I have to say that my cynicism surround certain days and their obligatory customs and courtesies is in a gender identity crisis this February. As a general rule I hate holidays, special occasions, your birthday, and just about anything else that gets marked on the calendar before you buy it. I live for the write-in's!
However, I revise this stance on those rare occasions where I break down, do all of the customary things, and actually enjoy myself.
I'm not going to say I didnt enjoy the superbowl this year. I watched the game, I ate lots of good tasting bad for me food, but for the most part I looked at my computer screen for hours during that game like any other day. Did I enjoy myself? Yes, I suppose.
The superbowl is an invented holiday created by sports. I like sports. Scratch that, I like athletics. Sports has become a mash of celebrity fowl ups, public paycheck disputes, advertising to the hilt, dog torturing, child molesting etc.
I'll stick with Triathlon.
By the time I've processed it all, I question whether I really enjoyed my one NFL game per year. Then consider the fact that Valentines day was created by greeting cards companies and the paper foundation would surely not hold my weight, right? Wrong.
Valentine's was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!
Unfortunatley about 90% of enjoying valentines day centers around having a date worth talking to, so a guy like me lucks out.Oother guys, other girls, not so much. For those who have gotten over that little detail here's how the other 10% can pan out.
We started off with Dinner reservations at 6:30. The location was MaLaga on Second street in the middle of downtowns more-money-than-Jesus district. The great thing about Austin though, is even in fancy digs, I didn't have an aneurism looking at the bill.
Ma Laga is a Tapas bar, which I always pronounce slowly since people who aren't familiar with the concept end up stopping me to specify "Wait, you took your girlfriend to a Topless bar for Valentines day?" NO. A Tapas,,, bar. Tah Pas.
We started with a plate of roasted spiced potatos with with garlic aioli & spicy tomato sauce. Another staple item I had to get was Serrano cured ham sliced razor thin on herbed bread. This was truly a 'making love to your mouth' experience through and through. A bottle of Castell Del Remei "Gotim Bru" was a very decent price and, in the words of a guy like me, who knows nothing about wine, was really really good.
Decadence? Check.
Next we had some beef tenderloins in seared in herbed olive oil with a few wedges of thin pita and garlic aioli. Somehow we didn't end up smelling like garlic.
I was very satisfied as well with breaded fried goat cheese cakes on baked crostinis on a bed of honey. Mouths,, totally, overwhelmed...
By the time we killed the bottle our tapas were gone, and over Noey's protests I ordered two desserts. Tiramisu and a strawbery Mantecada which sealed the deal on my opinion of Malaga.
It seemed slightly like a case of the Mondays was happening with the staff but they kept the volume low enough for it not to ruin our mood and certainly didn't effect our food. Holidays can be slam-time and Austin is a never short of patrons. The Chef took a moment to check in on us personally which, as a guy who goes 'out to eat' 80% of the time at Veggie Heavan, was like, totally out of my element. I always feel a little bit out of place in restaurants of the not-Veg Hev variety because you dress up, mind you manners a bit more, and to top it off, pretend it's not a big deal. Call me less sophisticated, but I'm unable to contain my excitement when I'm on a nice night out. All this great food and no dishes.
After, we loosened our bowties at Vallhalla on Red River, inches from I35 and drank cheap domestics while watching Bad Girls Club. It was a magical evening. I'll def make a note to check my local listing for Bad Girls club and stop in again because the bartender was a riot. we dissected the douche baggery and discussed amongst ourselves with a lack of loud music to drown it all out. Somewhere between the akward silence of Swan Dive and the "what did you just say bro?" of,, every other bar on earth, Valhalla was pretty sweet.
So, this is a rare Day-Theft experience indeed. Big Greeting Card tied me down, made me dress up, make reservations, buy flowers, chocolate strawberries, wine, food, drinks, and when the ropes finally came off I said, "We'll have to do this again. Like, next week." I'm scared too.
