A Valentine's Day Surprise

In honor of Valentine's Day, Z surprised me with dinner at Rafiki Bistro in Porter Square. And I mean surprised me.

For two weeks, he wouldn't tell me where we were going for dinner, but I knew we had reservations at 8 p.m. - and that I was supposed to wear a dress. So when Z drove us up to Cambridge Common last night around 7:45, I was insanely confused. We walked inside, sat at the bar, ordered a round of beers, and Z kept saying how we needed to drink fast so we could be seated - at Cambridge Common - for 8.

Now, I love Cambridge Common, but....for Valentine's Day dinner? Not so much. Needless to say, I was very relieved when Z had me follow him out of Cambridge Common at 7:59 and walked me across the street to Rafiki Bistro.

Rafiki Bistro describes themselves like this on their website:

Rafiki Bistro is designed to become an outlet of choice by providing a community-based location to socialize while offering a highly competitive organic food and beverage service with an underlying agenda of social responsibility and environmental stewardship. Rafiki Bistro has special appeal to community members that understand that the products and services they choose can positively influence issues of social justice, environmentalism and sustainable business practices.

Now that's a mission I can get behind! Last night, for the holiday, Rafiki had a prix fixe, four-course menu with a vegetarian option for each course. Z and I's dinner consisted of carrot ginger soup, salad with arugula, goat cheese and beets, and mushroom ravioli. The carrot ginger soup was beautifully spiced, the dressing on the arugula salad was incredibly light and flavorful, and the mushroom ravioli? Well, let's just say the serving was heaping and I would have given anything to lick my plate clean.

For dessert, we had three options, and I chose the black and white mousse cake, while Z went for the apple tart. The mousse was wonderful - creamy, decadent and elegant - and Z's tart was also delicious, based off the one small bite I had. 

The price for this prix fixe menu for two was also only $95 - which my lovely boyfriend footed the bill for - which isn't a bad price tag for local, organic eats in a more formal setting.

The waitstaff at Rafiki was also very friendly and accommodating, and I was pleasantly surprised at their beer menu, which consisted of some great local craft brews.

All in all, it was a lovely Valentine's Day - despite the short-lived scare at Cambridge Common. :)

How did you celebrate Valentine's Day?

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