I pay for my free meal

The view across the restaurant from our table. That is half my boss's head on the left.

Our attorney came into town today for the mediation on a big account this week. He always takes a bunch of people from the office to dinner, as kind of a good will thing. He's a nice enough guy. He's been very nice to me. He gets a lot of business from us, and always wants more. Frankly, I would be more impressed if his office was more organized. I love to eat out, but I choose people based on their abilities and competence, and not on whatever gifts they give me. That's why I fired an agency a couple of years ago that was sending me Waterford Crystal every year at Christmas. To quote pop culture slang "that don't impress me much". Not that I didn't like it. That's just not how I judge my business contacts.

Dom DeLoise (from History of the World, Part I): "Nice. Nice. Not thrilling, but nice."

Anyway, since I can't get rid of the guy (he has an in with our corporate offices), and have to deal with the shortcomings of his office anyway, I don't feel bad about eating his food. Especially if I have to do it with a bunch of guys from the office. That's just like being at work.

I did have a lovely meal. I had eaten at the restaurant, Azia, before. The best thing on the menu are little fish tacos they do that are scrummy. I also had some sushi. Theirs is pretty good. Half of the table, though, were pretty much meat and potato guys. Since the attorney had ordered a sushi selection for an appetizer, I figured only half of us would be eating it. It was right. So I basically finished up the sushi that was left, and had the tacos, which are an appetizer, for my entree.

We also had a lovely red wine. I am not much on reds as a rule, so I was leery of the described Pinot Noir ("New-war" as our waitress pronounced it, LOL). It was described as having "spicy notes and a long finish". I was leery of the long finish, having had issues in the past with Chardonnays described that way that were so oak-y I felt like I'd been hit in the face with a board. But Pinot Noir is light enough that I can actually enjoy a glass from time to time. This wine, Wither Hills was the label, was absolutely lovely. It twinkled and danced on my tongue like a dark-haired gypsy wench. Saucy and spicy, but smooth on that long finish like a trailing silk scarf on the palate. I will definitely be buying a bottle. And the only red I ever buy is to cook with.

My boss, who is a really nice guy, but sometimes tries too hard, decided that it would only be eithical for us to eat dinner on the attorney's dime if we talked about business the whole meal. And we were at the restaurant for three. fucking. hours. It could have been just over two. But when it came time for dessert, my boss ordered one that they had told us took 20 minutes to bake. So we sat. And then they brought it and it was too hot to eat, so we sat some more. By this point, the conversation had become rather strained. Since I was sitting there anyway, I ordered some creme brulee, since that is one of my favorite things in life. It was actually clever the way it came, little baby pots of different flavors arranged on a sectioned plate, and one cup of raspberry sorbet which was excellent. I spent some time contemplating the petro-load of the enormous fresh blackberries used as a garnish before I ate them. It's shocking the decadence that we take for granted in this country.

It took two cosmos to get me through, and I'm afraid I got a bit boisterous after chafing at the bit for the first two hours. But I didn't say anything too egregious.

So yes, the food was good, and expensive. And yes, the guys from the office are nice enough. But frankly that was my time, and I would rather have just had a furkey sandwich at the house and watched Family Guy.

I was really glad to get home. I had to cancel my picture buying meeting with Lance for tomorrow, and thought I had gotten lucky when I saw their TV on when I got home (at 9:10!). But apparently they left the TV on for the dog, because no one answered my knock. I'm not sure what to do about that now.

As I got into bed with the kitties, I noticed that my new peach sheets have pilled up. Bloody hell. That was just the perfect ending to an aggravating day. And I have two more ahead.