Normally I make dinner reservations for 6:30 or 7 so that I can go straight from work to dinner then go home with my husband who drives to work and HATES to go out to dinner.
A few weeks ago when I made the reservation for Marea all I could get was 8:30. I'm quite content to eat at that time but what's a girl to do between 6 and 8 that doesn't involve going home, staying at work, or having more cocktails (I did think about that as an option but I can only handle one in an evening and it really needs to be with food). So I did what any red blooded American girl would do-I met my glam friend at Bergdorf's to wile away the 2 hours before dinner and got into a great deal of very fabulous trouble. BIG trouble.
I have been coveting something from Valentino for months and when I saw a black rosette bag on sale I had to have it! There were three on the case, it was the first day of the sale, and I would have loved to wait for it to get marked down again in a few weeks but in black it would not be there one more minute. One sold while I was waiting for my friend and one was a little schmutzy-so I bought my gorgeous bag. We continued to wander on each floor seeing beautiful things. Once I saw the McQueen black and white collection was on sale I knew I was in much trouble. I showed you pictures of the collection a few weeks ago and I have been patiently waiting for them to go on sale. My skirt is a very narrow, very long , black and cream houndstooth check in the finest wool ever with a silk lining-what could be more delicious, darlings? But...alas, we were going to dinner and I am uncomfortable making friends wait while I try things on so I decided to wait until the next day, to see if I thought about it at all. I thought about that black and white skirt all day. I left my office at 5:30 and headed to BG. I had plans again with my glam friend but not until 7 so I tried on the skirts in the 2 fabrics that were there. And fell in love. I have visions of outfits dancing in my head. And that's it. I really MUST concentrate on staying out of stores-not because I believe you should refrain from shopping in a recession but because I have shopped so much that I cannot pay the bills.
I am going to the various museums that I want to on the weekends to stay away from Madison Ave but next Wed night my dinner plans are already canceled which I'm sort of happy about so that I can finish my shopping. I don't buy things like this. I will take great comfort (and joy) in getting my holiday shopping done.
So the restaurant you ask... Very beautiful, lovely food, and very professional service. The decor was brown and cream but the cream had a glittering softness to it and the brown woodwork was highly polished lacquer-all very shimmery and very pretty. The food was modern and elegant-everything being silky smooth. The service was also very smooth but I think our waiter was a bit overbearing. All-in-all a lovely experience but there are so many restaurants I want to try in my beloved city that I just didn't think it worth a second trip.
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