This was a stunning surprise. I'll explain.
My husband and I had just spent eleven days at the Mayo Clinic, and we were pleased that he was released on Christmas Eve. The Mayo Clinic's patient meals are remarkably edible, and yet. Hospital food; the same few meals to choose from each day. We were so tired, I thought "if we were home, I'd take us to La Sorella di Francesca."
We decided to stop for dinner in Madison, about 2/3 of the way home, and randomly picked this Francesca's al Lago based on a drive-by. We were thrilled and a little shocked that we'd just stumbled upon a restaurant from the Francesca's family. Joy!!
Husband enjoyed a ribeye with all the trimmings. I had a pasta with a light creme sauce, peas, pancetta. We each got a Caesar salad. An aviation cocktail (mostly mine) went down nicely. For dessert, red velvet cake. All were excellent. Merry Christmas!
I've read plenty of Christmas stories, I've seen the movies, I've BAHed and HUMBUGed, but this was our Christmas story. I couldn't have arranged it any better if I'd planned ahead.