Second chance

 

        Three years ago we "ate" dinner at a restaurant in Door County that we like a lot. It is on the fancy side and has an English manor theme. I use the word ate in quotations because looking back at the column I wrote at the time, all we had were bread and salad. We were there for an hour and a half and never got our entrees even though tables around us had and the place wasn't overly busy. It was the worst experience I had ever had at a restaurant. We decided we were not going back there again.    

        After three years of driving past it, we decided it might be time to try it again since another restaurant we do like had no open reservation times. We made the reservation and it was confirmed. As before we chose and early time, right after the restaurant opened for dinner hoping that it would be less busy.

        I was a little nervous when we drove up to the restaurant a few minutes before our reservation time. While the entrance looked much the same there were a few changes. There was a large outdoor area where people could enjoy their food or drinks. There were warmers outside and blankets draped on the seats. It looked pretty inviting. As we walked in I noticed that the front entrance looked like a moat. For as many times as I had eaten there I never noticed that.

        Nothing had changed inside the restaurant, The bar area was on our right and the dining areas were on the left. It was dark inside as it always was. The host guided us to our table. Although he had gained some weight, it was the same man as the last time we were there. I was really hoping this time would be different. There were other diners already seated. 

        The server was a nice older lady who took our beverage order. She brought us our drink order and took our food order. C ordered tenderloin tips with noodles and I ordered fish. A few minutes later a server came with a basket of bread. We each had a piece of bread while we waited for our salads. When the salads were served, I noticed that they were much smaller than I remembered, but still served on the same glass chilled plates. So far things seemed to be going all right. The dining area was starting to fill up which made me a little nervous.

        Once we finished out salads, the plates were cleared and our entrées arrived. C had a large plate of noodles with sauce and meat over them. I had a large plate with a small piece of fish and a tiny dish with my baked potato on the side. I was a little puzzled because there was plenty of room on the  plate for the potato. I should have just moved it there myself. The server checked back with us a couple of times to make sure we didn't need anything. 

        I sampled some of C's meat along with a couple of his noodles. Most of the time I don't have entrée envy when C and I eat out, but this time he made the better choice. This fish was a little dry despite the butter sauce that I spooned over it.

        Once we finished our meal we decided to have dessert. C had pumpkin pie and I had cheesecake with cherries. I should have ordered the crème brulee as the cheesecake was clearly out of a box of some kind. 

        This time was much better and I was grateful. I love the atmosphere of that restaurant and missed it. I'm glad we gave it a second chance.