Date Nite

Last night for the first time ever we left our daughter with a babysitter and had a fun night out on the town.

Actually it was a double date. We went over to Sue and Steve’s house just as the babysitter Althea arrived. (Not to be confused with my former co-worker, this Althea has done a lot of babysitting for Sue and Steve’s two boys.) She took Persephone from my arms right there on the sidewalk. When she went in the house, Sue suggested Xy and I not even go inside, so we didn’t. I was worried Persephone would have a meltdown when we left, but this way there was no drama.

Soon we were sitting down at Crescent City Steak House. I ordered a Negroni for a preprandial apéritif. (I guess that’s redundant.) I had to explain the ingredients to the waitress. Steve said he’d take one as well. Unfortunately the bartender didn’t seem to know this drink, so we got them on the rocks and garnished with lemon, but it was still pretty good. We all got rib eyes and shared a bottle of Malbec, and I had coffee and cognac for desert.

After dinner we walked down Broad to the Zulu HQ, where there was a fundraiser for Morris Jeff Community School, a public school that’s planning to open next year in our neighborhood. I’d never been to Zulu before, so that was a treat in and of itself, but even better, my favorite New Orleans musician Kermit Ruffins was playing.

I didn’t have my camera with me, but here’s a picture I took of Kermit seven years ago:

We had a couple drinks at the club and enjoyed the music. I ran into a number of people I knew. In fact I saw a few friends at the steakhouse as well, all of which added to the convivial spirit of the evening.

Pretty soon it was all over. We headed back, retrieved the girl, who seemed to have had a fine time, and went home to bed. All in all, a great evening. A restorative evening. I thought leaving our daughter with a babysitter would be more a more worry-fraught proposition, but it was all extremely smooth and relaxing. Hooray!

Update: My friend Robert Caldwell reminded me that a Negroni is indeed traditionally served on the rocks. My bad. The classic garnish is supposed to be a burnt orange, but I didn’t really expect that.