The Lunch
For the record "The Lunch" is a weekly event for two old friends. The intent is to get away from work and try a different (new) restaurant each week in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The modus operandi is for each to drive and pick up the other on alternate weeks. The person doing the driving is supposed to pick the restaurant (and pick up the tab), but in practice (since this has been going on for so long) they drive around until discovering an establishment that is new to them. This affords great possibilities in the range of restaurants visited, from the sublime to the ridiculous.
One day, while sipping an insipid glass of Argentinean red, friend A said to B (or was it possibly B to A), "You know we should write about our lunch excursions. Give old Dara MoskowitzΠa run for her money."
So here it is. First a few words about A & B.
A is a research engineer in artificial intelligence and control systems. He is widely published and travels around the world attending conferences and giving lectures. He is employed by a local Fortune 500 company. His interests include philosophy, food & wine and driving long distances fast. Food tastes are adventurous and is tolerant of bad service.
B is an IT technologist. He runs a local IT consulting company that does projects for Fortune 500 companies around the country. His interests include the TLS, poetry & fiction and most things English. It has been suggested that, outside academia, he might be the greatest Philip Larkin expert. Food tastes are conservative and abhors bad service.
ΠLocal food critic
P.S: Since we are starting to publish these "lunches" we have been going back to restaurants already visited. Technically this is a violation of the unwritten rule requiring a new restaurant each week but we thought we shouldn't rule out 90% of all restaurants!