I went out to dinner with one of my favorite people last night at what used to be one of my favorite places to eat in Sioux Falls. I've known Ali Harkness since she was just a little girl. She is now a beautiful young woman, but still one of my "kids" and I'm thrilled she continues to want to spend time with her Auntie Patty! The conversation was sparkling, the meal; extremely disappointing.

At this dining place, (unfortunately you'll have to guess) I've always ordered the same burger with bleu cheese & bacon because it is always delicious. I decided to expand my horizons last time I ate there and ordered the salmon. It was dry, tasteless, came with the wrong sides and service that night was terrible! Last night, I again thought to expand my culinary scope and ordered a linguini dish with grilled chicken, asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes and prosciutto. Sounds delicious doesn't it?

Guess again. This pasta train wreck arrived in a bowl the size of my head with a large spoon sticking out of it. (Kudos to the restaurant for the spoon, many restaurants, even Italian ones don't give you a twirling spoon). I grabbed the spoon and my fork to toss the pasta a bit and when I lifted the pasta, discovered it sitting in approximately a cup of a watery substance which seemed to be a soupy mix of sun-dried tomato oil and water!

It was under-salted, under-spiced, (except for the abundance of garlic and the pleasant encounter with the occasional fennel seed) the chicken looked like it had gone through a paper shredder before it was mixed into the dish and did not appear to be grilled. Great efforts were taken to use every bit of the asparagus, from the tender tip of the spear to the extremely woody, chewy, inedible ends which were numerous! Yuck!

I requested Parmesan cheese in an effort to rescue this soupy disaster; all for not. Suffice it to say, I politely took the majority of it home in a box where I removed the tomatoes and pork and my German Shepherds relished the remaining shredded chicken and pasta. When it comes to Bella and Zeus, there's no accounting for taste.

I take comfort in knowing that my bleu cheese burger and Shandy are always good there and will stick with that next time we eat there. Lesson learned.

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