When they arrived, Dan’s mood visibly changed. The hostess greeted him warmly as soon as they walked in. “Where’s your better half today?” she asked Dan.
“Home missing me—I hope.”
“You should not be neglecting that lovely lady. She won’t wait forever you know.”
“Gee Mary, we’ve only been dating for thirty or forty years. Can’t rush into these things.”
“You know what they say about good things and those who wait too long,” she quipped as she walked them to a corner table in the busy restaurant despite the relatively early time or day for lunch, the pricey menu for the area, and the long wait time for food that the chef always prepared fresh. “Your server will be with you shortly,” she said before going back to her station by the door to greet other guests.
“Good afternoon, lady and gentlemen,” an impeccably attired waiter said moments after Mary had left. What may I start you out with today?”
“You guys trust me to order appetizers?”
“Sure,” both Katie and Bob answered as one.
“O.K. then. Let’s have pulpo a la Gallega, gambas al ajillo, and chorizo al vino as starters for us to share, Pablo—and tell chef we need to get to the office before midnight,” Dan quipped. “Give us a minute to decide on the main course but bring a bottle of Cava while we look at the menu and I translate if needed.”
“Sure thing, Dan.” He said, handing them menus. But you know the menu is in English and Spanish, right?”
“Yeah, but my friends only speak Swahili—don’t let their light skin fool you.”
“Pablo grinned but said nothing.”
“All right, the dishes do have translations, but some may require some explanation. They have a nice menu of steaks, chops, fresh fish, seafood and even some terrific vegetarian dishes if either of you suffers that malady.” He smiled.
“Take a look and choose what you like. I’ve tasted a lot of their dishes in the past—but I almost always have the cazuela de mariscos, which is mixed seafood—Shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, octopus, and lobster in either white, green, or red sauce. The paella is also great here—and they have several varieties from seafood, my favorite, or chicken, chorizo, clams, meat only, or snails. I can’t speak as to the latter as I don’t eat anything that leaves a slime trail as it goes. The steaks and fish are also terrific.”
“Katie and Bob looked over the menu, then said, almost in unison, “What do you suggest?”
“I’d go with the cazuela or the paella if you want something typical from Spain.
“Sounds great, but so is anything else.”
“What about you, Katie?”
“I’d like to try what you’re having.”
“Red, white or green sauce?”
“Whatever you’re having, they both said.”
“How do you feel about garlic?” he asked, looking at both.
“Love it,” Bob said. Katie just looked at him with her head cocked, “I’m Italian, remember?”
“O.k. we’re set then. I guarantee you will either love me forever or never, ever allow me to order for you again in the future—there’s just no middle ground on this.”
Bob and Katie both laughed, as Pablo came by with a bottle of bubbly, three champagne flutes and a large basket of steaming breads—rolls and large slices of Italian and peasant bread.
“Your tapas will be out soon. Are you folks ready to order?” He asked.
“An easy order today, Pablo. We’ll all have cazuela de mariscos en salsa verde. I’ll also need two more to go—one salsa verde and one salsa roja.
“Perfect. You know it will take approximately 45 minutes to prepare?”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Yes, chef has to go to Rockaway to dig up the clams himself and then go deep sea diving for the scallops and shrimp, and swing by the Coast of Maine for the lobster. The mussels and Octopus he buys from Pathmark just to prove he’s a real eccentric.” Dan quipped.
“If he hears you, it will take three hours and you’ll find sand in the clams,” Pablo said, while popping the cork and serving the chilled bubbly.
“No problem, we are playing hooky today and my teeth at least are already shot from eating here too often.”
When he left, Dan lifted his glass and said, “To new friends.”
Bob and Katie clinked their glasses with his, and they drank the semi-dry white effervescent wine with pleasure. Fifteen minutes later, their tapas arrived.
“So, what did you order?” Bob asked.
“Prawns in garlic sauce, pork sausage fried with a wine reduction, and octopus like they have it in my neck of the woods—Galician style which is basically boiled with extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top, salt and paprika. Nothing else.
“Are you trying to get me kicked out of the tribe?” Bob laughed.
“You forget, we’ve been eating together for a while now—I keep kosher better than you as far as the dietary laws go. Plus, you can eat the bread and the Kosher salt on the octopus and prawns and Katie and I will polish off the rest.”
