Excerpt Nine

“Know first who you are, then adorn yourself accordingly.” Epictetus

Many Sunday’s in Paris, my plans involved meeting girlfriends for brunch and discussing the previous night’s events… Like the La Societe Dinner Party… just a normal Saturday night out with a girlfriend had turned into something totally unforeseen…

We arrived at the restaurant at 8 pm. We followed the hostess who looked like she had just stepped off the cover of Vogue Magazine. She was pin thin, with a sleek backless black dress on, her hair was slicked back into a low ponytail, her lush lips were painted red, and a gold chain necklace dropped down to accentuate her 24-inch waist. 

La Societe was very dimly lit, with black plush couches serving as the restaurant chairs, making this fancy eatery seem more like a lounge. There were square glass tables with roses as the centerpieces. It had a very sexy and romantic vibe and seemed to be the perfect place for a date, or a fun girls night out. We were seated towards the back of the restaurant next to a table with two gentlemen who appeared to be in their 50’s and seemed to be discussing business. The table on the other side to the right was reserved for six. This should be interesting and I was anticipating who would be seated next to us. Sarah and I immediately decided on a bottle of Chablis Premier Cru and got to exchanging stories from the week. When our wine came and was presented, the men next to us chimed in, commenting that it was a fabulous wine and one of the better Chardonnay’s on the wine list. We introduced ourselves saying we agreed as we were in Sommelier School and very particular about the wines we ordered. Low and behold they were in the wine business, and were here from Texas on a business trip. I glanced over at the bottle on their table. They were drinking Vosne-Romanée. Wow. Vosne-Romanée, as I was intently learning, was a small appellation in Burgundy with some of the best wines ever produced. These wines were expensive and of the utmost highest quality. Their bottle was listed at 425 Euros. Chad and Brookes were their names and we learned that they worked for a company called Glaciers that handled mass distribution of alcohol for the whole state of Texas. Next thing we knew, they were requesting glasses for us to try the Vosne-Romanée. Thank you Jesus. I had been dropped in the perfect seat in Paris that evening. The wine was absolutely memorable. It was the purest form of the Pinot Noir grape made into wine that I had ever tasted. It was incredibly smooth and the aromas were perfectly intertwined to create a balanced complexity. Before we could finish our glasses, they had ordered another wine from Burgundy; this one was from the Gevrey-Chambertin Appellation. It was amazing that in just a short couple of months Sarah and I now recognized the significance of these wines. We could read any wine list in a restaurant in France, and make a spot-on selection. In addition to the exquisite wines, they also ordered the sturgeon caviar from the Caspian Sea. There are a few moments in someone’s life that they will never ever forget. For me one of those moments was being spoon fed sturgeon caviar off of a pearl abalone spoon, while simultaneously sipping Vosne-Romanée and Chablis Premier Cru. Chad gently scooped up eight eggs of caviar onto the abalone marble spoon, and placed that spoon in my mouth. It was a moment that felt surreal. These types of instants only existed in the movies I thought. Who am I?

Sarah and I did not order one thing at La Societe that evening. Instead, Chad and Brookes practically requested everything on the menu and offered us a taste of all plates. About thirty minutes into our caviar and wine tasting a group of men sat down at the reserved table for six next to us. I couldn’t make out if they were French or not, they definitely looked European, but something was telling me they were not French. They sat down and started speaking another language. I could not tell if this was Swedish or German being spoken. One of them leaned over and asked for permission to smoke. Sarah said it was fine, and they asked if we were American. Swedish. Before I knew it, the Swedish guys were reaching across mine and Sarah’s table, exchanging business cards with Chad and Brookes, and Chad and Brookes were ordering more wines for all of us to enjoy as a group. It had turned into a huge dinner party with Sarah and I being the only females and seated right smack dab in the middle. I was feeling a bit tipsy at this point from the wine and knew I needed water. Everyone was starting to get a little rowdy. I had noticed the guy directly seated to my right. I observed he seemed calm and cool and able to handle his alcohol. Him and I glanced at each other and smiled.

The night was far from over …