Life with Lauren: Dinner and the Dog

This past Saturday night, I joined my parents for dinner to celebrate my dad's birthday and Father's Day (since they will be out of town next weekend). I was originally told we would do something casual like Chinese but by the time I arrived at their house, the plans had changed and we were going to Dizz's.

What is Dizz's, you ask? To begin with, a Laguna institution that has been around for ages. Case in point: the last time I dined there was with my parents more than 20 years ago. Seriously. The inside of the restaurant is like a time capsule that hasn't changed in at least that amount of time. But when something's that good, why change?

We arrived for our reservation (30 min early, of course), and sat at the bar, the first patrons in the restaurant at 5:00 p.m. Mom and I had matching lemon drop martinis and Dad had something with vermouth in it.

Delish.

We shot the breeze with the bartender and I announced that the last time I was in the restaurant, my parents were the same age as I am now. OMG.

They certainly don't look a day older if you ask me.

Every meal begins with the most amazing liver pate and a shot of something that tastes like pure alcohol (I can't tell you what it is not because I was drinking so much, but because I really have no clue). I then had the most incredible french onion soup, and my dad had split pea (his fav). Portions are huge, and more than half my soup went home with my folks.

For our entrees? My parents simply can't pass up the Cioppino here, and after sampling the sauce, it was easy to understand why.

My choice was mild escolar fish with a lemon caper sauce. As light as it was, I still could only eat about half.

[Can you tell the plates they are using are 13 years old lol?]

Next time I'm trying the linguine with pesto and giant prawns if they still have it. And there will be a next time. Very, very soon I hope.

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In other news, Mojo is coming to stay with us for 4 days beginning this Thursday when my parents go out of town. You see, my parents officially adopted him a few months ago. He simply is not the type of dog who can be alone most of the day.

I'll admit to being a tad bit apprehensive about his homecoming this weekend. Don't get me wrong, he's still the cutest looking dog (in a bizarre yet funny kinda way) I've ever seen. For starters, he no longer sleeps in a crate so we will try him on his dog bed in my bedroom at night. I have visions of my heels being chewed every time I get up to use the bathroom in the night. But more than that, it's the healthy dose of crazy in him I saw on Saturday I'll be watching out for. Or maybe I should just call it mischievousness. Can't decide what it is. You be the judge.