“I won’t give you the satisfaction,” Bob said chuckling.
“All kidding aside, I know that octopus in particular is not for everybody, but I ordered it in case you were willing to try it. I won’t force it on you. The cazuela has it too, but you can put it aside,” Dan said. As it turns out, Katie and Bob both liked the octopus, and everything else. Dan contented himself mostly with dunking the fresh, crusty break on the remnants of the olive oil and garlic left on the plate of prawns—his favorite part of that particular tapa.
Conversation carried them through the next half hour or so when their lunch was served—somewhat less than an hour from the time it was ordered.
The food was, as always, delicious and Dan was gratified that both Bob and Katie seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. Another bottle of wine—Albariño this time, the prized white wine from Dan’s native Galicia. Dessert was brazo de gitana a rich dessert made from a very thin sheet of sponge-like cake imbued with chocolate liqueur, and layered with shaved almonds, almond paste, crème fresh, chocolate, figs, and home-made peach preserves then rolled up and covered in melted chocolate frosting with curled shavings of dark chocolate on top. There were many variations on this dessert, but this restaurant’s version was one of Dan’s favorites. Cappuccino for Katie, a regular American coffee for Bob and a triple espresso for Dan rounded out their very satisfying lunch. Dan nearly finished his main course, with neither Bob nor Katie coming close to doing so. Pablo brought the two dishes to go along with the check and told Dan that he had included two bottles of Coke and Orange Fanta with each of the meals with his complements.
“Bob and Katie wanted to split the bill, and when Dan would not hear it, both tried to grab for the check when it came, but the waiter who knew Dan and had been asked by him to bring him the check gave it to him in hand. He paid for the meal with his credit card and slipped a $100 bill folded in half along with his credit card in the leather bill case. Bob had insisted on at least leaving the tip, which Dan would not allow, nor would he tell him what it had cost, though Katie had noticed the tip he had left and was shaking her head.
When the credit card and receipt were brought back for his signature, Pablo thanked Dan warmly and wished them a good day. Mary called after Dan asking him to send her regards to Linda, which he said he would convey. Twenty minutes later, they were back in the reception area. Dan gave Taisha and Paula each their food package which included large Tupperware plastic containers with aluminum foil wrapped silver-looking utensils that were actually made from plastic, still-hot bread wrapped in real linen napkins and the bottles of soda. “I hope you enjoy your meals—it is what we all had.” Dan noticed with a smile as the girls unwrapped their food that Pablo had even included two generous servings of the brazo de gitana in smaller Tupperware containers though he had neglected to ask for that when he had originally placed the order.
Bob thanked Dan for the meal and headed for his office, while Katie followed Dan back to their office, walking beside him. “I have to clock in, she said as they reached the hallway on the classroom side of the building.
“I already took care of it before we left.” Dan said. She opened her mouth to object but, thinking better of it, said nothing but “thank you.”
Back in their office Katie said, “That was really a wonderful meal, Dan. Thank you.” Then she added, “I am so sorry about the new program. I really am.”
“That’s the way the cookie crumbles, kiddo,” he said with a resigned sigh. “Hey, at least I have no guilt about the occasional three-hour lunch starting today,” he said wryly.
“I’m sad for you, and also because I know you’re not going to be here for long after today. I knew it was too good to last.”
“Hey, no matter where I go or when, we’ll keep in touch, o.k.? I promise.” Yet another of too many promises Dan had made in good faith but would not keep.
Katie went back to her filing, and Dan sat down at her desk to write the help wanted ad he had promised to get to Marvin after lunch. As soon as he had done that, he walked it to Marvin’s office, put it on his desk and walked out without saying a word.
At 5:00 o’clock sharp, he left at the same time as Katie. He offered to drive her home, and she accepted the offer. They barely spoke on the way other than Katie giving him directions since he had not previously been to her house. After dropping her off, he went straight to Linda’s house no longer fuming, but simply resigned to make the best of an imperfect situation.
By 9:00 p.m., he was at home. He called his parents, spoke with them for about an hour saying nothing about today’s events other than his pleasant lunch with colleagues, and went to bed at the reasonable time of 10:00 p.m. for once, skipping dinner as he was still stuffed from that day’s lunch.