I had a very full day of work on Friday but managed to shut down just after 5pm, which was the earliest I’d stopped working all week. Ash had a day of Paul walks, the gym, and online bridge – typical for him. One of these days!

We were having dinner with friends and reservations were for 6pm at Robert, a restaurant in Columbus Circle which was an 8-minute walk from our place. It was 21 degrees out so the thermal decision this time was Yes. No regrets.

Robert is on the 9th floor of the Museum of Arts and Design building. It had great views on two sides, the one above showing 8th Ave, or what is Central Park West at that point, running north with Central Park on the right.

We were meeting Jonathan, next to Ash, and his husband, DeWayne. I met Jonathan when I was here in 2019 at the Gay & Sober Men’s conference. We met at one of the Friday afternoon workshops then went to dinner that night on the way to the speaker meeting. We stayed in touch throughout the week and met up again the following Monday for a meeting and dinner after. We’ve stayed in touch ever since, but this is the first time we were seeing each other again in person. This is the first time I got to meet DeWayne. And of course, the first time they met Ash. They’ve been together 16 years. They made these reservations and secured a table in this intimate corner of the restaurant which made for a lovely visit over the next 2 hours with great views all around us.

This was a main dish that Ash and I split as a starter. It was Spaguettini Squash, with zucchini, heirloom carrots, pinenuts, Périgord black truffle (which I could smell as soon as they put the plate down!) with a pepperoncini emulsion (the green stuff). This was very tasty, despite me not being a big truffle fan, and was a nice, light way to start the meal.

Jonathan got the Garden Market Greens; the orange stuff at the bottom is roasted butternut squash. DeWayne passed on a starter.

Jonathan and I both got Lobster Tagliatelle for our main dish, a pasta and lobster dish in a sort of tomato bisque. Rich and very satisfying, especially on a cold night.

Ash got the Chilean sea bass….

…and DeWayne had the fillet mignon.

Out that window is Broadway running northwest. Columbus Circle is essentially a big turnabout – with a huge statue of Christopher Columbus in the center – that manages traffic converging from 59th Street, 8th Ave, and Broadway, at the southwest (or bottom left) corner of Central Park.

If you read Thursday’s entry, you may recall my mention that we picked up dessert for the next evening. We left the restaurant a little after 8pm and came back to the apartment for some chocolate mousse cheesecake from Junior’s (where else?).

I put on coffee while Ash took Paul out and we visited for at least another hour over dessert after Ash returned.

We really enjoyed our visit with Jonathan and DeWayne and made plans to connect again when we return in August.

We were in bed by 10pm which was the earliest for several nights running and felt great.

Not much planned today except for brunch at the Russian Team Room which is just a few blocks from us. I go home this evening; Ash has another friend joining him from Washington, DC, for his last couple of days here.