Saturday, March 12, 2011

New experiences

One of the most fun things about having traveled this photography path for the last few years is that everyone I know is used to seeing me with a camera everywhere I go.   And when I say everywhere, that's not much of an exaggeration. It gives me the opportunity to capture moments and experiences on a regular basis, especially those involving my children and those times that are truly extra special.  I like the every day stuff, too, but I make an extra effort for the "first time" events.

My mom called yesterday and asked if we had plans for that evening. We did not. She suggested going out to dinner to use a fabulous coupon she bought from Living Social for Shinto.  Shinto is both a sushi and hibachi restaurant. While I couldn't imagine my kids enjoying sushi (although, I do think my daughter could get into it) I had great visions of their faces during an hibachi dinner. Plans were made and we met at 6pm.



While we were waiting for dinner to get underway, we began to explain how it all worked. As they got the idea of what was going to happen, their anticipation and excitement grew.  We had drinks and salads and lesson in how to use chopsticks was conducted by my mom and followed closely by my little guy.


Our hibachi chef was Victor.  He was full of fun and energy and was great with my kids.   The dinner began to get underway and the excellent food started to sizzle on the grill.  While things were heating up, Victor poured us all a little bit of what he called "yum yum" sauce.  I can assure you that no other dipping sauce has ever been so aptly named! Holy mackerel was that ever yummy!


Next came the main entrees and my all time favorite, the flaming volcano!  I had built this up to the kids and I'm pretty confident that the final result didn't disappoint.  Every time another volcano went up in flames at another table, my kids were heard shouting, "Volanco!!!"

In the end, it was truly a fantastic night. I walked out of Shinto, pretty sure I wouldn't eat again for another full 24 hours.  (I had my leftovers for lunch today, so I guess I wasn't accurate in that thought).  Victor was kind enough to pose for a photo with each of my little people after the cooking was done.

What didn't occur to me as we made the plans on that evening, is now that my kids got a taste of this kind of dining experience, how often they would be asking to come back.  Oops!  That's okay, though, they know that this is a special occasion restaurant ... though they did both mention that this is where they'd like for their birthday dinner to be.   Fine by me - I want more of that yum yum sauce!





1 comment:

  1. Mouthwatering photos! What I'm salivating over is the amazing low light performance of your camera, as you know. It's a great series. Love the shot of your mom giving the chopstick lesson!

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