Trip to Northeast

August 23
After Cassie left for work, Rob drove Jerry and me into NYC to the art gallery where he works. His boss, Dom, wanted to take us to dinner so we stayed at the gallery for a while to view the art work and see Rob's work area where he builds frames and shipping crates. Various big name artists' works are sold through this gallery -- Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Helen Frankenthaler, ROB HAY! In fact, there is a large Rob Hay painting displayed right next to a wall of Andy Warhol works. What a thrill to see this plus 3 other of his paintings hanging in the gallery!!

While we waited for Dom to finish some gallery business, the three of us walked down to a little neighborhood bar. We had only two glasses of house wine and one beer and it cost $30.00. I only mention this because everything is so much more expensive in the northeast.

Later, the three of us and Dom loaded into a cab to get to Wolfgang's where Cassie was meeting us for dinner. As soon as we walked in the front door, Dom was heartily greeted by the whole wait staff; it seemed everyone there knew him. He ordered for us starting with an appetizer...bacon. Bacon?? I didn't say it out loud but I could not imagine eating bacon as an appetizer so I turned it down. Jerry gave me a couple of bites from his plate then I totally regretted turning down the offer. This bacon was about 1/2 inch thick, 6 inches long, and about 1 1/2 inches wide and grilled over an open flame. It was delicious. He ordered only 2 steaks for the whole table but they were so impressively large that there was meat left over at the end of the meal. The chef grilled the meat then cut the large sections away from the T-bone. Then he cut those slabs into strips, an interesting way to serve it. The expression "melts in your mouth" fit this steak perfectly; it's the best I've ever eaten.

We laughed at Dom's and the waiter's jokes, talked, ate, drank a bottle of wine, and a enjoyed a perfectly wonderful evening.