Marley and Me
Monday, March 05, 2007
A Meal Worth Mentioning
OK, I'll be honest. I never thought I'd be tempted to put the words "amazing dining" and "Grand Junction, Colorado" in the same sentence. Now I have a reason.
As I mentioned in my last entry, I spent the weekend in Grand Junction (in fact I'm writing this while staring down at the Rocky Mountains on a flight into Denver) as part of the One Book, One Mesa County program, which featured Marley & Me as this year's selection. The organizers had lined up a full day of activities, beginning with a book signing in the morning, a dog parade in the afternoon, a reception for me in late afternoon and my talk and a second signing at a restored, historic theater downtown that evening. The events went off like clockwork, and Mesa County proved itself a very welcoming place for an author. All 1,200 seats in the old theater were filled for my evening talk, and the audiences' enthusiasm for books and reading was palpable.
A great part of these One Book/One Community programs is seeing how an entire city or county can rally around a book and foster excitement for reading. Local corporations and businesses usually help underwrite the cost to bring in the author, and retail establishments donate their services and merchandise to help pull off the event.
One of those businesses donating its services for the Grand Junction event was il Bistro Italiano on Grand Junction's quaint Main Street. The owners volunteered to feed me and a handful of the event's organizers. I didn't know what to expect, but I definitely was not expecting what they delivered.
The meal was served family style with plate after plate coming out for us to sample.
It began with antipasto and champagne.
Followed by fried calamari.
Followed by homemade ravioli in a black truffle sauce.
Followed by homemade linguine with scallops in a white sauce.
Followed by thinly sliced grilled sirloin served on a bed of arugula and parmesan tossed in olive oil.
Followed by salmon and olives over risotto.
Followed by barely seared veal over garlic mashed potatoes.
Followed by taramisu and cappuccino.
I may have missed a couple courses, but you get the idea. I told the chef, Brunella Gualerzi, a lovely woman with a broad smile, that her cooking was a gift. After all that fine food, it was a minor miracle that I did not take a break midway through my talk to curl up behind the podium for a nap.
Thank you to Lois and Linda, co-chairs of the event, and all the volunteers who made my stay so pleasant. And thank you, Ron Hall and Brunella, for a memorable meal I won't soon forget.
posted by John Grogan at 1:25 PM
 
3 Comments:
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Hi John, how are you ? I live in Brazil, do you have any invite to come to here ? Best regards.
Congratulations, John, but I don't think you've had a true italian dinner! Expecially the cappuccino at the end of the meal is something that is better you don't ask for, if you have dinner at an italian restaurant. If you'll ever come to Italy, please let me know and be confident you'll find the difference.
have a good comeback.
i bought this book on monday at the airport. If it was a longer flight i would have finished it on the plane. throughout most of the book i laughed and kept thinking about my own dog. at the end i was crying but my dog was there with me to lick my tears. congratulations, this is a great book.