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Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Betty's Birthday Blowout

Betty is officially 27. I won't wax poetic too much about birthday's but of course it was reason to celebrate. The nice weather after weeks of blizzard like conditions was the icing on the birthday cake, so we took advantage of it and decided to treat Betty to dinner at one of Philadelphia's most highly sought after restuaruants, Waterworks.

The Schuylkill and Boathouse Row could not offer a better backdrop, and it's been written about as a destination for travelling foodies since its opening. Sweeping and impressive from the outside, it's easy to see why it is an attractive location. Many are the times I have wandered past on a jog down to Kelly Drive, imagining the glamorous and of course fabulously wealthy diners inside.

Well let's just say that a deal presented itself and I jumped on it, knowing that this might be my only opportunity to eat dinner at such a distinguished establishment. I made sure that my top hat was back from the cleaners and fetched my jewels from the vault.

From a place that has a water menu - I kid you not they have a $50 bottle of water - my fellow diners and I went in with fairly high expectations. Here is how the night progressed.

As a former waitress and of course restaurant enthusiast I always pay attention to the service. Luckily, I was not disappointed. Some practices I found quite amusing if not entirely necessary. Example? I can place my own napkin in my lap thank you very much.

We decided it would be best to buy wine by the bottle instead of the glass. Usually a wise decision unless the least expensive bottle is just shy of $40 and there is a 12% alcohol tax. Suprised? Not really. I came prepared to handle a few outrageous charges.

Next came our choice of 4 courses from the prix fixe menu. Make that 2 choices, as 2 of the courses were pre chosen for us. Actually, make that very little choice for an appetizer and an entree. Ok, maybe can't fault them for lack of choice if what's on the menu is fabulous. You be the judge.


Course One: Choice of Soup or Salad

My salad was the best part of the meal, but let's be honest. It's just a salad.


The soup was tasty, leaving us optimistic about the subsequent courses.


Course Two: Sorbet

I bet money that they ran out to the nearest supermarket, bought the cheapest raspberry sorbet they could find, and gave everyone exactly one spoonful in order to make it last as long as possible



Course 3: Choice of AIRLINE chicken, Mushroom risotto, or salmon

You heard me right, airline chicken. Most likely Southwest by the looks of it. All jokes aside, the entrees I think were good except for my risotto that upon closer inspection was doused with far more than its fair share of olive oil.



Course 4: A duo of mint creme brulee and chocalate cake

I would like to know if Waterwork's has a pastry chef. If the answer is yes, I would like to know if he or she is a reject from The Next Foodnetwork Star. The fact that anybody made these desserts, (hopefully) tasted them and decided that they were worthy of human consumption is probably the same person who thinks that Paula Deen and Sandra Lee are actually chefs. I know people are cooking on a budget now, but using toothpaste as a substitute for mint in a creme brulee is going a little too far. Judging from the mint creme brulee I'm guessing that's what happened. Maybe when they went to pick up the sorbet there was a sale on aquafresh so they decided to stock up. And they found some day old Duncan Hines chocolate cake on sale too so why not throw that in and call it a day. So I admittedly don't like dessert but I was the only one who could even stomach more than one bite of it.


Thankfully the birthday cake was fine and there was plenty to share. And that's what it's all about in the end. Sharing a memorable meal with friends to celebrate a special occasion. Perhaps Betty can share her thoughts on the night as well.


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