thanks to bottega my mother gave me the silent treatment during lunch. i've been to bottega restaurant but never the cafe side. today i took my mother to the cafe for lunch. meals with mom typically follow the same routine: she orders her food, it arrives, she picks at it and eats three or four bites, declares she's full, asks for a take out box and, suddenly not full anymore, orders the most expensive dessert in the world. the leftover entree sits in her refrigerator for a few weeks until she gets around to throwing it away. it used to bother me but i learned to accept it long ago.
we looked over our menus and right away mom noticed the homemade lemonade and couldn't wait to try it. (she said it was wonderful). after studying the menu she told me she wanted the grilled salmon. i couldn't decide between the pennette and the rigatoncini and was all set to let the waitress decide for me. when she came to take our order she asked us if we wanted her to go over the fish specials. i wouldn't eat a fish if it came with a free bmw but mom told her she would love to hear the fish specials. we heard all about red fish and trigger fish and happy fish and as soon as she finished mom said, "i want the salmon." without missing a beat our server smiled and said, "excellent choice!" she then did something i wish more servers would do. she told mom that the salmon is cooked "medium" and asked her if that would be okay. once or twice mom has been surprised with "sushi grade" tuna that came out half raw and she had to send it back. she told the waitress she'd like the salmon well done. disaster averted thanks to the foresight of our waitress. well done.
when asked, she told me that they couldn't leave the mushrooms out of the rigatoncini, as they were part of the sauce. that made my decision easy and i chose the pennette with sweet peas, asparagus, spring onions, grana padano and prosciutto. while we waited another fellow brought us some wonderful bread.
the pennette was very good. they weren't skimpy with the asparagus, or with anything else as far as that goes. but mom's salmon--i can't remember the last time i saw anything like this. she took a bite as soon as it arrived and i said, "hold on, i want to take a picture for urban spoon." she chewed and swallowed and took another bite while i was still aiming my phone. "yo! i'm taking salmon pics here!" she said, "nuts to urban spoon! they can get their own picture! this is delicious!" that's the last thing she said to me. i tried to have a conversation but she was through talking. she didn't stop eating until that plate was empty. she even ate the leafy garnish stuff.
i finally said, "mom, did you smoke a doobie before i picked you up? i've never seen you with the munchies this bad." she was chasing the last potato around with her fork, unsuccessfully. she finally gave up and picked it up with her fingers and popped it in her mouth. there would be no take out box today. at last she was ready to talk to me again: "why haven't you ever taken me here before?"
the waitress showed up to take our plates. "would you like to hear about our desserts?" she asked. "i'm full," mom said. "i couldn't eat another thing. just box up the most expensive one and i'll take it home with me." i just got off the phone with her and she said the coconut pecan cake was incredible.
it was worth the $60 (for the both of us) to see her enjoy a meal that much. i just hope she doesn't expect it every day now.