Hendrick's martini, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Sacramento, CA
I was the first one to arrive...the one asked to grab a table early, assuring our group would get seats in the bar...the designated "table saver"...this can be an awkward assignment...a solitary person, sitting down at a table for six...
We had decided to meet at Ruth's Chris Steak House...a place that gets surprisingly crowded during happy hour...well, surprisingly, if you've never been there...if you've never had Heather make you a perfect gin marini, shaken and poured tableside...into a chilled, stemmed glass...liquid streams of light splashing into the glass from the smallest cocktail shaker you've ever seen...
And that's not even the big draw...no, the big draw is the $7 steak sandwich...served with perfect fries...smothered in béarnaise...for a single moment, I was transported to Paris...and then I remembered I was some place where they actually know how to make a martini...