Elevator Brewery & Draught Haus; January 23, 2009

Elevator Brewery & Draught Haus made the initial list for Restaurant Night primarily because I hadn't been there in several years, but also because they are locally famous for the Rock Filet, a filet (or tuna filet, if you choose) which is literally cooked on a heated rock at your table. Given that Jerry and George are ardent carnivores, I thought this would be a good place to start. You should also know that, while I was never a tremendous fan of meat, I am a very new vegetarian, having started my official vegetarianism on 01/17/2009 for both health and moral reasons. Jerry has been supportive of this choice for the most part, but it does bring him great satisfaction to call me a liberal now, even though I am still politically conservative...I think he also called me a "left-wing wacko" and threatened to report me to Ted Nugent at one point, but the idea of me going veggie is still new to him, so I'm letting him work it out for himself.

George, on the other hand, has yet to weigh in on my veggie conversion, partly because he missed our Inaugural Restaurant Night. While George's bailing was legitimately work-related and out of his hands, Jerry and I still amused ourselves during dinner by weighing various reasonable and unreasonable penalties to impose upon George. This brings us to Rule #1 of Restaurant Night: If any of the trio bails on a night that is a new restaurant for the group, the bailer is responsible for paying for the bailees meals if the group revisits said restaurant at a later date.

On to the food. I had the Four Cheese Pesto Ravioli, which, in addition to being veggie-friendly, was quite fabulous. The pesto was perfect, and sun-dried tomatoes added a little extra sweetness and a nice savory kick to the dish overall. Jerry and I shared a bottle of Ravenswood Zinfandel, which led to a very concerned discussion over whether Nancy "Stretch" Pelosi owns any part of the Ravenswood winery, and, if so, are we then prohibited from drinking said wine? I did a little digging, but still haven't been able to determine if she's connected to them in any way. The issue remains unresolved.

Finally, there was a long dissertation on the concept of the "wolf pack" and my role as the sole female in same (or the "she-wolf", in Jerry's terms). This concept requires George's input, so we'll discuss that here after our next excursion. For our next Restaurant Night, I'll be keeping my pimp hand strong, as the boys will be my "dates" for Valentine's Day. Stay tuned.


Elaine



[The Rebuttal]

Where do I start? Let's talk the vegetarian thing. First of all, I totally understand Elaine not wanting to eat meat. That is her choice and, quite frankly, just leaves more meat on the Earth for me. A childish and simplistic point-of-view, to be sure, but that is life. Keep It Simple, Stupid. Besides, when we dated, she was always appalled whenever I ate anything "off of the bone," which left ribs and wings pretty much out of the picture. Anyway, I do support her completely and her comments to the contrary are just not true. [If this seems a bit sarcastic, it might be.]

On to George. At about 1pm that afternoon, I got a call from him and he had to go to work. It was an emergency, so I understood. Plus, Elaine had stopped by my place the night before for a discussion that was very mature in content, so to make it all less traumatic, we drank about two and a half bottles of wine. Needless to say, the sulfites had my head a bangin'! I eventually broke it to Elaine that it was just us. She was disappointed (I think), but fine. So, we discussed what became the aforementioned Rule #1, more in the context of somehow punishing George, but felt better about the notion of sticking him with a check at some point. The rule passed out of committee and was voted on by the group; 2 Yays with 1 abstention. You figure it out.

Now, in addressing the whole "wolf pack" concept, I must first explain what Elaine so conveniently left out, which was the fact that she was pissed that I checked out every single woman in the place. That part is true and I freely admit it, although I was a bit disturbed by the server who resembled a young Chrissy Hyde. Seriously, but I'm sure she is very nice. Anyway, Elaine was jacked up about the whole thing and, to be honest, she may have had a point. It seems that women just get pissed about those things. Who knew? As the discussion (actually, I'd place it somewhere between 'debate' and 'argument') continued, I explained the value of a girl in a group of guys to her. I started with the contrast of one guy with a group of girls and explained that other girls would probably peg him as gay. Unfair and politically incorrect? Yes. True in life circumstances? Yes, again. Anyway, I then tried to explain the concept in reverse and how guys are attracted to a chick (I used the word "chick") who can hang with a group of guys. The whole "she wolf" term was hers, not mine, even though she will from this day forward try to lay that off on me. While I am the 'master of quips and stupid quotes', I cannot take credit for something that I didn't say. That would be akin to plagiarism. In summation, there really weren't that many hot female prospects in the place. I guess it was a slow night downtown. Additionally, I was truly disturbed by the couple that sat on the same side of the table while they ate. That is the worst! They both had wedding rings on and Elaine (in her innocence) believes they were married, which I am sure they were...just not to each other! I say they weren't because married couples don't do nauseating things like that. That level of love and "romance" go out the window the first time you have to fix something together or clean out the garage or do some other crappy "this is married life task." So, they were on a date.

On to the food! As Elaine mentioned, we ordered a bottle of Ravenswood Zinfandel (nothing like the hair of the dog) which the waitress was going to let us "inspect." I said to just pour it and Elaine chimed in with, "We know we like wine." That was actually pretty clever, but I didn't comment because then she would have used it beat back my wit attack for the rest of the night, so I let it go. I did mention the part about San Fran Nan's husband owning that vineyard. I am not certain of that, but I am politically conservative and if I knew it was true, I wouldn't drink it. That is probably silly to liberals and "moderates," but that is how it is. PLEASE, if you are of another political persuasion than I am, don't let it negatively impact your decision to follow this blog. Like in The Godfather, we don't talk business at the table. Anyway, the wine choice may not have been the best for our entree choices, but I don't care. I drink red wine "whenever," especially in the cold winter months. Besides, I was contemplating ordering "The Rock."

We started with the Hummus and Pita as an appetizer which was great. It was spicy enough to make you realize it, but not overpowering. I found it to be a top-notch choice as it was light enough to not make you feel full before your entree. It is probably enough for 3 people (anyone see George?), but they should probably give you a bit more pita. (As an aside, this appetizer choice was in deference to Elaine's vegetarianism, but again I didn't mention it because she would just tell you that was BS, so live and let live, I say.)

My entree was the Baked Rigatoni Mac & Cheese which was in my top two of choices (with The Rock) and I went with it at the last minute. GREAT choice. It was rigatoni pasta with chorizo and duck sausage, tossed with jalapeno and red onion in a Parmesan and cheddar cheese sauce. It was not "hot" in anyway, really. The onion and jalapeno were just right in the sauce, which I commented to Elaine was very nice with the dish. Elaine was a bit freaked about the duck portion of the evening's attraction, but it and the chorizo were a perfect blend. A truly great dish with a high recommendation.

Incidentally, we were both full, so we passed on dessert. Maybe next time, when George pays.

Lastly, I must add one bit of information to this post. I wanted to steal a piece of silverware, a very bayonet looking knife to be exact. I wanted Elaine to stash it in her purse and I actually broke her down in the end. She was going to do it, I swear. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to "collect" something to immortalize each installment of "Restaurant Night," but we started this blog instead.

Until next time.


Jerry