Let Me Entertain You

A close friend who's in the service industry once suggested that the ideal business for me would be entertaining out-of-towners.

Her reasoning was that I'm familiar with the local restaurant scene, I always know the interesting cultural stuff that's going on and I can find common conversational ground with anyone.

She was sure that local businesses would hire me to entertain their out-of-town clients in the evening so they wouldn't have to; she was equally as sure that I'd be a natural at it.

So what did I do tonight?

How about spend an evening with an out-of-towner I'd met recently, here, introducing him to places he'd never been and talking about his former hometown Dallas, a city I've visited repeatedly, and his current one, RVA, about which I have a thing or two to say.

I hadn't been hired, but I think that if it had been a job interview, I'd have been offered the position by now.

We began at Mezzanine, a place I hadn't been to since before the Mission of Burma show in February.

That night, there'd been snow on the ground and the girls and I had sat on the heated patio shivering as we gorged.

Tonight, it was so muggy that an inside bar table seemed infinitely more appealing.

Twin Vines Vino Verdhe also helped me forget the heat, while he went with the Villa Pozzi Pinot Grigio.

He started with the fried Washington oyster special (five for $10 and a "steal," according to our server) and I had the tomato stack layered with goat and Feta cheeses.

He hates raw tomatoes and loves red sauce. I love raw tomatoes and can live without red sauce. Between us, we had all the bases covered.

Despite the hot and humid evening, I opted for the braised short ribs with local grits and hoison, mainly because it came in an appetizer-sized portion, although it necessitated I switch to the Alegoria Malbec.

He had another special, the seared sashimi-grade tuna with wasabi mashed potatoes and a stir-fried veggie medley.

Both portions were overly-generous and neither of us cleaned our plates.

Although I had not finished my dinner, I did order dessert (chocolate Kahlua mousse with toffee bits), breaking my mother's cardinal rule that you had to eat everything on your plate or you didn't get dessert.

I think I'm entitled; I choked down more than a few gray green beans in my childhood for the sake of some chocolate pudding.

Afterwards, the man from Dallas suggested a walk down Cary Street and we ended up at Bin 22 for a couple of glasses of Bigi est Montefiascone (he attributed his affinity for Pinot Grigio to his family's roots in the region) and a discussion of the nature of South Africans (his employer has an office there) and people-watching in NYC.

Walking back up Cary Street, I felt optimistic that I had been both informational and good company.

As a result of the evening, he now knew of two new restaurants.

He'd also added the First Fridays Artwalk to his calendar and had the scoop on the Richmond Forum, both new bits of information to him and gleaned from me tonight.

I'll tell you what, as far-fetched as it sounds, my friend may have been on to something.