Last night, fabrisse and I had dinner at Plume.

It is an experience I heartily recommend to anyone -- the tasting menu has vegetarian options for all courses, the prix fix menu did not. You'll need your fancier clothes, of course, and reservations. The sommelier came out to help fabrisse pick two wines for dinner -- she was able to have a half-glass of one, and a full glass of the other, paired for her dinner.

The amuse bouche last night was asparagus cream, a pickled herring macaron, and a tiny slice of brisket topped with tomato. I ate fabrisse's brisket, though I suspect they would have found a substitute if we'd made a point of it.

The second course for me was soft-shelled crab tempura with sweet potato tempura matchsticks and green tomato chutney; the crab was exquisite after I cut it into four pieces. Her first course was saffron carrot tartare with chive blossoms and pistachio oil.

My third course was red rock mullet filet served over two squash blossoms, cut open and laid flat over blood sausage. Her second course was broccoli with garam masala and double-baked sunchokes over a hazelnut foam.

My fourth course was lovage pasta (bright green!) carbonara, with a coddled duck egg, duck prosciutto, and chanterelles; it came in a lidded glass bowl. Her second course was ricotta basil gnocchi (not quite as bright green), yellow cherry tomatoes, basil oil and sea beans.

My fifth course was duo of lamb -- a merguez sausage, a medallion of lamb loin, a bundle of haricot verte tied with a garlic stalk as a ribbon and a garlic black tuile (a baked ribbon that was absolutely fantastic) and a mint filled garlic bun (basically, a bao stuffed with black garlic and mint) served au jus. Her fifth course was a wild mushroom and porcini tartlette the size of her hand.

The sixth course was a pre-dessert palate cleanser. Mine was a beautiful strawberry confection; hers was a specially made that was peach, possibly, but some other fruit because she's allergic to strawberries.

Desert was a rhubarb blanc mange with two mini-macaron, blueberries slivers, apricot slices, rhubarb coulis, and apricot sorbet.

Then we both had peppermint tea to wind down.