Life in the big..., well..., medium sized city.
This is "restaurant week" here in Charm City. It's a promotional device in which the city's upscale restaurants offer moderately priced limited menus. It's a nice opportunity to try out places you wouldn't normally go and it has turned out to be pretty successful, especially in these days when people are cutting back on discretionary spending -- so much so that now there are several "restaurant weeks" during the year and some places are extending the "week" for two, three, even four weeks.
Sign o' the times.
Needless to say "She Who Must Not Be Named" loves restaurant week. It's an excuse to get me to take her out to dinner time and again, and "She" really, really likes going out to dinner.
A few days ago it was "Cinghaile" [Northern Italian -- owned by local celebrity chef, Cindy Wolf, and Tony Foreman], then "Oceanaire" [seafood]. Then "She" and her girlfriends were off to New York where they are also having "restaurant week". I didn't go, but they seemed to enjoy themselves. They took in a show, got some shopping done, then dinner and a drive back home.
The next day we drove back to Baltimore where "She" had booked reservations at Ixia [eclectic everything]. It's a pretty good place in the Mount Vernon neighborhood, trying to build its clientele -- and "She" was delighted to find out that they are extending "restaurant week" through the entire month of August. "She" tells me that we will be going back there soon. I don't know. The food is fine, but the decor sorta spooks me. There is a large memento mori hanging over the bar with an admonition to carpe diem, and where we were seated I could see the spectre of Jackie O grinning down at me from a mirror. Shudder!
Tonight we will be going over to "Tsunami" [Asian], in Little Italy and tomorrow it will be "Aldo's", also in Little Italy. That means walking past pastry shops again. Will I survive?
Then some relief, although "She" reminds me that we have reservations at "Gertrudes" up at the BMA next week.
Last night, over dessert, "She", who is very petite, remarked, "If I keep eating like this I'll turn into a blimp".
I didn't say anything. I was wondering what kind of food they serve in the poorhouse.
