Good Eatin'

I don't like buying stuff. I have two kind of expensive watches -- a Rolex I bought used just to have it, and a Breitling my friend Joel gave me after he found it in the lawyer's locker at the Dade County Jail.  I dress, well, not that great -- jeans and untucked shirts, unless I absolutely have to wear a suit for a funeral or wedding.

But I DO enjoy going out to nice restaurants, and last week we did it up. Saturday Wifey and I met Ken and Joelle at Ad Lib, a place in the Gables that used to be Swine, and before that Les Halles. We had a great meal -- and it was about $75 per person, well worth it.

On Tuesday night, after my haircut in South Miami (my long time stylist Dania moved to South Miami after being in the same Pinecrest shop for 19 years), I called Wifey and we met at Salvatore D -- our go to, fancy Italian place on Sunset. I had a lovely martini, and while buzzed, Wifey told me she is jonesing to take a Europe trip this Fall. She loves to travel. I can take it or leave it.

I have a strong sense I'll end up missing a few Canes games so we can eat Sacher tortes in Vienna this Fall. She also wants to visit Budapest, and Prague. I've never been to Prague -- I'm sure they'll have some unusual old buildings there to visit. Whatever...

Thursday we met D1 and Joey, at a place Norman had found:Silverlake Bistro. It's close to their house, and since they both run around like headless chickens, we agreed to meet there -- it was only 35 minutes from my office, where Wifey picked me up.

The young folks loved the food, which was delicious, and I drank a local beer with a great name: Tourist Trappe. Joey and I toasted with it -- D1 had a glass of wine, and Wifey stuck to water.

Tomorrow night we had plans to go with Deb and Norman to the restaurant at the Betsy -- they'd been wanting to try it -- Norman's Dad was the hotel bookkeeper back in the day, and D2 and Jonathan will marry there in January. We had reservations, but I saw an article about South Beach Pride Weekend -- a huge parade will close down Ocean Drive Sunday -- they're expecting 150K people. We thought maybe that's not a gridlock we needed to get into -- so Deb audibled, and we're going instead to Fiola, a great place on the South Miami/Gables border.

I've had lunch there with D2 and a few weeks ago with Paul. The place is the sort of public clubhouse of the Bacardi patriarch -- it's in Bacardi's new HQ, along with his buddy Dickenson, the retired CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises. They put a TON of money into the place. I look forward to dinner there with our good friends -- especially so we can talk of Norman's plans as new Dean of UM Law.

Ha. My April Fool's joke lives on -- even yesterday people were still congratulating him. People don't read carefully -- his disclaimer is all over his FaceBook (tm) page.

Good thing I've been exercising -- at least I burn off some of the rich restaurant food. And, as the late Mr. Food used to say --it's soooo good...