ask-mark.com

Saturday night, Chris took me to Cafe la Cave, in Des Plaines. She got us a reservation in the cave, as suggested by Pam Skinner, her co-worker. Although it was a smoking room, it was quite romantic and impressive. The walls and ceiling were made to give you the feeling that you were actually in a cave, complete with a bat or two suspended from the ceiling above the bar! This was perfect, as all I wanted from Chris for my birthday was a nice night out to a restaurant, just the two of us. Besides the surroundings, we had a great dinner. The menu was impressive, and it was difficult to choose between one great entree and another. We were able to decide, however. Chris went with French onion soup gratin, and I went with the escargot bourguignonne and Chef Eric’s lobster bisque. We shared the chateaubriand bouquitiere for two. The escargot were quite excellent, having a great texture and garlic flavor. Chris said that her soup was very good, but I think I’ve had a better lobster bisque somewhere. The chateaubraind was superb! Just as described in the menu, it was sliced for us at the table, then placed on our plates by the waiter. The bearnaise sauce was not overwhelming, as Chris said, complementing the meat quite well. I also thought the accompanying vegetables, dressed with hollandaise sauce, were quite good, although there was some sort of small cake that neither of us was sure of what it was. For desert we had the chocolate truffle. It was rich, but not so rich that it was impossible to finish it. Finish it we both did, including the blueberries that dressed the raspberry sauce. It was quite an excellent evening. Tonight, my family joined me at Benihana once again to celebrate my birthday. It was good to see them, as I missed a few of them at Christmas between going to Chris’s parents’ house and my mom’s house. I think everyone enjoyed themselves at dinner, despite my having chosen to have it during the Super Bowl. That’s right, I am so disinterested in NFL football lately that I totally forgot that today was the Super Bowl. After having just perused the Super Bowl website, I’m sorry I missed the half time show. I wonder what happened. Anyways, as usual, the food was good, as was the table entertainment. One thing that the hibachi chef did tonight that I had never seen before at Benihana was the onion volcano. This consists of stacking the onion rings in reverse so that they make a hollow mountain, then pouring soy sauce into the mouth of the volcano so that it boils over as if it were spewing hot liquid magma. Down at Tachibana in Bloomington, the hibachi chef sometimes does something similar, but with alcohol instead of soy sauce. Lighting the fumes creates a colorful plume of flames. I think I like the fire better, but then again, I’m a bit of a pyro. Thanks, mom, for dinner. And thanks, everyone, for the gifts.