[Sca-cooks] Re: Valentine's Dinner

[Tara Sersen Boroson]

>Kiri asked:
>  
>
>>What did anyone else do for Valentine's Day?
>>

Uh... our traditional last minute meal at the cafe at Wegman's grocery 
store.  This year, we had planned to stay in and make homemade pizza - 
always a wonderful treat.  But, we decided to meet up with some friends 
that afternoon and take our Oddlers (that is, the true nature of 
Toddlers,) to an indoor playground.  We got all the way to Allentown, 
only to find that the place had closed early for Valentine's Day.  So, 
we set out to find a place to eat, thus to occupy the kids as well as 
salvage something from the trip.  Even Buca di Beppo was booked solid 
until 10:30 that night - it was 4:30 when I called.  So, it was either 
the Scottish Restaurant (yeah, right - we've all read Fast Food Nation,) 
or the Wegmans cafe.

Last year, we took out from Wegmans cafe and ate it at my parent's 
house.  We had made reservations at Cossie Snyder's, a seafood house 
with a good reputation.  We dropped my daughter off with my parents and 
headed out.  We got to the restaurant and were met with the rudest 
service we'd ever experienced.  The decor was awful - not even vaguely 
lending an atmosphere of elegance or comfort - and the whole place 
reeked of cigarette smoke from the bar.  After getting terribly rude 
service from the hostess, we waited 15 minutes for a waitress, despite 
seeing them at nearby tables - and the place wasn't crowded.  After the 
first 10 minutes, we figured we'd wait just to complain, then leave.  We 
finally just gave up and left without a word to anyone.  We went to 
about 6 other restaurants but the *only* one that could fit us in 
wouldn't have a table for us for two hours.  We gave up.  Take-out sushi 
and potato pancakes from Wegmans, scarfed down at my parent's dining 
room table... 

Next year, we're just going to Wegmans.  We're going to take a 
tablecloth and a candle and nice silverware.  We give up :)

-Magdalena