Dinner tonight with a rep and a supplier.  Delish!
It had been awhile in the making.  I think the original plan was to go to dinner early September.  How time flies.  We kept saying, this Tuesday.  No, next Tuesday.  What about the following Tuesday?  Finally, I was told, get ready.  We are meeting this week at 4:30.  I tried to explain that that wouldn't work.  I know that Justin is unable to get to work before 5.  I have worked with him for the past year.  He is a routine guy and so I pushed for a meet up of 5:30.  When that wasn't well-received, I opted to just agree to be late to the dinner.
I am the first to arrive.  I walk into the establishment and it reminds me of my days at Fifi's.  Old school charm, bad lighting and an obvious established joint.  I trust my friends to order.  In a way, I knew that I was being treated and so I wanted to see what they would order. In hindsight, I should have suggested a few items.  Like the prosciutto and melon dish instead of the artichoke.  Whole artichoke is difficult to ingest.  It's messy and time consuming.  I should have pushed for the melon and prosciutto.  Plus it reminded me of my time in Codroipo with Agnese and her family.  It was definitely nostalgic.
Instead, I settled for the artichoke.  Knowing, it was not a smart choice.  We started with artichoke, calamari (another bad decision....I am a student of solera and so any other calamari seems inferior), risotto balls and stuffed mushrooms.  Of the four, the risotto balls were the favorite.  The stuffed mushrooms were great.
We tried some bubbly and a sicilian wine.  Somewhat raisiny, chocolate and velvet.  Lisa chose chicken vesuvio and Brian insisted on a veal dish.  I could have passed on both.  I am not a huge fan of dark meat chicken.  Veal, well, not exactly a choice for me.  I ate tomatoes off of the veal dish and focused on the side of the pasta dish.  The appetizers were considerably better than the entrees.  In my defense, I would have chosen differently.  Still, wine was plentiful and the bread was excellent.
It did remind me of working in college at Fifi's.  Family restaurant, old-school, rich, soulful food.  Dinner was nostalgic.  Happy to have went and met my friends.  Next time, I push for what I want, though.