A melting pot or a mixed platter?

I never paid attention to diversity in Boston until last night.

After a stressful day at school, I just wanted to relax. RedSox wanted to see me and suggested dinner at a new restaurant I had mentioned.

I went to gym, showered, felt refreshed... decided I wanted to go someplace different for dinner. I made a reservation for Bob's Southern Bistro.

I had been to this restaurant when it was formerly known as Bob the Chefs. It is a great place for music and comfort food. Last night was no different.

As we sipped our drinks and listened to music, I couldn't help but look around at all the diners. There was quite the mix of people. Black, white, asian, older, younger. Even the band was black, white and asian. I loved it!

The evening didn't stop there. We continued on to Wally's where we experienced the same diversity as we met up with friends. I was the only non-white person in our group. I never thought about it before, but I had to bring up the topic of diversity in conversation.

My friend Madge talked about diversity around the world and country, saying Denver was one of the worst cities. People apparently make racist comments all over, and no one thinks twice about it.

It should be interesting when I go to Denver next month...

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Magic Hat #9

RedSox took me to Joes American for dinner last week. I ordered a pinot noir (of course). He ordered a Sam Winter.

I don't know everything about wine, but I know more than the average population. I can distinguish among varietal, ingredients, flavors, etc. In addition to all of this, I'm pretty prideful on my knowledge of beer.

I brewed beer 3 times in college. I've spent 6 hours at Sunset Grill molesting their taps. Harpoon invites me to tastings once per month. I KNOW beer.

At Joes, RedSox made it clear that he knows more.

When our server brought our drinks, we said cheers and drank. I continued talking about my day in prison (not what you think. I'll clarify another time), but he didn't pay attention. He kept sniffing his beer, taking tiny sips and pondering. This is exactly what I do with a glass of wine when I'm trying to figure something out.

I paused my story and stared. You know that girl-stare where you're trying not to be pissed that your man isn't listening to you. He finally noticed and apologized, "I'm sorry, but this is NOT sam winter. I think it's Magic Hat #9. It's funny because I secretly wanted #9, but wasn't sure if they had it."

I took a sip. It was definitely NOT Sam Winter. I sniffed and sipped again. It was definitely NOT Magic Hat #9.

I haven't had Magic Hat #9 in a while, but I know I'm supposed to smell apricots. I didn't smell apricots, nor did I really taste anything.

RedSox was sure it was #9, so he grabbed our server and had him bring a taste of what came out of the Sam Winter tap and a taste of what came out of the Magic Hat #9 tap.

A few minutes later we had an array of beer in front of us. I definitely smelled apricots in one of the glasses, but it still didn't taste quite like #9. Our server said he tried them both and is sure that the one coming out of the Sam Winter tap smells like #9, but tastes water-ed down. As for the #9 tap, no one has any idea but RedSox is sure it's a pale ale of some sort.

We didn't discuss things further, but I'm still not convinced.

A few days later, Red Sox calls me. "I was right about the Sam Winter really being Magic Hat #9. You had me really thinking, but I just got back from Sunset and I'm sure I was right."

Fine... I was wrong.

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He asked for it

Ducky (think Pretty in Pink) is having a hard time with dating. He meets a girl. They go out on a date. The night goes really well and then he asks her, "wanna go out again?" She says yes. The next day or so later he asks about the weekend. She can't and suggests the next week, but then cancels. Ultimately, there is no second date.

Ducky wants to know why this keeps happening to him, so he asks me to go out on a mock date with him and follow-up with complete honesty about the evening. I am not to spare his feelings or anything.

The other night we met for dinner at a new restaurant called Bouchee. After living in Paris for 3 months, I have yet had the opportunity to re-create my brasserie experiences.

Bouchee is probably the closest I'll get to Parisian dining, but only if one sits upstairs. I made a reservation for 7:30, but ducky called at 7 to say he was running late. I pulled out my mental notebook to start taking notes. I pushed the reservation back to 8pm and arrived on time. Ducky wasn't there.

Five cell phone attempts went straight to voicemail. I texted once. Notebook. I finally decided to let the polite hostess seat me. She took me upstairs and gave me a seat over-looking Newbury. Ducky finally called to ask what the address was. Notebook.

I waited a good 5 minutes. In the meantime I grilled my server on his knowledge of the wine list. He did everything a standard waiter should do: Give the bare details of the wines by glass, assuring me that all were excellent choices. I went for an alsacian reisling.

Ducky showed up at the table right as I ordered the wine. He was still in his work clothes. Frumpy khakis with a button down tucked in. Notebook. He sat down across from me, and the date began.

We started by getting to know eachother, talking about things we had in common etc etc... standard date stuff. He is a great conversationalist, very comfortable talking to me. I asked him about his dating for the past year. What kind of girl? What did you do? What did you talk about? How did the evenings end? What was the follow-up?

Half-way through the meal, I gave my report.

