A meal months in the making

Several months ago a friend vowed to take me out for a steak dinner when my divorce was final. While my marriage was legally dissolved last week, it took a few days for our schedules to mesh with openings at The Tornado Room. It was worth the wait.

Our reservation was on the early side and the dining areas had not yet filled up with hungry patrons, although the bar was fairly well-populated. I almost had a glass of wine but instead ordered a Packerland Pilsner from Hinterland. I've always liked this brew and I found that it remained tasty and went well with our vorspeisen, shrimp cocktail.

Note the horseradish garnish on the sauce. The little extra zing was quite welcome.

The French onion soup was excellent, perhaps the best in town. The cheese was not merely melted but browned to perfection allowing me to revel in Maillard gluttony.

For the main course, I had a sirloin and green beans.

Grilled to perfection (medium), it was absolutely delicious and will go on to make for 3 meals before it is exhausted. The green beans were tasty too though I normally love giving them a generous shower of vinegar. The onion ring was thick and not overly battered.

Dessert was cheesecake. New York? I have not committed to memory the many varieties of cheesecake. The waiter had brought a candle with him thinking it was a birthday or anniversary. However, he lit it up anyway even after being told it was a meal to celebrate a divorce.

My ex-wife and I had dined at The Tornado Room a couple times and I was happy to find that the place wasn't tainted with memories of her and that dining there was a wonderful experience. Part of my divorce is about reclaiming places, songs, foods, traditions, et al from the clutches of a failed marriage and making them my own. A slow process but worth it. (However, I will likely never go to Everly again, though. Just driving by it makes me shudder.)