Post-Thanksgiving Feasting

One perk of being a member of a country club is that you always have a familiar fine dining option when you're too lazy to make reservations at some fancy new place. I love eating at our club. It's like Cheers; everybody knows your name.

We are two of the youngest members at our club, and we're not white, so we sort of stick out, but I think our servers kind of like us more because of this (they are generally young and not white, too). Or maybe it's because we tip them beyond the built-in service charge. Whatever it is, I always feel like a queen when we go to the club. The service is just outstanding.

I have yet to eat anything bad at the club. We are so lucky to have such a great head chef. When we went last night, the place was deserted. I guess everyone was at home eating Thanksgiving leftovers. Not us! Mama Monkey gave all the goods to Brother Monkey the Striking TV Writer, so we went home empty-handed.

We started with two appetizers: (1) sweet potato and grilled chicken potstickers with coconut ginger dipping sauce and (2) pesto chicken pizza with roma tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Both were so delicious. The potstickers had an atypical creaminess about them. I loved the juxtaposition of East meets West. The pizza was crisp and beautifully cheesy, and I could taste the freshness of the tomatoes as they burst in my mouth with every bite.

Even soup and salad at the club is delectable. Mr. Monkey had the house clam chowder, which is steeped with plenty of real clams and is a beautiful rich warm color, not pale white and full of potatoes. I dined on baby greens with apples, candied walnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette. So good. The only thing that would've made my salad even better would be a little crumbled cheese. Mmm.

After having gorged on land animals the day before, the Monkeys opted for fish. I had the sauteed pompano with parsley, lemon, and garlic sauce. Mr. Monkey ate the petrale sole dusted with seasoned flour and sauteed and finished with piccata sauce. Excellent. The club does both seafood and meat (especially steak and prime rib) really well. We are so spoiled.

We capped the night off with hot apple pie a la mode, which I paired with a cup of decaf.

But wait! There's more! We love the food at our club so much that we never leave without extra food to go, so we got some broiled eggplant parmesan and teriyaki top sirloin packed up.

And now we are eating them tonight. Lucky bastards are we.