windows and steak
on Saturday morning we spent some time removing the vertical blinds on the bay window in the living room. Reen had bought some curtains to replace the blinds and I think they are a modest but significant improvement.





And later it was off to Boston for our siblings night out at the steakhouse. For starters, this was my first trip on the T with the new Charlie Card in place of the old tokens. This is a step into the modern age for the city's transit system and I was familiar with a card system from DC. You can buy a card at the automated kiosks in the station, adding value by credit card or inserting cash. But nowhere is it marked what the fare is from this station to any of the others. Do I need $2? Or $14? Who knows. We all bought $5 tickets which got us to Park Street and back, however I have no idea how much money that trip cost and how much is left on the card. And as icing on the cake, Erin bought her card with a $20 bill and proceeded to get a boatload of $1 coins as change. When she later tried to use said coins in the machines, they weren't accepted. Oy vey. Well at least they have cash to tip the pizza delivery guy for a while.

And there was also a meal....The restaurant is located in Old City Hall which is on School Street, right in the historic center of Boston. The building and restaurant space are really nice. As expected, the entire menu is al la carte and silly expensive. The steaks are prime beef and aged...yadayada, so I expect them to be pricey. I'd say the most rediculous item would have to be the lobster. The waiter said they ran 2.5-3.5 pounds and then smoothly sneaks in that they cost $30 per pound. So you could quite easily wind up with a $90 lobster, which is more than the US grown Kobe-style NY Strips they sell. That's a higher markup than you typically see on bottles of wine. All that for lobster, which is readily available at most any fishmonger, grocery or restaurant in a 100 mile radius and takes no special skill or understanding to prepare.

The steak however was another matter. We all ordered one, fillet for all the sibs and ribeye for Reen and me. Mine was just about perfect. The cut wasn't monsterously thick (which I liked) and it was cooked pefectly. It must be a sign of my growing cynicism about restaurants, but just the fact that the steak was cooked well was a pleasant surprise. It was very lightly seasoned and served with some butter on top which had melted. One interesting thing is that they serve the steak on a very, very hot plate. This seems to fly in the face of most meat handling guildelines which have you rest the meat prior to serving. In the end, this steak was truly one of the best that I've had, ever.

Beyond the steak (and the excellent wine list) I will say that the balance of my experience was fairly crummy. The service was substandard, both in attentiveness to the table and showing interest/respect for the food they were serving. I was left with the feeling that they had you in the seat, the prices are set, so they're going to make their money off of you. No need for formalities like getting drink orders correct or apologizing for spilling water on you when refilling the water glasses.

All of the food stuff aside, we had a really nice time. As our lives get more complex, it gets more and more difficult to get together, especially without children to look after. So the dinner was special for that reason alone. Thanks to Mom and Dad for helping us do that.

We did manage a group photo just outside the restaurant.