Dan and Lisa's Low Key Day of Fun

Yesterday I took a day off to have a Dan and Lisa's Low Key Day of Fun with my lady. First stop, DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse) out on 115th and Burleigh, in the Mayfair Collection outdoor mall. We spent an hour there finding sandals for Lisa's upcoming NKOTB cruise, then Lisa treated me to lunch at the Corner Bakery.  

I had turkey, bacon, and avocado on wheat with a side of Caesar's Salad, and Lisa had a lovely chicken sub with a side of fruit. 

Afterwards we made a brief stop at Aldi for protein drinks, a gas station for fuel, stopped at Maadc to look at the kitties (alas, they had a health outbreak and all but two cats were quarantined). Then we stopped at the bike shop to pick up her bicycle, the library to look at yesterday's paper (alas, it turns out my column was online only, and not included in the razor thin print edition), and then a nap. 

In the evening we headed out again, this to time to get dinner at Hot Dish Pantry , a new  restaurant on Howell near the airport. It's counter-service, which is an annoying but popular trend, and features both indoor and patio dining. We chose the latter. 

The entrees were very good. I had a simple smashed burger, plain, while Lisa had a take on Minnesota's Juicy Lucy's. 

I don't think the sides were as good a value, in taste or price. There was a crab rangoon pierogi, which is further ethnically confused by the inclusion of a corn garnish. It was very good, but there wasn't much to distinguish it from your standard order of rangoon at a Chinese restaurant.

A potato croquette failed to impress either of us, beyond a nice presentation. 

I'm not a desert guy, but Lisa said the chocolate tasted a little off  - vegan perhaps? The desserts rotate very frequently, so any review must be treated as unique to that visit anyway. 

Now up to this point I'd grade the experience at Hot Dish Pantry very positively. A little hit and miss, a little pricey, but a good time and overall very good food. 

Then a drunk appeared, knocked a full recycling bin into the street, and wandered up to the guests on the patio and unleashed a screed, lasting several minutes, about how we were all going to burn in hell  "you n-words." Disgusting, and equally odd as everyone on the patio was Caucasian. 

Most of this was addressed at a woman sitting with her male companion and a friend, none of whom said anything. I told the guy to move on, but he didn't, and Lisa got up to tell the employees. That put her very close to the guy, which was a boiling point - had he touched her I'd have had to retaliate and I wasn't looking to escalate the situation. Instead he took her threat of police seriously and started down the road. 

To our shock, the employees/owner? claimed the man was "harmless," often wandered by drunk but "never did that before" and not only didn't want to call the police but didn't have the police non-emergency number on hand. 

Man, I don't run to the police for every interaction, even of this kind, but if I was running a business again I would take the comfort and safety of my guests a little more seriously. You didn't hear the bottles spilling into the street? The constant shouted "n-word" for a good few minutes wasn't overheard? A diner shouldn't have to tell a drunk to move on; his wife shouldn't be the one to ask the police to get involved. And once the situation WAS identified, you didn't think to come out and offer at least an apology to your guests? That poor woman took the brunt of his venom for a good two minutes.

I didn't pay close to $70 to listen to a  drunk racist you know and let skate.  

(and nevermind what I think of the diner's boyfriend/husband, who sat there and let her be insulted and berated and let another guy speak up for her) 

Not cool. 

Anyway, later, before she went to bed, Lisa and I used up the last of the zucchini making bread together. 

A fun if low key day together :)