Date of Visit: September 28, 2017
President: J. Dixon
The Show: 11
The Score: 6.46
| The evening began at The Village Tavern down the road from the soon-to-be-walked-to venue of Baba India. Starting around 5:15 there were seven members attending happy hour and catching up as it had been a while since a few members attended the same CASACC evening together. Usual talks of the “American scenery” walking through the area was had as it was a warmer evening in September and the neighbourhood was taking advantage. Given the restaurant was no more than 200 feet (61 meters for those in different systems) down the road, a few members decided they could make the trip on foot while some more privileged members made the trip by car.
Upon arrival at Baba India, members Aaron and Duane filled in the rest of the members that the restaurant did not seem to know who we were and they had to set up the tables on their earlier arrival. The president mentioned he had called the day before and the day of to ensure the reservation, so this came as a surprise to the group. Member Holley did suggest investing in CASACC business cards to start giving restaurants we visit to ensure no misunderstandings would take place in future outings. This can be discussed to be voted on in a future meeting. This started the evening out on a sour note, but we were able to salvage the early misstep by having the president request to change the seating from inside the venue to the large, empty, outside patio with the weather continuing to be on our side.
Once seated outside it was noticed that it was our first time in the club where we were all able to sit outside for our dinner. This was the delight to many as it allowed our members to be as much “ourselves” as we would like with little to no judgement from bystanders or the wait staff. It was also mentioned that as there was no traditional Indian ambiance outside, there was still a good environment of “American décor” that ended up adding more to the evening than the usual décor we are used to.
A highlight of the evening started when we were browsing menus and the waitress brought out a magnifying glass for member Eslinger. He had been starting the evening by complaining of the font size of the menus, but was satiated when he was the comic relief of the evening while he browsed the menu looking like Sherlock Holmes. There were eleven in attendance this evening and we all started the off with our order of drinks and poppadoms. Unfortunately, with the earlier mishap on the wait staff not knowing who we were, the president had to buy the poppadoms for the table. Members were grateful for this, but it did affect negatively in the scores at the end. It was noted immediately of the length of time the wait staff took to get the orders in, the drinks out, and the poppadoms to the table, but continued to be a common theme once we ordered food. This was the main topic of discussion given we had our safe space outside and were able to comment honestly on the evenings transpiring’s.
An honorary Buckler was purchased for late member Falter that was not at dinner until 6:35. Given the name of the beer and the lack of alcohol in it, it was quickly deemed “pulling a Butler” when not drinking alcohol at dinner or showing up late to CASACC outings. Once we were all able to get our drinks, we gave a toast to our president Alan Patton and began discussing the cards to be handed out for the evening. One yellow was given to member Levi for a “no response” to the email invite, he will need to attend the next CASACC meeting to not be on the removal vote. Two were given to member Falter, leading to a red card for a tentative reply on the email invite and a late arrival at 6:35. No actions were taken on this red card. Member Falter humbly accepted his cards and apologized to the members of the club for his behaviour. To his delight he came right as the wait staff were making their rounds for food orders while also wondering why he had a magnifying glass with his menu.
Everyone continued to enjoy the poppadoms and the sauces with them as all of this was clearly made fresh and in good quantity. Food arrived later than some would have wanted, but we were all able to continue enjoying our drinks and conversation. It was noted that the restaurant did become very busy and this added a lag to the wait, but we did feel like we were not being given the usual club priority that we have become used to on our Thursday evenings. Once the food arrived there were comments on each dish and an around-the-table compliment on the flavor, but all of the members felt like there was little to no spice added that again reflected negatively in the scores. Though let it be noted that member Eslinger can never get something hot enough for his palette. The naan was very fresh and it was quiet around the table as we passed the endless rice around realizing how hungry we all were with the longer wait times.
Given the evening had been going on longer than expected, we quickly asked for our checks the ended up also taking longer than expected to come out, and was discovered then that the poppadoms were not complimentary on the president’s check. The president was able to remove a few of the poppadoms from the check, but members across the table noticed the wait staff giving glares through the window upon this request. All of this factored into the lower score for the evening, though the food was great and everyone enjoyed their dish, the wait staff and lack of efficiency or effort reflected in the overall evening going a little lesser than people would have hoped. Late member Falter volunteered for the October presidency with it being a while since he was last able to host or attend a dinner. We asked the wait staff for one last request in taking our picture which they happily accepted, probably because that meant we would be leaving soon after. We said our goodbyes to a solid evening out and walked the 61 meters back to our cars.
