Inadvertant Celebrations

The discussion of what to do about dinner Saturday night was borne of hunger.

We were both starving, and with the exception of shredded wheat and Ramen noodles, there wasn't much to eat in the house. The discussion always begins with the following dialogue:

Me: What are you hungry for?

Him: That.

Me: Well, besides that.

Him: Hmm, well, besides that, I'm game for anything.

Me: Roma Cafe?

Him: The Wings are in town. You know it'll be packed.

Me: Wolfgang Pucks? I know it's expensive, but we haven't been out in ages.

Him: Whatever you want. Let's go.

We knew that VD is a big restaurant no-no, but felt that since it was the thirteenth and not the fourteenth, we'd be safe in getting served a meal somewhere. We drove past the Roma, the oldest Italian restaurant in Detroit. Even though the Wings game was already well into the first period, the parking lot was packed and the restaurant was full of couples celebrating Valentine's Day a full day early. We never even got out of the car and decided we'd head to the casino instead, where we could try for 3 separate restaurants. We ended up at Wolfgang's Detroit restaurant.

Finding ourselves without reservations, we had to stand on line for a long time to get a seat and even after waiting, we were seated in the bar, and not the restaurant. After they seated us, they stopped seating walk ins, so we felt sort of lucky. I tried to ignore bar decor which has antlers that decorate the ceiling.

Dinner was sublime. That's the only adjective that will cover the experience.

The beet and fresh mozzarella salad was delicate and sweet with a sassy tang from the aged balsamic vinegar that decorated the edges of the platter. The Maryland crab cake appetizer was superb with just enough heat to awaken the palate. He had the lamb chops that reflected in price, an hour of pay on both our parts. The couple of bites that I had were clearly worth the hard work. I had the pork chop and while I don't ordinarily care for smoked foods, this was beyond delicious. Some bites tasted like fresh pork, and some bites tasted like ham. Beneath the chop was the best creamed spinach I've ever tasted. We topped all this decadence off with the Bananas Foster and house made vanilla bean ice cream.

Yum.

We hadn't planned on celebrating this day. We never do. It's not that we aren't romantic--we just think it's a lousy day to hit a restaurant. They're usually too busy with service that's shabby and frazzled. This time though? It was perfect.

Maybe it's better not to plan such things.

Here's hoping your Valentine's Day celebration is as tasty and unexpected as ours turned out to be.

No knitting was hurt in the celebration of this holiday...