1-28-12 Saturday (All You Can mEAT)

So. This morning at 7am, Jim and I awake to Dasher throwing up in the bed. Under the covers. Between us. When I heard it, I woke up and pushed the covers down. It was too late. Luckily it wasn’t very much. It was enough to get us out of bed and to go through the sheets to the mattress pad. It certainly could have been worse; it could have been 6am.

At about 8:30am, the drywall guy arrived. With his head up close to the ceiling holes, he realized that the insulation is missing. It was probably wet and thrown out by the plumber. The drywall guy wasn’t prepared with insulation so he’ll have to come back. It’s really not his fault. The builder doesn’t typically have insulation between floors, however, Jim and I paid extra to have that done.

Jim worked on taxes while I washed bedding and clothes, vacuuming and mopping, and all that fun stuff that you wish you were doing.

We’ll be partaking in Charlotte Restaurant Week tonight with dinner at Chima Brazilian Steakhouse. I’ve been wanting to go there and tonight’s the night. There will be a group of 8. Here’s tonight’s menu:

Fellow blogger and Carolinian, Flartus, commented on my previous post about our experience at Bonterra. Flartus’ other half is a chef at a restaurant that partakes in Restaurant Week.

The problem was that the place was empty… it was only 5pm. I was disappointed that Open Table only had that time open when clearly we could have been there later.

Thanks to Flartus,I do have a better understanding of what happens to the restaurant during Charlotte Restaurant Week (aka Queen’s Feast). She explains the behind-the-scenes info here. More about our Chima experience later…

We ordered blinds from American Blind and Wallpaper Company at the end of November. Jim had emailed them asking about the delay. They said Levolor was experiencing material shortages and they knocked off 10% from the price. It’s taken a long time but they arrived yesterday! Jim installed the five in the dining room and office. Similar to the ones in the bedroom, we ordered top down blinds. We like these the most because it allows for light and privacy during the day and privacy at night.

Mike and Billy met us at our house for the trip over to Chima. The plan was to meet everyone else at 8, go somewhere and have a few drinks and then return to Chima for our 9pm reservation. Everyone got stuck in uptown traffic so we ended up hanging out at the bar inside of Chima. Here’s some photos of the night:

Above: Jim, Billy and Mike await the others arrival.

Above: Erin & Josh

Above: Ja-Nessa & Jason

Above/Below: Ja-Nessa is served lamb.

Above: Billy & Mike.

Above: Josh & Billy.

Above: Jim & Garret

Above: Erin & Josh

We had a lot of fun. The food was excellent. The salad bar was far from ordinary. It had many unique, if not strange, dishes. My favorite meats that I had was the flank steak and chicken wrapped in bacon. Delish. I didn’t even get to try some meats as I filled up fast on the salad bar. Trust me, this was a good thing. I left that place not feeling overly stuff like I’ve been known to do.

If you’ve never been to one before, a Brazilian steakhouse is a MEAT buffet. The appetizers and side dishes are brought to the table, family style. The salad bar is a get up and serve yourself type of thing as for the meat… servers (aka Gauchos) come around with meat on a huge skewer. The skewer usually has different sides with varying degrees to doneness. “Top sirloin?” “How would you like that cooked?” They start to carve it right of the skewer while you use small tongs to hold onto the piece which is being served like so:

Each person has a disk/sign that they flip according to: ready for more meat or on hold. The Gouchos look for the “yes” side and then offer up the meat they have.

Stock photos:

Above: Salad bar

Above: Alcohol bar

Above: Meat bar… Not really since they come to you.

It was yummy. I’m told that regular price for a place like this is typically $50-60 per person. Ouch. Thank goodness for Restaurant Week!