Walk in the Glow of Each Other's Majestic Presence

So then tonight we had dinner at Kitchen and it was delightful. We were seated in the back room, which must be lovely on light summer evenings, but was dark and cozy on this winter's night. It's was a squeeze to get into our seats and the woman at the next table was asking if they could be moved somewhere quieter, but once we were seated I found it comfortable and not too loud.

We explained to our server that we had an eight o'clock curtain, so we would order everything up front and leave it to her to set the pace to get us out the door in time. We shared a dozen oysters (I especially enjoyed the Ichabod Flats) and then had risotto--shrimp scampi for Jason and duck for me. That included pate melted into the rice for an incredibly rich flavor and texture, shreds of confit, and bits of crackling skin on top for crunch, with a smear of a berry glaze around the edge. Being able to order a half portion left me with room for their fresh doughnuts with cinnamon and vanilla cream. I started with a glass of Taittinger Brut and followed with the special Merlot our server recommended with the duck, while Jason had a "Diablo" (Lunazul Blanco and Framboise) that was lovely. Our server was delightful--I liked her right off the bat and we had a great conversation about movies that just pull you in and make you want nothing but to grab everyone you know and talk about the film--I think we talked her into seeing TFA on Monday, even though she's never seen any of the other Star Wars movies.

We were done by 7:30, with plenty of time to walk across to the Calderwood Pavillion for Citizens of the Empire, directed by Lindsay Eagle--one of my favorite directors in the Boston theatre scene--and starring (among other familiar names and faces) the fabulous Juliet Bowler. I have a lot of questions and quibbles about the show, but overall I was very impressed. It's a strong story and I love how they staged it. And it's such a treat to see science fiction on stage. If you're in the area and have a chance, I'd recommend it--there are half-price tickets left for the next two weekends on Goldstar (though Saturdays are sold out) and full price tickets through the BPW site for all nights.

The birthday weekend continues getting better and better!

Belatedly celebrating Jason's birthday (it was last week, we did a couple of special things then, but this was his big surprise) we went out to dinner and a show last night.

( Dinner at Menton )

This was a delightful meal--I think possibly the best tasting menu I've had in Boston--and we will definitely be making a return pilgrimage.

From there it was about a ten-minute walk over to Fan Pier and the Grand Chapiteau. We strolled to the entrance, handed our tickets to the usher...and discovered that we had come on the wrong date. Our tickets were for next Wednesday.

I've never done that before and am not sure how I got confused--when we got home I found it on my calendar next week, where it belonged, and it said Wednesday, July 28th big as life on the tickets themselves. It was also a pretty inconvenient night for us to be out, as it turned out. I guess my subconscious just decided this was the night we needed to get out.

Luckily, we were able to run to the box office and exchange our tickets for some just one row back. That put us in the back row of the front section and meant that not only did we get to interact with some of the performers as they passed by, but we also could just hop over the backs of our seats to make a speedy exit at intermission and after the curtain call.

( Thoughts on Ovo )

After the show we strolled back to our car in the lovely, temperate-for-a-change evening, pleased and delighted with how it had all worked out.

Tonight, in honor of both jason237 and my eldest sister's partner, George, who have birthdays in the next week, my parents treated us to dinner at Scutra, here in Arlington.

( Details behind the cut )

Overall, the service is friendly and the food is inventive and quite good, although slightly uneven. Most of all, they really need to start printing out daily menus!