Dinners of Champions

Starting on Saturday, Seth and I have had friends in town from Texas (hi Berries) and London (hi LoBalbos). Naturally, when friends fly in, we eat. A lot. When picking the restaurant for Saturday night (Berry night) and last night (LoBalbo night), we thought carefully about what our friends like and what they may miss eating in this area since both couples have spent time living in either New York, New Jersey or D.C. For the Texans, we chose seafood (with a side dish of bagels); for the Londoners, meat. (Frankly, knowing Brian, I am not sure there was any other choice). This morning, as I sat on the train bemoaning my hangover and early start time at work, I reflected upon what was consumed this weekend. Behold.

Saturday night - Aquagrill (split amongst 6 people - hi McGowans):

Peppered Tuna Carpaccio (two orders - the second order came at the end of the night when Austin decided he wanted it for dessert)
Maine Lobster Salad
Crispy octopus appetizer
Seafood plateau royale
Chilean Sea Bass
One Pumpkin Souffle
One Chocolate Souffle
Lots of bottles of wine

Monday night - Minetta Tavern (split amongst 4 people):

Lobster Bisque
Pate
Black Label Burger
Cote de Boeuf for two
Bone Marrow
Side Salads
Jacque Torres Chocolates and Coffees (strong enough to make anyone grow hair down there)
Countless bottles of wine (the LoBalbos know how to drink!)

During the meal at Minetta, we split all of the dishes. The waiter was incredibly nice and managed to form that mess of an order into a four course meal and made it easy enough for us to share. We apparently sounded like such food nerds, he asked us if we were "in the business." We replied that our only business was the nerd business and after that he stopped coming to our table. We didn't get home until close to 1:00am from this meal and this morning, the alarm felt like 1000 screaming voices in my left ear.

As a side note, I would like to tell a little story. Our apartment faces a very busy avenue in NYC. Because of that, we run our air conditioner at night to drown out the extraordinary noises that can creep through our windows. We run the air conditioner for two other reasons. (1) Our apartment is about 85 degrees in the winter given the extreme tactics that building management takes to heat it. (2) Seth sweats. Last night, Seth's metabolism was apparently working so hard to digest all that food, that the air conditioning wasn't enough. So, in his wine induced stupor, Seth believed that the only solution to this problem would be to open the window. I spent half the night wondering why the trucks were so loud and worrying that our guests wouldn't be able to sleep. When I finally realized the window was open and asked Seth about this interesting fact, Seth replied "Oops." Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe making your wife believe that a truck was actually driving through her bedroom is a very good reason to buy said wife a present.

But, I digress. Despite my extreme discomfort this morning, I wish that both meals could have lasted for days. Three hours with such good friends is never enough time, especially when such great people live so far away.

But what I have decided is that, while it is always sad when your best friends move to far off locations, it is a testament to those friendships how little the distance matters. In the wise words of Mary Ann, "we may have a few less shopping trips, but that's what the internet is for." Cheers to that, a few thousand miles can't keep us apart! We miss you Berries and LoBalbos but that only makes our friendship stronger.