I don’t normally go to really expensive restaurants, for no other reason than I am usually too broke to do so. If a meal costs as much as a pair of cute heels, I will almost always choose the shoes. Most of the food I’m drawn to is inexpensive, spicy, and can be eaten standing up. I love great food at any cost, though, so once in a great while, we go crazy and splurge on something really special.
We recently celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, and Wayne wanted to take me somewhere fancy where I could eat whatever I wanted and sit in flattering light. My husband will admit to anyone that he eats like a six-year-old girl, but he likes it when I’m happy, and unusual food thrills me. He made reservations at Chester’s Chophouse and we got dressed up and had a fabulous meal.
Chester’s is beautiful, all dark and clubby and sleek. Their meticulous attention to detail is apparent everywhere you look. Bobby and Susan Lane clearly want their guests to feel special. We had champagne brought to the table (I drank my glass and most of Wayne’s) and I ordered oysters from the raw bar. They were fresh and briny and delicious. Wayne watched me eat them. We also sipped demitasse cups full of truffled mushroom and lobster soup that was both deeply earthy and completely ethereal at once. I never get enough seafood, so I ordered seared scallops with vanilla vinaigrette and a lovely arugula salad with fried prosciutto. The scallops were perfectly crisp and brown outside and soft and sweet inside. The vanilla vinaigrette set off the sweetness of the fish. Wayne ordered a New York strip steak that was grilled over a wood fire. It was smoky and tender and really beefy-tasting. His mashed potatoes were rich and buttery and over-the-top.
We were stuffed, but they sent us out a dessert sampler that had a limoncello cheesecake that was just great—puckery tart, smooth and creamy. We left feeling wonderful, full, and well cared for. It was worth every penny.