It's Chicago Restaurant Week all this week and next. So in the days when my column isn't running — a new column runs Wednesday — I thought I'd share scenes from the restaurant life.
So I met a former alderman for lunch earlier this month. No pressing reason — I had suggested lunch, years ago. He recently wrote complimenting me on a column and said that now, in the easier pace that comes with retirement from public office, he's finally ready to take me up on my offer.
"I have no hidden agenda," he wrote. "I'd just like to break bread with you and hear your insights on the state of politics today and life in general."
Everybody has a hidden agenda. But okay. It isn't like people are beating down my door. I agreed. He suggested Taste of Peru, and I agreed to that, too. Fun place. A small storefront that nevertheless is home to one of the last of the big personality restaurant hosts, owner Cesar Izquierdo, who comes out and entertains dinners, doing tricks with a wooden top, basically putting on a floor show. Hadn't been there in years.
I got to the restaurant first. No Cesar. No chicha morada — a purple corn drink I enjoy. Something about not quite ramping back up to speed after the holidays. So I stuck to water. The ex-alderman — no need for names, I don't want to embarrass anybody — was only a little late. We both ordered the lomo saltado — ribeye steak and veggies on rice, their speciality of the house. While we waited, we shared a ceviche appetizer — seafood in lime juice, quite delicious. My lunch mate also asked for three extra meals, carry-out, to take home. Prompted by his example, I got a $5 side of fried plantains for my wife. She likes plantains.
Conversation was accomplished, in a pleasant, easy fashion. We talked about our children. I brought him up to speed with the paper. He's representing some interests that might be potential stories. The check came. "Why don't we split it?" he suggested. I fixed my gaze on the stack of extra meals he'd ordered for himself until my point registered.
"Why don't I just pay for what I ordered?" I said, pulling out $40 and handing it to him. He took the money. It was a pleasant enough lunch, as I said. But I don't imagine there will be another.
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| Lomo saltado. |
He's representing some interests that might be potential stories.
ReplyDeleteIf I may presume, I think this means he's serving as someone's flack.
Which, no judgment here. Everyone has to make a living even (maybe especially) ex-aldermen. But he did have a certain chutzpah in trying to stick you with part of the cost of his takeout on top of hustling you for publicity. You played it just right IMHO.
Maybe after his PR business (or whatever it is) gets established, he'll be able to afford to actually take potential media contacts out to lunch.
"The check came. "Why don't we split it?" he suggested. I fixed my gaze on the stack of extra meals he'd ordered for himself until my point registered.
ReplyDelete"Why don't I just pay for what I ordered?" I said, pulling out $40 and handing it to him "
Typical crooked alderman, as all of them are crooks! No exceptions!
I am headed over to see an alder today at four.
ReplyDeleteWell at least maybe I'll see her. Depends on how many people are in line you can't get an appointment. First come first served 4 to 7:00 on Mondays.
I need something called an alley letter for a commercial tenant.
Wish me luck. I'd gladly buy her lunch if she could Just get me this document
That looks delish, even this early in the a.m.
ReplyDeleteIt's insane, given technology that restaurants don't automatically or at least offer to divvy up the bills for their customers, (it especially makes going out with heavy drinkers hard The bill comes and you're paying double or more of your share for booze you didn't consume). Restaurants do this, it's just laziness that they don't. Sorry for the rant.
If I ask somebody to meet for lunch I always pay unless they insist that they pay then I argue a little bit and if they insist I let them pay.
DeleteIf somebody invites me to lunch I expect them to pay but I always offer to. We usually end up splitting the bill. Sometimes we end up both paying the bill and the waitress gets a big tip
Either way I ain't about the chintz.
Eating out is one of my few social interactions. If the food's good and the company is good, it's invaluable for my emotional and psychological well-being. Never heard of this place. Going to look around and find it Peruvian huh? Do they have pupusas?
Was this before or after Arizona?
ReplyDeleteBefore. I just got back.
