Last night Kyle and I went to a little Italian restaurant, courtesy of a friend, to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It was the first time in 3 months that we have been out without one of the kids in tow. It was awesome! Not just the food, but the expience itself. A little place in a strip mall building. Dishes that don't match. Red and white checkered table cloths. Old maps, pictures and flags on the wall. One main waiter and two assistants for the entire place. Your table for you and only you the entire evening. No menu or price list to see, just the waiter's display of the food before its cooked and his descriptions of how "beautiful" the food will be after he cooks it with a little bit of this and that. His favorite food to show you is always the live lobster he will kill and cook for you. "Senora, would you like...." He always addresses the women at the table first. Kyle thinks its because he knows if the woman is happy, the man will order more things and maybe even get lucky.
We started with some steamed artichoke and stuffed mushrooms. Kyle ate the lambchop with potato and spinach. I had the lobster with a spicy red sauce over pasta....to die for. But before you eat it, he shows it to you while its steaming hot (just the lobster that is, no sauce or pasta) and says, "I clean it for you." He then proceeds to pull the thing apart and mix all the meat in with the pasta and put spoonfulls of sauce on it while he hums some italian tune. We ended with coffee, cheesecake and tiramisu.
You leave your dinning expereince feeling refreshed, reconnected and more joyful. The food is excellent. The server is a joy to watch. And you have met new friends along the way. I am not sure if it is the charisma of the server, the wine the lets you feel loose, or the food that comforts you...but as the evening unfolds the restaurant becomes a place for complete strangers to connect. Everyone parts with good-byes to all the staff and a committment to come again some time.
Thankfully we have been able to make La Trattoria da Gaetano a wedding anniversary tradtion for the last two years and will continue to do so year after year....Thank you friend (you know you are) for making our wedding anniversary celebrations enjoyable and renewing.
5 comments:
That place is awesome. I think it's multiple things that make it great. Chief among them being that one of our callings as created beings is to commune with one another over meals (see Jesus). When you get to strip away all the crap that so many places are built on (fancy plates, fancy toilets, and snotty servers), you can relax and just enjoy your company (and the people serving you) who obviously enjoy what they do, and are great at it. Maybe it's just one of those rhythms that are so simple, but still divine in nature. Thanks for telling me about that place. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there too. The artichoke was money as well.
YAY! sounds like a wonderful night. happy anniversary! and thanks for the pictures of the new lil babe. he's sooooooo squishycute. ; )
Mom Pletzer says
It sounds like you had a great evening. That is what it is all about. Time for just the 2 of you was such a great blessing for both of you. I am so glad that you had the opportunity to do it again this year. It sounds like such a unique place, that I hope when we come down again we can go there with you and enjoy it together. We love you both and you are such a wonderful and awesome couple. You set the bar very high for other couples to have a relationship like the 2 of you have.
Happy Anniversary you two! What a cool place! Sounds just like the scene from Lady and the Tramp; but cooler and for people, heheh:) I was in Louisville all weekend, and just had the chance to catch up on some blog reading. Will be praying for you, and your family, and for year number five together. Love you guys.
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