Fine dining at lunch

We went out for lunch at work today. It was to mark an important milestone in a big project we've been working hard at for several months.

Our manager sent out an e-mail this morning and said two of my coworkers would organize where to go. I suggested Smitty's to them, as an alternative to the Lone Star. The Lone Star is OK but it kind of starts to taste like cardboard if you go there more than once in three months or so. We've been there a couple of times in the last few months so definitely time for a change.

I was a bit surprised to see we were going to The Cellar Bar and Grill in Bedford. I hadn't been there before. It's a pretty nice place. We were a bit underdressed all in jeans. Eight of us went there. I don't normally go to nicer restaurants.

I saw someone I knew from the past there. I didn't go up to say hi to him. I don't have a problem with him but we don't have much to talk about today. So I skipped that and I don't regret it.

I had to decide what to order. I skipped the appetizer since I didn't want to stuff myself. They brought some parmesan bread out anyway and that was good. Everyone else got an appetizer. I saw they had a peppercorn burger which looked good. But since it was a nicer place I decided to be a bit adventurous and order pasta. I got some chicken breast thing with sun dried tomatoes with some cream type sauce. I can't remember now what it was called.

I don't often order pasta. I don't think I really "get" pasta like many people do. Most restaurants in Halifax are big on pasta with moderate to extensive selections. I don't know what the different pasta stuff is so I'm never sure about it. I think the last time I got pasta in a restaurant was I got spaghetti at Boston Pizza a couple of years ago and it was kind of disappointing.

Presently the food arrived. The chicken was pretty good. About what I expected. Still if I go there again some day I'll get the burger next time.

Our manager got tangled up in some conference call during the meal so we had a little bit of time to fill. We ended up ordering desert and coffee. We usually don't get desert when we go to lunch from work. I got coffee and the chocolate brownie. It was very good, a big slab of chocolate brownie with chocolate sauce on top and a sprinkle of white icing sugar for appearance. The presentation is good there, one of the differences between average and nicer restaurants.