A Steak in the Burbs & Other Things

TRAVEL HERE: RICHARDSON’S SILVER FOX

An Evening Out That Inspired a New Direction

Motivating me usually takes more than one nudge. I was sorting my blog archive over in my FOREVER account earlier this week. I was happily reminded of days gone by, when blogging and traditional scrapbooking were my primary pastimes and I churned out three blogs a week. The golden days of my blogging!

A lot has happened in my life since then. I figured out that I was not going to become the next great novelist of our decade, we moved away from Dallas to a small rural community called Heath, my husband decided he was going to start hanging out at home on Sundays rather than run around with me and my bestie took up ballroom dancing which replaced our Saturday adventures. That wasn’t all. Mr. Bill & I started a real estate photography, video & drone business that ate up our lives for 8-9 years. Then I started a Memory Keeping business and that passion has replaced the others for the most part.

So, back to my blog archive. As I read through my blogs, so I’d know how to tag them, I was reminded of my bestie, who loves my travel posts, and she had mentioned she missed reading what I had to say about local things. I thought if she did, others might feel the same way, so I considered blogging a little more frequently and writing about local things.

Locally this week, we’ve been iced in. The Metroplex doesn’t know what to do with cold, freezing weather when it comes with precipitation. Mr. Bill had a birthday on Tuesday, but everything was pretty much closed and even if it wasn’t, getting there put your life at risk. Last night there was a break in the cold and we went to celebrate his birthday. Come along! There will be no AI used in the writing of my blogs. I will use my usual wandering method of storytelling!

WHY THE SILVER FOX?

Remember what I said about having a real estate photography business. In that endeavor we made many good real estate friends and one of them still sends us monthly coupons for Dallas entertainment and dining. Most of the coupons go into the trash, but when we received one for The Silver Fox, it jogged a memory. My hair stylist had mentioned a dinner at Silver Fox once – said the food was good, but complained about the price. That didn’t recommend the restaurant to me, since my fella is very price sensitive. But if it was his birthday and we had a coupon – well maybe.

Then came the ice storm, which put all our plans on hold and in the meantime, I found a $25 gift certificate I won at a Newcomers Luncheon. So, when the ice melted enough for us to make some reservations, I did so, knowing I was shaving $50 off the top.

A LATE START

If you know Bill, you won’t be surprised we were about 15 minutes late leaving the house. I’ve gotten wiser over the years. Instead of fretting, I called the the restaurant and let them know we’d be there by 7:15, rather than 7.

When we arrived, we were asked to wait a few moments while they sat up the table. That was fair and it gave us time to look around. The decor was dated. The ceiling was acoustical tile, the walls were beat up paneling and the painting in the foyer looked as if it had been purchased at one of those Starving Artist Shows, you know the ones that sold cheap oils in hotel ballrooms. But it was the wine cellar that gave us the biggest clue, that no matter how much it cost, this was not going to be the fine dining experience we’d hoped for! Their wine cellar looked like a utility closet with a wall of wine storage. They didn’t have any mops in there, but there were opened wine boxes and a counter had miscellaneous stuff just laying around on it. They should invest in a curtain TODAY and put it up before the evening rush.

To punish us for being late, they seated us in their overflow room, the place where people have meetings to sell financial planning and cemetery plots to their potential clients. We must have been right at the end of the rush, because only one other couple was sent to detention hall with us. We were determined to have a good time, so we laughed when we had to play musical chairs to find a pair that would actually hold us up throughout the meal. Then we were overwhelmed by the BACKGROUND music which was hindering our conversation.

We’d already decided the Silver Fox did not deserve our respect, so Bill went over and turned down the irritating jazz music, which they probably thought was sophisticated. Our friends were right about the prices. The cheapest steak, a la carte, was about $50. Reading through the menu we found a “Dinner for Two” deal that gave us a small steak, some mashed potatoes and a side to share. We opted for asparagus and waited for our drinks to be served.

NO FOOD YET, BUT DEFINATELY AN OPINION!

I laughed when the server removed the wine glasses which had been on the table. Bill was getting a beer and I ordered a glass of white wine. This little thing, which virtually all restaurants do, is a bit of snobbery that gets under my skin – as if their glasses were to exotic for the house wine. I think that says more about their choice of house wines than it does about me as a patron. So there!

And when the wine was served – which took entirely too long – I swear it was cheap Chardonnay, not the Sauvignon Blanc I had ordered. I’m sure the bartender didn’t have a bottle open and figured I wouldn’t know the difference. (BTW Silver Fox, Costco has a great twist-top Sauvignon Blanc. You should try it.) Yes, I did know the difference, but I wasn’t going to argue with anyone about it. We were already done with any hopes for saving the evening, so were weren’t going to waste our time.

Eventually, the waitress arrived with our dinners – a hunk of meat and a blob of mashed potatoes standing alone like sentinels at the gate of an abandoned fort. The asparagus, of which there was a generous serving, came on another plate, but they were very chintzy with the sauce. Perhaps as a gluten free eater I wouldn’t be having any, but there was barely enough for anyone.

Honestly, not very appetizing, but then we were offered sliced tomatoes and green onions from a platter. Once they were on the plate, it looked a little more edible. Along with installing the curtains in the semi-wine cellar, management needs to do away with the crudité platter thing today and just add the fresh vegetables to the plated meal.

I have to be honest. The steak was delicious, as were the side dishes, but it was too little too late. If we’re paying $150, before tip to a restaurant, then we expect a little more and for this special occasion, we wished we’d just gone to the Texas Restaurant, which is in the same center, and where we’ve had much better experiences.

TIME FOR THE BILL

So, I drug the coupon and gift card out of my purse. The gift card was still in the package and when I opened it, I realized it required activation before use. REALLY? I hate some of the things the internet has done to us. I went with those machinations, but wasn’t hurried. Service was slow and the only ones around were the couple stuck with us in detention hall.

The bill arrived and Bill offered our various forms of payment. I could tell from the get go the waitress was flustered by it and when she returned we found out why. Whoever they are using for credit card processing has some trick that leaves $5 on the card. It was obvious the waitress didn’t want to deal with it and hoped we’d just put the card back in our pocket and use it somewhere else. We’d had a rough evening of it and we didn’t want to hassle of remembering to use that other $5. So Bill asked for the manager, who explained we could use the $5 towards the tip, which was fine with us. He apologized for the waitress’ inability to communicate that. There was a tip, but not our most generous. This had not been an evening to inspire largesse.

OH YES, THE ICE STORM

On the way home we shared a few laughs about our evening and then compared it to evenings we had enjoyed more thoroughly. At home, Bill headed up the driveway and discovered our slush had frozen to a solid sheet of ice and he couldn’t gain enough traction to get into the garage. On his side of the car there was no ice, but I faced a slippery slope in high heels. He gallantly retrieved my galoshes and in them, with his help, I made a safe reentry to our home, to be greeted by our cat who was certain he’d been abandoned to starve on his own.

MORE LOCAL REVIEWS IN THE FUTURE?

Yes I’ve resolved to be more attentive to my blog to include cultural and entertainment experiences from the Metroplex. In the coming week, I’ll be eating at Toulouse, visiting the DMA and attending a Titas Flamenco Performance. I do have a life, even if it’s not as active as it was in my Dallas days.

The travel blogs will continue. In fact, a good number are already written and scheduled: a few more for Washington State, a girl’s trip to OKC, a short visit to Phoenix, a trip to the Florida Panhandle are all awaiting your reading pleasure. What’s not written but coming after that are a weekend in Tulsa and a cruise to Greece and Turkey. Stay tuned!!