Your 2017 September President,
The Honorable J. Dixon
|
Date of Visit: September 28, 2017
President: J. Dixon
The Show: 11
The Score: 6.46
| The evening began at The Village Tavern down the road from the soon-to-be-walked-to venue of Baba India. Starting around 5:15 there were seven members attending happy hour and catching up as it had been a while since a few members attended the same CASACC evening together. Usual talks of the “American scenery” walking through the area was had as it was a warmer evening in September and the neighbourhood was taking advantage. Given the restaurant was no more than 200 feet (61 meters for those in different systems) down the road, a few members decided they could make the trip on foot while some more privileged members made the trip by car.
Upon arrival at Baba India, members Aaron and Duane filled in the rest of the members that the restaurant did not seem to know who we were and they had to set up the tables on their earlier arrival. The president mentioned he had called the day before and the day of to ensure the reservation, so this came as a surprise to the group. Member Holley did suggest investing in CASACC business cards to start giving restaurants we visit to ensure no misunderstandings would take place in future outings. This can be discussed to be voted on in a future meeting. This started the evening out on a sour note, but we were able to salvage the early misstep by having the president request to change the seating from inside the venue to the large, empty, outside patio with the weather continuing to be on our side. Once seated outside it was noticed that it was our first time in the club where we were all able to sit outside for our dinner. This was the delight to many as it allowed our members to be as much “ourselves” as we would like with little to no judgement from bystanders or the wait staff. It was also mentioned that as there was no traditional Indian ambiance outside, there was still a good environment of “American décor” that ended up adding more to the evening than the usual décor we are used to. A highlight of the evening started when we were browsing menus and the waitress brought out a magnifying glass for member Eslinger. He had been starting the evening by complaining of the font size of the menus, but was satiated when he was the comic relief of the evening while he browsed the menu looking like Sherlock Holmes. There were eleven in attendance this evening and we all started the off with our order of drinks and poppadoms. Unfortunately, with the earlier mishap on the wait staff not knowing who we were, the president had to buy the poppadoms for the table. Members were grateful for this, but it did affect negatively in the scores at the end. It was noted immediately of the length of time the wait staff took to get the orders in, the drinks out, and the poppadoms to the table, but continued to be a common theme once we ordered food. This was the main topic of discussion given we had our safe space outside and were able to comment honestly on the evenings transpiring’s. An honorary Buckler was purchased for late member Falter that was not at dinner until 6:35. Given the name of the beer and the lack of alcohol in it, it was quickly deemed “pulling a Butler” when not drinking alcohol at dinner or showing up late to CASACC outings. Once we were all able to get our drinks, we gave a toast to our president Alan Patton and began discussing the cards to be handed out for the evening. One yellow was given to member Levi for a “no response” to the email invite, he will need to attend the next CASACC meeting to not be on the removal vote. Two were given to member Falter, leading to a red card for a tentative reply on the email invite and a late arrival at 6:35. No actions were taken on this red card. Member Falter humbly accepted his cards and apologized to the members of the club for his behaviour. To his delight he came right as the wait staff were making their rounds for food orders while also wondering why he had a magnifying glass with his menu. Everyone continued to enjoy the poppadoms and the sauces with them as all of this was clearly made fresh and in good quantity. Food arrived later than some would have wanted, but we were all able to continue enjoying our drinks and conversation. It was noted that the restaurant did become very busy and this added a lag to the wait, but we did feel like we were not being given the usual club priority that we have become used to on our Thursday evenings. Once the food arrived there were comments on each dish and an around-the-table compliment on the flavor, but all of the members felt like there was little to no spice added that again reflected negatively in the scores. Though let it be noted that member Eslinger can never get something hot enough for his palette. The naan was very fresh and it was quiet around the table as we passed the endless rice around realizing how hungry we all were with the longer wait times. Given the evening had been going on longer than expected, we quickly asked for our checks the ended up also taking longer than expected to come out, and was discovered then that the poppadoms were not complimentary on the president’s check. The president was able to remove a few of the poppadoms from the check, but members across the table noticed the wait staff giving glares through the window upon this request. All of this factored into the lower score for the evening, though the food was great and everyone enjoyed their dish, the wait staff and lack of efficiency or effort reflected in the overall evening going a little lesser than people would have hoped. Late member Falter volunteered for the October presidency with it being a while since he was last able to host or attend a dinner. We asked the wait staff for one last request in taking our picture which they happily accepted, probably because that meant we would be leaving soon after. We said our goodbyes to a solid evening out and walked the 61 meters back to our cars. Your 2017 September President, The Honorable J. Dixon
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