Dinner last night

Was awesome. At 7:45, all the other environmental dialogue-ers and I piled into a bus and headed to The Shephardess's Cottage. Originally described to us as a "traditionally Czech restaurant" we were later informed that it was truly more of a "traditionally Slovakian restaurant." Having not really eaten much Czech or Slovakian food, the distinction was a little lost on me, but I was excited anyway.

The restaurant was very cute. There were several different rooms, but they all had open windows. It was actually kinda reminiscent of a cottage - the stools all had sheepskin coverings, the walls were exposed wood, and there were a few different fireplaces throughout the restaurant. After we all got in and sat down, we also got to enjoy some "typical gypsy music." I'm a little skeptical that it was an actual historic representation (as opposed to something contrived for tourists who want to feel "authentic") but it was still totally fun. Several times during the evening, the musicians and the dancers (who looked a little bored - but I guess that I might be too, if that was my job every night) cycled through, playing traditional and modern music.

The food was super sweet too. Course one was smoked sausage, roasted red peppers, and pickles. I'm not a huge fan of sausage, but the peppers and pickles were good, plus the table bread was kinda like a bretzel. Course two was half of a roasted chicken. I didn't even have to ask for it. They just brought it. It was awesome. I am in love with this "Shephardess." Delicious. Dessert was crepes with berries and whipped cream. Also quite tasty.

And we actually did talk about the environment, which was kinda cool. I mean, a lot of it was more or less food related (farmers markets, local food, companies that make food, companies that don't make food, whether business solve the problem that it's helped to create, etc.).

All told, we were there for more than three hours, and even if it wasn't exactly traditional and authentic, it had that kind of feeling, and it was a great night.