And I have dinner with TEA

I picked up TEA from school yesterday and on the walk home we talked about food.

(Go Figure)

TEA has an odd palate. He can order Pakistani/Indian food better than I can but...he makes interesting choices.

That being said, on our walk home from school, the conversation turned to pizza.

TEA does not like mozzarella...in any way. With a "normal" pizza, he pulls it off.

On the walk, I spoke of a pizza I had that was a cracker like crust, a little bit of sauce, shaved parmigana, and shaved prosciutto.

TEA was intrigued.

This was a bad (read: expensive) sign.

"Dad, can we get something like that here?"

"Sure, New World has something like that."

D'oh!

But...

I did not know another place in Albany that would make a pie like he wanted.

Off to NWBB we went.

We got to the block at 4:30. This was unfortunate as the restaurant does not open until 5. Oh, what to do? We went to the always wonderful Ultraviolet Cafe where I had a lemonade and TEA had a mango smoothy.

The smoothy, as well as conversations that best not be shared, killed the thirty minutes that he and I needed to kill before the restaurant opened.

When we were got to NWBB, where I neglected to make a reservation, TEA immediately wanted food. He asked the hostess for the pizza. Luckily, Sara was our server. Sara is one of the best servers in Albany. Pshaw to that...Sara is the best server I have ever had and she has been for years.

TEA wanted his pizza but he also wanted a starter. Have I mentioned that TEA has VERY STRONG opinions about food? He does. We went though the extensive lists of starters and what he wanted (and the only thing that was acceptable) was the salmon rilettes. He had no clue what it was, but the boy knows that he likes salmon. His pizza, the Old World, was scheduled to be delivered at the same time. I ordered the American pie.

So...

TEA is a finicky eater in the extreme. He housed his pizza. He housed the app.

Seriously. The kid who cannot finish an ice cream cone ate the entire pie as well as most of the app before my pizza arrived at the table.

He was proud of this. He laughed about it.

When my pizza arrived, my saving grace from preventing him for swallowing it whole was the presence of jalapeños.

As I was eating, he was complaining (yes, in the same way that I do) about being full and he was a little upset with me for not letting him know it advance about NWBB's dessert list.

When I offered Ben & Jerry's...well...you remember being eight and being offered Ben & Jerry's.

(Yes, we did go. TEA had Jimmy Fallon's flavor)

I guess the point of this is that I am so proud of my son. I know adults that I love and trust who are not as open to food experiences as he is. I called my father to find out where it came from because while I am like this, my parents are not, his mother is not, and it is not something that is sui genesis.

Here is to good food and great times with people that you love.