Last week Iris planned a special dinner out for Friday night. My calendar event simply said “Surprise” and since I wasn’t packing a bag I assumed we weren’t headed to Arizona. French Fries was the only hint she gave me and that narrowed it down to just about every single restaurant in Kelowna. There’s an Indian place we go on a regular basis that has curly fries in one of the vegetable dishes so I’m serious when I say that it removed almost nothing from the list of choices.
We were celebrating the closing of my condo sale and the first night of a couple working towards a future together. Our weekend was full of plans like opening a shared bank account and getting a contents insurance plan with both of our names on it. Thrilling! Having a night out would be a welcome pleasure.
During the week Iris asked if I had any guesses on where we were going but I was stumped. I joked that I hoped we were going to Arby’s because curly fries rock. I didn’t really want to know though, waiting and finding out would be much more enjoyable.
Friday evening came along. Iris drove, naturally, and we headed downtown. A turn here, a corner there, and the choices were narrowed down to one; it was Bouchons Bisto. We had tried to walk in without a reservation a few weeks prior with no luck, but this time she had planned ahead. As we got out of the car I looked at her with some confusion. French Fries? I still didn’t understand what an upscale restaurant had to do with fries. The smirk she gave me said it all; even though we had reached our destination she was still able to keep me in the dark.
We were seated in a quiet corner beside the wine cellar, a neat little room with glass windows that let us look in and see the rare and expensive bottles we couldn’t afford. Wine was ordered and we were given our menus. Iris waited until I looked at mine before she pointed out one corner with a grin on her face. I laughed and shook my head. I would never have guessed Bouchons would serve what was under her finger.
All entrees are served with our famous hand cut “pommes frites”