June 21, 2011: Chat and Chow with Alaina Huffman!

Last night, Akemi and I went out for dinner with the lovely Alaina Huffman (SGU's Lieutenant Tamara T.J. Johansen, Smallville's Black Canary, and MTV's Agent Mom).  We went to what is fast becoming my go-to restaurant for entertaining out-of-towners: Scarpetta.  Alaina was kind enough to defer to me on the menu selections and so, as always, I emphasized variety by ordering four appies, three pasta plates, a fish dish, and four desserts (with double scoops of ice creams all around as I wanted to be sure the ice cream to cake/pastry ratio was at the ideal 1:1).

Akemi loves the bread at Scarpetta (look at how quickly she snatches up a piece) and I always have to make it a point to either hide the bread basket or ask the waiter to take it away lest she finish it before the first dish has even hit the table.  Anyway, between mouthfuls of crust (or "margin" as she used to refer it when she first came to Canada), Akemi found time to chat with Alaina about Alaina's modeling days in Tokyo and Osaka.  Although I'm sure she wasn't able to keep up with all of our rapidfire table discussion, Akemi came away from dinner mightily impressed with Alaina.  "I like her!"she informed me. True.  Talk to her and she's very hard not to like!

Some of the appetizer highlights:

I'm not a huge lentil guy, but they're delicious and lend a wonderful textural contrast to this tasty medley of carrots and almonds.

Onions agro-dolce served with goat cheese.

One of the things I appreciate about Scarpetta is there ability to occasionally switch up the menu without sacrificing any of my favorites. Last night, we enjoyed a couple of Chef Scott Conant's signature creations, the duck and foie gras ravioli and the simple yet immensely satisfying spaghetti with tomato and basil.  Also…

A heavenly new addition to the line-up: delicate little agnolotti stuffed with braised short rib and bone marrow. Yep, those are mustard seeds.

Our dessert foursome was made up of the restaurants Amedei Chocolate Cake (missing its standard delightful gooey center on this visit), a strawberry shortcake the gals seemed to enjoy, the outstanding coconut panna cotta, and…

The Grand Marnier Souffle with the requisite double scoop of ice cream.

The topic of conversation ranged from her kids, conventions, and home life in L.A. to some terrific-sounding projects she and husband John have in the works. By the time we were done, we probably ended up talking more in those two and a half hours than we did in two years on SGU.

Hey, did you know Alaina has her own comic book?  Check it out here: MTV Geek | MTV.com – Comic – Agent Mom #1, pt. 1

Finally, this was too cute not to post.  Akemi looks forward to one of her favorite shows.  At least it wasn't Million Dollar Money Drop!

Today's entry is dedicated to gforce.

Tagged: Alaina Huffman, Scarpetta, SGU, Stargate