Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A Frugal Gourmet

A few weeks ago, Jennie asked about our most expensive meal experiences, related to a recent dinner that ended with a fairly hefty price tag. And because my brain is shot full of more holes than a pair of fishnets (thanks, motherhood), it wasn’t until today that I recalled this little tidbit.

When Chris and I were dating (gainfully employed and unencumbered with little things like children and a mortgage), we would celebrate birthdays by going to a fancier restaurant than, say, Chili’s. I think this sprang from the fact we’d started watching a lot of Food Network at the time. The birthday celebrant would be surprised and would not pick up the check. I kicked this off a mere month into our dating relationship (OF COURSE his birthday had to come before mine, and OF COURSE it was one of those milestone birthdays, but what are you going to do when you brand new boyfriend looks at you all schmoopily and says he wants to spend it with you?) by setting up a dinner at the restaurant of a family friend, and might I say, it went beautifully, despite his amusement at his preliminary experience with my driving. He followed with a lovely choice, and it would have been a fantastic evening, if only I hadn’t had the mother of all colds and couldn’t taste a thing I ate. Pity.

No, this story is about the second of my birthdays that we shared. He took me to a place I’d be not so secretly dying to try, in large part for the reputation of its mushroom soup. In my giddiness at getting to sample the wares of this fine establishment, I eagerly nodded with the server suggested a 5 course chef’s selection menu that seemed to come with a reasonable cost. I thought Chris was nodding in agreement when it was probably more of wonderment at how crazy this woman sitting across from him really must be. But I forged ahead in oblivion and enjoyed the whole thing (big thumbs up to the soup (which we encouraged the chef to “select”), but not too happy with a dessert of Bisquick biscuits, sliced strawberries, and Cool Whip), feeling very pampered, but not in any guilt-inducing way (see reasonable cost assumption above).

Later that evening, that guilt came crashing in when my assumption was corrected and I discovered that the reasonable price was not for 2 as I thought I’d heard, but for 1. So it was actually double. I’d blame the wine, but I was stone cold sober before the waiter arrived. We’d just gotten engaged, and the last thing I wanted to do was run up a luxury bill that would throw us off before we got started. Come on, I’m Queen of the Cheap. In the dictionary under Frugal, you find a picture of me. To cause someone, anyone, to spend more money than they should goes against my very soul, and is just Not The Thing To Do. I was mortified.

My remedy: to slip the occasional $20 into his wallet without his knowing. I’m pretty sure I paid for that dinner a couple of times over through the next few months, but at least I could give myself some absolution.

After that, coupon city for every birthday dinner.

1 comment:

  1. I'm sorry, but did you say schmoopily?
    I'm trying to envision what that would look like. hmmmm.

    ReplyDelete