Lovely

Last night, Chris and I had one of those "typical" Valentine's Days. I mean, don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed it...in fact, it was the first time that I have been out on a date on V day. (Last year, we stayed at his apartment and made frozen salmon burgers that we found in his freezer, and paired them with naan that our friend Prateek had given us. Chris isn't the most romantic in the traditional sense). So I was pretty excited about the night ahead. I made reservations for The Stinking Rose, an apparently great restaurant for all things garlic -- and I LOVE garlic! (Side note: if you ever get the chance to call the Stinking Rose restaurant, you should, if not only to hear the vampire-like recording that greets you. "If you'd like to speak to a dead person, start talking...ah ha ha ha ha!"). Thanks to Virginia, Amanda S, and Karen (and Havah for lending me her closet!) I found a great going-out outfit, something that I am terrible at putting together myself. I borrowed Havah's turquoise shiny, flowy sleeveless shirt that has a high collar and ties in the back, and paired it with (after trying on about 12 different skirts and pants) my knee-length black skirt, and my knee-high black shiny boots. I was especially excited because since we had taken pictures for our ADX composite a few hours earlier, my make-up was already done! Chris picked me up at 6:00 - right on time, which was a pleasant surprise, and we made our way across the bay to the restaurant.

Thanks to an accident on the Bay Bridge, we were about 30 minutes late to the restaurant, and by then, they had given up our table. They said we'd have to wait an hour to get seated. No way! We were hungry! Another side story: our friend Jeff, whom Chris works with, is a restaurant maven. He has gone to nearly every restaurant in Berkeley and SF, and probably the greater Bay Area. He has excellent recommendations and taste. When Chris told him we were going to The Stinking Rose, he said, "That place is ok, but the best restaurant in the world is right across the street." With that in mind, and without a reservation for dinner anymore, we walked across the street to The House. When we came in the door of the tiny, dimly lit restaurant, the hostess didn't even blink when we said we didn't have reservations. She said that they might be able to accommodate us, and in 10 minutes, we had a table for two. Now, while so many people rave about this restaurant, we found it to be delicious, but not mind-blowing. I mean, when you preface a recommendation by saying it's the BEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD...that restaurant better deliver. And it better deliver flavors that you've either never had, or you could never get anywhere else. I had a kobe beef and papaya salad over tomatoes and crispy rice to start. I did love the mix of the beef and papaya...quite good. Chris had some strange salmon-sticks and horseradish sauce. Also, delicious, but leaving our mouths screaming for water. For the main course, I had ostrich flanks over tomatoes, corn and cous cous. Chris had kobe beef steaks over mashed potatoes and broccoli.

The food was definitely delicious. How could it not be? But we didn't experience anything new or interesting with the flavors. It was a really lovely meal, though, and they brought the food out SO FAST! Maybe it's because they wanted to turn the table (but we never felt rushed), or maybe it's because we ordered everything at once that they had time to make it all, but whatever it was, my starving stomach was grateful for their speed. We finished with a great dessert - I had apple crisp a la mode with a delicious ice wine, and Chris got a rich chocolate torte with coffee ice cream and caramel with a strong port. It was a great dinner. I'd say the restaurant is worth going to if you feel up for a fancy evening. (Remember, fancy food means fancy prices...).

After dinner, we went to Club Pink, where his friend Andy was performing on the bongos. The club was on some random street in SF, and it's only identifying feature on the outside of the building was a pink light above a door that was set back in the wall. If you didn't know about the club, you wouldn't have known it was there. Andy works with Chris, so there were other boys from Chris' office there: Max, Scott and Aditya. From 9-10pm, there was free champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. They were delicious. At this time, no one was in the club...so we hung out in a booth for a while, sipping our champagne and waiting for people to fill in. After 11, people were dancing, and we joined in. It was really fun! Andy had really great beats on his bongos, and people were loving it. I enjoyed Max approaching women to dance with them. He was pretty good at it, too! He came back to us and would exclaim, "She was 30!" Max, is 20... ;) We all had a really good time dancing and hanging out. The only complaints are that the club was pretty dark, except for pink lights on the walls, and the music was LOUD. So loud that conversations were really difficult to manage. Overall, my first clubbing experience (other than the time Brian Loo took me to the gay club!) was pretty fun. I liked the chaos of it all, but I also liked the fact that we had a booth to retreat to, when we wanted to rest.

Dinner, dancing, it was all lovely.