Restaurant Experience

                                           Restaurant Experience

            The restaurant was well worth the money he had paid. The service had been an experience and the food, a revelation. The man regretted ever doubting that the restaurant could live up to it's five star rating. He would try to visit often, as much as his small salary could afford. Maybe he would visit once a month. That seemed reasonable. As he sat himself into his battered white Honda, the dinner's flavors lingered on his tongue like a sweet memory.
              The reminiscence of the first course, still fresh in mind, played back as though he were living every second out again. He had ordered the 16 oz. steak dinner complimented by two sides. He had told the waiter to give him what he would want for his appetizers. And the man was glad he did. The waiter had chosen the perfect two. His platter arrived soon after he finished his second glass of iced water. The meal had evidentially been a master chef that had given his care to every individual detail.
                The steak centered itself on the plate, grill marks creating an impressive contrast between the browned meat and the work of the grill. Towering next to the main meal was a mountain of mashed potatoes dribbling its gravy like that of a volcanic lava flow.  As he seasoned his course with ground pepper, the small black confetti fell like ash on the white mound.
                Next to his plate sat his second side; an elegant salad. The salad base contained the crunchy leaves of iceberg lettuce, giving the salad a cold, refreshing taste. The toppings gave the salad the twist of flavor that made it popular. A scattering of cherry tomatoes, black olives, chickpeas, and baby corn made up the chief toppings while small morsels of walnut, and feta cheese complimented the salad's makeup, giving it a developed taste.
                  If he had given it much thought, he might have thought it to be a pity that this flavorful masterpiece would soon lie in pieces, consumed by a seemingly endless pit of hunger. Bit by bit, bite by bite, the exquisite meal disappeared, not unlike an act of a magician that seems to put the physical into seemingly nowhere.
                Soon the meal lay in shambles and if the remaining food had a voice, it would have cried "murder!" But the carryout box would have muffled that voice of protest. That food would be his last remaining link to that world of memorable flavors. Yes, he would have to return...soon.