Given a week’s respite from our normal Saturday routine, which includes having dinner and a couple of sets of Canasta with our great friends, I decided to take Cynthia out for a special treat. You all probably have that special place that you go when the time is extra special or intimate and romantic – we have always had an affinity towards a special fondue restaurant here call The Melting Pot. I decided to take Cynthia there for a relaxed time away – tranquil, because you literally cook your own meal in a quaint setting in a central fondue pot and the dining experience usually lasts in the neighborhood of two-and-a-half hours, not great if you are famished, but totally awesome if you just want some great down-time. I never presume to take the Tampa drive without a reservation at The Melting Pot – that is, until today – big mistake!!! When we arrived around 6:45, we were informed that reservations were booked solid until 9:30. Imagine my disappointment – no, you cannot. What a let-down for my sweetie. I asked her where else she would like to go and her gracious reply, as often given, was “anywhere with you”. Now I totally want to take her someplace special, but where? She does not know the area, so asking her is not very productive. I inquired as to what she might like to eat – she said a steak would be nice. There are a half-dozen steak places in the vicinity, each offering an ‘okay’ steak but lacking sorely in the ambiance I was hoping for tonight. We finally decided on one which required a U-turn and just as we sat at the corner awaiting the signal arrow, there it was! A billboard staring us right in the face for Shula’s, America’s Steak House – Yes, one in the same, the perennial coach of the Miami Dolphins famous for the one and only undefeated season of 1972 – now entrepreneur of his own chain of nearly fifty quality restaurants, all of them featuring some of the best steak ever to pass your bicuspids!! From the initial placement of freshly baked bread loaf with the tomato – mozzarella salad, delicately laced with the balsamic glaze, poignant with fresh herbs, rosemary and thyme, melt-in-your-mouth, done-to-perfection most tender filet ever, grilled asparagus, double baked potato right down to the last custardy drop of authentic crème Bruleè and sumptuous coffee, this surprising even ranks easily in the top five of our lifetime of dining experiences – and all this happened because of spontaneity instigated from oversight. Never give up on serendipity.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for viewing my blog and leaving a comment.