Date Night

Due to a sudden family crisis with the babysitter, Mrs. J and I ended up with a free evening minus Charlie. Additionally, I had just come into some money. So we decided to hit the town and have a proper Date Night.

It’s one of those deals where you don’t really realize how bad you need a night to yourselves until you get one. I was really excited all day Friday in anticipation.

First stop on Date Night was the fabulous Sidney Street Cafe in lovely Benton Park. We’d been there once before, and decided to see if the place had gone to hell in our absence. You’ll all be pleased to know that it hasn’t. It was, in fact, terrific.

We had the Veal Dumplings, which were served in this sweet and sour sauce that made me realize what a shabby imitation the usual Chinese restaurant sweet and sour is. It’s like the first time I heard the original Marvin Gaye version of “How Sweet It Is” and I realized what how shabby and pathetic the James F. Taylor version is, and how ripped off I’d been all those years by radio stations who played that garbage when they could be playing the song as sung by someone with a pulse and a functioning pair of testicles.

Man, I hate James Taylor.

Okay, where was I? Right. Sidney Street.

The other starter was the bleu cheese puffs, which were literally lighter than air. That’s right, I said “literally”. They had strings attached to them to keep them from floating up to the ceiling. The beignets just melted in my mouth.

For the entre, I opted for the strategy as laid out by Economist and gourmand Tyler Cowen. He suggests, when you go to a nice restaurant, pick the item on the menu that seems the least appealing and get that. The thinking being that at the nicer establishments — which Sidney Street certainly is — everything on the menu will be delicious. He’s of the opinion that people tend to get into a rut and would benefit from expanding their horizons. By picking the least appealing item, you’re guaranteeing you’ll get something interesting.

So I got the rabbit with rabbit meatballs. Cruel? You bet. Tasty? Absolutely! Though honestly, no more so than chicken. The only difference being that rabbits are quite a bit cuter than chickens.

I had never had rabbit before, but I might have to try it again. See! That’s how Prof. Cowen’s strategy is supposed to work.

All told, the food was delicious and highly fattening, the service was excellent, the ambiance was great.

I give Sidney Street a whopping Five Dog Heads:

The movie portion of Date Night was Up in the Air. We’d been meaning to see this for a while. And not just because about half of it was filmed in and around St. Louis. In fact, the hotel in “Northern Wisconsin” was the Cheshire Inn, which is about three blocks from my first apartment in Dogtown. But also, we’d also heard it was good and totally got robbed at the Golden Globes by that hack James Cameron.

Well. I haven’t seen Avatar (and that ain’t the half of it) so I suppose I can’t really compare the two. But Up in the Air was very good. George Cluny was at his George Cluny-est. There’s just something so compelling about the guy. Interesting story. I also like how it gives you a glimpse into the life of someone doing something so alien from my life, the man who travels almost 100% of the time. And fires people. What a soul destroying job that must be.

Was this the best movie to come out in the last 10 years? I don’t think so, but it was very entertaining. I found myself forgetting my surroundings and getting drawn into these people’s lives. Always a bonus.

My favorite scene was the shocking surprise ending when you discover that “Up in the Air” was actually a sled. I totally wasn’t ready for that.

When you have kids, it’s hard to make it out to see movies like you want. We’ll probably see three or four movies this whole year, unlike the three or four we’d see every month when we were still dating. So it puts a lot of pressure on the movie you’re seeing. I find myself shaking my fist at the screen before the previews, muttering, “I won’t see another movie for like five months. You’d better be worth it!”

Well, this movie met expectations. I give it four Dog Heads. Worth checking out.

So that was Date Night. Thanks to my Mom and Dad, and the nursing staff at Gus’s hospital for making it possible!