Night On The Town

After a week or so in bed, or sitting on the couch, and where my only excitement has been going to hospital and getting my bandages done, it was time to re-connect with the real world.

For a bunch of reasons, a good friend and I haven’t seen each other this year. A couple of weeks ago she and I set today as a good day to catch-up, with clear schedules. So, despite feeling a little tired and sore, I decided there was no way I was going to cancel.

But where to meet? Thanks to a tip-off by Wine Muse on Google+, I was keen to try Love, Tilly Devine, a relatively new bar on Crown Lane in Darlinghurst. It’s a “pretty serious” wine bar, and the drinks don’t come cheap. But it has a really nice vibe. It’s groovy for sure, but not so groovy that I felt uncomfortable. In fact, very comfortable in the surrounds. With a concrete floor, “rustic” furnishings, a turntable which played 50s and 60s jazz, it was a great spot to sit comfortably, to enjoy a glass of wine, to read a book quietly, and to await my friend. Meanwhile, there was a group of 20-something blokes to my left, a single woman in the corner, a couple of middle-aged business types in the window, soon to be replaced by a couple of 20-something couples, and upstairs, a larger group of middle-aged business types. No attitude.

The same could be said of the place where we went for dinner, the nearby La Brasserie. My friend had a steak and I had the calves livers and we were both very satisfied with the quality and taste of the meal.

Calves livers? Yummo. I grew up eating all that kind of stuff, and love it still. Over dinner I was reminded of when I travelled with my friend David a couple of years ago in France. Despite his rural French upbringing and his subsequent exposure to all kinds of offal and exotic cheese, he would much prefer McDonalds. His mother LOVED my visit, as it meant she had someone to share her more exotic French food tastes with.

Lunch was good, though, as I enjoyed a traditional French beef dish with tagliatelle. It was a really nice meal and the perfect way to spend a reasonably wet Friday afternoon. And tonight I’ve had an even more traditional/authentic dining experience staying with David at his mother’s place. She’s a great cook, and her garlic potatoes are known far and wide. She also really appreciated the fact that I loving trying out new foods. In contrast to David who thinks goats cheese belongs in the garage, I thought it was excellent, slightly melted and served on toast. His mother seemed to agree as we munched into it with ear to ear smiles. Does life get any better?

“Would you like the desert menu?”, we were asked, and we both emphatically agreed “no” since the main course had been more than enough. I’m not sure what it would be like on a busier night, but it also a place where you could enjoy a meal and conversation without noting there were people sitting around you. Très bien!

So yeah, a good night. And especially good to take that first step towards re-connecting with the human race. I have one more day off work, before heading back on Thursday. I’m not sure I’m 100% ready, but will give it a go nonetheless. I actually have to go to Canberra for the day/night, and so have needed to organise somewhere to go to get my dressings done. Late this afternoon, I made a call to a local hospital there, and within a couple of hours they called me back to confirm all was okay, and they could do them for me on Thursday. Brilliant!