By Christine Squicciarini
Last night, Noah Gordon came over for a casual jam session with Peter. They must have enjoyed each other’s conversation, because they still hadn’t played a note when we checked on them an hour later! At about 6:30, we grabbed the guys and headed out to Maggiano’s for some dinner. Unbeknownst to Noah, the restaurant had been fully briefed beforehand about the birthday dinner, and had already been told not to bring any coffee filters in sight of our table! (For the uninformed, please view the non-existent post on “Dad’s Embarrassing Coffee Filter Birthday Bash” in our archives.)
After some great discussion, and a lot of fettuccini, Noah was presented with a not-so-small piece of Maggiano’s legendary cheesecake, complete with an ”N” shaped flexible candle and personalized birthday card from Maggiano’s! Don’t ask us how much we had to pay the waiter to get him to do that! …not really. Actually, we had never seen them do that before… they must have really liked Noah.
Upon our return to the Residence, Peter and Noah spent about another hour in the studio, after which we wished Noah a happy birthday and sent him on his way. All things considered, it was a splendid birthday dinner. Happy Birthday, Noah!
August 30, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Noah is a sweetheart. We love to have him around, and I’m so glad we got a chance to celebrate his 19th birthday! Dinner at Maggiano’s was yummy – they’re a terrific place for special events.
August 30, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Also, since there isn’t really a post on the fiasco with Dad and a coffee filter, I think you have some explaining to do, niftybonz…
August 30, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I’ll go ahead and explain that story, since obviously people will be wondering:
Two or three years ago, we took our dad out to Maggiano’s Little Italy for his birthday (October). Since it was a long table, we girls, sitting at the opposite end from our dad, were able to clue the waitress in about the birthday. She asked what his favorite dessert was, and agreed to celebrate. At the end of dinner, she appeared with a big piece of tiramisu and a coffee filter (of all things!). The tiramisu was placed in front of Daddy, while the coffee filter ended up on his head (some type of makeshift party hat?!). No sooner did the waitress put it there, then Daddy whisked it off, but we all knew her tip had dwindled to about $0.
So that’s the coffee filter story, and ever since, we have been wary of bringing birthdays to Maggiano’s. However, we got over that fear when I celebrated MY 19th (see the related posts), and specifically talked to the maitre’d about coffee filters and how I didn’t want them near me. He was actually surprised to hear the story – apparently that was never a Maggiano’s custom!
August 30, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Yeah, and we’re pretty sure that infamous waitress was fired like the next day.
I mean, we never saw her again.
September 2, 2008 at 7:41 am
Please STP! She could be reading this!
(BTW: I’m getting the gnocchi from now on… YUMMY!)
I also recoMmend the Zucchini Strips. They’re delicious, even for those of us who don’t like plain zucchini, this is worth a try!