Rob’s Christmas Dining Memories

You know, at this time of the year I often recall some of our most memorable Christmas dinners at our favorite restaurants in Austin.

And there have been some extraordinary ones.

Delicious Christmas Day brunches at the Four Seasons. Classic dim sum feasts at Chinatown Westlake and fresh Maine lobsters at McCormick & Schmick’s.

But perhaps the most memorable meal was at III Forks on Chistmas Eve of 2019. We had the grilled sea scallops with a beurre blanc sauce and a lovely Southern-style succotash.

Of course the meal was delightful, but it didn’t become truly memorable until COVID-19 wreaked havoc on our local restaurant scene. Amidst every painful start and stop of that year, it became clear to me that there was no guarantee that we’d be able to return to III Forks any time soon.

So the scallops lingered as a remembrance of what had been and as a promise of what could be again. Then almost two years later, we finally got to return! Almost giddy with anticipation we were greeted by our favorite server Mick.

And then the most unbelievably terrible news: Supply chain problems had decimated the seafood purveyor who had always been a reliable source of fresh product for III Forks and the scallop dish would no longer be available!!!

So we had to console ourselves with a bone-in ribeye. And as they’d done throughout the year, the III Forks team knocked it out of the park. But that memorable scallop dish would have to remain just that – a memory. I think we all learned something about not taking anything for granted, be it food-related or otherwise, and to always count our blessings.

So I thought I’d share that with you.

May we all create some new memories this Christmas season!