*Just kidding. She was spending the night with one of her best friends. Besides she's too much like her parents: there's no way she could forage in the wild just fine.
But back to the missus and me. When I say "fine dining", I mean a place I had made a reservation for. No, I didn't call ahead to reduce my wait time; I mean a proper reservation. I got to approach the hostess and say, "Yes, I have a reservation for 6:00, party of two, David Long." And I got to hear this: "Yes, Mr. Long, follow me. We have your table ready." Oh that was so cool.
The place is called Steak Street which we've been to before but it's a bit pricey so we can't really make a habit of it. But it is a really nice place just loaded with what they call atmosphere. In other words, small twinkling lights all over the place, a marble fountain in the atrium and a live musician. Yes, an actual singing musician with a guitar who was real good at both singing and playing. The interesting thing about having live music is that its not as loud as having pop music blared over speakers like you get in chain restaurants. There is a certain organic warm quality to have a real person singing in a very mellow tone "Just the Two Of Us" and "Stuck On You". A lot of mellow gold stuff from the 70's and 80's.
For all the nice atmosphere, it is still a place to eat. With a name like Steak Street, their specialty is steak but Andrea and I have discovered a couple of dishes there are not steaks but are still amazing good. They have these BBQ chops that just melt in your mouth, they are so tender. While I got the chops this time, Andrea opted for the pecan encrusted chicken breasts which is just as good.
We had wine with our dinner because it is just that sort of place to do so. We were seated on the 2nd level overlooking the atrium where the musician performed. It was a lovely spot from where we could enjoy our very wonderful evening.
Now this wouldn't be my blog if I didn't rant about something. And here we go. As I've noted, this is a very nice place. Not too ritzy but still, quite a classy affair. Most diners were dressed nicely. I'm not talking tuxedos or anything but still, most everyone looked like they put some effort in looking presentable. Most but not all.
It was mostly the younger men who seemed to lack some concept of "elegant casual". There was a group with about 4 men in their late teens or early 20's in jeans. The older adult men with them were casual in polo shirts but at least were wearing dress pants. Another group caught my attention: 4 young women and 1 young man. Lucky dude! Unless the 4 women were sisters or other relatives; then, poor bastard. Anyway, the women were in varying styles of dress, nothing overly elegant but still, they looked appropriate for the venue. But the guy was there in baggy khaki shorts and sneakers.
I'm not some stick in the mud old fogey...well, maybe I am sometimes, OK a lot...where was I? Oh yeah. But I sometimes think the propensity for casual wear in America, particularly among young men, has gotten a bit out of hand. In addition to clashing with the aesthetics of the environment you're in, you're kind of disrespecting others in your party who have made more of an effort.
OK, enough of that rant.
It was a nice evening out for Andrea and I. We don't get many opportunities for something like that and it was a great way to cap off 2015.
Thanks for dropping by. I have another post coming up tomorrow. Until then, remember to be good to one another. Happy New Year!
Dave-El
I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You
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