Date night at Vida

Greetings from a snowy Charlotte!

We have a snow day today and it's a legitimate snow day, not a fake southern snowstorm. Now, if this was happening in the Midwest, it would be business as usual - it's predicted to be 2-4 inches with some freezing rain this afternoon. Thankfully, this is Charlotte and people in Charlotte freak out when they see the white stuff falling from the sky so I'm getting a paid holiday. Hooray!

And hooray for you because you get a Monday morning blog.

I had a great weekend. I didn't do much, but I did get to hang out with my husband a lot. In fact, we went on a date. In fact, he asked me out on a date. Saturday morning, while we were driving back from the gym, my husband asked, "Can I take you out to dinner tonight?"

My husband and I go out on a lot of "dates" in that we go out to dinner a lot, but these dates usually originate with "I don't feel like cooking. Let's go out." I think that is a lot different than my husband actually asking me to go out. I don't care how long I've been married, I will always like being asked out on a date.

We went to Vida Mexican Kitchen y Cantina in the Epicentre in Uptown Charlotte. I love Mexican food, and after living in Michigan which had absolutely NO Mexican food, I appreciate any decent attempts at authentic Mexican cuisine. My husband is generally not a fan, but he's lived with me long enough that I've convinced him that he does like it despite twenty-some years of evidence to the contrary.

Vida definitely exceeded my expectations. Typical of restaurants in the Epicentre, the restaurant itself looked upscale which adds to the total dining experience. They offer tableside guacamole which was great. At first, I thought it needed more salt, but after our waiter brought us a fresh batch of tortilla chips, I realized it was the chips and not the guacamole that needed seasoning. We also shared a red chile chicken chopped salad, which was good but nothing special, and chicken tinga, which was outstanding. It's chicken and chorizo simmered in tomatoes that created a spicy stew that we ate with tortillas. Y-U-M. After one bite I told my husband that I had to learn how to make it, and my mouth is watering just thinking about it. We also shared a mango crisp which is exactly like apple crisp but with mango, and that makes it even better. The service was okay - not awesome, but it didn't detract from the overall meal - but the food definitely made up for it. Plus, the prices weren't outrageous. I'm told this place has excellent tequila and margaritas, but we didn't try anything. Maybe next time!

I highly recommend checking this place out - I think it's one of my favorite restaurants in Charlotte, and I like a lot of Charlotte restaurants. Make a reservation though (the restaurant is on Open Table) if you're going on a Friday or Saturday night because it gets crowded - probably because it's a great place to go on a date.