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sarea
Sometimes, it's good that I'm forced to socialize. After a long, hard day yesterday, the higher ups at work decided to treat a few of us to dinner. I didn't really want to go, but I didn't have a raid scheduled and the rest of my team couldn't make it, so I had to be there to represent. I had a blast, though -- it always surprises me when I realize that I can really like my coworkers sometimes. :-) Plus it was at Ruth's Chris Steak House, which I had wanted to try for some time (coincidentally enough, Jade and I had recently talked about it!). It was a bit fancier than I had expected; I was thinking more along the lines of, say, Outback (which I love). They had reserved a private room for us. The entrees, all a la carte, ran about $40. I was torn between the filet mignon and the lobster (they were sitting so beautifully in their tasteful tank downstairs), but I decided a lobster might be a bit too messy to eat in front of people I don't know all that well, and plus I love a good steak.
I had a seared ahi tuna starter, which was good but didn't stand out as being better than any other of its kind that I've had before. We ordered every side on the menu, and they were all good, though I have to say the fries were surprisingly delicious, and I really enjoyed the creamed spinach au gratin. Oh, there were also these stuffed mushroom caps that were excellent. Usually with those things you can't really taste what they're stuffed with, but these were stuffed with crab and you could really taste the crab meat. Mmm. I had one and a half cosmos -- I drank the first one really fast, and it wasn't until it was all gone that it really hit me, and then I was like, whoa. I don't have much tolerance for alcohol, so I don't drink it often, and when I do I don't have a lot. Usually the yucky taste of it turns me away, but the cosmo hardly tasted alcoholic at all! Well, until it made me dizzy/headachey. :/
The filet was melt-in-my-mouth delicious. I only wish I hadn't eaten so many appetizers, because I wasn't able to finish it. /cry It was tender and succulent and so the way a steak should be. It reminded me of the steak Joe Pantoliano has in The Matrix, which never fails to get my mouth watering. I ordered it medium rare, which meant that when I first cut into it, the meat seemed 'dark' -- it's still a bit blue from the rareness. But after a few moments of breathing in oxygen, it turned bright red and just looked/tasted fabulous.
Wine was pouring freely like water ... I think it was all good wine, but nothing spectacular. Except then we got a bottle of a cabernet sauvignon that made me think of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
embe11ished's story In Vino Veritas (which is done now, by the way, so check it out!). Being a total n00b about wine, I have no idea whether it was really any good or not, even though I had some. I tried and tried to keep the name of it in my head, but I can't remember it now. These were the only things I noticed about it: 1) I swirled the glass around on the table, and even though I didn't even have much in my glass, the scent of the wine was immediately discernable; 2) It was bottled in 2003; 3) It was #28,028 or something of 30,000 bottles. It definitely tasted different from any other wine I've ever had -- it had this kind of smoky (maybe that's not the right word) flavor to it that was quite unusual. I didn't have more than the bit in my glass, though -- I figured the people who could actually appreciate it should have more.
I had originally intended to skip dessert, but the server pointed out this berries and cream thing, and I got that. It was raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries served in a glass with chilled sweet cream, and omg it was delicious. There was too much cream -- should have been more of a drizzle than having the berries swim in it -- but it wasn't overpoweringly sweet. I probably could have eaten the cream and not felt like I'd overindulged physically, but mentally I just couldn't do it. <g>
When I got home I was ever so slightly inebriated, which probably meant that I shouldn't have signed into WoW. A friend of mine was asking my advice about a gal that he's interested in, which he's been doing for a few days now. Initially I was very encouraging ... but after hearing more and more, I finally got fed up with it last night and the alcohol loosened my tongue (and fingers). I might have said things like, "If she knows how you feel and is still behaving like this, then either a) she returns your feelings, or b) she's leading you on, which makes her a bitch" and "If she has a reputation for leading guys on and you still like her, then I have zero respect for that. Don't talk to me about it anymore, because I have no desire to waste my time analyzing the motives of some cocktease." I thought there were going to be negative repercussions to voicing these extremely unflattering opinions about the object of his affections, but he was actually fine with it. Wow, apparently I can do and say anything, now. Then my head continued to hurt and I went to bed.
