Ah, the sweet taste of democracy.

So I did this Taste of DC thing last night. The restaurant was "Seasons" at the Four Seasons in Georgetown. I showed up in grey slacks and a burgundy shirt with a kind of two tone sheen to it. Thank god I dressed up becuase it was a very posh establishment.

I arrived 20 minutes early to find Joe, one of the group, sucking down a dirty martini. So I joined him at the bar and ordered a martini of my own. Okay, okay, so it was an apple martini. Sue me. The rest of the group showed up not long after my martini arrived. So we settled at the bar and made way for the table. It was then I realized my first mistake of the night. Never order top shelf at a hotel bar, especially when that hotel is called The Four Seasons. I paid sixteen dollars for that martini. It may have been the best I'd ever had but it was still sixteen dollars. I can get alcohol poisoning from the bar in my home town for less money.

I and the group of friends that I make movies with on occasion sat down at our table in the back and chatted up as we normally do. I noticed an old man reading the paper at the table next to us. I remember thinking "what a nice old man." A thought I promptly forgot about as we started discussing the most recent movies we had seen.

About five minutes later a very nicely dressed woman sat down next to the old man who then put away his paper to make conversation. Something looked familiar about the person. The hair, the dark freckles, the characteristic pattern of her front teeth.

We'd just been sat right next to Condeleeza Rice.

This realization sent shockwaves through our table as we tried not to let on who we were sitting next to, out of respect. But I squeaked out "Oh my god, do you know who that is?" To which my friend replied "Yeah, I can't believe they sat us next to a Republican't."

A statement he was soon forced to retract as the whole restarant turned to him. He had just realized that we were sitting in the Den of Not Democrats. He ate his words with a side of duck sauce and rice pilaf. Okay so that didn't happen but it did change the conversations a bit. Just a bit.

The dinner was great, if a little small. I've figured out why fewer rich people are fat. They don't eat as much. Shocker. The food that was prepared for us was in honest to god dietary proportions. No huge servings, no side of fries, no gallon cup of Coke. This three course meal could be considered an appetizer at some other establishments. It's amazing how out of control portion sizes have gotten, when healthy portions look small to us.

That was it pretty much, we talked, had wine, tried not to annoy Condi. Because there were Secret Service agents not ten feet from her. They don't really make any effort to look conspicuous do they? But I suppose they aren't really there to hide themselves. I wonder if those are the same guys that follow the Bush twins? Hmmmm.

BTW, I wouldn't recommend Seasons for anything other than a VERY special occasion, say a wedding, anniversary, or the second coming. It's quite expensive. Our party of seven rang up a 330 dollar bill. They were gracious enough to include gratuity for us.

Thanks guys, the 20 percent you gave yourselves really made us feel like you did your jobs well. Well you did do a good job and the tip was warranted. But we would have given it anyway. SO there.

I just wish I didn't have to stop at McDonald's on the way home.

Cheers and happy eating.