You can't go back

Last Wednesday, we returned to Carrabba's  and managed to get a seat at the kitchen bar on the right side; the side where the grill is, and where most of the cooking action is.  As usual, we had high expectations for fun and fine food.

It turns out, you can't go back, you just can't relive the past.  Fond memories have a way of improving over time, and two years is a long time...

If you followed this blog two years ago, you remember the fun we all had at the Port St Lucie Carrabba's: we came every Wednesday, usually two couples, sometimes three.  If possible, we sat at the kitchen bar, and got to know the chefs.  Despite their frantic pace, they always had a moment to laugh with us.  The ambiance was joyous, and we all seemed to enjoy ourselves a lot. We were amongst friends.

Some of you actually picked menu items for me to try, usually picking stuff I would normally avoid.  I enjoyed your choices, and the chefs thought my selection process interesting.  We all laughed a lot.

I realize now that if we had sat at the regular tables like most folk do, we would have missed the fun, on the other hand,  we wouldn't have noticed its absence.

Wednesday, we noticed its absence.  Only one chef of 'our old crew' was still there, and his shift ended as we arrived.  The 'new' chefs were all talented and worked at a feverish pace, but no time for shared laughs because we were strangers to them, as they were to us.

The food was good, but the magic was gone: you just can't go back.  Pity!