Date night at the Redrock

As I mentioned in the last post, our family went out on a date night to celebrate Karla and I’s anniversary. We went to the very nice, upper-scale restaurant, Redrock Canyon Grill, that sits on the shore of Lake Hefner.

First of all, the weather was picture perfect. There were blue skies, but with enough high-level clouds to diffuse the harshness of the setting sun. The temperature was warm enough to wear short sleeves and even shorts, but wasn’t hot at all. As a very large man with lots of extra insulation, I can get hot pretty easily, but I was quite comfortable. It is still early enough in the summer season that the bugs were minimal, apart from a few annoying gnat clouds hovering along the shore of the lake.

As we waited to be seated, we stood out on the outside patio and deck overlooking the lake. Even though there were a lot of people waiting, it didn’t seem overcrowded. The air was perfect, the views were great and the company was even better!

We had to wait more than 30 minutes to be seated, but we didn’t mind. We were having too much fun! (I was enjoying my favorite adult beverage, which made it even more fun.) It was the perfect end to a less-than-perfect week.

We finally got seated and placed our food orders. As we waited, we were taking in our surroundings inside the restaurant — the hustle and bustle of the serving station, where the food was plated and prepped for delivery to the table…

… the beautiful peppers — yellow bell peppers, red bell peppers and green poblano peppers — along the counter of the serving station (which you might be able to see in the picture above, on the left side); the cool decor; and, the cute guy sitting at a nearby table that capture the notice of Ashley (and whom you can see in the picture below just above the swooning Ashley’s head.)

As we waited for our food, we shared some laughs and generally had more fun…

Then came our food. It was to die for!

Karla and I both had a six-ounce filet mignon, perfectly cooked on a hardwood grill, topped with gorgonzola cheese and covered with a reduced Cabernet wine sauce. It was the best steak Karla and I ever remember having. It was served with the most amazing redskin mashed potatoes and green beans with peppers and onions.

The girls enjoyed a Shanghai Chicken Salad, that featured mixed salad greens with pulled chicken, cilantro and honey-lime vinaigrette topped with crispy fried tortilla strips and shanghai peanut sauce.

And, if that wasn’t enough to satisfy our appetite — which it really was, but we continued to indulge anyway — we ordered two different desserts to try:  House-made Key Lime Pie (with graham cracker, walnut and pecan crust) and Something Chocolate, two pieces of thick, brownie-like chocolate cake sandwiching a thick layer of vanilla ice cream, topped with fresh whipped cream and garnished with chocolate caramel sauce. Both desserts were rich and sinfully delicious.

We were stuffed. I could barely squeeze out of the booth as we got up from our table. But it was the perfect end to a truly perfect evening.

It was another one of those precious special times with family that I cherish. I couldn’t have had more fun and had a better time. It made our anniversary a truly memorable one, even if it wasn’t just the two of us as is the normal tradition for most couples celebrating an anniversary.