Slowing Down

By Amy Platon

My husband and I celebrated our 7th anniversary last night. We shuffled the kids to their first sleep over at a friend’s house, and got all dressed up for a night of, he didn’t tell me so I didn’t know where, excitement.

I don’t usually like surprises, but in cases like our anniversary, I have to say surprises give me just that little spark of first-date flutter that is oh so appropriate for just this occasion.

My guy isn’t so great at directions, so it was easy to decode his attempts to confuse me. We were headed east on I-4 so I knew we weren’t going toward Disney.

That was a small relief. In the past we have celebrated at some fabulous Disney restaurants, but it is a little disappointing to arrive at your four star dinner plans surrounded by a bunch of sunburned people in polos, jeans and extra white sneakers. Disney’s not-so strict dress code has tourists believing that getting dressed up on your vacation is accomplished by merely covering up. Super distracting for me, because I’m left wondering if the polo is cutting into their bright red flesh, when I should be focused on how wonderful my husband looks.

So, no Disney, cause we’re headed east. I checked my curls in the mirror, and I blurted “Season’s 52.” As he says, “How did you know?”

“I don’t know.” But I’m super excited now, cause I’ve heard really great things about this place and it’s on the other side of town and off our radar for general dining options.

As we walked up for our 6:30 tee-time (I say that cause I hear that Tiger Woods likes this place and visits often when he’s in town) we were serenaded by the rock garden waterfall feature. Enormous twin cabinet doors (oak maybe) flanked us as we entered. The interior was elegant and spacious two of my personal favorites. We were seated immediately, and greeted by our ultra efficient server.

My eyes landed on the menu placed before me. To my surprise, the prices were moderate and averaged about $18 per entrée, and $10 for aps. I was liking this place already. Now, if only the food was as great as I had heard, then we could call this an anniversary.

Side note: With the moderate price point, as you probably suspected, I was once again surrounded by jeans and polos. But this time we were not as out of place, given our healthy subtle skin tone. But by the 7th attempt at creating a night for ourselves, my husband and I have learned not to over do it. It’s not like I arrived in a Taffeta homecoming dress or anything. So even among the casual diners, we didn’t stand out too much.

We started off with some yellow fin tuna. As we took our time with each bite of our appetizer I realized that food had never tasted so good as it did just then on my tongue. And do you know why? It’s because we didn’t have our children with us. Our focus was the food and this night was about slowing down. Even sitting here now I can remember the way my fork looked sinking into every bite I took.

Everything was cooked to perfection. My lamb chops were tender and my husband’s swordfish was delicate.

I often tell my son that if he likes the way something tastes, he should close his eyes and chew slowly, so he can absorb the whole experience of the food. And with each bite my eyes were closed-wide open (I wouldn’t want to risk embarrassing my self).

Desert was presented before us in double shot glasses. No big-huge over-indulgence here, just enough. It’s just what you’re looking for, and then some, 'cause you have about eight different choices, so you’re bound to fall in love with something (or something-s). Their desert presentation is like standing in front of your fridge with the door open. Why decide? Try it all. You won’t be disappointed.

We wrapped up our night with a few cocktails at the bar and my husband even caught the end of the game. There was even a piano player. It was a perfect evening. And now I gotta go-dinner’s boiling over, Olivia is crying for her toy, and the dishes need to be put away. I’m already looking forward to next year!


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