and the company pays again. . .

so... a bunch of us went out to a tapas place for dinner after work. after a few minutes of deliberating about how we were going to order/divide up the bill, one woman, who is a director at our office, announces: ok, i'm making an executive decision. the company pays. and so, the 5 of us ended up ordering a ridiiiiiiiiiiculous amount of food. we went to the fabulous humble pie, and we ordered:

*Tempura Asparagus
sauteed red peppers, Asian ginger sauce, sesame seeds
*Spinach Tart
spinach, garlic, shallot, goat cheese, parmesan
*Fried Green Tomatoes
apple cider vinegar and bacon aioli, Swiss chard, bacon lardoons
*2 orders of: Tuna Tostada
marinated cabbage, rare seared ahi tuna, wasabi mayo, sweet soy, tobiko
*Shrimp and Grits
broth of the gods
*Oven Roasted Mahi Mahi
smoked gouda, potato au gratin, roasted red pepper-caper relish
*Seared Sea Scallops
creamy garlic polenta, grape tomato relish, basil verjus vinaigrettes, crispy shallots, cilantro, spicy Asian bbq, sirachi
*Chicken and Dumplings
*2 orders of: Chicken Enchiladas
corn tortilla, tomato sauce, queso fresco, lime sour cream, spinach chiffonade
*Braised Short Rib Tostadas
lettuce, tomato, lime, jalapeno, cilantro, chipotle mayo, charred salsa verdehick pea salsa, spinach chiffonade, sweet tomato and chipotle sauce

i picked the scallops, which were probably my favorite of everything, although i didn't try the short rib tostados or the chicken enchiladas. i did try everything else though! and while i feel like i ate slightly more than i would have at home, i don't feel stuffed, as i ate small portions of everything. plus i didn't order any alcohol (everyone else did), both because i felt wined out after 1.5 glasses on wednesday night (seriously!) and because i thought i might have just slightly less clarity if i had added alcohol on top of all the food. i did notice that a couple of the people ate a LOT (we finished almost everything!), and i think everyone had 2 drinks (margheritas/beers/wine). and i felt a bit odd in observing, because i felt completely satisfied after what i had eaten (and perhaps just a tad overful) and really wondered how eating more could have been a positive experience for the others, because it would not have been for me. i felt good actually, that i was able to listen to my hunger and respond to it appropriately.

afterwards, we dropped the international guests off at a bar to meet some others from work, and the 3 of us "boring people" decided to stop for water ice. i had just enough room for a kid's size, and it was a perfect end to the evening .

and now i am thinking about this kitten, which i am going to go visit tomorrow...

night!