Lunch

Lunch.  It sounds like something you'd do with a "squat", doesn't it?  I mean, "with your back straight, do one lunch, followed by three squats.  Do five reps of this with each leg." 

Of course, "lunch" is short for "luncheon", which, in the Midwest anyway, is too hoity-toity for most people.  Actually, that would be kind of funny - "So, what did you bring in your sack luncheon today?".  But I digress (what else is new?).

I have been quite lucky this week in terms of lunch - on Tuesday, my friend Sue and I ate at a place called Le Soeurette, which was wonderful (check the previous blog entry for more info).  Today, I had the pleasure of eating at Park Terrace, which is a sometime-restaurant inside Moraine Park, the technical college in Fond du Lac.  It's in a lovely setting, with a patio that's open in the late Spring.  I wish I had a photo of it, but I just couldn't find one online.  I think it's a pretty well-kept secret in Fondy.

The restaurant is run by the Culinary Arts faculty and students, and they do everything, right down to hosting and serving.  Every time the restaurant is open there is a different theme - today's was Tuscan.  You do have a choice of entree, and there are a couple of desserts.  I should've kept a menu so I could tell you exactly what was offered but my choice was the smoked salmon en croute (i.e., it was in a puff pastry).  I also had the soup, which was an Andouille sausage & white bean soup.  Fantastic.  And for dessert?  Chocolate Napoleon with a blackberry liquid nitrogen foam.  Heavenly.  And the cost for all of this, plus my drink?  Fourteen bucks.  Yes, 1-4, not 4-0.  Fourteen.  Amazing.  The company was wonderful too - a group of six of us, including some of my artist friends.  It was a two hour lunch - you can't beat that.

Okay, I digressed again - sorry about that.  The point I'm really trying to make is, I love lunch!  I would much rather go out to lunch than to dinner.  I think a lot of people feel this way; I know my sister Jen and my mom are also big lunch fans.  I also have very fond memories of lunch with my Grammie.  I can't put my finger on why lunch is so great, but maybe it's because, when you're at a 'special' lunch, you sort of feel like you're playing hooky.  I know that when I'd take a long lunch during my time at the Reporter, it was almost like a mini vacation.  I'd  forget about work for awhile and hang out with a friend or two (or five).  Another bonus is that a lot of times you get the same entree as dinner, but it's a little smaller and usually cheaper. 

There's also not so much "pressure" at lunch - you normally don't have to get dressed up, which I like.  There's usually not an event that you have to attend afterward, so it's okay to linger longer during the afternoon.  And if you want a sandwich or just a salad or bowl of soup, you don't look like a cheapskate.  They expect that type of order at lunch.  Or even at luncheon.  :D

Don't even get me started on the delightfulness that is brunch; we'll save that for another time.