Its 10:20 pm and I'm craving carbonara. So I decide to walk the 30 minutes to my favorite restaurant in town. For those who are familiar with my apathy for American suburbia and its plentitude of restaurant chains, Edo's Squid is the anthithesis of the suburban restaurant chain. For one, it isn't in American suburbia. Add to that an original ambience and super friendly waiters and bartenders. I could write an entire post about their clams in red sauce and wine, but we'll let that be for another day. In a nutshell, Edo's is one of the (few) things I will miss about Richmond when I move out.
Its 10:55 pm when I'm greeted by a familiar smile at the entrance (the kitchen closes at 11).
"Table for two?" "Just one... I'll get the carbonara please." "Spaghetti or Penne?" (20 seconds of confounded silence)
"ummm... penne."Its 10:57 pm and the waitress - B - is out with my food. Huh? Edo's Squid is no McDonalds (in fact it hurts even to take both names in the same sentence). Like any restaurant worth its salt, they take a good 10-15 minutes before they bring your food out. B picks up on my state of confusion. Turns out that even as I was tossing between penne and spaghetti, the chef was tossing penne into a carbonara sauce. Penne carbonara was what the Edo's staff was having for dinner tonight.
The food was great as always. I followed it up with a half bottle of pinot noir at the bar. If you go in at a late enough hour at Edo's, you can join the staff at the bar - they're a fun lot.
11:45 pm and I'm thinking of the long walk back home.
"
Can I have my check please?""You don't have a tab.""No... huh?""Can't charge you today. Your choice of pasta was like ESP. Especially the flash of brilliance when you were choosing between spaghetti and penne...""But... I must pay for the wine""Naah... you're all set."...
Well
Mr. Friedman, free lunch I don't know, but turns out there
is such a thing as free dinner. :)
