach with enough time to shower, upload some photos, and catch a cab back to Old Town.

There were a lot of people waiting for the restaurant to open.

They had a different take on tasting menus - the dishes were divided into five parts - appetizers, intermediates, meat/fish and vegetarian entrees, and desserts.  You can choose to have a 4, 5, or 6 course meal, depending on how many of those dishes you want to get.  We all selected the four course option, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Appetizer - Sushi-style paella with smoked chicken

Intermediate - Honey roasted pears with Iberico ham, cheese, and a mustard vinaigrette.  This was only the second appetizer on the list for this section, but I didn't have to read the rest to know that this was what I wanted!

Beef tenderloin with crispy onions, arugula, tomatoes, and green beans served on a potato au gratin (which tasted like French onion soup)

Justin was going meta again with his food photography, so I went meta-meta.

Dessert - chocolate almond beignets with a dark chocolate pot du creme topped with raspberry sauce and flavored foam

Pleased with ourselves for finding such a tasty meal, we headed outside to wander back eastward.  We walked down to the cruise ship docks and found a pirate ship:

Beyond the pirate ship, we came across a festive-looking area that was blaring a super-peppy version of "Jingle Bells."

Ah, it's Navitown!

We had no idea what it was, but the entrance was "gratis," so what the hey?

It turned out to be a kids' amusement part with carnival rides and such.  We people-watched for a bit, then suddenly an excited-sounding announcement played over the loudspeakers and everyone began gathering on the sides of the main path.

We were already standing in a prime location, so we decided to stick around to see what the excitement was all about.

Soon the theme for "Mission Impossible" played and, to the cheers of the crowd, several brightly-colored elves appeared toting wagons and dancing their merry hearts out:

I kept thinking that they really could take the whole Singing Time part of Primary to a new level:

Just as the elves began dancing to "Feliz Navidad," a rainstorm hit.  

A precisely-localized storm, according to Justin's app

 

I first took shelter under the Mackintosh Square Jason gave me for Christmas:

But the boys were wearing white shirts that were quickly turning transparent so we all ran for cover under the nearby awning with the salsa-style mix of Christmas songs carrying on.

Justin entertained us with some skillz from his BYU Folkdancing Team days (Justin's a pretty cool guy, I tell you), but since those came only at Jason's prodding, I'll let Jason be the one to share them with you on his blog entry.

Once the rain and Justin's patience for dancing at our command faded, we walked back to the condo to pack for our next destination.