I didn't think I was going to get the opportunity to try the new menus this year because I am working all the time AND I shouldn't be spending $35 on a three-course prix fixe meal. But, I don't always do what I'm supposed to, particularly with my money, which is why I'm in this predicament in the first place. My best excuse is that Janet had been stuck in her house with four kids and a dog for a whole week all by herself
and she wanted to go. How could I say "no" to her?
Normally, we like to try something new when we go out. I haven't been to Angeline's since a ninth grade, french class field trip, but the new chef there is Michael Potters, former owner of Harvest, which is where we went last year. I would also like to try East and Main Bistro or The Devonshire Inn in Wellington. They all have some interesting things to try, such as, nut and mushroom meatloaf in phyllo pastry or rabbit civet in red wine.
If you go, check out the menus at http://www.countylicious.ca/ . It seems the popular foods this year are beets, israeli couscous and pork. I don't know who the hell Blaine Way is, but he's selling a lot of pigs to local restaurants.
Strangely enough, we settled for dinner at Amelia's Garden - the restaurant where I work during the day on the resort where Janet works. This decision could go either way; we get special treatment for being employees or we get "special" treatment for being employees... in the negative sense. It ended up being a little of both, I think.
So, in order to get ready for my date with Janet and Danielle, I decided to get all spiffy. I showered and put some fancy, silk protein mousse in my hair for which my daughter probably spends $20 a bottle. I tried to blow dry my hair with some success, but it tends to make my hair more frizzy than normal. So, I decided to curl it. I have less patience for curling my hair than I have for blowing it dry, which means I do a couple of ringlets on boths sides of my face and leave the rest. My daughter, Alex, was disgusted with my attempts at preening. She used a strightening iron to curl the rest of my head. Don't ask me how to do this. It looked like she was using a pair of Fiskars scissors to curl the ribbons on a birthday present. It worked anyway. My hair was all Shirley Temple. Then, she sprayed it all over with half a can of extra hold hair spray that my son uses for his faux hawk and proceeded to "scrunch" it up with her fingers.
Every once in a while, we all have a little bit of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), right? Some people are obsessed with a certain number, others like to keep things lined up, others have to do things in a particular order. Apparently, I have to be able to run my fingers through my hair. This is not possible when there is half a can of extra hold hair spray on your hair. I had a little bit of a panic attack when this was brought to my attention. But, I had to (eventually) admit I looked pretty good.
Initially, I put on my dark wash, skinny jeans with my red, Christmas shirt and a pair of high wedged sandals. In my opinion, a heavy set woman does not wear this outfit well. It was very "white trash" and was more suited to having tickets to Maury Povich. But, Alex insisted that my skinny jeans are the best pants I have and I value her opinion. I switched to my pink, sleeveless shirt... I don't know how to describe these things. It's pinkish and flowy and shows a lot of cleavage. I covered it with a black cardigan to make me less trashy. What about shoes? I have all kinds of shoes, but no flats! Who doesn't own a nice pair of flats? I absolutely need to rectify this situation ASAP! In the meantime, I put on my black and white Pumas. Now, I feel this was dressing down when I was clearly trying to dress up. Alex insisted that all the work on my hair, my face, and my jeans could only be accentuated by wearing running shoes. I still believe she was totally messing with me.
At least Janet thought I looked hot. We picked up Danielle and headed out for our reservation. I wanted to be extra high maintenance on this special night and it was my intention to call ahead to make sure they had a vegan alternative on the menu, just for shits and giggles. I also wanted to make sure we had a window seat far away from any of the filthy plants and a server that wasn't going to get on my nerves with a patronizing attitude or over-exuberant personality. Hmmm. I guess I am high manitenance.
I had the beet salad. It was served with an herbed cheese and the tiny slices of really dry baguette toasts. I neary broke my incisors trying to get through that toast, but the beets were good. Janet had the smoked salmon and feta cheese tart with smoked pineapple, which she loved and I agree the pineapple was tasty. Danielle went for the apple cider and old cheddar soup, which is very popular at lunch.
For the entree, I ordered the Arctic char with tomato and asiago risotto. Both were incredibly good, but in hindsight, I'm pretty sure I got the pickerel and not the char. It was supposed to be porcini crusted and topped with brie, swiss and braised leeks. There was nothing but breadcrumbs on my fish. It was good anyway. Janet and Danille both got the surf and turf beef with sashimi grade tuna steak and crab cake. The crab cake had noodles in it. I didn't try it, but Janet liked it. They both loved the steak (which they could cut with a butter knife, btw). In fact, Janet wanted to take it home and make love to it. In the middle of Amelia's Garden fine dining restaurant, I pretended I was at home rubbing steak over my musn't-touch (thanks for that word, Heather) and calling it's name. Even the idea of touching meat made me want to hurl. Janet, however, fantasized about making her own "gravy".
Among our other fine dinner conversations, Danielle brought up the very terrible Gayle King Show on the new O Network. I haven't seen it. In related news, Danielle said, the tabloids started rumours in 2006 that Gayle is Oprah's lesbian lover because they shared a tent while camping somewhere. To which I replied, "Well, that makes me a lesbian, too." Not to be outdone, Janet claims she is a "triple lesbian" because she shared a tent with three women. Overachiever.
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