Doesn't that look just scrumptious!?!
In our never-ending winter quest of keeping the cold at bay we were yet again perched in front of our tv the other night watching the most riveting of shows, Food: Fact or Fiction. We were being educated on whether or not pizza really originated in Italy or not. Then there was the ever suspenseful fry debate, are they French or Belgian? The pictures were painfully tantalizing. Our collective mouths were watering. We knew that we had to do whatever we could to get our hands on some of these most delicious sounding fries.
Thanks to Google, within minutes Chuck had found the top 5 places in the Twin Cities that serve authentic Belgian fries (you can clearly see where we fall in the fry debate). Unfortunately for us, it was like 9pm when we learned of this helpful information. So we made a date for the following evening. We would go in search of the perfect fries.
We were merrily on our way to The Amsterdam, the #1 rated place for this delicacy in the Twin Cities. We knew from the reviews that it was a bar. But really, how bad could it be? Chili's advertises itself as a bar and grill and it is innocuous. I told the kids we were off on an adventure. Chloe asks, "So does that mean you're scared (remember my famous quote: It's not an adventure unless mommy is scared.)? Well, come to think of it, I wasn't scared. So we decided to call this an expedition instead. This is what we walk up to:
The three Xs on the sign make me a little nervous. But we proceed anyways. Our desire for fries outweighing our common sense. We walk in and it is dark. Like almost black. The windows are all covered with black-out curtains. People don't come here to be seen or enjoy the view from the windows or to even try and communicate for that matter. And, oh ya, they're fixin to have a concert. We were unaware of this. But as the sign declares this is a bar and concert hall. Just our luck. It just so happens that a hip/hop/rap/R&B artist was doing a sound check for his show that night at the exact same time we arrive. What luck! We do know about my noise and motion sensitivity issues....right? I just kept thinking: fries, fries, fries.
So, here we are waiting for a waitress to notice we snuck into this loud, black hole. The volume is turned ALL THE WAY UP! You can't hear yourself think, forget about trying to have meaningful conversation about whether or not you like the fries. At this point, we're beginning to wonder if the fries are worth it. I'm sure everyone is waiting with bated breath for our answer. And it is NO. This particular expedition did not win the Best Belgian Fries award. At least not in our book. I'd say atmosphere plays into this decision a little bit.
Did you hear how loud the "background" music was? This is not the typical type of environment we like to have a nice dinner in. Chloe even said, "I feel like I shouldn't be here." But after a while, we were having fun with it. Chuck and I felt a little like the Swagger Wagon parents. We're so pathetically white.
After this experience we went home, put on the tea kettle and watched a calming episode of "The Great British Baking Show". This activity was a little more up our ally.
