Picking the Brains of My Friends

[ladysprite]

So it seems that, whatever else one can say about my job, my boss is actually quite a nice guy. I already knew this, but it's occasionally pleasant to have tangible proof of this.

You see, I was holding down the fort by myself for the past two weeks while he was out of the country. And apparently he's very happy with how smoothly things ran while he was gone, and his gratitude has taken the form of a not-insignificant bonus that I have been told is to be spent on a Very Nice Dinner for my hubby and me.

There's just a wee problem, though. We're not so much fancy restaurant people, mostly due to not generally being able to afford dinner at a fancy restaurant. Our average date-night restaurant is more along the lines of The Cheesecake Factory, with occasional forays up as classy as Legal Seafood.

So, I'm asking y'all - if money were no object (within reason - on the one hand, we don't drink alcohol, so that brings down the overall price of dinner quite a bit; on the other hand, it's not quite enough of a bonus that we can travel out of the area for a meal), where would you go for dinner?

Heck, even if you're not local, where would you suggest? Someday I might be in your area and looking for a way to burn cash, and it'd be nice to have a list of fancy expensive restaurants in random areas of the world....

Comments

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

The Melting Pot is a chain, available in most major cities though I don't know offhand where the Boston one is, presuming it exists. It does incredibly decadent fondue meals -- cheese fondue appetizer, meat/veggie fondue main course, chocolate fondue dessert. Takes about three hours and is wonderful.

[a-c-fiorucci.livejournal.com]

There's one in Burlington, MA just off of Rt. 3 (exit is for Rt. 62, near MITRE and former Sun campus) or Exit 32B/Middlesex Turnpike off of Rt. 128/I95, past the Burlington Mall. Essentially at the corner of Network Drive and Rt. 62.

(I work in the area, walking distance away.)

I went to one in Chicagoland suburbs a couple of years ago, lots of fun with a larger group, too; that way you can try more. (We had 5 in our group.)

[asdr83.livejournal.com]

there is also one just opened up on route 9 in Framingham.

[multigeek.livejournal.com]

There's one in Framingham, next to Jordan's Furniture. We went there for our anniversary. They have it set up so that the two-person tables are very cozy and isolated. You can easily feel like you're the only ones in the restaurant.

Definitely something to consider.

For two, you can expect to spend about $100.

[rosinavs.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really want to go to the one in Framingham. I had a first date at a melting pot, and it was terribly romantic, feeding each other tidbits of yummy things that we cooked for each other.

In downton Boston I recommend Spire, http://www.spirerestaurant.com/
I went there with some publishers reps who were buying a bunch of us dinner after doing a focus group for them. They have a tasting menu with 3-5 dishes that the chef picks, but all are yummy and some fabu.

In Pittsburgh, I recommend the LeMont. It's on Mt. Washington, the bluff on the south side of the Monongahela and Ohio rivers, and overlooks downtown. The view is gorgeous, the food excellent, and my parents met in the bar.