GIRL'S NIGHT OUT

Saturday night, the night before Mother's Day. Our friend Karen was in town as a Mother's Day gift to herself to visit her parents grave, both having passed away in the last couple of years. Since she was staying at the Residence Inn in Rocklin we decided to get together and have dinner at Paul Martin's. A couple of us had been there before and we thought it was very good. Since I have the Suburban I was the taxi. Chris who lives near by drove over to my house then we went to pick up Nance in Carmichael before heading to Rocklin to pick up Karen. Our dinner reservations were for 6:15pm. We got there just in time, but were given a pager and told that there would be a short wait. They have a very comfortable patio area that has couple of love seats and comfy chairs, and tables. The night was perfect for sitting outside. We ordered cocktails (Mum champagne, lemonade, lemon infused vodka and Basil), very refreshing. After we waited about half an hour (which to me is unacceptable when reservations are made)I went in to see what the hold up was. We were told we were next on the list. A woman who had stopped by for a drink was gracious enough to take pictures (with 3 cameras) of us.

We were finally seated and our wonderful waiter came by and took our order for appetizers. We ordered the calamari and a dozen oysters (for Karen and I ). We couldn't decide which oyster we wanted so he had the kitchen give us 4 of each kind. Since we were all talking so much catching up and also celebrating Nance's retirement our poor waiter had a tough time getting a word in edgewise and I know we were not making his job very easy. Our appetizers were delivered and everyone thought they were wonderful. The oysters were very fresh and flavorful. Our waiter came back half way through the apps and we placed our order for dinner plus we were trying to decide on a bottle of wine. Our waiter was so patient, through our yakking... we decided on the Bistro Burger for me, Short Rib for Nance, and the Pork Chops for Karen and Chris. We still couldn't decide on wine so asked our waiter to come back. After much deliberation and getting side tracked by different topics Karen and I decided on the Big Horn Cellar Cab., Chris opted for a Bellini, and Nance was still nursing her drink. The hamburger was great, while not cooked rare it was still very juicy and flavorful. The fries were really good and came with a pepper aoli. Nance said her short ribs was very good and the mashed potatoes were really good also. Karen and Chris loved the pork chop and the onion marmalade. The entrees and wine and their wonderful bread (2 baskets) was all delicious. Of course as full as we all were we opted to see the desert menu. We decided to split the Myer Lemon Creme Brulee and the Banana Pie. Both were great, but I was just too full. We sat and talked and talked and talked and we closed the place down. There was never a time when we were given any indication that we should hurry up and free up the table. Our waiter cleared our plates refreshed waters, brought coffee and just left us to talking. We paid our tab and just kept talking and talking and the next thing we knew it was midnight and we were just a handful of people still there. There were probably 4 or 5 tables still occupied and to the restaurants credit no one was told they were closing or hurried along and the service was just as attentive as if it was beginning of service rather than the end.. I know all the servers wanted us out of there but they never showed it like I've seen at other places. We had a wonderful time and will certainly go back as often as possible.

retirement gift from Karen hand made card by Karen