Dinner, Take Two

November 20, 1998

Our belated anniversary night out was tonight. We had planned on going out for a nice dinner on Wednesday, but that was ruined by a broken window. Jean and I had been discussing where to go since early in the week. I hate most food, including all seafood and poultry, so we usually have to find a restaurant that serves a nice steak. Jean likes all kinds of food, so we try to find someplace interesting that also serves a nice steak.

We have a traditional fall-back restaurant: The Tobacco Company (can you tell we live in Richmond?). It's a nice atmosphere, and their menu has all kinds of interesting entrées in addition to a very good filet mignon. We've made a tradition of going to The Tobacco Company on Christmas Eve (or just before if we're going to be away for the holiday), and we're planning on going again this year, so we decided we'd try another restaurant. As long as steak is on the menu, I'm fine. So I left the choice of our dinner up to Jean.

We're always good with the big decisions. We've had a fairly simple time of it with our baby decisions. We're even in agreement about finances. But the little decisions tear us apart five minutes at a time. Neither of us really cared where we went for dinner, so long as it was nice. I didn't want to pick a place, since all that matters to me is the wine and the steak. Jean wanted me to have some say over the issue. In the end (and after making then canceling reservations at one restaurant) we went to None Such Place in Shockoe Bottom.

Jean wore a nice black velvet dress she'd bought a few weeks ago. It's her holiday dress, since she needed something to wear to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. She looked great. On the way to the restaurant I found myself looking at her and reflecting that we're both still young. We've been looking at pictures from our college years, and I'd been struck by how young we were. All this parenting stuff can make me feel old if I let it, but last night when I looked at Jean I saw that in our mid-thirties we're both still young.

Dinner was okay: None Such Place is apparently the oldest commercial building in Richmond. There are perhaps ten tables upstairs, five downstairs. They've decorated for the Christmas season, with pine needles and white Christmas lights along the railing on the stairway. The ceiling on the second floor is just thick wooden beams, so you can see the wood roof of the house. They didn't have a filet on the menu, so I got what appeared to be the next closest thing. It was a marinated steak with some kind of mustard sauce. I attempted unsuccessfully to request no marinade or sauce. Jean ordered two appetizers for dinner. One was some kind of mushroom crepe, and the other was a puff pastry with lobster. The presentation was impressive, and Jean loved her dinner. My steak was huge, and not at all like a filet. I had about half of it, and concentrated on the very good Cabernet Sauvignon. Jean had a French silk chocolate pie for dessert and we both had coffee (hers was decaf).

While we were eating, it started to rain. Richmond has been in a drought for months, so any rain is welcome. When we finished, I asked Jean to stay at the restaurant while I walked three blocks in the rain to the car. We decided to extend our night with a trip to Borders. Unfortunately the book store was too hot to be comfortable. Jean couldn't get to the pregnancy and baby books: there was a group of about ten pregnant women who were meeting and talking and having a wonderful time. Jean sat fairly close to the women, hoping they'd invite her to join in, but they didn't seem to notice her. I spent most of my time staring at books and thinking "I've got so much at home I should be reading right now." We left, Jean disappointed that she doesn't have more pregnant friends and I was disappointed that I am not reading enough.

Despite Borders, we had a nice night out. We have so few big nights out left before we have to juggle the baby, and it's nice to focus on just the two of us for a few hours.

It was cloudy all day and cool. One of the radio announcers on our local public radio station rates fall days on a wistful scale, the more bleak the weather, the higher the day scores. Yesterday would have been at least a seven on that scale. We were in the city (in Shockoe Bottom to be precise) when the rain started. Rain in the city is different because the city is so bright. The windows in the restaurant glittered from the city lights. Luckily the rain means I won't rake leaves at least on Saturday.