"The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going." George Carlin
Last night we dined out with our two sons - an occasional event that has recently been reinstated. It gives us a chance to catch up without the distraction of the grandchildren I guess. Always a pleasure anyway, and before I say anything else let me say that last night's experience had many more pleasures than pitfalls, both at the time, back at home afterwards and on reflection today.
And look, every scrap of the food was eaten because it was all delicious.
The chosen venue was L'Artigiano in Ivanhoe - a Melbourne suburb roughly halfway between the three of us. It is located in the old Fire Station of the town, so there's a fair amount of rather lovely exposed brick. Italian - because - well everyone likes Italian don't they and their menu sounded rather more interesting than the rival Italian restaurant at the other end of Ivanhoe High Street. Maybe we'll try that next time.
Which we shall do some time - in a couple of months maybe, for we are fortunate in that we have enough money to be able to afford this pleasure - a pleasure that is increasingly becoming out of reach for many. I hear that even McDonald's is suffering because of the increasing expense of such luxuries as a Big Mac. Which maybe adds guilt to the mix of emotions involved in a meal out with friends or family.
We don't dine out a lot so it's always a particular pleasure for me although not as much for David who, I guess, endured many years of business lunches and dinners, and solitary hotel meals when travelling interstate and overseas on business. And he's a hard man to please. He flatteringly says it's because he eats so well at home, but I suspect that's just a cover for really not enjoying restaurant dining. So for me there is always a slight anxiety that the evening will disappoint in some way. However, in many ways it's probably a good thing that we do not dine out all the time, as such occasions would not then be as special. Anticipation is all as Rachel Roddy so eloquently wrote once:
"Someone must have done experiments looking at the endorphins released when people walk towards lunch; the reasons behind the euphoria felt on nearing the door of a restaurant, cafe or pub, and how it differs depending on whether it is somewhere familiar or new. ... If someone has researched near-the-door endorphins, they must have looked at sitting-down-and-putting-knees-under-the-table endorphins, too. Also, what happens chemically when you first glance at a menu, take the first sip of wine and taste of bread, which surely triggers something calming." Rachel Roddy
She was talking about lunch, but the same applies to dinner and I'm not sure that 'calming' is the right adjective here. Maybe even something as strong as 'excitement' or as negative as 'anxiety' are equally in the mix. The 'anxiety' comes from the worry that the other guests - husband especially when it comes to dining out - will be pleased with the menu and the venue and everything that follows on from that.
First impressions last night were good. A friendly welcome, a good table tucked away in a corner and not too close to anyone else, a tantalising menu. Younger son, thrifty like his father, spotted the Feed Me option for $65.00 per person as long as the entire table went for it. No choice but appetisers, pasta, mains and sides and dessert. Truly a bargain if you added up all the constituent pieces. The problem was no choice, because David and younger son do not like seafood. But we enquired and they were willing to stick to meat - but it had to be for everyone. So older son and I reluctantly and silently gave up the prawns and other seafood that we had been considering in our heads. Which I hasten to add was not a big deal.
As I said before the food was really delicious - and generous in quantity. There were three entrées, two pastas, two mains and three sides, followed by four icecreams and some delicious doughnut kind of things. The photo shows the almost remains of the meat course. Everything was just lovely, if not haute cuisine. High standard home cooking is perhaps how it should be described.
So a big tick for the food and the monetary value thereof.
The conversation too was lively, and occasionally contentious in that we all wanted our say and constantly interrupted each other - well it was family. Topics ranged from soccer, through dark radiation to how one discovers what one wants to do with one's life and lots else in between. I say contentious although in yesterday's context it was more about whose turn it was to speak than to disagree angrily about what was being said. Indeed there was not a lot of disagreement - which is a bit of a surprise in our family. There were certainly elements of this quote from Cyril Connolly, but not to his extreme - and I was probably the only one who drank a little too much. Everyone else was very restrained.
"Dining out is a vice, a dissipation of spirit punished by remorse. We eat, drink, and talk a little too much, abuse all our friends, belch out our literary preferences and are egged on by accomplices in the audience to acts of mental exhibitionism. Such evenings cannot fail to diminish those who take part in them."
However, when we got home David had a bit of a rant at the 5% surcharge he had been charged, even though he had paid by EFTPOS and not on credit, which concluded with a decision on his part to never go there again. I shall say no more on this, although you can read more on the subject if you are interested in an SBS News article. So maybe David is right to be angry although maybe it balances out the very good value of the actual meal. Not the drinks - but then we all know that drinks are always overpriced. We expect it.
That's how I feel about it all today anyway. I feel slightly ashamed of some of my interruptions to the conversation, but overall I thought the venue was entirely appropriate for the occasion and was pleased that there were none of those major disagreements and arguments that can occur in families. And so lovely to spend table time with our sons.
"How like herrings and onions our vices are in the morning after we have committed them." Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Love it!