Dinner of temptation in the North End.

Last night, the head of our organization, in a gesture of extreme appreciation for a challenging year for the team, hosted us all at a dinner at my favorite restaurant in the North End (the Italian section of Boston, for those who might not know). There were about 24 of us, and it was a sit down dinner with a selected menu, a great sampling of their larger menu.

I knew it would be a great temptation, and so I needed to do a few things to plan for today. First, I had my cottage cheese and pineapple for breakfast, but for lunch, I had a very small serving of some tuna salad, and that's it -- maybe a scoopful. No other lunch. So, I knew my points would all be spent at dinner, and I could go into my extra points if needed.

I also knew there was no way I was going to actually be able to figure out the points I was going to be eating (in a restaurant, you can't tell if things were cooked in butter or olive oil, what extras went into things, etc), so, I was going to have to estimate on the high side for things.

I spent time looking at the menu before hand, getting comfortable with the overall offerings of the full menu, making mental notes of what might work and might not, if they were serving any or all of the items when we got there. I felt very familiar with the menu when I arrived and was able to make a quick decision when I saw my options.

As for what I had:

To drink: Pinot Noir (with one topping off pour after I'd drank some of the first glass.)

Appetizer: Butternut squash ravioli with browned butter. There were 2 of them, though they were large. Some walnuts were in there, too. I ate none of the bread on the table.

Entree: Oven braised spring chicken (small bird, on the bone) with brussel sprouts and black wild rice. Not a lot of rice (and a lot of trapped under the bird, so took some effort to scoop up more than a forkful or two), and probably 3 or 4 brussel sprouts. Was able to eat a good portion of the meat, but being on the bone, the dinner looks much bigger than it is. It was very moist and tender, really good chicken. And I love brussel sprouts!

Dessert: The dessert offerings were served as sharing plates: 4 of us would be able to try normal serving sizes of espresso pannacotta, apple crisp, a chocolate torte type thing, and an flan. I was very good and tried just two teaspoons full of apple crisp, and left the rest.

All in all, pretty good! I think it was a well balanced meal which didn't involve a lot of extra indulgences either in ingredients or portion sizes. The meal itself was excellent food, and I felt like I had enough of a variety to be able to make good choices for myself. I still wanted to have something a bit "special" as it was a celebratory night out, and so the real indulgence for me was the butternut squash ravioli, rather than a salad.

The best part about the evening was the company - it was great to spend some social time with people I work with and enjoy very much! It helped the celebratory spirit even more than just a special meal.

I'd been down a few ounces since my Monday weigh in, and this morning I'm back up to that level, so probably not too much damage done. I plan to go to the gym tonight and again on Saturday, and both should help for this week to be directionally better than last...

Thanks for reading!