I suggested we go to Matchbox. He had never been there, and I haven't been there since they introduced the new menu. When we got there, the hostess said there was about a 45 minute. We put our name on the list, then walked around Chinatown for a bit, before heading back to the restaurant about 15 minutes later. We were then seated about 5 minutes after that.
*Apparently, there were a lot of people headed to the 8:00 movies around the corner, so the tables were turning over faster than usual. -I'll have to keep that in mind for next time.
We were seated up on the third level - a place I've never been. It used to be the smoking section - which is why I never sat up there - but, apparently, the whole restaurant has gone non-smoking except for at the bar. -However, now that I think of it, I don't even recall cigarette smoke at the bar. Hmm.... *I have nothing against cigarette smokers, but I do find it annoying to eat a meal with a hint of cigarette smoke interfering with the tastes the chefs and cooks have concocted in the kitchen. -And I've also noticed that chefs and cooks who smoke themselves have a tendency to over season - especially over salt - their dishes. -But that's something for egullet.com...
For dinner, Andy and I split an order of
Mozzi Carrozzi - which is basically their rendition of
spiedini - bread, cheese, basil and tomatoes fried up real good! And then we split a pizza - literally. We got a large - 1/2 Chicken Pesto, 1/2 Pepperoni. A very good dinner.
And we ended up having some unintentional entertainment courtesy of the people sitting on either side of us. The young man and young woman to my right, Andy's left, were discussing almost everything under the sun - religion, politics, education systems, politics, finance, politics. It truly was interesting in a "what kind of dinner conversation is this?" way. It never got heated, but each of them seemed to have very specific views. Andy really seemed to get a kick out of the young gentleman's platitudes. "Congress?? That's not politics. They're totally different things." was one of the memorable quote of the evening.
On the either side of us was a couple of "bears". Two big, brawny bearded men. They were discussing their upcoming trip to Europe, and whether or not they should take a cruise on the Danube, or opt for an all-inclusive deal in Italy. However, the big point of discussion of the evening was the selection of the appetizer. "Do you really want to get the mini-burgers again?" So... after ordering the Meatball and Pepperoni Roll for their appetizer... "Ohhh... They got the mini-burgers. -Look, they got an order of six of them. -Wow, that's a big plate of mini-burgers...." -Needless to say, Andy and I were glad we did not order the mini-burgers - we almost did - for we surely would have had an admirer sitting at the table next to us.
However, in the one gentleman's defense, they would have got their appetizer faster if they had ordered the mini-burgers, since they don't have to be queued up for the wood-burning oven below with the pizza orders. But their Meatball and Pepperoni Roll was coming up the stairs as we were leaving. "They're waiting for it!"
