Dining With Friends

June 27, 2009 | By Bruce C. Fein | No Comments »

Last year, my wife and I joined with three other couples and formed a monthly dine-out group. Each month one of our couples selected a local restaurant and we would meet there for dinner. Seems simple doesn’t it? In fact it was (and is) a nice way to get together and share our experiences for a few hours.

The “rules” are simple. Not too expensive, convenient location and food that everyone likes. We have been doing this for about two years now and, for the most part, it has worked out very well. So why am I writing about this?

I got frustrated with several of the restaurants we were going to. I love the company of our friends and look forward to our monthly rendezvous. What frustrated me was the restaurants themselves.  We would usually go out on a Saturday night as a matter of mutual convenience and as a result, most of the places we went to were very busy. The service and the food were not always up to speed and the ambient noise in some of the places made it difficult to have a conversation. Another frustration was the fact that it was very difficult to get a round table for 8 people so that everyone could see and talk to everyone else. I wonder if this has ever happened to you? I tried to ignore it but the inconvenience and attitude of the restaurants bothered me. So what did I do about it? 

I tried an experiment. When our turn came up, I asked each couple to chip in $30.00 each, (a total of $120.00), and we would provide all food and drink (including wine). Since the average cost of dinner at a restaurant per couple was between $70.00 to $100.00 this was a bargain for everyone. I should note here that my  wife and I both like to cook so this was also a labor of love.

As we approached our Saturday, we were confident that all would go well and were right! There were also some neat side benefits. Before dinner everyone collected in a circle in the living room and started talking. We served wine and appetizers and kept  talking for over an hour. So dinner was late and nobody cared since they were having such a good time. The experience lasted for more than 4 hours and now whenever it’s our turn, we create a new menu. It’s been a great experiencefor all and we always look forward to it. Each time we do it, it has been an unqualified success.  We have gone from homemade Chinese food to veal marsala,  barbequed steaks and our personal favorite, Valentine’s day which included lamb and chicken. We asked everyone to wear red and white to honor the day.  Then we decorated our artificial Christmas tree with with red hearts and red and white candy canes. The table was decorated with a red and white tablecloth with matching napkins. Weird you think? The reaction was nothing short of spectacular. It proved that a little unexpected fun can really perk up an evening. Try something like this and create your own unique dinner.

Bruce Fein is the author of e-books. His subjects range from sales, marketing and advertising to the Borough of Brooklyn NY and his personal favorite, Jumbo Shrimp, Ultimate Oxymorons. His current books can be previewed on his website: theworldaccordingtobruce.com.

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Category: Miscellaneous, Philosophical Musings, The Lighter Side, True Facts

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