FlyerTalk Forums - The Shadow comes to NYC

In the true spirit of FlyerTalk, here are some more details, for those interested in that kind of thing.: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I got to Sparks about 7:04, having taken a taxi from the West Side. Just inside the doorway I spotted Shadow, who recognized me immediately. (I think we actually only met on one other occasion, and it was almost a year ago.) After about 5 minutes chatting and discussing appropriate uses for the $8000 Magnum bottles of wine stacked conveniently near where we were standing, Shadow suggested we stand outside and look for the others.

After about 5 minutes outside my pocket began to ring, which is always a suprise when I hear it since the Ericsson is not quite loud enough to hear reliably outdoors. Of course, it was Catman, who, when I informed him that we were outside waiting, told me that they were inside, at a table. Apparently, Shadow had arrived just at 7:00 p.m., and Catman must have gotten there seconds earlier, and, somehow, been seated immediately.

Shadow and I dashed back inside, and I looked around and spotted Catman and dsimon, seated at a table for four, which was our indication that a couple more people had cancelled out.

Catman introduced Shadow and me to dsimon, and I then announced my obnoxious news for the evening: that I had to be on a conference call at 8:00 p.m. and felt terrible about having to screw up the flow of the dinner that way. Everyone was very kind and insisted that I order quickly so I would be ready for the call.

Somehow I could tell that the service was going to be efficient, without being rushed, so I never actually told the waiter what my time constraints were. Nevertheless, our drinks came, the appetizers came and went, and the entrees were delivered, all between 7:10 and 7:45, without anyone feeling rushed.

In the meantime, we had fun discussing dsimon's business, Shadow's travels, and past and future FT gatherings in Hawaii, Montreal, Dusseldorf, Seattle, and so forth.

In perusing the menu, I had noticed, and announced, that there was on the menu an item I had never seen before, and declared it to be a great example of "wretched excess": steak fromage. Catman and Shadow announced that they were both seriously considering ordering this cheesy viande, and proceeded to do so. Fortunately, Shadow had come prepared with his digital camera, so there will be an image recorded for posterity of two smiling FlyerTalkers holding two servings of steak topped with roquefort cheese posted somewhere soon for you all to click on.

I greatly enjoyed my beef scallopine, although I would have liked to have eaten it a bit more slowly. As far as I can tell, none of the others followed my lead regarding eating speed, fortunately.

I walked outside and joined my conference call via the cell phone at 8:05, only 5 minutes late, and I still beat two of the other participants. I always think of conference calls as meetings without coffee, where nobody else can see the faces you make. Actually, someone asked if I could get Sparks to deliver coffee to me on the street. I replied that I doubt Sparks had any paper cups, so I would need three hands at least to manipulate a cup, a saucer, and the cell phone at the same time.

There was a chance that this call could have taken as little as 20 minutes, although I knew that was unlikely. As it turned out, it took an hour, but I wasn't unhappy because I had also expected to get beat up over a couple of things and somehow managed to turn them around, and delay a couple of decisions until October. I excused myself from the call at 9:00, after registering my assent on the last topic, and ran back inside to the FT table to find out what I had had for dessert. It was cheesecake, apparently. Along with the virtual cheesecake I had some real coffee, finally, in a real cup, and no saucer!

At the final accounting, Diners Club beat Starwood Amex three to one, and we all walked to Times Square where Shadow was staying. We parted after a very enjoyable evening, and I took the subway home.