Meeting My Match(es) at Balliceaux

"We'd have had a great time at the wedding if we hadn't fallen down so much."

Tonight's couple date was priceless for many reasons, but the above comment, offered to our server who had also been at the wedding, is example enough.

I met said couple at Pescado's China Street, a place they'd never been but were eager to try, especially when I told them that it was half price wine night. A bottle of Montecillo Albarino was a mere $13.50, positively irresistible to my friends.Me? I was along for the ride.

To buy time, we ordered the Happy Oysters with Caribbean slaw, hoping that they were as lightly breaded as promised. They were. The slaw was fabulous, spicy, crunchy and as good a complement for the crusty oysters as could be hoped for.

While catching up on theater, art and first dates, we gobbled the oysters and ordered dinner. He went with paella deconstructed, she with crab cakes and I with the saffron mussels. roasted pork belly, purple potatoes and white wine/saffon/serrano broth.

We hadn't seen each other since St. Patrick's Day, so there was much to discuss. She's as big an art geek as I am, so I told her about today's visit to the museum. They told me about their Restaurant Week forays.

Owner Bob Windsor came in and I introduced him to my first-timer friends. Before I knew it, they were comparing who they knew who had attended T.J. I sat quietly and pretended like they were discussing something interesting.

We finished up with the dessert special of the day, a roasted banana cheesecake. Although the girlfriend and I are no fans of cheesecake, this one lacked the cloying sweetness of your typical cheesecake and all three of us found it to have a deep and delicious flavor. It didn't make me like cheesecake any better, but it was the best kind of exception to a rule.

My friend inexplicably commented on, of all things, my breasts, and it was at that point that we ended the evening. They  were headed home and I was going to Balliceaux for music and Salneval Albarino.

Ombak was playing, but I stopped at the front bar to see a favorite bartender and the next thing I knew, I was deep in conversation with a professor of philosophy at UR. We had a surprising amount in common.

She was there with a friend who was already in the back room listening to Ombak, but that didn't stop her from lingering with me and discussing gender roles and music, she also being a National fanatic.

All of a sudden, things changed when she headed to the back room and a couple of unlikely guys breezed in. It was the bartender from Bobette and the Welshman I'd recently met there and they were ready for some fun.

We were soon joined by the wine pro and it resulted in all kinds of fascinating and varied conversations. Up for grabs were the British monarchy, tennis parties and restaurant owners taking time off.

Personal  highlights were many. Multiple requests to leave lip prints abounded (no, I'm not kissing any shirttails) for no clear reason. Amongst the the  most satisfying commentary:

The bartender: "Karen's not like any other girl."
The Welshman: "You're quite the lovely person."
The wine pro: "Reading you is a guilty pleasure."

And while I got to hear Ombak from the front bar, I never actually saw the band performing tonight (in the past, yes). It's not that I'm easily distracted, but this was not your usual bar distraction; each of them had lots to say to me and the group. I got my shoulders rubbed, my blog complimented and my humor tickled.

But to be clear, no one was falling down; this was not like a wedding. We were just happy to see each other.

Of course, what happened after I left them, I have no idea.