DeletePerhaps that was their hidden agenda; free lunch for the rest of the family. Many years ago, we used to dine, periodically, with a big group of friends and friends of friends. The friends of friends were BIG alcohol drinkers. They always wanted to split the bill evenly among us, which included their enormous bar tabs, to which a few of us barely contributed. Everybody's got an angle.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I used to spend a lot of time in bars there was a thing people did. They would buy each other drinks. Sometimes you'd buy somebody a drink who you didn't even know. You got to know him better. That way someone became lifelong friends.
DeleteIf you're out to eat with friends and they have a couple drinks, what do you got against buying them one? Even if you don't drink, I still go to bars even though I don't drink and I buy people drinks while I'm sitting over there having a club soda. I'm just an old Chicago guy
When I had quit drinking, my friends would never let me pay for more than my food. It is so much easier to just divide the check equally and be done with it, especially when everyone is equally appreciative of good service from a server. I did not mind buying my friends an occasional cocktail, as we have shared so many meals through the years that it is basically a small rounding error at this point. I don't fight it, but I usually find a way to slip a little extra to the waiter on the way out.
DeleteI'm not a foodie...more of a meat loaf and mashed potato guy. My vision of heaven would be tuna casserole, a Coke, and a Cub game on WGN. But that ribeye steak and veggies on rice? Sure looks good.
ReplyDeleteAs for the ex-alderman — no need for names, don't want to embarrass anybody —he comes off as something of a sleazebag...still and always trading favors: I pitch you a few possible stories...you do something for me later on. A hustler, even away from the Hall. It's the Chicago way.
And he actually tried to weasel a few extra bucks out of you, Mr. S? For some lousy take-out? I suppose I should be neither shocked nor surprised. But I've always assumed...perhaps mistakenly...that alderpersons, both present and former, have their sticky fingers in numerous pies, and aren't hurting for moolah. Still...once a chiseler, always a chiseler. It's a hard habit to kick.
My guesses as to the alderman are Par O'Connor, as the restaurant is in the 40th Ward, Harry Osterman, whose ward in just a half mile away & my favorite would be Joe Moore, whose 49th Ward is just 200 feet away.
DeleteWhat unmitigated gall, on his part.
ReplyDeleteI really like eating with friends who speak up the first time the server arrives at the table with a simple, straightforward “ separate checks please.”, And Done.
ReplyDeletegood move!
DeleteIll try Taste of Peru on your recommendation!
ReplyDeleteHey, ya gotta admire him for having a healthy dose of chutzpah! Never be afraid to say no to a lousy deal. Good for you. Now just be sure to count it as a business expense, and voila! You made out like a bandit!
ReplyDeleteNah, I'm fairly judicious about what I turn in. This was a social occasion, not a business expense.
DeleteBack in the 90s, when our church membership was larger, a couple of older males started up a monthly ROMEO (Retired Old Men Eating Out) lunch group. They scouted around for a restaurant that would seat us as a group and do individual checks. Out of more than twenty restaurants, only one would agree. The group has dwindled as some guys died off or moved away, but we still meet monthly at Villa Park's Hi-View Restaurant on St. Charles Av. Good food, friendly service, and a senior menu that draws in a lot of older folk. Dannyathome
ReplyDeleteLooks good. Thanks for these reviews. I see where it is, good Peruvian food is like getting pretty close to heaven. Chicago may have problems but lack of good restaurants is not one of them.
ReplyDeleteGreat slice of ex-alder life. "Hidden agenda," indeed. Separately, I'm interested in your thought (if any) on starting the piece with "So. . . "?
ReplyDeleteInteresting question. Mostly to avoid starting the piece "I...." Paragraphs that start "I..." are weak, in my view.
DeleteI always ask for separate checks upfront to avoid the awkwardness when the check arrives. I don't drink, and unless I've gone to that particular restaurant specifically for their food, I always order one of the cheaper items since I'm there for the company, not the food. If I continually got stuck with a big bill, I'd have to stop going, which I don't want to happen. Not everybody has a lot of excess money; some of us carefully budget.
ReplyDelete