Saucebox

Susy's birthday dinner at Saucebox was a complete success. The place was incredible - every bite was delicious. It was so dark we couldn't actually see it, but we think the food was beautiful too. Nearly all of our light was provided by three small candles. They were so low to the table they had trouble getting their light up over the lips of the plates, but our drinks looked pretty in the candlelight.
Pablo was stirring his drink, enjoying the light flickering up through his highball glass, when he discovered a fly trapped beneath the ice of his Long Island tea. The waiter quickly brought him another drink, this time in a tumbler that was harder to see through.

The service was very good, with lots of young male waiters that the women politely appreciated. Everyone looked good in the candlelight. Alana was missed. She's in Ashland this weekend for the Shakespeare festival.
The sole issue with the service was, after recommending a pear brandy cocktail to Pablo, the waiter proceeded to forget it, TWICE. Pablo finally received it, and it was delicious. Also, Paul discussed it later with the waiter and it was removed from the bill. Not that you would have noticed, as the bill was very heavy even without it.

The Saucebox is known for its drinks. My favorite was a basil mojito-ish concoction that Nancy discovered. She lent hers to me and ordered another after I gave my delicious-but-too-sweet raspberry vodka concoction to Rocio.
Susy had one called (I think) a Frozen Chocolate Banana: a very tasty milkshakey thing. She followed that with a Kickboxer, described on their online menu as a "house-infused thai chile vodka, passionfruit purée and citrus juices, topped with raspberry purée, a real knockout!"
The drink menu was long and interesting. Pablo and Nancy asked about it, and were promised a soft copy if they sent an email. Apparently the restaurant loses a lot of them.

The place was great, and everyone complemented Susy on her choice. We'll return, though next time we may ask for a table in the restaurant, which we discovered afterwards in a separate room. It turns out we had been in the darkest recess of the bar.

Afterwards it was still early - before 10:00 - so we stopped at Haggen for a supply of decaf coffee and went to Pablo&Rocio's and made crazy coffee drinks. We got home at midnight, and discovered Andrew still up, so I kept him up even later with a long, free-ranging conversation about everything, closing with a threat to wake him early and take him and Austin to the Saturday market. Zoë spent the night, and she and Mali were asleep when we first got home around 10:00.