3am, long day, good day, great evening... SALT 1

Today was good...fairly strong traffic...many good conversations...several strong leads and follow-up opportunities and the like. Tonight was outstanding. John Wronoski of Lame Duck Books fame came to town and invited us to join us him (and two others) for dinner at SALT. As he had picked the restaurant on my suggestion (see, eg, this), I could not very well say no ("please, don't throw me into the brier patch").

We arrived at about 845 or so. The five of us sat down, reviewed the menu, could not make rational choice, so we ordered nearly everything. I was just going to list what I had...but as we shared basically every item...I thought I should just list it all:

appetizers

House Salad
Fresh mixed greens, marinated tomatoes, kalamata olives, red wine vinaigrette, shaved Parmesan Reggiano

Fried Oyster Salad
Arugula, bacon croutons, tomatoes, buttermilk dressing

Eastern Shore Corn Salad
Spicy crab and avocado ball, sweet onion vinaigrette

Trio of Gazpacho [x 2]
Amish tomato, watermelon chili and mango jicama

Gulf Shrimp Ceviche
Orange, lime, cilantro, cusco corn, red onion, aji amarillo

Foie Gras & Kobe Beef Slider
With truffle aioli and red onion marmalade

Duck Fat French Fries
With a trio of aioli

entrees

Seared Day Boat Scallops
Spicy crab topping, summer succotash of corn, peas and peppers

Coriander and Pepper Crusted Tuna
Served over seaweed salad with spicy tuna pot stickers and ginger soy glace

Grilled Petite Lamb Chops
Warm Moroccan chicpea salad, orange, onions, fresh herbs

Atlantic Wahoo Loin
Marinated in sweet chili-soy, quinoa salad, mango,chimichurri

Duck Confit Ravioli
Truffled forest mushroom broth, green onions, Parmesan Reggiano

Yes, that is right...5 people ordered 7 appitizers...and then 5 entrees...and dessert: A) a trio of ice creams (three small cones of home made ice cream (Mocha, Carmel and something I no longer remember)); their iteration of a banana sunday (bananas fried in cannoli rolls, peach ice cream, home-made camel sauce) and a lemon and wild blueberry creme brule.

It was exceptional...the standouts were probably the mango jicama gazpacho and my crusted tuna was absolutely wonderful. We ate too much, drank just about the correct amount and failed in fighting John over the bill and I am going to have to figure out a way to thank him for the wonderful meal...and for what followed. We retired to the home of John's friend, a Baltimoron (his term) and a collector on a level few could believe. I have been in a lot of homes of a lot of book lovers...many of whom own [too] many books. The bar has been completely reset. Quite literally, every room is lined with books...several floor to ceiling...several more than one layer deep. The library has 15 foot(ish) ceilings, shelves lining all the walls (13 shelves)...most stacked *three* deep. Wonderful things. Serious things. Frivolous things. It was truly unbelievable.

If possible, better than the books was sitting (for hours) in the library...drinking single malt/port/aquavit/etc...and talking with our host (or just listening to his stories). I have not had an evening this enjoyable in a very long time...and I will never forget it.