Yay! Food and wine!

We went out to eat last night with three other couples. It was supposed to be an intimate dinner for us and one other couple, but I invited my sister-in-law and she brought her husband. Then she invited our friends S and M. I know what you're thinking: Oh no! No one will ever get a drink! No worries, because they were warned, not only by us, but by the original couple, one of whom (the smarter one) reads my blog and knew all about S and M's problems. Also, I threatened them with using their actual names, including their home address and making them sound much, much worse.

We went to Motor Supply, which I always love. I've realized, though, that I don't like that big table they reserve for large parties. It's got a great view of the door, so you can see who's coming and going, but you can't see most of the rest of the restaurant, including the bar, which is where all the interesting stuff happens. I'm immensely entertained by the Human Parade and I hate to miss it. Oh, well. We moved to the bar after dinner for a - one thousand percent unnecessary but yummy nonetheless - final drink. Wait. It was actually the penultimate drink, because everyone came to our house afterwards for the final drink.

S and M were very well-behaved - and very gracious, considering how rude I was for writing about them before. I may have exaggerated, just a little, for effect. The other day, it dawned on me why it is that frowning over food and wine bothers me so much. You know - when the person tastes something and frowns, brow furrowed, deep in thought, trying to decide if it's worthy of further tasting. By the way, because I owe them this much, S and M do not frown over food and wine. I wasn't talking about them, I just switched subjects suddenly. It happens. Pardon the sappiness ahead - I'll try to avoid this becoming "A Very Special Daily Digress..." We have so much. The fact that we can go out to dinner on a Saturday night with minimal planning and be faced with a choice of a hundred different wines and twenty amazing meals is...unreal. When you think about the rest of the world, and what some people go through just to secure the minimum amount of food and water they need to survive, it's hard to frown about food. Even harder to frown about wine.

Another reason to smile is that frowning over food that someone else cooked for you, served to you and cleaned up for you is just plain bad manners. Would you do that at someone's house? I sincerely hope not. If going out to eat is so hard for you, maybe you should stay home. It's not a mitzvah for anyone to cook for you or serve you. It doesn't bring them closer to G-d. If you were homeless and eating in a soup kitchen, it would be a different story, but that's hardly the case, now is it? So be nice.

Maybe I'm being hypocritical. Maybe I should shut up and quit going out to eat. Well...I'm a selfish little piece of fluff and I'm not going to do that. Besides, isn't supporting local business a worthy pursuit? By cooking at home, I'd be instrumental in starving local waiters and business owners. Can't have that, now can we? So I do what I have to do. But I won't frown about wine or food. In fact, to prove my point, I have adopted an overly enthusiastic face, just for tasting. The face is so extreme it can be seen across any restaurant. My friends love me. I am so much fun!

I had the Salmon, by the way, and it was incredible. How do restaurants do that thing where they make the fish crispy on the outside and tender (not over-cooked) on the inside? I suspect it involves sugar and an open flame, but if anyone has any tips, please share. And we shared a bottle (or two) of Sancerre. And a cheese plate. And a yummy piece of cake that involved chocolate and peanut butter. But I smiled the whole time.

Namasté, y'all!