The Great Outdoors

Outdoor dining in late 2022

In June 2020, I went out to dinner for the first time in months. Julia and I sat outside at Casa Ora near our old apartment. The whole experience was both uncomfortable and comforting. We kept our masks on until we had food and drinks in front of us and some bikers passing by yelled at us for taking our masks off at all. We tipped well and I remember appreciating every detail of the experience from using a wine glass I wouldn’t have to wash myself to the crispness of the plantain chips.

Outdoor dining got more common that year and I did it throughout the winter in all kinds of weather. Dale and I still joke about his birthday dinner on a very cold night in October where we almost left before dessert but then they brought out rainbow cookies with a candle in them so we had to stay (he made a very quick birthday wish). There was an afternoon hangout in February where I couldn’t feel my feet for hours afterwards but wanted to keep hanging out with friends. All of this, of course, was infinitely harder for restaurant workers, who worked long hours in all weather and dealt with rude and abusive customers (I reported on their experiences last year).

A lot has changed since that dinner almost two and a half years ago.