A Course for Every Year, Plus a Few to Grow on at Moto

This is how a spontaneous night out with my husband usually goes:

Him: Honey, let's go out. I even got a sitter.

Me: Great. Where are we going?

Him: Where do you want to go?

Me: I know I have a list of fantastic places I've always wanted to try, but...

The but is followed either with "I can't think of any on the spot" or it's impossible to get reservations at the last minute.

This time we were a little more prepared...and lucky. Sim had been trying to find us a reservation for our anniversary...about a week before, which is way early for us. He couldn't get Girl and the Goat, but learning from past experience, went ahead and booked months in advance. (We're going in February!)

Unable to find anything, he confessed his dilemma and I immediately started thinking about my wish list restaurants. No chance we'd get to Alinea on such short notice, but we lucked out with a restaurant that I'd been dying to go to for years: Moto.

We got a 9:30 p.m. reservation, a time more fitting for our 20s, which is perfect since we were in our 20s when we got married those 14 years ago. It also gave him time to stop at home briefly after his flight home from a conference in D.C.

Moto is the Intellectual Property Chef Homaro Cantu's gastronomic signature. I've wanted to eat there well before my magazine wrote about it in 2007 and before I watched Cantu's slim victory over Iron Chef Morimoto.

So, how was the food on Tuesday?

I have to give it mixed results.

I'd read up a bit before we headed out. And I have to agree with a few critics that several of the dishes were overly salty. The worst was that a couple courses were served cold when they should have been piping hot, including Sim's deconstructed Kentucky Fried Chicken plate. (I also had to ask for napkins and the restroom ran out of hand towels and toilet paper near closing time.)

I'm not a picky eater in general, but I approached the evening with a clean slate, wiping away all preconceived ideas of what I didn't like about food, because I knew I wouldn't have choices. We plopped down our $160 a person and $55 each for a half-wine pairing and opened our minds.

Going in with an open mind helped me fully enjoy the smokey oyster on the half shell shooter and many other savory treats. It'd be impossible to enjoy the experience any other way considering most of the food didn't even resemble food. The trio of cigar sandwiches is a perfect example. Except for the explanation and the edible cigar wrappers, you'd never know what you were about to eat.

If you're a foodie and a science nerd, this is the place for you. (Cantu has worked with NASA and is featured in a Museum of Science & Industry exhibit.)

I have to admit that after the first three courses, I leaned over to Sim and asked him if we'd have to stop for cheeseburgers on the way home. But near the last course, I was completely stuffed and worried I wouldn't have room for the rest.

My standout favorites were the exceptionally prepared scallop w/ dyed frizzled celery and the deconstructed New England crab chowder. The desserts were OK for me, though all were entertainingly served, especially the ode to the 90s, the Michale Bolton, complete with edible portrait.

At the end of the evening, some 3 1/2 hours bleary-eyed hours later, and even with some not-so-great-tasting-courses, we had a fabulous time.

Of course, the company was the best part.