She was visiting her sister in Gresham, so I picked her up and took her to a nice French restaurant in the Pearl.
I sensed that she might feel awkward, since clues hinted that she wasn’t used to this degree of elegant dining, including several comments on how expensive the restaurant looked, and her surprised pause before answering that yes, she’d like a glass of wine. Granted, the prices were kind of high, but I had a nice paycheck for the first time since starting law school, and I just felt like treating us to a good meal while we caught up. I tried to assure her that it was no problem.
However, she balked at the prices on the wine list: the bottles ran up to $150 and most of the glasses were around $10-15. The lowest price was for the corkage fee, at $7.
For those who might not know, some restaurants let you bring in your own bottle(s) of wine to enjoy with a meal. The corkage fee refers to the restaurant charge for the service of opening the bottle for you.
When the waiter arrived to take our drink orders, she hesitated. Again, I told her to feel free to order whatever she wanted. In a courteous attempt to choose the least expensive option, she said “I’d like a glass of the corkazh faye.”
Without missing a beat, the waiter replied, “An excellent choice.” Then, turning to me, “And for you, sir?”
“I’ll have the same.”
“Very good.” As he took the list from me, he discreetly pointed to one of the lower-priced merlots, and I just as discreetly nodded. The corkazh faye, and the rest of the dinner, was incredible.
I left a large tip.