I've ordered the latest Georgia Nicholson novel. I wonder if there's any end in sight for these books? As much as I love Georgia and her escapades, I don't want to be strung along indefinitely, especially since there isn't much meat per novel anyway. :/
I had a seared ahi tuna starter, which was good but didn't stand out as being better than any other of its kind that I've had before. We ordered every side on the menu, and they were all good, though I have to say the fries were surprisingly delicious, and I really enjoyed the creamed spinach au gratin. Oh, there were also these stuffed mushroom caps that were excellent. Usually with those things you can't really taste what they're stuffed with, but these were stuffed with crab and you could really taste the crab meat. Mmm. I had one and a half cosmos -- I drank the first one really fast, and it wasn't until it was all gone that it really hit me, and then I was like, whoa. I don't have much tolerance for alcohol, so I don't drink it often, and when I do I don't have a lot. Usually the yucky taste of it turns me away, but the cosmo hardly tasted alcoholic at all! Well, until it made me dizzy/headachey. :/
The filet was melt-in-my-mouth delicious. I only wish I hadn't eaten so many appetizers, because I wasn't able to finish it. /cry It was tender and succulent and so the way a steak should be. It reminded me of the steak Joe Pantoliano has in The Matrix, which never fails to get my mouth watering. I ordered it medium rare, which meant that when I first cut into it, the meat seemed 'dark' -- it's still a bit blue from the rareness. But after a few moments of breathing in oxygen, it turned bright red and just looked/tasted fabulous.
Wine was pouring freely like water ... I think it was all good wine, but nothing spectacular. Except then we got a bottle of a cabernet sauvignon that made me think of
embe11ished's story In Vino Veritas (which is done now, by the way, so check it out!). Being a total n00b about wine, I have no idea whether it was really any good or not, even though I had some. I tried and tried to keep the name of it in my head, but I can't remember it now. These were the only things I noticed about it: 1) I swirled the glass around on the table, and even though I didn't even have much in my glass, the scent of the wine was immediately discernable; 2) It was bottled in 2003; 3) It was #28,028 or something of 30,000 bottles. It definitely tasted different from any other wine I've ever had -- it had this kind of smoky (maybe that's not the right word) flavor to it that was quite unusual. I didn't have more than the bit in my glass, though -- I figured the people who could actually appreciate it should have more.I had originally intended to skip dessert, but the server pointed out this berries and cream thing, and I got that. It was raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries served in a glass with chilled sweet cream, and omg it was delicious. There was too much cream -- should have been more of a drizzle than having the berries swim in it -- but it wasn't overpoweringly sweet. I probably could have eaten the cream and not felt like I'd overindulged physically, but mentally I just couldn't do it. <g>
When I got home I was ever so slightly inebriated, which probably meant that I shouldn't have signed into WoW. A friend of mine was asking my advice about a gal that he's interested in, which he's been doing for a few days now. Initially I was very encouraging ... but after hearing more and more, I finally got fed up with it last night and the alcohol loosened my tongue (and fingers). I might have said things like, "If she knows how you feel and is still behaving like this, then either a) she returns your feelings, or b) she's leading you on, which makes her a bitch" and "If she has a reputation for leading guys on and you still like her, then I have zero respect for that. Don't talk to me about it anymore, because I have no desire to waste my time analyzing the motives of some cocktease." I thought there were going to be negative repercussions to voicing these extremely unflattering opinions about the object of his affections, but he was actually fine with it. Wow, apparently I can do and say anything, now. Then my head continued to hurt and I went to bed.
I've ordered the latest Georgia Nicholson novel. I wonder if there's any end in sight for these books? As much as I love Georgia and her escapades, I don't want to be strung along indefinitely, especially since there isn't much meat per novel anyway. :/
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no subject
Date: 2006-06-16 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-16 10:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-16 10:23 pm (UTC)And I had to laugh about what you told your friend.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-16 10:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-16 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-16 10:51 pm (UTC)Wow, high praise indeed! I'll have to meet some wine enthusiasts in real life and have wine with them; maybe then it would be easier to learn, with hands-on experience, about the qualities of a wine one should look for or take notice of. I was tempted to write down the name of it, or take the bottle home, but then that would have drawn questions where the only possible answer would be, "Uhh... because this gal on LJ wrote a Draco/Ginny story with wine as a theme, and thought she might be interested?" And I don't think I was quite drunk enough for that.
Oooh I did some Googling, and recognize the name/label! It was Heitz Cellar. Can't find the specific one we had though. Poo.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-16 11:04 pm (UTC)You're right that the best way to learn about wine is to try it. That's how my husband and I started. We actually had a wine book with a glossary. For the first several bottles we tried, we went through the glossary and considered whether or not each particular term applied to the wine we were drinking. We ended up with a description of each wine as an alphabetical list. After a while, we got the hang of it and could generate the adjectives on our own. It might help to have some people who know a little more and can clue you in to which adjectives might apply to a certain kind of wine. But if you are already at the stage of saying the wine last night smelled "smoky" as opposed to "like red wine", you are already off to a good start.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-18 01:47 pm (UTC)You LIKE Outback? omgo
*raises hand, forcing you to talk to it*
(Ruth's Chris is awesome, and husband and I treat ourselves to it twice a year)
no subject
Date: 2006-06-19 10:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-20 07:23 am (UTC)thanks!!
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Date: 2007-05-27 11:16 pm (UTC)Once you friend me back, I'd really love it if you could delete this comment, if you think of it. Thanks! Hope you're well!
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Date: 2007-08-21 04:12 am (UTC)You have unlocked posts at
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Thanks!