Ya gotta love a client who asks you to choose what you want to eat as your first task of the day. Since it was my first assignment at this particular place, I wasn't aware of the drill, so I had an early dinner before going in at 6. But being a "when in Rome ..." kind of person, I ordered chicken noodle soup and fruit salad when the Mangia menu came around.
It was about what I expected: a large container of pretty good though somewhat salty soup, and a small container of mostly underripe fruit.
The next night I brought my appetite. We ordered from Lazzara's Pizza. I was trying to stick to all of my various food restrictions that week (no allergy triggers, minimal cholesterol, counting weight watcher points, blah-blah), so my intentions were good when I ordered the grilled portobello appetizer. The menu description mentioned tomatoes and goat cheese, but it didn't mention the cup of oil and vinegar dressing that drowned the poor mushroom. I poured off as much as I could but the portobello had soaked up more than enough of it, and the bed of lettuce was unsalvageable. As much as I love garlic -- the predominant seasoning -- I felt a little self-conscious getting too close to any of my co-workers for the rest of the evening. The thin-crust individual-size pizzas looked and smelled divine, that'll be my choice next time.
The Vynl menu is half down home (meatloaf, mac-and-cheese, fried chicken) and half Asian-inspired (pad thai, General Tso's chicken, Thai red curry). A recent editing project had me researching Massaman curry, so when I saw it on the menu I wanted to check it out. Again, the description was inaccurate -- there was none of the promised broccoli and tons of the never-mentioned coconut milk. It was very white and bland: onions, tofu and rice in a white sauce. It was a huge portion -- I nibbled on it for a long time without making a dent. The coconut sauce probably brought the calories into the stratosphere. So much for my good intentions.
My last night on the job, the Hill Country BBQ menu was circulating when I walked in the door. As much as I love barbecue, I couldn't picture myself digging into chicken or ribs or a huge sandwich while trying to work on page proofs. And I was trying to be careful, remember? So I went for a couple of sides: the market salad and mac and cheese -- since my earlier attempts at being careful had gone so far astray, I thought the mac and cheese was practically like eating a rice cake. These were the best choices of the week. The market salad had a southwestern flair: crisp greens topped with corn, beans, avocado, grated cheese and red onion, with two dressings on the side, ranch and creamy chipotle. Very good. The mac and cheese was good, but I have the feeling I'm finally outgrowing baby food -- it's never as good as I think it will be.
It was a lot of fun to try such a variety of places and interesting to see how much the actual dishes varied from the menu description. Hope this thoughtful and generous client calls me again.
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