I love having the complicated but very rich social life that I have. I love going to restaurants with friends, a different one both friend and restaurant! (except for my glam best friend who I see a few times a week) ) each week! My husband, unfortunately, doesn't. But, every once in a while he and I go on a date. I love them too, especially when he enters into the spirit of the evening, sometimes he can be cranky about, if too many things don't go his way and then it ruins the evening for me too. I had told him during the week how depressed I was feeling, for no particular reason and yet a lot of little things were coming together to make me feel a bit defeated. I do go through this sometimes though the moments don't usually last too long. I asked him of we could go for manicures that night but he said, "In the suburbs, are you crazy!?!?!" Not that I disagree but I was desperate. He promised he would come into the city on Friday night (he's off on Fridays and HATES driving into the City on those nights) and we could go to my regular place (where he sometimes joins me). After he said that my soul began it's process towards feeling like my usual sunny self. I began to think, why waste his driving here for a 1 hour manicure and he agreed to go to dinner too. I was hoping to get into Maialino as I have been for coffee, breakfast, and lunch-it is a marvelous restaurant. But alas with no reservation no table.
We met at the manicure shop and sat together chatting while the ladies worked on us. Then wandered slowly over to Maialino, discovering our lack of success. Usually he would get annoyed at having to change the plan in the middle but when I suggested either Olives or SD26 as he loves them both, he said Olives and we wandered slowly over there. The night air was beauitul. We enjoyed each other, the conversation, the City, and watching the other people in the streets.
Olives has been around for at least 10 years and it isn't "hot" anymore but the food remains magnificent and I can't quite figure out how they manage that. I had the tuna tartare appetizer and it is still one of my favorites of that dish (!) Julienned cucumber, under 3 or 4 crispy baby shrimp, then the silkiest tuna known to man, and flying fish roe on top all pressed in a ring with a thin strip of English hot house cucumber holding it all together. He had his usual appetizer of the butternut squash ravioli (gorgeous handmade ribbons of pasta encase the squash in a rich brown sauce and parmesan cheese shaved over it). I had a negroni which was a mistake as it seemed like I was faced with 10 gallons of gin. Even though I ate my whole meal I could barely function at the end and I HATE that feeling of not being in control. My husband had his usual glass of Prosecco and loved it. I then tried the lobster risotto and it was good-the lobster sweet and the risotto cooked all the way through (it isn't always and I stopped ordering it years ago-crunchy rice is just awful). Sadly, I have to say it was ordinary. My husband had his usual roast chicken and loved it's moist richness. Then, the raison d'etre for Olives-the warm chocolate pudding cake! They have changed it slightly, making it less rich, which I understand but it is less glorious as well. I never had a whole one, always shared it-that's my way of making it less fattening. A warm oozing chocolate brownie sits in a puddle of manjari chocolate pudding wrapped by a chocolate foam, on top of the brownie is a quenelle of chocolate gelato. There used to be a LARGE deep dark chocolate triangular cookie stuck in the gelato which I miss terribly. It is still a most divine dessert.
We chatted easily but as friends and lovers not as old people married for 23 years. We didn't talk at all about bills or the tile problem in the bathroom-only sexy stuff!
We walked back to the car, drove home and I just fell into bed to "sleep it off", the depression of the other day completely gone and I still get Maialino to look forward to.
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