2004-05-27 - 2:18 p.m.
Well, the car repair turned out not to be as bad as we thought. $250 for a water pump and drive belt. Manageable, but this means a big hit on the credit card.
You’d think this would negate a big night out for our anniversary, que no?
Que no.
We went out anyway, to The Melting Pot. If you’ve never gone to one, it’s quite the experience. It’s a fondue restaurant; your table has a little heating element on it, and you have your choice of various cheese, broth, and dessert fondues. The service is impeccable, the space very cozy, and the food is excellent. It’s worth selling the neighbor kids to go.
J and I showed up late for our reservations, but they still managed to get us a cozy little booth. You could tell that there were other people in the restaurant, but you had to crane your neck to see them. Perfect place for a romantic little date. I had called ahead and arranged for a single rose and a vase to be placed on the table, since I’m a romantic cuss. I didn’t really call any attention to it, though. We decided to go with a prix-fixe option on the menu, called The Big Night Out. Any cheese fondues, salad, any of the entrée fondues, and any dessert fondue, including a design-your-own option. The waiter was very helpful and knowledgeable, especially when it came to the multi-page wine list. (I gotta tell ya, when the menu is primarily wine list and it’s the size of a decent coffee table book, man, you got something there. I saw bottles listing at $250 plus, and a couple for $18. Dang.) We went with his recommendations for beer-cheese fondue and the burgundy wine fondue, and selected an assortment of beef tenderloin, filet mignon, chicken, tiger shrimp and lobster tail for our main course.
(I was a good kid; I was sorely tempted to tell him about Digby’s Savory Toasted Cheese*, and correct him when he mispronounced “mojo”. See, one of the fondues was based on Cuban sour-orange marinade, pronounced “mo-ho”. He pronounced it with the hard j, like he was John Lee Hooker. I restrained myself, but it was very hard. My shins still haven’t quite recovered.)
We ended up splurging and getting a bottle of Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Riesling, which turned out to be dynamite stuff. Comes with a screw-top, so we didn’t get the whole sommelier ritual, but it was served with all appropriate pomp. The dinner itself was very good; the food fresh and of top quality, the fondues rich and full-flavored, the waiters very attentive. The whole production took three hours to complete, and it was worth it.
About halfway through the entrée it finally struck us: we were paying lots of money to cook our own food. They were waiting on us hand and foot, but we were doing our own cooking. By that time, of course, we were having too much fun (ie too loaded) to care. We even went so far as to get after dinner drinks. J ordered a chocolate martini; I’d never had one, but dang that was good. It came to us still in the shaker, with a Hershey’s kiss on the end of the swizzle stick. I just had brandy and wished for a cigar.
Three hours later, rather buzzed, gently filled with small morsels of excellent food, we remembered our lovely daughter and went home. The bill was sobering, but dammit occasionally one has to live beyond one’s means. Especially when it means several hours of shameless flirting with somebody you love. For one night, we were no longer parents, no longer responsible; we were two lovers with no worries or cares.
Sometimes you need that.
*Digby’s Savory Toasted Cheese is taken from Sir Kenelm Digby’s 1650 recipe book. Basically, it’s Brie, fatty white cheese, and butter, melted together with some white pepper and browned on top. Some people use cream cheese, some use white cheddar, and I suppose you could use Mexican queso de Oaxaca or panela. Add a little flour to keep the oil from the cheeses from separating. Nummy goodness.
