Have any of you ever watched Bob Ross' painting show on Public Television (and his "happy little clouds")? I wonder if he's still around. I wonder if he ever painted anything without being high at the time.Today is Calvin's birthday.I had originally planned to take Calvin up north for the weekend, but those plans were altered because of the HIPFH(tm). So instead we went out to dinner last night. Can I just say, oh my God, the food. The restaurant is called "House of Tricks", and it's in the ASU college district in Tempe. This kind of restaurant can only exist in Arizona. Primarily outdoor seating (really, when I went inside to go to the bathroom, I could only see four tables). We parked along the street and walked up to the place. It was a home in the early 1900's, and I don't think they changed the footprint of the original house. The building houses the kitchen, and little else (besides the bathrooms) as far as I could tell. There is a very large covered porch which houses a small bar and some seating, with trees growing up through the floorboards of the porch and up through the roof. Eucalyptus, I think they were. At least, some of them. We sat at the edge of the main seating area, in what would have been the front lawn. They have constructed a huge gazebo in the center of the yard, and trained the trees and vines to grow over it. The whole place was lit by candles and strands of small, white Christmas lights. Guitar music played in the background. Can you say, "romantic"? I'm going to take a gander at some point and see if they have a site on the net. The food was not to be believed, and I can't remember specifically what all the ingredients were, so I'm not going to be able to give it the credit it deserves. Calvin and I started with some drinks - White Zin for me, a locally brewed amber beer for him. We were seated, and we ordered an appetizer. Okay, I'm going to gush, here. Sauteed Portabello mushroom, served with roasted tomato, some kind of soft, spreadable goat cheese, and baby greens salad with Balsamic dressing. The mingling of tastes was amazing. Everything just melted together in your mouth. I was closing my eyes a lot to fully appreciate the taste without the distraction of the other senses. I was actually surprised that Calvin chose it, he being anti-feta. But feta isn't what they served us. I've *got* to figure out what it was. Trader Joe's, here I come. Calvin ordered the Angus sirloin, served with a medley of zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and squash, and this layered potato casserole stuff with cheese and herbs. Like I said, I'm not going to be able to do this meal justice. I ordered the seared Ahi, which came with Risotto and spinach in this spicy curry and dill sauce. And more wine. I'd never had Ahi before, but I thought it was excellent. Calvin has had Ahi in Maui, so he tried it to give it an accurate assessment. He judged it to be excellent. His steak was marvellous, too (yes, I stole a bite. Or three). We were in high good spirits last night. The atmosphere was wonderful, and the conversation was excellent (as usual). Calvin and I are blessed. We talk about everything under the sun. Last night's conversation topics included how much we like food (heh), how much our lives have improved since being together, what we want our home to become, where we'd like to travel and what we'd like to see, how annoying the woman at the next table was, how could we get a job as food critics, if we had to lose one of our senses which one would we choose, and how much we enjoy being in each other's company. Non-stop conversation. I love being in love with my best friend. We were fully stuffed after our entrees, but when the waiter asked us if we wanted dessert, I just *had* to see what they had to offer. He brought the tray over, and, well, let's just say their dessert menu caters to women very well. Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. Birthday-boy chose this chocolate mousse cake that was unbelievably good, and went very well with their excellent coffee. Another one of those eye-closing experiences. We lingered, and languished, and nibbled, and spent two hours over this meal. I may have enjoyed Calvin's birthday dinner more than Calvin did. At the very least, we were neck-and-neck. It was a bit pricey (nearly $100 for the two of us, but that included two beers, three glasses of wine, appetizer, two entrees, and dessert with coffee, so I don't think it was bad at all), but the atmosphere was well worth it. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend it. 7th street east of Mill in Tempe. Oh, and hey, send Calvin good birthday wishes if you're so inclined. I'm sure he'd get a kick out of it. I did also want to mention...Sorry if my last entry came across as being a bit pretentious or something. I'm not usually in lecture mode, and upon re-reading it, it didn't come across they way I really wanted it to. But it's up there now, and to me that's pretty irrevocable. I can hear the mentioned-yet-undetailed troubles I was having that day in the tone of the entry. Funny how that happens. That's one of the things I like about keeping a journal, though. An accurate recording of my mood for that day, whether I want to talk about what's generating it or not. I can't hide anything from you, can I? Hah. Like you'd want me to. You voyeur, you. |