“To another lovely day.”
Ken and I toast each other, each raising an avocado fry into the air and briefly touching them, before tasting the velvety appetizer.
We’d walked the Sandpoint-Dover Community Trail that evening, and had driven the quarter mile from the trailhead to the DISH at Dover Bay, my favorite date-night dinner destination in northern Idaho. It’s where I asked Ken to take me to celebrate my fiftieth birthday this past summer. It’s where we go for Valentine’s every year.
My usual dinner selection is the salmon and beet salad, but tonight duck is on the menu - seared with a blackberry-serrano Marsala sauce and goat cheese. Yum.
It’s not just the food that makes this my favorite place to dine. During the summer, eat on the deck and look out over a wide waterway. In the winter, reserve an outdoor igloo and dine by the Pend Oreille Riverbank in a snow globe twinkling with tiny holiday bulbs.
Tonight, we sit in a cozy indoor corner under gently dimmed lights.
“Where do you want to hike next?” Ken asks.
Smoke drifts like fog from the surface of my drink. The waiter has just delivered a cinnamon-smoked Old Fashioned. I think of the snow we’ve seen on nearby mountain peaks, and take a sip before answering. The syrup-sweetened bourbon tastes like candy.
“I’m not sure,” I say.
Dinner arrives. I close my eyes as I taste the duck. Moist, buttery, delicious. I look at Ken’s plate: blackened sablefish beside linguine. Reaching with my fork, I steal a bite from his plate, swirling the pasta around its tines, tasting cream and lemon.
We usually skip dessert, but I see pumpkin cheesecake delivered to the table across from us. We order one slice. Two forks.
JUST THE FACTS:
Location: 651 Lakeshore Ave. Dover, Idaho 83864. Less than 3 miles from downtown Sandpoint, located riverside at the Dover Bay Resort Marina
Hours: Open 7 Days a week from 4 pm – 9 pm
Parking: Plenty of free, easy parking.
Make reservations: Call (208) 265 6467