Dinner Continued At Palena Restaurant With My Wife

The funny thing about blogs and the way they show up is in reverse on these blog sites. That's to say that you read from back to front and that can be disconcerting to some. As I mentioned when I started writing about this evening with my wife at Palena I had to stop and fix dinner for my own family before I could finish. I did not have a chance to fully proof the blog so I hope there are not too many mistakes. I do like to write what comes to me first and edit very little. I want to preserve the fluidity of thoughts and their initial inspirations. I don't want to edit myself out of the equation and make it sound like just another blog. I want all my writings to be fresh and original and either sink or swim on that. Pure or as pure as thought and inspiration and observation can be , that's what I am in search of constantly. So please enjoy and bear with me when you don't understand all at once. I don't either, I just get caught up in the flow and I go along for the ride. I know that the this artistic water , so to speak will subside at some point and let me off at the banks of whatever metaphorical river I am cruising along. I have to believe that things will be alright. I do for the most part and I think it has given me an edge into seeing the working of things better.
At Palena my wife and I had ordered our meal and were just enjoying our prosecco and chatting contentedly. My wife kept saying for me not to fall asleep because I kept saying how relaxed I was becoming. I reminded her that she is usually the one to fall asleep in the evening and not me. We do know each other really well on many subjects. We also agree on many things.
I kept thinking about the restaurant as my eyes surfed through the various surfaces and areas. I imagined the four parts not including the kitchen : the terrace, the front with the bar, the middle area separating it from the back, and the more formal dining room. I kept thinking wow, what a job and what a lot it takes to carry it all off so seamlessly and so elegantly. I always feel special when I'm at Palena. I think my wife was feeling the same : no worries, no stress, relaxed and filling slowly full of joy and really fine food. That's the idea. The salad arrived. I mentioned all the ingredients in the first blog. As I said everything mattered and counted. Everything was well-chosen. Frank considers everything, it's obvious. I fell in love instantaneously with the organic lettuces of this Cafe Salad. I absolutely loved the look/ the presentation of it all but especially those organic greens and lettuce leaves with dazzling bright and outlined red veins marked through them. I could not get over how stunning they were : visually so stimulating to the artist in me. Then I tasted them and I loved/ reveled in their crunch and freshness and the taste of the Tuscan honey vinaigrette. The roasted beets grounded this salad with the walnut oil. As they were thicker and in larger pieces they were for me the anchor with each bite I took : different beets, different flavors and tastes. I enjoyed also visually their subtle shades of different muted deep pinks to red colors. I'd say that for me this salad was a big success and I enjoyed each bite. I did not ask my wife specifically about it but I could tell how much she was enjoying herself, too.
Plates were cleared and soon to follow were our main courses. Again visually they elevated our spirits and we were both absorbed immediately in the contemplation and enjoyment of each of these dishes before us. I had the stuffed breast of Pennsylvania-raised lamb and my wife the grilled line-caught North Carolina swordfish. We immediately exchanged bites as is our custom once we regained our senses. I loved the bite I had of the swordfish : moist, good and firm texture and seasoning that fully showcased it with the glaze of pine nuts and raisins. As I mentioned in the first blog about this evening : I am no food critic. But I am observant and I do enjoy describing things as best as I can. My wife also seemed to enjoy her bite of my Pennsylvania-raised lamb. It was at this point that we once again acknowledged how good this evening was turning out to be for the both of us. We sighed in contentment and sipped our prosecco. That's all we drank for the evening along with our Italian mineral water; it was more than enough.
As I paused to digest my food I thought about the young staff that now worked at Palena. I only knew Kelly and Ben Jamil. I had never seen the two female hostesses or the three other servers ( one young lady and two young men, all dark-haired and animated. One of the young men had a short haircut and the other had his longer hair curling back up as if the new style. They all looked great. Everyone was nice, professional and it all seemed like clockwork not missing a beat. Ben Jamil would appear with either a bottle of prosecco or water from the back and fill our glasses and be gone. We ate everything we were served and thoroughly enjoyed this chance to dine alone and so splendidly. You could see it written all over our faces. I told my wife how the chef Frank works away so hard invisibly in the kitchen and never seems to surface onto the dining room floor. He was there of course in spirit of course represented in all this fine food.
Plates were cleared again and Ben Jamil brought us the dessert menu. Both my wife and I agreed that the last two selections of the warm German-style apple cake and the chocolate coconut layer cake sounded the best. I did not feel like the coconut for some reason so I chose the apple cake. My wife not wanting very much asked me if I would mind terribly sharing some of mine with her? Of course not, we do this frequently when we dine. I'm sure we're not alone here. Anyway we told Ben Jamil that we would be sharing the apple cake. When it arrived with our coffees a few minutes later there was an additional plate of smaller cookies and cakes and goodies, too. So we conquered and divided and with each bite grew more content and blissful. This was quite the experience: two hours of real joy for the both of us.
I must add that I had to have a dessert because I knew that somehow the very capable hands and direction of Ann Amernick would be involved personally or close by. I've gotten to know Ann over the years. Kelly was nice enough to bring me a signed copy of Ann's recent book entitled : The Art Of The Dessert. She used to come by the store and buy bottles of Harvey's Bristol Cream to use ( for her recipes ) in her now closed pastry/wedding cakes store at the end of our block. We'd chat briefly and share quick stories/observations. It was always rewarding talking with her ; I'm only sorry we didn't have more opportunities. I'd go to the store as well and pick through the selections and take different ones home each time to share with my family. So there was now way that we were not going to have some of Ann's-inspired desserts tonight!
We paid and I asked to see Kelly. She was involved in the kitchen so I asked them to deliver her a written message. I wanted to leave her with an open bottle of really rare Portuguese 1994 pre-phyloxera indigenous red grown in the narrow white sandy beaches along the coastline. These are wines that are not hardly being made anymore. It's just too hard and not worth the trouble in our day and age. They cost too much and are really acquired tastes. I'm happy to sell them, these Colares( made from the Ramisco grape and held in high regard in England ) reds : medium-to-light-bodied and slightly oxidized brown/red color with grit and earth and ocean wind-swept warm,dusty dryness. Turns out that one of Kelly and my favorite shared customers, Craig had just dined here tonight and he's been saying to Kelly for a long time that she needs to add some Portuguese wines to her list. Who know, this Colares might just be the first? Anyway. I ran back to the restaurant with this open bottle of Colares and another famous Portuguese red for Kelly and the staff to enjoy. Hope they liked them.
Kelly is wonderful at what she does there at Palena. I think that everyone loves her. I know that I do. She's got this wonderful smile that's gentle and warm and so soft. Combine that with her bright eyes that sparkle constantly and her wonderful head of curls that in their separate layers just bounce and move fluidly and define perfectly her facial gestures and you've got perhaps one of the best/nicest general managers, hostesses, faces of a hugely-successful neighborhood restaurant possible.
I usually get a chance to talk with chef Frank when we bump into each other in the alley way behind the restaurant where I park my car. We're both either coming or going but we always manage to stop and have a nice conversation before continuing what we are doing. Frank, too has such a gentle and relaxed demeanor about him. He's so easy to talk to, and seems interested in many things : including gardening and wine - two things that I love. It would be/ will be fun as time goes on to learn more about these shared passions we both have. I look forward to our serendipitous meetings still to come.
Thanks Kelly, thanks Ben Jamil, thanks Frank and thanks Ann. We'll be back. TONY