So Very Venice

I've lived in Venice now for many years and have seen many changes during that time. From the days when things were a little bit rough, Venice is now quite the happening place, million dollar houses, lots of families and lots of new expensive shops and restaurants. Apparently no one told the residents of Venice about this recession we're supposedly in.

Last night I met a friend for dinner at the latest restaurant on Abbot Kinney, the local (and extremely popular) street in Venice. The newest addition is called AK; I can't imagine where the inspiration for the name came from - they must have struggled for hours. Architecturally it was good, the bar was nice, the ambiance (and the bartender) welcoming. It was a dark, wet, cold evening in Venice, not a regular occurrence in this area and so I had expected empty tables. Apparently not.

Without a reservation we could sit at the bar. I like eating at bars so that was fine. My friend was delayed (in wet weather people here go into shock at the sight of rain) so I ordered a glass of wine and read the menu. Challenging. Since becoming a faux new age Californian I've stopped eating meat so that wiped out three quarters of the options. There were mussels (with duck sausage,) a few fish options (at great expense $31 for an entree) and so it was the small plates I looked at. Even employing the approach of "If I could have anything what would I have?" I still struggled.

By this time my friend had arrived and we were busy catching up. We both ordered onion soup which came with a brie crouton. That was fine, nothing too exciting but nice. We then split what was supposed to be an artichoke salad with the artichoke prepared three ways. It was perhaps the most dismal salad I've ever seen and the artichoke was barely edible. For $15 it was an outrageous rip off and we ended up with a bill for $84. Luckily the wine was good or the entire experience would have been a complete waste but the conversation was good (although after one glass of wine I started rambling and it's apparent I can no longer hold my alcohol.)

All in all the evening was a total rip off but fun was had and I won't be rushing back to AK. I proceeded to come home, get into bed and watch Sex and the City (my four new friends) and eat a bowl of muesli. Now that's what I call fun these days!