Oscar & the Geisha...

Geisha House became kind of a tradition with our family years ago: it's where we met up before any concert. It's actually kind of a dinner and a show, in a way. Geisha House is a Japanese-style grill, you choose your meat (steak, chicken, shrimp, whatever) or you can go vegetarian, and there's all kinds of appetizers, plus you get a japanese salad with an awesome ginger vinegarette and a mild soup, too. The chef comes to your table, which is the grill, and as he's preparing your meal he does all these little tricks like catching shrimp tails in his pocket and making an onion-ring volcano...little things, but stuff that makes it fun, unique. It's expensive enough that it became somewhere reserved for just special occasions...like right before a concert.

Tonight, Geisha House was operating its last night at tht location under original owners. Our chef was Oscar, a native of El Salvador who started there washing dishes and worked his way up to chef after five years. My family remembered his first night as a chef, and was there tonight as his last. He's going back to El Salvador. I hope he does well; his English is great, maybe he can open up another little Japanese grill and make some big money.

All the drinks--sake included--were on the house, and the chefs were included in that too. In fact, Oscar drank a few Bud Lights just during his time with us, yelling, "Banzai!" with enthusiasm. We all had a great time, but it was sad, in a way, it felt like the end of an era. Granted, Geisha House is staying there, but a new owner...I'll try it, of course. And the original owner is opening another one, but way on the other side of town. I'm loyal, but I'm not sure I'm that loyal.

So now, we've got tickets for this year's Trans-Siberian Orchestra (another family tradition)...what'll we do?