oh how the trendy have fallen

Recessions are awesome!

Why?

Because the hour plus wait at trendy South End restaurants has virtually disappeared. No more "Oh, we don't have anything available at 8, but we can seat you at 5:30 :D"

Now it's more like "Oh, party of four with no reservations on a Saturday night? Right this way! let me show you to your table! :DDD"

Such was the situation when a couple of friends and I went to Azure (located within the Lenox Hotel) for a girl's dinner out a couple weeks ago. I had called that afternoon to reserve a table (just in case), but I totally needn't have bothered. You could practically see the tumbleweeds rolling across the near empty expanse of the restaurant. There were maybe only two other tables that were occupied.

We each decided to stick with wine before and during dinner. I ordered an Albarino (a Spanish white I'd never tried before), and it quickly became one of my new favorite things. To me it falls somewhere between a Pinot Grigio and a Reisling - it's kind of light (like the Pinot), but fruity (like the Reisling)

For my entree, I ordered the Roasted Blackfish, which was served with Charred Tomato Salso with Tagliatelle pasta. Knowing I was starving and would most likely eat every ounce of food put in front of me, I thought it would be a good idea to tweak my order, just a tad. I used to be wary of asking the waiter to specialize my order.

Now? Not so much. Now I almost always give my waiter ample warning for the amount of obnoxious he or she is about to be hit with.

That's another thing about this recession that makes dining out much more enjoyable - the staff seem so much more accomodating and eager to please. Case in point, me basically creating my own dish from scratch at Azure:

"I noticed that brown rice was used on another dish - could I substitute that for the pasta?" - Sure!

"And could I also get a side of steamed haricot vert that actually comes with the salmon?" - No problem!

I'd never even heard of blackfish, but some pre-dinner online research told me that, despite the name, it was actually a white fish. I found it to be hearty like a bass or swordfish, and really enjoyed it together with the tomato salsa.

For dessert we split a vanilla bean creme brulee, that came with almond cookies, and a chocolate fudge swirl bread pudding, which really looked more like a muffin, and had more of a cakey texture than traditional bread pudding. They were both ridiculously delicious.

Suffice it to say, the meal was AMAZING. (and $25 cheaper, thanks to my Restaurants.com discounted gift certificate).

My friend had been shooting glances at the guy working behind the bar all through dinner, so after we paid our bill we innocently moved our party over to the bar and situated ourselves at one of the corners. Quick note: Any bar that serves Black Cherry EFFIN Vodka automatically gets 4 stars from me.

But to try something new, I ordered a Mango Mule, made with vodka, mango puree, ginger beer and lime juice. I can honestly say I've never tasted another cocktail like it. It was good, but for the first half the ginger kind of completely overpowered any hint of the mango. It was as if the bartender had grated fresh ginger into my drink and immediately served it to me. By the time I reached the halfway point, the ginger-flavor had settled down, allowing the mango to come forth. The combination of the two was actually quite nice and refreshing.

By 10:30 a few people started trickling in, most likely the overflow from the group lined up outside of City Bar, the entrance of which is located next door through the lobby of the hotel. But it was obvious that had this been six months ago, there would have easily been 10 times the people dining or getting drinks at the bar.

So while this recession may completely suck for the restauranteurs, it's never been better for those looking to enjoy a nice night out without the nice long wait.