It's not "goodbye'", it's "see you soon"

Hey Fishy Fishy!!
Originally uploaded by tarotastic.

I'm not good at saying goodbye, and so if i have to do it, I would prefer to have a mouthful of food, and some wine to wash it all down. Getting a good picture of that now? Alright then, here we go.

Last night I made a return visit to "Il Covo" at Bucktown to have a farewell dinner for my friend Luke, who is off to play basketball for the Development League team in Fort Worth, Texas. Jenn and Pete came along too and we were spoiled rotten by our fabulous waiter Matt and, of course, the restaurant's Aussie Exec Chef, Luka. It was great to be able to share this dining treat with my friends who had not yet had the good fortune of visiting "Il Covo". I introduced Luka and Luke at the AFL Grand Final back in September, and this was the first time they'd seen each other since. But it was lovely to get them together and have an Aussie reunion of sorts. Even Jenn was good natured to laugh along with us even when we had to define words like "yobbo". Depite Pete's frequent attempts to glorify Sydney, I think me and Luke were able to convince Jenn that Adelaide should be her base if ever she makes it to Australia. She seems rather interested to visit, which is great. Poor Luka had no chance to compete, even though he delighted in telling us stories of his hometown Footscray after dinner. The boy can try.

Everything on the menu looked too good last night, and I was having a tough time deciding what to enjoy. But Matt went through the specials of the night, and I closed the menu, making up my mind then and there. Butternut squash soup for appetiser, and the Moreton Bay Bug spaghetti for main course. Delicious! And the coffee and limoncello closed the meal beautifully. I was only able to stuff in one spoon each of the complimentary tiramisu and panacotta that Luka brought out to us - need to remember to save some room next time.

Luke has given me and Jenn strict instructions to come and visit Fort Worth for a weekend and there really is no excuse, given that Southwest Airlines fly there for about $80 return. I hear that Fort Worth is cowboy country and rodeos are very common. So are mechanical bulls, with one in just about every bar you come across. I think I definitely need to go to this party town. I just hope their basketball team is worth seeing *wink*