No Tortellini for Town Talkers

On Tuesday night, gerg took me to Town Talk for a celebratory dinner. We scored the sweet spots at the bar, close to the kitchen, and we feasted. (Thanks for the dinner and the roses gerg. You are ACES in the boyfriend department!!)

gerg had the grilled new york strip. He ate every bite of the potato salad and the chimichuri sauce served with the steak.

I had the fantastic halibut special and a 40 of Schlitz Malt Liquor.

Then we devoured a pile of berries tossed with black pepper and topped with whipped cream.

We had the opportunity to chat up cocktail guru Aaron Johnson while we were at the bar. Tim Niver popped over to shakes hands and say hello - always such a gentleman. We talked with Aaron about some of the local producers he's been working with...specifically his brandy wine tomato supplier. And so I thought the time had come to finally ask him about the pasta joint.

Here's a relatively weak, but factual, synopsis of that part of the conversation:
Me: "So, there's been some talk around town....Can I ask you what's going on with the pasta joint?"
He: "Sure."
Me: "What's going on with the pasta joint?"
He (summary): It's not happening. We're gonna skip it.
Me: "NOOOOOO! I was SO excited about having some good pasta around here. All we've got is Al Vento over here."
He: "Yeah, Jonathon does a nice job there."
Me:"And Broders, but that's not really over here."
He walks away to fill some water glasses and returns to fill my glass from the now half full 40.
Me: "Well, so NOW what?"
He (summary): You haven't seen the last of our search for other opportunities. And something new will be happening in the Carne Asada building, but it's not our gig, so it's not my information to share on the record. (editor's note: I respect that about Aaron)
Me: "So are you gonna offer more pasta dishes here since you're not opening the new place?"
He: (nodding head) "Yeah, maybe some fall/winter dishes..."
Me: "Cool. Can I put that info on my blog...about how you're not opening the pasta joint?"
He: "Yes"...and he tops off my glass from the almost empty 40 of Schlitz.
Me to gerg: "I think I'm getting tipsy."

Aaron shared more information, off the record, but I can assure you we left feeling comforted about the pasta loss, and looking forward to what's coming around the bend for the Town Talk trio, even if it isn't gonna happen in our neighborhood. And as gerg escorted me out of the diner, both Nick and Aaron offered "congratulations!" about my promotion - total sweethearts!