Someone once said that there is no love sincerer than the love of food and I tied that quote to my shirt tail. Since then, ‘eating good’ is the best and consistent habit that I possess. I once happened to visit a restaurant to grab a bite for lunch and that restaurant became my dreamland afterwards. Let me tell you my story of “Best Steak Ever”.
It was a beautiful bright sunny day and the breeze was as cool as a cucumber and some rose water mixed together. Hungry as a bear and cheesed off by the office work, I wandered around in search of food but couldn’t find anything but closed restaurants staring at me. My belly bubbled and squeaked and bones started to melt when my eyes caught a glimpse of some heavenly lights dancing far away. I followed the lights blindly and there it was, ‘The Restaurant” gleaming like a royal palace, minus the stiff-like-ice-cream-stick guards.
I entered the restaurant and took a table beside the window. Black and red velvet chairs were warm like a freshly made toast. A beautiful menu card tied with red ribbon was laying on the table. After a while, that red ribbon was laying on the ground and my eyes were sliding through the card long with my finger. A bunch of mouth watering dishes blocked my mind and I couldn’t decide which one to order, it happens to me very often. In this case I usually tell the waiter to ‘Surprise Me‘ with a romantic smile and trust me, this trick has never let me down.
While waiting for the food, I looked around. A teenage girl and twenty something boy were sitting right next to my table, enjoying their salad days. The girl was eating like a bird and the boy was staring into her eyes with a charming smile on his face. She was hiding her shyness behind small bites of that Tuna fish sandwich. Two fat men wearing suits were sitting at my right side. Expressions on one man’s face were perplexed like he was spilling beans about some pie in the sky. The other man was indulged in eating like a horse.
Waiting for half an hour wasn’t that easy but it paid off when I saw the waiter approaching towards me with a tray in his hand. I could hear the soothing melody of the world’s best music coming out of that sizzler. A seductive fragrance of cooked meat mixed with the steam entered inside my body through the nostrils and initiated a fire in every inch of my body. A scrumptious divine delight was laying right in front of me. Two beautiful grilled chicken breast fillets were placed delicately between creamy buttered mashed potatoes on one side and colorful vibrant vegetables on the other. All these heavenly ingredients were dipped in a dark red streaming peppercorn sauce.
While supporting the chicken fillet with a fork in one hand, I made a soft elegant cut at its edge with a knife. The layer of chicken split up and an exquisite surprise, a river of melted cheese came flooding out of it and filled my plate. With my fork I assembled a small chicken piece, tiny portion of mashed potatoes, a mushroom and a carrot, dipped them in the cheese, rolled them in red sauce and put the first bite in my mouth.
The first bite-oh, what heaven that first bite was. The mushroom like the freckled breast of an angel, resting gently on top of buttered mashed potatoes and the meat, flavors mingling in a seductive pas de deux. Then the carrot cuddled up with cheese and some more meat brimmed with the sauce…. And then a black pepper grain! The most playful little grain ! The mixture so exquisite, swirled in my mouth breaking apart, and combining again in a fugue of sweets and savor so delightful. A meat Christmas was celebrated in my mouth.
The second bite- the third- fourth and I came back to senses when my fork screeched with the empty plate. It was an out of the world Booze cruise journey, a perfection spellbound. I felt like resting in heaven under the blue skies after having it and most amazingly, I kept eating that steak in my dreams for a whole week after that.
I can proudly say now that there is only one right way to eat a steak – with greed in your heart and a smile on your face. It’s finger licking good !
This post is written in response to Weekly Writing Challenge: Lunch Posts. Don’t forget to share your experiences. Feedback is always appreciated.
White Shadows 