I told Ducky that he really doesn't do anything "wrong." Everything he told me sounded like things went well on the date, but unfortunately the girl was just not that into him. I gave him a little bit of advice, maybe a bit of a lesson in manners.

1. Show up on time... especially after you have set a NEW meeting time.

2. Dress up a bit. Show that you are excited to be on this date. Do not come in work clothes. Update your style.

3. Try not to put so much pressure on the date. Take it as a grain of salt. Whatever happens, happens. No expectations generally equals no worries.

4. If you decide you'd like to see the girl again, try ending the evening without asking "do you want to go out again?" That question puts a little pressure on us women, and most of us will say yes just to be polite. Instead tell us you had a great time and that you'll be in touch.

Ducky found some of my advice helpful, but some offensive. He took everything I said into consideration for his future dating, but I could sense that he really was not happy with some of my criticism. We parted with a cold vibe, but hey... He asked for it.

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One Hit Wonders

Saturday night I went to Troquet with my classmate and his boyfriend to have some great wine and conversation. It's rather difficult to get to know classmates, so it was nice to finally spend some time with RG. We discussed wines and restaurants, and we gossiped about classmates and professors.

The two guys were absolutely loving Troquet, surprised by how often they walked by and never went in. The restaurant is often missed with its small sign and its proximity to some of the wildest bars in Boston. The upstairs restaurant is usually busy, but the downstairs bar is often quiet, a perfect place to have conversation... a great spot for a date.

I was telling RG that Troquet is my one-hit wonder restaurant. I go quite often, but never with the same guy. The staff knows me all too well, and they most certainly find my dating quite entertaining.

Since I only go to Troquet one guy a time, it's no surprise that I hadn't taken any of my exes there... and I never thought in a million years I would ever run into one. But Saturday night, I did.

While lounging on the couch with the boys, a couple entering the restaurant caught my eye. A seemingly gorgeous black girl came in, followed by a slightly shorter but equally hot-looking white guy. I love inter-racial couples. As my eyes cames into focus, I excused myself from the boys and started frantically waving my hands at the couple calling them over.

It was Ex-Boyfriend... and his new girlfriend.

It's been almost 2 years since we had broken up. I broke up with him after I fell out of love. I tried to avoid him, but he insisted on being friends. Finally after a few months, I agreed. We hardly spent time together, but our friendship grew stronger, especially after Ex-BF started dating again.

I had heard wonderful things about his new girlfriend, and I was very excited to finally meet her. Ex- BF tried to stay cool, but he was visibly uncomfortable. I'm on my date with 2 gay men, and he's trying to have a romantic evening with his girlfriend.

(His girlfriend is beautiful and very sweet. We got along really well).

After they headed upstairs to eat, RG was dying to hear the gossip surrounding Ex-BF. I told him the truth. We had a great relationship for the most part. I think of him fondly, but I'm much happier not to be with him.

He most certainly wasn't a one-hit wonder, but I'm sure our chance meeting at Troquet will only be that one time.

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Foodie for FREE

If there is anyone who can find the best deal, I am she. My friends say I'm all about the FREE. If I can get something for free, I will. If I can get the best deal, I will. If all else fails... I'll use someone else's money.

Sometimes I can use someone else's money to get a good deal later. I didn't quite realize it until I logged onto to Opentable.com to see if I could make a reservation for dinner.

I saw that I had accumulated over 5000 points, which means I have made enough reservations to earn a $50 restaurant gift certificate. Free meal!

I clicked on my profile to figure out how to redeem points and there was a list of my last 5 reservations. As I studied this list I felt amused because it pretty much acts as a date log. My last 5 reservation span over 5 months, and each one was a date with 5 different guys.


Olives with Redsox: I talk to him about restaurants all the time, and he keeps trying to find a place where I haven't yet dined. I chose Olives because he couldn't name a place I hadn't been. Best Ceasar salad in Boston.

Troquet with Indian Consultant: He wanted a sugar daddy relationship, but I found him incredibly boring. He doesn't drink either. I don't trust people who don't drink... especially when we're at my FAVORITE wine bar in the city.

Mortons with LV: He made it one step farther as a Sugar Daddy prospect, but I'm pretty sure that was a one shot deal. I appreciate the steak at Mortons... and the steak I had in Vegas.

Avila with Latrell: He was my older man. We dated for a few weeks, but the sex was awful. Avila is the sister restaurant to Davios, a place Latrell loves to get apres-work drinks. Same lay-out for both restaurants, but completely different cuisine. Way to work the twin thing.

Ruth Chris with a random CL date: A very nice guy, great conversationalist, but a serial dater... just like me. A One-date wonder who treated me to the best filet I've had in my life and my new favorite Pinot Noir (Laetitia Estate 2002).

Thanks to these 5 men, I accumulated 500 points on OpenTable. Their dime, my reward.

Now I'm going to use my $50 gift certificate to take out one of the fabulous chicks in my life.

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