You know which group you fit with--I am not talking about variables like "well, if I had a spare $100 floating around on the ground" or "if someone else paid for it" I am talking about the general concept of your willingness to spend money on your meal.
If you don't know which group to which I belong, you do not know me as well as you thought.
*This week I was in New York and ate dinner at Da Umberto in Manhattan. For those who have not eaten at a really high quality restaurant, there is no point in even trying to imagine it. What was wonderful about this particular place was not just the food, which I will get into in a minute, but the ambiance.
I am pretty certain that 100% of the wait staff were genuine Italians. The accents were thick, sing-songy, and the rolling of the Rs was like watching a broadway theater production. I was riveted by the pronunciation of every last offering from the "For the ah especial this evening, we have the ah... rrrrrisoootto with the ah, butternaut esquash" to the "oh maybe you like a combo of the feeg and estrawberry gelaaaato?" to the "no, it no have the pancetta, it have the prosciutto." Some people do not want a belabored dissertation for dinner but as for me and mine? When it has the accent and beautiful descriptions, it is an audible treat.
It doesn't hurt that in general, the swarthy Italian waiters look you straight in the eye as they are pouring more water.
We had some of everything and perhaps part of the reason why these meals are so much money is that the waiters make the food sound so tempting that you won't say no to tacking on something here and there. Something like, ah, thees?
My favorite was the sun-dried tomato ravioli with the goat cheese and some herb or other but it was almost a tie with the fried baby artichokes and the pancetta-wrapped chicken breast with pecorino cheese. Our table held a collective moment of silence in honor of the great flavor. And of course a chocolate mousse for dessert.
It was a tremendous memory and much more valuable to me than any concert or play. Because for me, my deepest connections are with the food I eat and the people I am with. As my mother aptly noted, "Lee Ann, I eat to live while you live to eat."
Amen, mamma mia.
*Disclaimer: My work pays for my meals when I travel but if we go over a reasonable amount which is very rare, we pitch in our own money and in the story above and others like it, my colleagues and I put up our own money to make up the difference so that we are not using sacred education dollars for my personal indulgences.
