Locked in Pescado's

I discovered the secret Friday lunchtime hideaway of Richmond's restaurant set or at least it seemed that way today at Pescado's China Street.

We arrived just after 1:00 to a roomful of business types finishing up their noontime meal. Once they cleared out, the second wave came in and that's when the restaurant owners, bartenders and servers rolled in to lunch at a more appropriate hour. Some appeared to be on their first coffee of the day.

The sign board outside had sucked us in on the conch fritters, so that's how our meal started off. They were the smallest conch fritters I'd ever had, but large in flavor. Both Friend and I chose the Los Cabos, a salad of local field greens, goat cheese, mango, pine nuts, red onion and avocado in a mango dressing.

When our plates arrived, they were piled so incredibly high that my friend commented, "They look like haystacks!" They were very generously-sized salads with so many interesting ingredients and textures that we both felt more than satisfied with our healthy choices.

"The further down I eat, the better it gets," my friend observed. It was true; much of the mango and pine nut portion of the salad accumulated at the bottom, making for sweet and crunchy bites galore toward the end.

I declined dessert, causing my friend to assume a shocked look and order the chocolate flan with cashews anyway. He ate most of it, prodding me to join in and I eventually did just to make him happy (or at least that's what I told myself).

And all those restaurant types? They shared gossip and restaurant recommendations and ate as long as we did, which is to say until long after Pescado's locked the front door to customers to start on dinner prep.

When Friend dropped me off, he got a serious look on his face, took my hand and asked me if something was wrong. "You don't seem like yourself today."

I'd been told the same thing last night at dinner by another friend. Not myself, huh? I think I know just how to fix that.