So, the parents took us to Chez Panisse tonight. The menu consisted of four courses:

* A shrimp and cucumber salad, flavored with some Vietnamese notes. Tasty, and full of interesting, subtle flavors, but not mindblowing like the Halibut we had last time.
* A carrot soup, and a fava bean soup, served in the same bowl. Their viscosity was high enough to keep them separate, and a swirl of tarragon cream crossed the two. The carrot soup was an excellent carrot soup, but nothing more, imo. The fava bean soup was suprisingly delicious, withe flavors I neither expected, nor recognize.
* Chicken – the leg deboned, stuffed with mushrooms, and sliced, along with slices of the breast meat. I’ve never, ever had chicken done this perfectly. The breast meat was just astonishing. Flavorful, perfectly seasoned, juicy, with crispy skin… man. Genius. The leg meat & mushrooms were also delicious, but I’m used to moist & delicious dark meat, so it was somewhat unsurprising. Came with spinach, and some asparagus, both done to perfection. This is hands-down the best chicken dish I’d ever had, and after finishing it, I literally felt guilty for not being that excited about it after reading the description.
* A strawberry tart, with some sort of cream & shaved almonds. Delicious, but almost exactly what you’d have expected.
* A small chocolate ganache thingamabob, which was good, and a piece of candied tangerine rind, which was awesome.
* An iced citron green tea.

Delicious! Not say, cheap, but *delicious*. I was a little worried, as the meal didn’t start out with the punch I’d have hoped, but the chicken dish made any doubts completely disappear.