Happy Mother's Day

Since Denise is leaving us on Tuesday, I thought it would be nice to take her to a Mother's Day dinner tonight after she suggested that we should take her to Mother's Day dinner tonight. I made reservations for Buca Di Beppo, which is where Brian e-mailed me to take her. Well, Denise was insulted, which I totally understand. Offering to take someone to Buca Di Beppo for a celebration is like punching them in the mouth then force feeding them mediocre gnocci. I hate everything about that place. When I told her it was Brian's idea, she laughed and told me to "do better". So I made reservations for D'Amica Cucina in downtown Minneapolis.

The restaurant was amazing. I had the Butter poached chicken with seasonal mushrooms and chive risotto, Cody had the roasted lingcod, Bekka had the pancetta wrapped berkshire pork tenderloin, and Denise took down two dishes - spaghetti alla chitarra and the veal tenderloin. We barely spoke. Each moment our mouths hung empty we'd become lost in thought, reminiscing about the moment the food was in our mouth and getting excited for the next bite. A sea of calm washed over us and carried us through our deserts of truffle cake, mascarpone cheesecake torte, and frozen lime zabagilone napoleon. It was amazing. We were all getting along and the most insane part was that I was actually enjoying myself. Because no one was talking, it was like I was eating this marvelous food all by myself. The check came ($156!) and I tipped 20% (even though Brian only usually tips 15%). We walked slowly to the van, in silence, happy and full. We got in, the kids buckled up, Denise settled in, not saying a word. I turned on the classical music station. It was perfect.

And 40 minutes into the car ride, Bekka threw up pork tenderloin and three distinct deserts, erasing the fond memories I had just created.