Thursday, April 10, 2014

Cheers to you, Lex!

Last night my husband and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary. We thought about going to a super fancy restaurant, but decided to keep it more low key.

My husband, an opera singer, had just returned from a month-long gig at Opera Southwest in New Mexico performing a starring  role in "The Pearl Fishers." The makeup artist for the show had asked him to grow out his sideburns. He's decided to keep the new look for a while. It's a very retro "Anchorman" look and I keep teasing him that he needs to hang out at the super cool music hall Chop Shop in NoDa.

So, yesterday afternoon I came up with a plan to eat dinner at  the Crepe Cellar, a NoDa restaurant I've been wanting to try, and head to the Chop Shop afterward. It turns out Chop Shop was closed last night (it's only open when they have a band booked). Fortunately, the Crepe Cellar was open.

What a meal, what a night! The restaurant has more than just crepes and the menu is innovative and delicious. We indulged in an embarrassing amount of food but hey, you only celebrate your 26th wedding anniversary once!

We were already having a great time when I noticed a waitress leave the bar with a tray overflowing with shots. I nudged my husband and told him to watch because I couldn't wait to see who was ordering that many drinks. We were shocked when she stopped at the attractive couple next to us who we found out later have been married for 32 years. Then the waitress stopped at our table and offered us shots. It turns out a cute young hipster named Lex was celebrating his birthday and bought everyone in the restaurant a drink.

That gesture turned the restaurant into a cocktail party and people sitting near each other started talking and carrying on like old friends. Then my husband stood up and led everyone in singing Happy Birthday to Lex.

The couple seated next to us live in Monroe but love to eat at the Crepe Cellar. They own Holloway's Music Center in Monroe where the motto is "We Give Sound Advice." They were a joy to be around.

And Lex, I have no idea what your story is, but I like your style. Happy Birthday, and cheers to you! It's spontaneous and generous moments like that one that make life so much fun.

Follow Olivia on Twitter @oliviafortson 

 


1 comments:

cam wester said...

Olivia, thanks to this post, a friend and I went to the Crepe Cellar last night for dinner before a concert at the Neighborhood Theatre. You're right -- it's a great place to eat, and spontaneous and generous things must happen there frequently! We walked in and spotted a college friend (college was 35 years ago) who was having dinner with your colleague Pam Kelley and her husband. They invited us to join them, we did (that's the spontaneous part), and our friend paid for everyone's dinner (the generous part)! It was such an unexpected and fun evening. Thanks for the recommendation!