•3:47 PM
Tuesday, May 18, 2010 3:48 p.m.
Last week was a week of celebrations in our family. May 8th was my birthday, followed by Mother's Day and then our 16th Wedding Anniversary on May 14th. These celebrations come together every year, and Mother's Day sometimes even lands on the 8th or the 14th. So it is a big week for Self-Reliant Man and me.
By the time our anniversary was approaching, we decided that there wasn't anything that we needed to purchase for each other. So we chose, instead, to have dinner at a nice restaurant in the area, and chose a local French restaurant for this venture.
Of course, our family culture dictates that we bring Chips and Sweet Girl with us to celebrations, even on our anniversary. (Now some folks would insist that this is the mark of an unhealthy marriage, but hey, I grew up in a family that did this, and my parents stayed happily married until death parted them after 43 years of marriage. But I digress...) This outing would prove to be a good opportunity to show our children what it is like to dine at a very fine restaurant. I must say that we were not disappointed. This restaurant was a very pleasant place to dine, and no detail was lost on our children.
We are sick and tired of corporate-owned eating establishments and it was a refreshing change to visit a 27 year old local family-owned establishment with real chefs who use their creative talents to invent dishes for their own menu. This restaurant is not only surviving, but thriving, in a city of prodigious competition for dining and entertainment dollars (and that is an understatement!) And they deserve to. Not only was the food excellent, but the level of genuine friendliness and superior service exceeded our expectations. This restaurant was all good food and service and no gimmicks. And our family appreciates that!
Of course, when the owner (and chef's wife) visits our table a few times and bestows smiles and affection on our kids, that goes a long way with me!
So we had a blast ordering items like soupe a l'oignon, salade laitue et noix, poulet "coq au vin", steak au poivre, and snapper avec shrimp et scallops. Not to mention desserts such as creme brulee, mousse de chocolat and pain perdu aux framboises et chocolat.
We also enjoyed teaching Chips and Sweet Girl all the details of fine dining. Chips could not get over the amount of attention the waiters bestowed on our humble little table, anticipating every need, filling our water glasses, replacing flatware that had the residual taste of the previous course so that it would not affect the taste of the next course. Could this be how service used to be in most places a long time ago? My parents thought so.
And it is always a good deal of fun to be addressed as "Sir" or "Miss" when you are just 10 or 7.
It was a happy, pleasant evening out. I am hoping that we can repeat this outing for our next anniversary.
p.s. Chips advised the owner that he would be ready, in a few years ("perhaps when I'm thirteen," I think he said) to play violin for the customers there. She smiled broadly, and exclaimed that she would be happy to hire him. So she shouldn't be surprised when he approaches her in a few years (we know a couple of piano / string students who have been able to make money playing music in their early teens; hearing things like this is a great motivator for Chips!)
Last week was a week of celebrations in our family. May 8th was my birthday, followed by Mother's Day and then our 16th Wedding Anniversary on May 14th. These celebrations come together every year, and Mother's Day sometimes even lands on the 8th or the 14th. So it is a big week for Self-Reliant Man and me.
By the time our anniversary was approaching, we decided that there wasn't anything that we needed to purchase for each other. So we chose, instead, to have dinner at a nice restaurant in the area, and chose a local French restaurant for this venture.
Of course, our family culture dictates that we bring Chips and Sweet Girl with us to celebrations, even on our anniversary. (Now some folks would insist that this is the mark of an unhealthy marriage, but hey, I grew up in a family that did this, and my parents stayed happily married until death parted them after 43 years of marriage. But I digress...) This outing would prove to be a good opportunity to show our children what it is like to dine at a very fine restaurant. I must say that we were not disappointed. This restaurant was a very pleasant place to dine, and no detail was lost on our children.
We are sick and tired of corporate-owned eating establishments and it was a refreshing change to visit a 27 year old local family-owned establishment with real chefs who use their creative talents to invent dishes for their own menu. This restaurant is not only surviving, but thriving, in a city of prodigious competition for dining and entertainment dollars (and that is an understatement!) And they deserve to. Not only was the food excellent, but the level of genuine friendliness and superior service exceeded our expectations. This restaurant was all good food and service and no gimmicks. And our family appreciates that!
Of course, when the owner (and chef's wife) visits our table a few times and bestows smiles and affection on our kids, that goes a long way with me!
So we had a blast ordering items like soupe a l'oignon, salade laitue et noix, poulet "coq au vin", steak au poivre, and snapper avec shrimp et scallops. Not to mention desserts such as creme brulee, mousse de chocolat and pain perdu aux framboises et chocolat.
And it is always a good deal of fun to be addressed as "Sir" or "Miss" when you are just 10 or 7.
It was a happy, pleasant evening out. I am hoping that we can repeat this outing for our next anniversary.
p.s. Chips advised the owner that he would be ready, in a few years ("perhaps when I'm thirteen," I think he said) to play violin for the customers there. She smiled broadly, and exclaimed that she would be happy to hire him. So she shouldn't be surprised when he approaches her in a few years (we know a couple of piano / string students who have been able to make money playing music in their early teens; hearing things like this is a great motivator for Chips!)
3 comments:
The children look absolutely darling!
We also take all of our children with us for the celebrations. It may be our anniversary, but what is there to celebrate without all of the aspects of our life together? Congrats to you both for sticking to the traditions your wise parents started, and congratulations on 14 years. I wish you many more!
Ah how sweet. Things out of the norm are fun
Oh that is so fun. You know sometimes the service alone will make or break a restaurant these days. I know when we get bad service we rarely go back.
I love that they paid special attention to your children and treated kindly.
Loved the pictures and since you live in Florida you'll have to tell me where this restaurant is. LOL!
HUGS
Kim