In doing a search on fortune cookie sayings for this chapter, I came across the following site. It's good for a few good laughs. And of the course, I hope you enjoy the chapter too.
smosh-pit/photos/41-freakin-funny-fortune-cookie-fortunes
Chapter 82.
Nina picked The Blue Mandarin. It's a classy Chinese restaurant in the downtown area, known for its dim sum and Szechuan cuisine, but they also serve sushi and a few Japanese and Thai dishes. She was able to get a reservation for seven o'clock that evening.
I'm used to eating my Chinese food with chopsticks from little white boxes and wondered if it would taste any different off porcelain plates.
We met in the parking lot at the side of the building and walked to the door together. On the outside the only clue that this was an oriental restaurant was the intricately-carved door and the blue sign. The hostess desk was manned (or is that ladied) by a tall slim woman with black hair cut in an asymmetric bob, slanted dark eyes and red lips in an ivory face, and a red brocade dress with a slit up the side.
Nina took the lead. "We have a reservation for four. The name is Giordano."
"Of course. This way please." She seated us at a booth along one side of the large room and handed us leather-bound menus and a wine list. The menu was extensive, and included several dishes I liked.
"Should we each get something different so we can taste a few things?" Nina asked.
"Of course. We always share." Jess smiled at me.
She was right. Wilson and I always did when we ordered Chinese food from our favorite take-out places, and Jess and I had done that too, but the three of us had similar likes. I wondered what Nina might order.
"Have you ever had Mongolian beef?" Wilson asked Nina. He was on a perpetual search for the perfect preparation of the dish.
"No, I don't think so. I'll probably order pepper steak." She was still reading the long menu.
Just as I feared, she only knew the tried and true, the most boring of traditional Chinese restaurant cuisine. At least she didn't order chow mein but I was certain she'd order egg-drop soup to start.
"Jess? What'll it be tonight?" I was leaning towards the coffee chicken unless she ordered it.
"I think I'll go with the Bangkok prawns. I hope they use red curry. Oh, and for starters either the lettuce wraps or the Szechuan calamari."
Nina was starting to look green. "When did you start eating things like that, Jess?"
"You haven't lived 'til you tried curried prawns. C'mon, Nina. Be a little adventurous. What's the worst that can happen?"
"I'll taste all of your food, but I think I'll stick with what I know. If we're going to come up with a catering menu, it'll have to include things most people are familiar with."
"I think you'll find the people in this town have very sophisticated taste in food," Wilson said. "They're into trying new things."
"But there's nothing wrong in having both. And the three of you can give me your opinion on these other dishes since I expect you've eaten versions of them before."
She had a point. A waiter came to take our orders. Nina surprised me by ordering hot and sour soup. We also ordered a selection of appetizers including the two Jess mentioned, and some hot tea and Kirin beer.
The waiter drifted off. Sitting back on the red leather banquette, Nina started the conversation going. "Jess tells me that Father called you today. What did he want?"
"He wants you both to come home and stop your silly nonsense of making a life without him."
She smiled at me. "I bet you told him where to go."
I shrugged. "Mostly I told him that he had no idea what the two of you were capable of doing on your own. No specifics, of course. And I didn't mention his brother."
"His brother?"
I knew Wilson wasn't totally aware of what Jess and Nina were doing, but Nina seemed surprised that he didn't know about Uncle Johnny. "One of the restaurants we'd like to work with is owned by our uncle," she said.
"And I gather from your expressions that there's no love lost between him and your father." Good old Wilson. He caught on fast.
"They don't speak," Jess said.
Wilson chuckled. "I'm sure House is encouraging you to fan the flames."
"He doesn't have to, but after he talked to Father today, he's more eager than ever to help us." Jess placed her hand over mine and smiled at me.
Our appetizers arrived, artfully arranged on decorative plates. I hoped they were as good as they looked.
"Try the calamari," Jess urged her sister.
Nina hesitated, but finally took some on her plate. She coughed after her first bite. "Whew! That's spicy!" Then she smiled. "But very tasty and not rubbery at all." Still, she grabbed her glass of ice water and downed the whole thing before moving on to the potstickers.
Wilson chewed and swallowed a bit of lettuce wrap. He nodded. "At least as good as Fu Ming's." That was his gold standard. "The lettuce is very fresh and crisp and the meat mixture has just the right amount of ginger."
Meanwhile, I'd eaten one of each thing we'd ordered. and was ready for a second.
"So when do you meet with the head honcho here?" Jess asked her sister.
"I have an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, after our lunch with Uncle Giovanni." She reached for a spring roll. "So far I've been favorably impressed with the food, and it looks like the rest of you are enjoying it."
We enjoyed it all so much that there wasn't so much as a crumb left on any of the plates when the waiter came to clear the table. "I'll bring your soups." He was a slim young Chinese with a soft voice.
We'd all ordered the hot and sour soup and he brought it in a large tureen, then ladled a portion into small bowls for each of us. The sour aroma reached my nose before I took my first spoonful. It had the right amount of 'heat' to clear my sinuses. I looked at Nina's face to see whether she approved, since I already knew Jess and Wilson would.
"Wow!" she said. "How can they balance the flavor and the spiciness? Most places sacrifice one for the other, but this is perfect!"
I smiled. There was hope for her yet. If she could appreciate the soup, she'd do well in selecting courses for her catering business.
As we made our way through our meal, I asked Wilson, "Remind me again why we've never come here before."
"Maybe it had something to do with the fact that you avoid change."
"Me?"
Jess was laughing. "I think we should just agree that we'll be back, whether or not Nina can convince the owners to work with her."
Wilson and Nina nodded like bobble-head dolls. But I wondered if this meant there'd be more double dinner dates in the future. For the next ten minutes I watched the two of them. Wilson smiled at everything Nina said, and she looked at him for approval more than once.
"This Mongolian Beef may be one of the best things I've ever eaten!" she raved. That was the entree he'd picked, of course. She seemed to enjoy everything else, too, but didn't bother to comment about my selection or Jess'.
We had coconut ice cream for dessert along with the traditional fortune cookies.
"What does yours say, Nina?" Jess asked.
"'Success is around the corner'." She smiled. "I certainly hope so!"
We all laughed. Then I cracked my cookie in two and read the strip of paper inside. 'Treasure your friends for they are the greatest treasure of all', I read. I tried not to smile but Jess reached over to take it. She grinned and passed hers to me. 'One step at a time leads to the top.' That was the most inscrutable. "You don't believe those things, do you?" I asked her.
"We'll see. What does yours say, Wilson?"
"'Seize every second of your life and savor it'." He looked at Nina and smiled.
She could do worse than my friend. Jess touched my hand and rolled her eyes at me, but I knew she wouldn't be unhappy if the two of them hooked up.
"Well, this has been great." Nina broke eye contact with Wilson and folded her napkin. "We'll have to try some of the other places I'm considering."
"But not tonight," Jess said. She patted her stomach. "I'm stuffed."
Nina insisted on paying for the meal. "I'll get it next time," Wilson said.
It looked like we'd be eating well for a while.