Will work for shoes and wine: 2012

Cafe Madison
Riverside, NJ

The hubby and I got all dressed up for NYE

Okay, so this post is not shoe related or about saving money, but it does involve wine, so it does remain true to my theme. With the craziness of the holidays, it's really easy to forget to do anything for yourself or your spouse. My husband and I stopped exchanging gifts when we had children, since Christmas became all about them. Both of us tend to be more practical; if we need or want something we'll buy it for ourselves. We'll ask each other first if it costs more than $10; not that we need each other's permission, but it's just common courtesy.
This year, we decided to do something for each other and ourselves by going to Cafe Madison (www.cafemadison.com) in Riverside, NJ for New Year's Eve. While a NY-style Martini Bar (complete with waterfalls) may seem out of place, The Madison is a real upscale gem hidden in a small town. Conveniently located on the NJ Transit River Line, it's easy to get to and just a short drive for us. Since we decided to go to the 6pm dinner seating, we opted to drive rather than take the train last night.

Pomegranate champagne

We arrived 15 minutes early for our reservation, easily found a parking space and went to the bar for a pomegranate champagne (sweet, tart and effervescent, made with pomegranate juice, cranberry juice and Freixenet sparkling wine) before moving to our table for dinner.

Dress from avenue.com;
necklace from shoedazzle.com

My dapper sweetheart

The hubby and I dressed in fancy clothes worthy of our early dating days when we spent more time out than at home with our daughters and, of course, his tie matched the color of my dress (which I scored from avenue.com for 50% on Black Friday).

Once seated, we ordered a bottle of 2010 Enrique Foster Ique Malbec. Now, everyone knows the markup on wines in restaurants is quite insane, but I must say I'm happy that we paid $24 and wine.com shows the price as $12.29. Our waitress opened the bottle and offered me a taste. After swirling my glass to aerate, I inhaled deeply and was hit by the fruity aroma. My first taste and I was impressed by the silky mouth feel and the smooth fruity flavor. I'm very picky about my reds and find many to be overpoweringly oaky or intense. This Malbec was pure perfection.

My appetizer: Wild Mushroom Ravioli

Hubby's Nantucket Lobster Bisque

The holiday menu included an appetizer, entree and desert for $39.95 per person (at the 6 pm seating; for the 9pm seating, the price was $20 more per person). I had the wild mushroom ravioli with garlic cream Marsala sauce which was rich, creamy and absolutely divine! The hubby chose Nantucket Lobster Bisque, which he said was the best he's ever had.

Filet mignon

Fresh field greens with shaved
carrots, cucumbers and house dressing

Next was a house salad, which was fresh, crisp and delicious. We both chose the filet (medium rare), which was accompanied by haricot verts and a carrot tied into a bundle with a scallion and a potato gratin. The presentation was picture perfect, the steak perfectly seasoned and his was cooked to perfection; mine was cooked a touch more than I liked though not quite medium (we switched since I prefer it redder).

Dessert was an individual chocolate encased raspberry and cream-filled decadently rich chocolate cake topped with a dark chocolate diamond proclaiming "Happy New Year 2012." We each had a cappuccino as well. The perfect end to a perfect meal.

When all was said and done, we spent about $145 for drinks, dinner, wine, dessert and $20 for two wine glasses engraved with the Madison logo (since we have two little ones at home, we don't get out much and I thought this would be the perfect souvenir from our evening out). We had such a great time, I've already lined up a sitter for Valentine's Day so we can go to the Madison again...a bit pricey for a small town, but the food, atmoshpere and service are big city style and so worth the trip (and a return trip, too!).