This is Restaurant Week in New York, the time of year when eateries citywide offer specially priced selections to strut their stuff and bring in new patrons. Restaurants that may be rather expensive on a regular night devise prix fixe menus of appetizer, entrée and dessert for a set amount well below their standard price. Daughter and I always try and zero in on a new place during Restaurant Week, and this year Son joined us while Husband honored a work commitment elsewhere.
I picked Son up at his house, and when we got a few blocks away he realized he had left his wallet at home. I asked him if we should turn back and he said, “Why?” Hey, nobody has to draw me a picture. Since Daughter suggested it and Son agreed to come, it was my dinner party.
SON: So what’s this upscale Mexican restaurant we’re going to? Did you check out the menu online?
OSV: It’s Dos Caminos on Park Avenue South. And yes, I think I’ll be having the appetizer of grilled squid, plantain and papaya salad with wild baby arugula and smoked chile-mint vinaigrette. I haven’t decided on an entrée, but dessert is definitely banana bread pudding with pecan toffee and mexican vanilla bean ice cream.
SON: I’m starting with the grilled chicken tortilla soup with creamy pasilla tomato broth and chihuahua cheese.
OSV: What, was this a quiz? You looked at the menu?
SON: It’s all about the preparation, Mom. What’s my sister ordering?
OSV: I don’t know. Have you talked to her this week? She’s just getting over swine flu.
SON: WHAT? That’s terrible. Is she up to going? Is she contagious? This is terrible. Are you going to kiss her when we get there?
OSV: Don’t be silly. She’s my daughter. I’ll see how she looks.
SON: You go in first.
Daughter greeted us at her apartment door and I gave her a big hug. Son walked in behind me.
SON: I’m going to pass on the physical contact.
DTR: Your hands in your coat pockets were a dead giveaway. Let’s get going.
Dos Caminos was fresh and lively, and dinner was outstanding. Daughter observed as the shapely hostess bent over a nearby table in her low-cut top that something else might be out soon as well. Son commented he couldn’t be that lucky.
On our way out we all took a magnet printed with the signature Dos Caminos guacamole recipe, the best I’ve ever had. Here is your own souvenir of Restaurant Week to enjoy at home in whatever top you choose to wear as you bend over your table. Print it out, stick a magnet on the back, and slap it on your fridge. Now you’re one of us.
From New Year’s Eve, Daughter says Let Them Eat Cake
