A Pleasant Surprise

My wife surprised me today in a good way. She is usually horrible at keeping secrets, so this time she caught me completely by surprise. It seems that at some point on Saturday she came across one of my close friends on Facebook. They worked out a plan for him to come up for a late Sunday lunch. She decided to hide the plan from me.

My wife apparently went through some great lengths to keep this secret from me, though I think she probably tried harder than she needed to. She takes pride in the fact that she kept us from going to lunch so we could eat at home, considering we did quite a bit of grocery shopping the day before. This of course made sense to me, and I went about my day.

I was just getting the grill going for some Carne Asada when I heard a noise up front. The wind had been knocking the blinds around all day, so I figured that is what I had heard. My wife told me to check the door, so I went to the door to comply. I looked through the peephole, as I was not expecting company. I didn't see enough to make out who it was, so I opened the door. To my surprise my friend was standing there.

Part of the surprise was that in the two plus years I have been married he had not been to my place, and we are now on our second place. He was a Groomsman in my wedding, but hadn't seen the boy. My son has been to his house, but that is another story.

I think this was a pleasant surprise. This is a particularly good friend, but we get so busy that it is hard to get together. On those rare occasions where it works out, it is always a fun time.

When he arrived, my son was still taking his nap. We got to visit for a while before my son woke up. As my son made it known that he was awake, I warned my friend that he might not get a warm greeting for a while. My son tends to have a warm up period, and won't give a stranger the time of day for at least five minutes. To our surprise, my son was instantly taken with him. He acted like he knew him forever, though he was seeing him for the first time. It was pretty entertaining. They had quite a bit of fun together.

We took my son to the park on the beach near my house, and let my son get his legs wet in the ocean. The water is still pretty cold, so we didn't stay there long. It is convenient to have some slides and swings right there on the sand. My son can't get enough of that place, and prefers the big kid slides to the one more appropriate for his size.

Today was a pretty fun day. I always enjoy playing with my son, but to add my friend to the mix made it especially fun. Hopefully we will be able to get together before my new baby is two years old. :)

Wine, Food, and Friends

Tonight we had some friends over for dinner. We grilled some steaks on my charcoal grill, and I had a chance to open a bottle of wine for the first time in a couple of months. My wife is not much of a wine drinker to begin with, so add the fact that she is pregnant, and I have no wine buddies. I have found that though my buddy rarely touches wine, his wife is usually a pretty good sport. She, like most women I know, is a bigger fan of white wines, while I am a fan of reds. My wife can stand a red wine if it is fruity, so I have tasted quite a few wines in order to find something she will enjoy. This helps when we have company, as I have a red to present to a non-red audience.

For dinner we had grilled steak, seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic. I added some Montreal Steak Seasoning to my buddy's and my steak. I also grilled corn, and ultimately a loaf of garlic bread. My wife made a wilted spinach salad, which is always a winner with me. It involves balsamic vinegar, bacon, fresh spinach, and dried cranberries, among other things I may not be aware of. I normally go for a hearty red when I have a steak as thick as these were. Tonight I had to go for a lighter one, so I went for an Argentine selection. I chose the 2004 Tapiz Malbec.

It turned out that I made a good call. I have found that I am pretty happy with just about anything out of Argentina, and this was no exception. This Malbec was light and had some distinct fruity flavors. I read a review that mentioned blackcurrant. I am not sure what blackcurrant tastes like, but if it tastes something like blackberries, I agree. My buddy's wife liked it too, so it turned out to be a good pick. I will make a red oenophile of her yet. :)

After dinner my son decided to ham it up, which kept us entertained well past his bed time. I have a feeling he planned it that way. He figured if he could keep us laughing he wouldn't have to go to bed. He was right, for a time. He is finally starting to warm up to this set of friends, so we tried to encourage it.

All in all the evening turned out pretty well. We had good friends over, had some good wine (at least two of us did), and had a good dinner. When it comes to grilling, my wife and I make a pretty good team. She preps it, and I grill it. It tends to work out well that way. I am looking forward to seeing what we can come up with this summer. The grill has been primed...this should be a good summer.

Restaurant Review - Victoria Pub & Grill

Victoria Pub & Grill
1413 S Victoria Ave, Ventura
Phone: 805-650-0060
Cuisine: American/British, Seafood

I took my wife and son to the Victoria Pub & Grill for lunch today. This was not my first visit, but it was for my wife and son. My friend had introduced me to it shortly after he moved to the area, and I have gone back several times.

From the outside the building looks pretty ordinary. Once you go inside though, you see that it has the look and feel of a British pub. There are two floors, and on a typical evening visit the first floor is packed to capacity. This has served my friend and me well, as there are two dart boards on the second floor, and usually we are the only ones playing upstairs.

I didn't go upstairs this time, so from memory I only recall the two dart boards. I don't recall any other games. The downstairs has one dart board that I saw, though I didn't check near the bar. The atmosphere is dark and you can smell the food from the kitchen as you walk in.

We were told to sit wherever we would like, which to my wife and me means somewhere where there is a booth so we can keep my son from roaming while avoiding the fit that would ensue by putting him in a high chair. We found a nice corner to hole up in, and the waiter came by shortly.

I ordered my usual Guinness, and my wife ordered a coke for herself and water for the boy. For whatever reason, it seems pretty consistent that my first pint of Guinness is from the bottom of a keg, and the second pint is from a newly tapped keg. I am not sure how it seems to always work out that way, but the second pint is usually better. I was unable to test my theory today, though I would have liked to. My Guinness was very satisfying, but it seemed to me that the bottom of the keg experience was playing out. I figured that at 11:30 in the morning my chances of them needing to change out the keg were much smaller, so I stayed with the one pint.

I ordered my usual there, the Cajun Chicken sandwich. This sandwich is so good that I crave it pretty consistently. Today I changed it up a bit when the waiter asked if I would like to add an avocado to my sandwich. I ordered my usual onion rings as well. My wife ordered the fish & chips, and my son was ordered a corn dog.

Typically when I eat at the pub it is pretty busy, as I mentioned before. This usually means that we have to wait a bit for our food. This is never a problem, as we are usually busy throwing darts. Today, since it was early, there were no crowds. We got our food much earlier than normal.

I knew I would be talking about the food, so I made sure to sample my wife's and my son's food. The corn dog had a thick, sweet batter, and it tasted pretty good. I wasn't sure what the hot dog was made of, but it almost tasted like chicken. He enjoyed it quite a bit. My wife's fish was lightly battered, though the batter was pretty tasty. She ordered the Halibut, and it was well cooked. I would order the fish & chips if I could keep from ordering the Cajun sandwich. The avocado made a great sandwich tasted even better. The spices were just right, and had just the right amount of kick, that is for the average person at least. I would love for it to have a bit more kick, but it was still really good.

The waiter was friendly and though he was not the fastest in the business, we felt he did a good job. The service gets a 7 out of 10. The ambiance was great, the food was great, and the Guinness was great. The food gets a 9 out of 10. I highly recommend this pub to anyone.