ROBUST

We had dinner with Daren and Connie at Ellie's, a restaurant in the Park Mills Hotel in Yellow Springs.  Our waiter Chris immediately noticed that Gerald had his own teabags in his hand and he said that he would bring a pot of hot water.  He asked what kind of tea and Gerald told him in was Roiboos  from South Africa.  I told him I would like some hot tea also but I was not persnickety and would have one of their available teas.

When the waiter returned, he leaned his head next to mine and began singing If Ever I Would Leave You.  Naturally, I joined in and we sang the entire song.  We finished with a bravura rendition of  "at all", and the other diners applauded.  Of course I had to do a brief interview and learned he was 27. Later, he came by and asked, "Do you know Follies?", as he began singing I'm Still Here. I screaked, "I saw Elaine Stritch perform it."  and he shrieked in delight:  "ELAINE STRITCH and Bernadette Peters?"  I could tell from the looks on the faces of Gerald and our guests that they had no idea what we were talking about.  He and I sang the song and at the end, I stood and demonstrated how Stritch ended the song.

At an adjacent table he sang Barbra's People, and I was singing along with that.

By the way, I ordered scallops and they were delicious.  The menu was a mishmosh of Southern cuisine  with Filet Mignon and Chicken and Waffles on the same menu.   When Daren ordered coffee, the aroma of the coffee was enticing although I have never tasted coffee in my life.  Gerald ordered a cup and learned that it was from Ethiopia.  Gerald said it was the best coffee he'd ever tasked and afterwards he went to the gift shop and spent $16 on  ounces of coffee.  He said that he was searching for a word to describe it and I asked, "How about ROBUST? That's how Maxwell House is advertised!"