Chapter 36
Perusing the menu, Slate said, “Not really, I haven’t eaten here for a while and it appears they’ve changed the menu. Hmmm…they don’t offer a sampler so how about we pick out several main entrées along with some desserts? That way we can make up our own sampler.”
Dakota’s eyes danced with delight at his mate’s idea. “I love it. But holy cow, look at all these dishes! Some I’ve heard of, but many are new to me.”
“So let’s pick from the ones you don’t know.”
“Okay…let’s see… Grilled Dragonturtle…that sounds interesting, what do you think?”
“I like anything grilled, well almost anything…so let’s order that…hmmm, this sounds interesting…Deep Fried Moon Falcon and it’s served with a side order of Lunar Beets.”
“Where did you find that...oh I see it…wow! Lunar Beets...do you know how rare they are?” asked Dakota.
“No, mainly because I never heard of them,” Slate said.
“Lunar Beets only grow in the Arctic Circle. They have to be planted exactly one month before the sun is at its highest and are harvested sixty days later…making them very rare. We have to order that,” Dakota said.
“Definitely a must try…so we have two, let’s get one more…you pick it.”
“Well,” Dakota said, running his finger down the menu items, “what about the Basted Cave Grouse…it comes with a Timeless Mushroom when she traveled before it was always because of her husband’s Council work.”
“After Fionn is safe with Cody and Dylon, why don’t we come back here and stay till the end of next week, and we can all return together,” proposed Slate.
“I don’t know, it depends on whether Steel will cover for me.”
“Let me talk to him…he owes me a lot of favors.”
“Uh-huh, so when are you planning to call your mother?” smiled Dakota.
“Saved by the arrival of our dinner,” Slate smirked as the waiter wheeled over a cart laden with covered platters.
He sat back and watched him place the entrées on the table along with their plates, a new basket of Unicorn Bread, more jam and fresh drinks for both of them.
“Thanks. This looks great,” Slate said to their waiter.
“May I get you anything else?”
“No, thank you, it all smells so delicious,” Dakota chimed in.
“I’ll let the cook know. He’ll appreciate it. I also told him about your request for recipes and he wants to know why you want them.”
“I’m the cook for a pack and I’m always looking for new recipes I think everyone will enjoy.”
“I’ll tell him, and see what he says.”
“Thanks,” Dakota said. “I really appreciate your help.”
“No problem, enjoy your meal,” the waiter said before heading for another booth.
Eyeing the food in front of them, Slate asked, “What do you want to try first?”
“Deep Fried Moon Falcon,” Dakota said.
“Ha, only because you want to taste the Lunar Beets,” Slate laughed.
“Lucky guess,” giggled Dakota.
Slate divided the dish in half and placed half on his mate’s plate before giving himself the rest. “Bon appétit.”
Dakota took his first forkful of Lunar Beets, moaning as his taste buds were overwhelmed by the flavor, mentally noting everything he’d read about them could never prepare him for what he was savoring.
Digging into his Deep Fried Moon Falcon, he was surprised at the taste; it reminded him of wild turkey.
Concentrating on identifying the spices used in the dish, he missed Slate’s question. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I won’t ask if you like Deep Fried Moon Falcon because you’ve been moaning ever since your first bite. But how did you get interested in traditional food?”
“When I was ten, my grandmother gave me an old cookbook which had recipes for a few traditional dishes shifters used to make. I so was fascinated by them, I searched for more and collected a number of them. I wondered why they weren’t used anymore, so I dug deeper and found they took a lot of time to make and everyone now seemed to want quick meals.
“That bothered me because I believe food plays an important part of everyone’s history.
Recipes passed down from generation to generation gives the newest generation a sense of their past and helps them understand where they came from.
Face it, no matter what kind of shifter you are, everyone needs to eat so if you can sit down to a meal that your ancestors also ate, it bonds them to you in a spiritual way. ”
“So this is what you wanted to serve in your restaurant?” asked Slate.
“Yes,” Dakota said. “But first I wanted to write a cookbook with the old recipes, tweaking them so they’d be faster to fix: I’d also include substitutes if something was no longer available.
You know, my Deep Fried Moon Falcon tastes just like wild turkey so that’d be okay to use instead, without ruining the taste of the dish. ”
“Are you sure you don’t want to open a restaurant?” asked Slate.
“I am. Did you see how excited Theo was today when he talked about what he’d eaten in Scotland?”
“That he was. I saw a big difference in Theo compared to the last time I saw him.”
“Part of it is due to him learning how to cook. It was always a secret dream of his and when Cody assigned him to me, all his dreams came true at once. Theo is a born chef and I like teaching him a lot. When you came into my life, everything fell into place, and teaching Cody’s boys how to cook will make me the happiest.”
“What about the traditional recipes you collected?”
“I still want to do that, but it needs more research…like what we’re doing tonight. Figuring out what can be substituted can only be done by tasting the original dish.”
Slate chuckled. “I see a lot of dinners out for our future. Did you enjoy the three dishes we picked?”
Dakota looked down at the empty serving platters, smiling because they’d finished all three entrées while they’d been talking. “Wow! I guess I did enjoy them very much.”
“Good, when we come back, I can see we’ll be dining here regularly,” Slate chuckled. “Ready for dessert?”
“Yup, can’t wait to taste the Fire Honey he was fascinated with how many different species he could scent.
Suddenly it occurred to him too much time had passed and he wondered if Slate had gotten sick.
Catching the eye of their waiter, he motioned him over, frustrated when he was stopped by one of his customers.
The waiter finally arrived and Dakota, now agitated over Slate’s absence, growled, “Where’s your other restroom?”
“Over there, go through the doorway and it’s the first door on your right.”
“No, I know about that one but where’s the other one?”
“Other one? We only have one.”
“Then where’s my mate? I was only gone a few minutes and now he’s gone.”
“Oh, somebody came in and asked for him because his driver was ill, so he left to take care of him.”
“Our driver? Is my mate still out there?” Dakota asked, sliding out of the booth so he could go help Slate.
“Oh, no. The man who first came to get him, came back, paid your tab and told me they were going to take the driver to the hospital.”
Dakota sat down, suddenly numb with fear.
Something was terribly wrong. He knew Slate would never leave him here alone no matter where his mate had to go.
Thanking the waiter who then left for another booth, Dakota sat there, stunned.
Suddenly Slate’s phone began to ring. Snatching it up, he hit the button and said, “Hello, Slate?”