I really like to search for restaurants and scour their menus. Whenever we are going somewhere new, or out for a special occasion, I will look at the menu online three or four times before we go. I really like to be prepared and I don't like feeling pressured to make up my mind quickly while we are there, with the waiter breathing over my shoulder. Have you ever gotten something and it wasn't very good and you think I knew I should have gotten something else!Plus it is just fun for me to look at menus. I like food.Okay, I don't do this for just special occasions. I study the menus at Red Robin and Macaroni Grill before we go every time - and I have been to both of those places on multiple occasions. I also study the Entertainment Book like this. I pretty much have that thing memorized.
Chad and I are going to Asheville, NC this weekend for our anniversary. It is our first time away from the kids for a night EVER (five long years), and we figured we should take advantage of it and do something that we know they would not appreciate. So we are going to The Biltmore (which is a little funny since kids get in free right now! gulp. don't tell Colin). We are really excited because we have really wanted to go to The Biltmore since we first moved to Charlotte. Plus who knows when we will get away together again (although Italy is for sure in 2011 for our tenth anniversary). We really want to make the most of the trip.
I have spent a good three or four hours deciding where we are going to eat on Friday night. I have spent a lot of time googling and reading posts on Chowhound. My "favorites" bar is full of forerunners. I also found that Racheal Ray did one of her $40 a day episodes in Asheville, so it was fun checking out the restaurants she went to. We decided to go to Early Girl Eatery, which is one of them, for breakfast on Saturday and then realized that it doesn't open 'til 9, and we need to be at The Biltmore by then. For dinner on Friday night I have decided to try and make reservations at Limones. The menu looks elegant, fun, and unlike anything we have eaten before. They don't have the full menu online (just a sample menu), so it is a little bit of adventure for me as well.
Am I the only one who gets so excited about menus? Am I crazy?
