"Yes, we've heard good things about and we'll have to go there some time." A moment later, "You did pack your bus pass, right?"
I suspected that last bit was a feint. Though I was using his arm (he was holding me up) and we were walking to the bus stop, I was still pretty sure we weren't going far (he'd told me not to bring my crutch). Which narrowed it to two likely dinner destinations:
Creole Envie and
La Boheme. Now the next question, was that nonchalant chat with Prabdeep about La Boheme also a feint?
Indeed, there was a slight hesitation at the bus stop before he redirected our course... and we're here! Surprise! And yes, it was still a surprise because even though I had narrowed it down and thought the whole thing with Prabdeep would have been cosmically funny if it did turn out, it seemed too extravagant.
Anyway, I tried to drink in the full experience: Eating with my eyes, though it was
incredibly moodfully dark, and then with my mouth. We were seated in the main room which I wanted to call "the Sunflower" for the sunflower paintings on the wall. An abstract wire mobile in the corner spun slowly until it resolved into a ghostly violin player.
The waitress offered us something called cinnamon champagne. Though I don't usually drink, it was included in the meal and I figured it would be interesting to see just what it was.
(Right: Yes, indeed it's bubbly and cinnamon hearts.)
The printed menu showed the path our gastro experience was to take - a five course set meal with some options. It also revealed the price tag for the evening, and that the booking was limited to 2 hours.
We had:
Soupe:
Cream of Wild Mushroom
Petite Entrée:
salade de boccocini and
escargot dans la coquille
Trou Normand:
Champagne Sorbet
Entrees Principales:
Nous Ahi and
Filet mignon de brochettes
Dessert:
Chocoalte cake topped with a berry coulis and
Caramel Pecan Pie
I was really excited for my escargot. Was even more delighted when I saw they came in shells. However there wasn't the same
complicated eating method like for the Chinese snails, the flesh from these just seemed to fall out. Paul had said it was too dark for him to take photographs. I knew he liked the shape of the shells, so I gathered them up and asked the waitress if could take them home. She said no.
My face must have revealed my internal "Oh!" (It occurred for me ask, but it was a request I didn't expect to be denied.) As she cleared them away, she explained that the butter sauce could go rancid, and if anyone took the shells home and tried to cook with them or even reuse them for presentation, they could get sick - so it would be a health risk. While her explanation was plausible, it made us also a little suspicious: Maybe they reused the shells too?
Our main courses arrived with "crisps" and vegetables. One was difficult for me to identify (left) - perhaps it's a baby zucchini? Unfortunately my choice, the Ahi tuna, which read in the description to me like sashimi, wasn't.
After all this food, I didn't think we could fit in any dessert... but when they arrived, we still picked at them a little. But then sensibily, asked for them to be wrapped up.
We'd definitely overstayed the seating time, but between talking and people-watching (and the eating) I wasn't in a hurry to leave. It was nice then that we weren't rushed.
I'd taken multiple looks at the room and at the people around us. (And, of course, wondered if we looked like the other couples...)
My attention, was mostly attracted to the well-dressed older couple in the table next to us. A helium balloon had been placed between our tables to create a divider, and when the balloon floated too close, I would use its readjustment as a chance to take another look. The woman shimmered in a kelly green sequined cardigan over a long black dress, the man was in a suit and wearing a bow tie. Both had white hair. I thought them cute. I wondered if they were a long married couple, or if they had recently met. Paul suspected from the man's accent that he was German.
Perhaps they knew I had an ear out for them. When Paul left for the washroom, I heard clearly, it was a very rich meal, that they couldn't do often, but it was a special day...
I wondered then if they had heard me tell Paul my worries about the cost of the evening, how I felt it was overly decadent... and maybe they just wanted to coach / coax me: Enjoy the moment, worry less, celebrate the special days... from an experienced married couple to a (still kind of) newly married one.
Though, of course, it's not always about me.
Back at home, I gave Paul my gift to him. It wasn't so grand as the meal, but he seemed to like it. And as though it wasn't late and he wasn't tired, he immediately started playing with the polarised filter.
