Reviewing restaurants is normally a safe pursuit, but Lorne and Catherine face torture and death when they try to unravel organised crime's infiltration of the fine dining scene.
Their longstanding friendship deepens when they meet again seven mont...
Shortly after Lorne and Catherine finished their entrées, a busboy came in and cleared their places. He was followed by the waitress who asked for their comments to pass on to the kitchen. "Sommelier told me you were going light on the wines. Can I bring you some water, San Pellegrino, Evian, Clearbrook?"
"Clearbrook would be great," Catherine said. "They won it again this year. Best-Tasting Water in the World."
"Amazing isn't it? The biggest water tasting competition on the planet, and our little BC town keeps on winning."
She returned in a minute with the water. "Chef says the Wellington should be another ten or twelve minutes. Can I bring you anything?"
"The moon's enough to keep us happy."
Less than a quarter hour later, as the trolley with the Wellington was rolled up to the table, Lorne's phone vibrated. He automatically took it out and read the message. Pressure stern step. He thought a moment. Probably another sea lion on the...
His thought was interrupted by the carver asking, "Is this the degree of rare you prefer?" as he pointed the knife tip to the cut.
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"That looks perfect," Catherine replied.
As the carver continued, the sommelier arrived and presented a bottle to Catherine. "We thought the '11 Howling Bluff Pinot Noir would show the venison to best advantage. Chef agreed and has cooked toward it."
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As Catherine was tasting the sample, Lorne's phone vibrated again. Could be the sea lion leaving, or possibly the mate arriving. He ignored it and watched her in awe. My dream... She's even more beautiful in the moonlight. His thoughts were interrupted by the sommelier's voice, "Short pour again, Sir?"
He nodded. "Please."
"You had that face again, Lorne." She reached over and brushed his cheek.
"I was thinking how beautiful you are with the full moon."
"Designed that way. Nature timing attraction with fertility."
"Sure works."
"Yeah."
They watched as the carver plated and garnished and then as two waiters laid their plates in front of them. The carver said, "Bon appétit," and wheeled the trolley out, led by the waiters.
"This looks splendid. Classic plating. Hard to fault." She shot a series of photos, then stood and shot another series. "Some of those should work. I'm salivating."
She laid a hand on his shoulder as she moved back to her chair. He caught it, pushed his chair back and swung her onto his lap to kiss her. "We'll not get to taste the venison while it's still hot if we continue like this." She sighed. "Tough choice."
"I'm sure you and I will stay hot much longer than the venison. Maybe we should do that first." He chuckled and kissed her again.
Lorne and Catherine each began slowly dissecting a slice. "This mushroom, shallot, garlic purée is divine, it's spot on with the touch of thyme." She sliced a small piece of venison to savour with it. "Moist, succulent, nice char from the hot searing. The meat is perfection."
"Must have gone into nitrogen for a while after searing. This was prepared and ready too quickly for normal cooling. The pâte feuilletée is perfect, not the soggy pastry we often see from wrapping warm meat. Nice technique. Delicious."
Once they'd analysed the plate, they began eating as diners, rather than as scientists. They nodded, uttering unintelligible sounds of enjoyment as they did, pausing from time to time to speak a few coherent complimentary words.
"Superb, full marks," Catherine said as she dabbed her mouth with her napkin after her last bite.
"Delicious. Beautifully prepared and presented." He laid his utensils on his empty plate. "So how do you rate this place?"
"Even if dessert totally flops, I'd still have to give it five stars. We all know things can go strange sometimes."
They were leaning the sides of their heads together and watching the moon as the two busboys came in to clear and clean the table. The waitress entered as the busboys were leaving. "From those emptied plates, it appears you enjoyed the venison."
"Truly superb! The presentation, the flavours, the flair. All of it." Catherine looked at the waitress. "Tell the chef it's one of the best we've ever had."
"I will." She laid dessert menus in front of them. "Chef would like to do a dessert sampler platter for you, so you won't have to decide." She smiled.
Catherine saw Lorne's nod, then looked up at the waitress. "That would be wonderful."
"I'll send in the sommelier," the waitress said as she left.
They leaned their heads together again to look at the moon. "An hour or so short of an eclipse."
"Yeah, guess it is. Dad's really into that stuff. He explained a lot of it to me. We used to lie on a blanket on the back lawn, and he'd explain the sky. The tides will be relatively large now with the full moon and the solstice so close together, won't they?"
"I studied the sky a lot in the mountains when I..." Lorne felt his phone vibrate again.
"When you?"
"Phone's doing a lot of vibrating." He took it out, thumbed it on and thumbed in, then held it above his lap, tilting it toward Catherine so she could follow the slowly evolving sequence:
Pressure stern step Pressure area 7 Pressure area 5 Pressure area 3 Pressure area 1 Cable locker hatch open Radio transmit detect Pressure area 2 Cable locker hatch shut Pressure area 1 Pressure area 3 Pressure area 5 Pressure area 7 Pressure stern step
He whispered, "Seems good now."
"What is it?" she whispered back.
He turned to look at her. "I love that you don't wear earrings. Such beautiful earlobes to nibble." She leaned her ear to him, and he whispered between nips and licks, "Been boarded. A transmitter, likely a GPS tracker's been planted. Boarder's gone." He ran his tongue around the outside of her ear, then inside to explore. "I love exploring all your intricate folds. Everywhere. Upstairs and down."
