Category: Nine West

Orange you glad we didn’t say Olives!

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(Uhh well actually…guess we just did.)

Jazzed up in our finery, we sauntered on over to Olives Restaurant in Vegas in October.

And as is the case for eye candies, we were appropriately seated at the window. The restaurant is deceptively large. But due to the low lighting, dark rich wood flooring and furniture, it was quite cozy.

Two hotsie totsies, satiated by a lovely dinner.^

You start off with a trio of in-house tepanades, which is served with assorted leavened and unleavened breads. Kells is not an Olive-holic as is I… so I got the trio to myself. Warning though: they’re salty!

We ordered the Truffled Risotto**, Olives Chicken Parmesan & Handcrafted Gnocchetti.

When we were here the previous year with our other friends, I ordered the magnificent Risotto. (I dreamed of this until I could experience it again.  And heyyy this was my lucky night.) Oh my… perfectly al dente rice coated in lavish mushroom creamery. Amazing slight tang of parm and dotted with fine slices of funghi. Kells enjoyed it as well.

Last time, Kells ordered her go-to Butternut Squash Tortellini. I had a mere taste and it was delightful yums. Amaretto wishes and brown-butter dreams.  But this evening, she branched out.

The Chicken Parm was served bone-in. Bold choice for a restaurant. (And we like that moxy.) But bone-in makes for a tender flavourful piece of meat. It was so tasty good, accompanied by roasted garden veg and taters.

The Gnocchetti was quite a lovely surprise. We figured that it’d be good. But not this fantastic! Rich, mouthy Bolognese sauce nestled inside sneaky grooves of pasta. I thought there was a hint of cinnamon. Kells surmised tarragon. Whatever the heck it was, it was molto bene. Excellent job, Olives team!

The portions are healthy. We didn’t finish. And yes, fair enough we ordered 3 entrées to split between the 2 of us… we felt so bad to say goodbye to the tasty morsels. They didn’t deserve to be let down like that. Poor lil guys patiently waited to get into our bellies… and instead got the rude awakening of the bin.  (Not by choice, lil morsels, not by choice.)

Have you eaten here? What was your experience?

Or, have we enticed you to try it out?

The End Pieces

*we were in our twinsies floral cold shoulder get-ups from Torrid. And we were sporting our fantastic strappy black heels from Nine West.

** I’d have to say that this runs a close 2nd to the Crispy Kalbi roll (CKr) at Yellowtail.

^this is where our Blog Story began.

We contacted Olives twice for collabs but they didn’t respond. Imagine. Being too busy to respond to N&K?!  As busy as Yellowtail is, they responded when we reached out.

 

Purple Nurple

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The Purple Café and Wine Bar is an eatery in the financial district in Seattle. It features seasonal northwest cuisine and wine pairings.

When you first enter the place, it looks surprisingly large with high ceilings. However due to muted lighting and dark wood furniture, it is feels intimate. Just off-centre, they have their wine/liquor larder. It looks like a huge wooden centrifuge from the industrial era*. This large pillar runs to the ceiling, with 360-degree shelving. There are stairs snaking around the side like a DNA helix.  (Kells and I wanted to go explore but there was a pesky ‘stairs not in use’ sign… and we didn’t want to make a scene… At least not that evening.)

We were wineless that night.  Kells had a Cosmo, extra tart. I had a beer**.

We ordered the Baked Brie to start. It was gift wrapped in

crispy phyllo, and accompanied by apricots, carmelized onions, walnuts, grapes and house crackers. The whole mess was delightful. Everything complemented each other perfectly. And the grapes were an amazement — halved and warmed, with salt. You may think ‘egads how odd!’ But trust us… your tastebuds will thank you.

For our mains, we couldn’t decide from Maine Lobster Mac and Cheese, seared Diver Scallops with grits (daily special) or Wild Mushroom Rigatoni. We were also eyeing the Veal and Pancetta Bolognese (I love me some parpadelle) and Pan Seared Muscovy Duck Breast. Due to availability and what was popular we went with Scallops and Bolognese.

The Diver Scallops were beautifully seared, toothy but tender and slightly sweet on the inside. Though cooked perfectly, grits were a little flat in flavour. (Grits are hard to season). The Bolognese was rich with al dente flavourful parps.

Kells was here before and enjoyed the Lobster Mac and Cheese. This is also a popular dish…Kells gives it 2 thumbs up. (But someone^ forgot her lactaid and we didn’t want to take a chance with someone’s^ gnarly digestive results if someone^ partook of the lactose-laden kryptonite.)

And we ended with Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée. Holy caboodles!Beautifully torched top…sweet and smoky. The crème was mindblowing… flavourful, great mouthfeel, not super sickly sweet. An amazing way to end a good meal.

Staff: Our waitstaff Maddy was fabulous! She was super friendly, genuine and knew when to come by to ask questions (ie: not when we just took a big bite).

Conclusion: Purple Café is a must-try!

Have you gone to Purple Cafe?
What delights have you ordered?  

Tell us what you think below, in the Comments section!

End bitties

* did scientists have centrifuges in the industrial era? If they did, this is what my mind pictures.
**Wine is not sitting well with Kells’ system these days. This is a sad state of affairs for her. So, in blog-sisterhood, I didn’t get wine even though we were at a winebar.
^someone=Nals

The Cold Shoulder.

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We love love love the cold shoulder and feel that this is a look that can suit all women*.

During our last trip to Vegas, this fall, we were sitting at the airport waiting to head south for some S&S (sun and shopping), when Nals looked at me and said: you really like the cold shoulder don’t you? I was wearing a beautiful royal blue cold shoulder top from Kenzie with basic white capris pants from the Gap when I threw Nals a smirk and showed her the cold shoulder!

As we toured around Las Vegas we noticed that we were getting the cold shoulder everywhere. Women* of all heights and shapes were rocking the cold shoulder. And we got to say; we loved it!!!! It wasn’t long after that Nals joined the ranks of cold shouldering with a lovely floral dress from Torrid paired with a sexy pair of heels from Nine West. I couldn’t help but go twinning with my friend in a floral dress also from Torrid. And no, it didn’t go unnoticed that we were dressed alike! And yes, we have the same purse!

Here’s what we love about this look:

  1. It doesn’t matter your size or shape, the cold                                                                 shoulder fits perfect.
  2.  It can be taken from casual to dressy with the                                                                 simplest of changes.
  3. It’s sophisticated and sexy all in one.

We will say, the verdict is still out on a plain cold shoulder t-shirt. We find these a bit frumpy and unstructured. Nals and I have yet to find one we love, but girl if you got it, rock it!

Love this cold shoulder? Shop at Reitmans for this knitted cold shoulder, Silver Denim for the jeans and Steve Madden for the knee high boots!