The bar was fairly busy when we arrived, even though we got there before the dinner rush.
A hostess in an elf costume led us through a path of fake snow to a table that had been decorated to look like a bench in Santa’s workshop.
“Red or green?” she asked.
“Red,” I said.
“Red what?” Matt asked.
She handed us both red Santa hats.
“I am not wearing that,” Matt said flatly.
“But it’s Christmas.” I put on my hat.
I waved the hat at him. “You have to get in the spirit sometime.”
“No, I don’t; I can just wait it out. There are only a few weeks until Christmas.”
“Did you want a green hat?” the server asked Matt when she came back with waters. “We also have a special gold hat with bells for people who need extra Christmas cheer.”
Matt scowled.
“I need that hat!” I piped up.
“I need a drink,” Matt grumbled.
“I’ll take your orders.”
“I’ll have a scotch,” Matt said.
“Boo, that’s boring. I’m going to order for you.” I opened the menu. “Matt will have the Christmas martini, and I will have a Christmas godfather.”
“I don’t really want—”
“Also,” I said, interrupting him, “we want the chestnuts over the open fire dip, the figgy pudding bites, candy cane nachos, eggnog crème brûlée, a Christmas sandwich, and the Ho Ho Hoagie.”
After the waitress had taken our order, Matt said, “Something called candy cane nachos shouldn’t be legal to sell.”
“They are a very popular item here.” I rested my head on my hands and sighed happily.
The waitress came over with our drinks. Mine was a cream and amaretto scotch blend with a sprinkle of nutmeg.
Matt looked at his warily.
“Why does this smell like gingerbread?” He took a sip. “And why is it sweet?”
“Maybe you’ll like this one better,” I said, swapping the drinks around. “It has scotch.”
Matt took a taste. “This is worse.”
I took a sip of his Christmas martini cocktail, which had espresso and gingerbread crumbs around the rim instead of salt.
“It’s not that sweet.” I slid it back to him.
The waitress returned with our tray of food. Matt opened his mouth.
“You can’t complain,” I said as the waitress laid the food out on the table. “I ordered your favorite!”
