It’s official. Our young friend Sammy has been adopted by a young mommy rat and her 8-day-old pup, Howie. The decision came mainly from the fact that rats are social creatures and Sammy was lacking in companionship, and also because we were becoming increasingly concerned with his nutritional support from human baby formula. Despite our progress in advancing his diet (he was eating solids at day 14 when rats aren’t usually weaned until 4-5 weeks), his coat of fur was pretty thin and he was severely underweight for his age. Fortunately, the young mom quickly adopted the little guy, though we’re still concerned whether after being fed for so long by human hands, he would still know how to feed from a mom. We’ll keep further updates on Sammy and Howie’s progress, so stay tuned! In other news, we took advantage of restaurants that have extended Restaurant Week and enjoyed a most satisfying 3-course-dinner last night at Pigalle. I started with some pan-fried duck livers over parmesan risotto, followed by a salmon in port reduction cooked to a medium-rare perfection, and closed with a light but rich milk chocolate pana cotta. For Melody, her meal began with a very unique eggplant terrine, followed by a slightly over-salted mushroom risotto, and ended with a delightful peach tarte tatin. Our memorable meal has quickly placed this French restaurant among our favorites in Boston.