Dining for Dads

We had a nutty weekend of numerous celebrations (a fantastic surprise party for Meg, glad we can let the cat out of the bag about that one, finally; a sweet first birthday for my nephew; brunch with the dads for Father's Day) but before we all collapsed from all the partying (and driving) the little gateaux and I took Mr. Gateau out for a special dinner. We went to Besito in Roslyn NY, which not only offers excellent high-end Mexican cuisine, but does it in a sophisticated environment that isn't so easy to find in our area of Long Island. I was a little apprehensive about bringing the kids to someplace so nice, and that is impossible to get into on the weekends, but we went early enough to make it tolerable and were accomodated beautifully. Lots of other people clearly had the same thought, and many tables had kids getting a kick out of the tableside guacamole preparation and other fun touches.

We started with the guacamole, made medium spicy in case Baby Gateau wanted some (he did, though we need not have worried--this kid has started eating Andy Capp Hot Fries, god help us all). With that I had a La Casa Margarita which was fantastic--frozen with premium tequila, fresh lime juice, and fresh pomegranate and tangerine juices as well. It was so good that Mr. Gateau, who rarely drinks hard liquor any more, had one as well. We were pleased to learn they offer a nice children's menu, so the kids shared a platter of plain chicken enchiladas with a light tomato-based sauce. Mr. Gateau had the fish of the day, Mahi-Mahi, prepared Veracruzana style, and I found myself going for the vegetarian option on the menu, fantastically tasty Chiles Rellenos stuffed with wild mushrooms, spinach, goat cheese, pine nuts, and raisins, in a tangy sauce. We shared a plate of crispy yuca fries, served with a spicy creamy dip and lime. These were truly fantastic. We skipped dessert, but each table is served a to-go bag of piping hot churros, as well as given tiny Mexican worry dolls to take home. In all, a great evening.

Of course, it will be even greater when we go back sans children and sit at the bar, where I expect we'll have more guacamole, more yuca fries, maybe a few fish tacos or ceviche platters, and of course more La Casa Margaritas.