Cafe Mix

Tonight Jeff and I found ourselves alone for dinner. Not by choice, but by mistake. See, we actually went to a friend's house for an Oktoberfest celebration, but no one appeared to be there. "We're a little early," Jeff said. "Let's drive around and look at some of the houses. I hate being the first to arrive."

As we drove through the neighborhood, we decided it was an upscale cookie cutter place with only a couple of floor plans. The most appealing aspects were the gated entry (though, without an actual person on duty that doesn't mean much) and the landscaping. All the streets were cul de sacs with large round areas filled with cacti and other desert plants. In addition, all the front yards sported low water landscaping materials and stone driveways with three car garages. On the other hand, the houses were extremely close together (reminiscent of our residence in Las Vegas) with very little back yard space since they were built on hillsides. The open areas looked wild and natural, which would be fine in some parts of the country, but here that means an arroyo with hard packed dirt, scrub brush, and scraggly trees. About the time we decided we were glad we didn't live in this rather snooty neighborhood that sported Jaguars and BMW's, we arrived back at our friend's house. Still, the driveway was empty and the street was quiet. At this point Jeff decided to double-check his email about the party and discovered it is set for next Saturday. Needless to say, we were glad we hadn't rung the bell!

Since we found ourselves on the north side of the valley, we decided to eat dinner at Cafe Mix, which serves Greek and American food. I had the good fortune to eat lunch there once during a work-day at district office, and had proclaimed its goodness to Jeff. Since we couldn't seem to choose just one item, we opted for the combo dinner for two. This included a Greek salad (complete with julienned pickled peppers, briny kalamata olives, and a fresh vinaigrette dressing), basmati rice, tzatziki with pita bread, hummus, beef and chicken gyro meat, beef and chicken kabobs, and baklava.  This feast au deux set us back $26 plus tax and tip and was really more than anyone should eat in one sitting. (My stomach groaned with the last few bites, but oh, I couldn't leave anything behind!) We each sampled all the wares individually before deciding it was best to combine the ingredients for maximum enjoyment. (Though, I have to say Jeff skipped most of his hummus because it was pretty spicy!) By the time we reached dessert, neither of us thought we could eat the baklava, but one bite and we were hooked. (Luckily the pieces were small, or my stomach might have exploded.) This was, without a doubt, the best baklava I've ever eaten. The pastry was flaky and light while the filling was dense and rich. There was enough honey for sweetness and a touch of sticky texture, but not so much that it overpowered the incredible flavor of the ground pistachios, which lingered in the mouth with a buttery aftertaste. It was so good, I didn't really want to drink anything at the end because I was trying to hold on to that taste for as long as possible.

Once dinner was over, we wound our way home without confessing to the boy that we had turned our mistaken date into a fabulous dinner for two. I guess some things are just better as a secret.