Thursday, November 28, 2019
Thanksgiving holiday. Washed dishes. Pantry organization. Breakfast at home by myself: one-egg shallot and mushroom scramble, toasted english muffin with butter and garlic powder, one pint of hot water with juice from half a lemon. Earthquakeproofed one of Patrick's paintings and an old, framed photo of Jason W and me that Tina took. Lunch: Dr. Praeger's California veggie burger on a pretzel bun with shoestring fries—all from frozen—with lettuce, mayo, ketchup; hot water. Nap. Because Patrick had jury duty this week we decided that his uncertainty of availability meant it would be best for him to not attempt to cook a Thanksgiving meal even for just the two of us. So instead we arranged to dine at the Commons Club, a restaurant inside the Virgin Hotel, which we were told opened in February 2018. Rode UberX there. Essentially no traffic at 4:30 pm. Cocktails: Shooting Star for Patrick (Glenfiddich 12-year single malt scotch, Jack Daniels, brown sugar, tobacco bacon bitters, served on a rock), Millennium Bell for me (Los Vecinos mezcal, blood orange agave, lime, pinot noir, lavender salt, served up). My drink came with the pinot noir in a separate glass, which I was told I could sip separately or dump it in the larger glass. I chose the latter. Drinks were delicious. Fixed price, three-course meal: $85. An optional wine pairing was available for an additional $30, which we declined. Your choice of item for each of the three courses from a small set of choices. Starter: Patrick had pork belly with mustard and persimmon, I had pumpkin bottoni with chestnut, brown butter, and sage. Entree: we both had roasted turkey which included gravy, bread pudding, sweet potato, and cranberry. Our plates seemed to also include a terrine of some sort that was not mentioned on the menu. Dessert: Patrick had bourbon pecan pie with malt vanilla ice cream, I had chocolate flourless cake with pepita tuile and a side of pumpkin ganache. One deliverator almost attempted to hand us food before we had ordered. He tried to see if it was for table next to us, but it was not. On the menu one appetizer was called sunchoke volute which confused us until we realized that volute was misspelled and should instead have been velouté. I overheard that the table next to us (whom we chatted briefly with) had received the wrong wine pairing with the dessert course. With dessert, Patrick had ordered a single espresso. When it arrived, the deliverator announced, "double espresso" and we didn't say anything. Our bill erroneously failed to include the espresso, and I didn't realize until later because we were in a hurry to leave. Despite many errors, the food and drink are excellent. The space and decor are luxurious. We'd definitely return. We walked upstairs and down and peeked in the fireplace room before riding UberX to Alamo Drafthouse New Mission for Knives Out. We ordered popcorn no butter, a Dr. Pepper, and a Shanghai Bastard: $29.28 before a $6 tip, not including the movie tickets which Patrick had purchased earlier online. We enjoyed the film very much, and it is everything everyone is saying about it: sharp, twisty, fun, hilarious. Not many people seem to be talking about the social justice, immigration, and human compassion subtext plot elements, which I adored. It walked the line perfectly, encouraging discussion over holiday meals and outings.