Civilization

The other night, Marc, Tune, Nat and I went out on one of our Adventure Eating excursions.  Adventure Eating is a concept and term coined by Marc.  He got us hooked on taking off every so often and finding some restaurant somewhere that all or most of us have never tried, and then ordering a variety of stuff so we can really do some serious exploring of the menu.  The more off-the-beaten-path the better, and chain restaurants and corporate venues need not apply.  We're all about AUTHENTIC, people!

Anyways, this time it was Civilization in Gainesville.  It's one of those painfully self-aware places that are all the rage now, where nearly every menu item has a provenance worth mentioning, not to mention the building itself, and even the resident pet cat. (More on that cat, later.)  The exterior of the place was pretty unexceptional; not a ton of visibility and a bit unkempt. (Something about grass growing through cracks all over the parking lot is, well...)  Once you got a bit closer, the cool factor started to spike, though.  I loooove random furniture strewn all over the porch, and that's just what this place had.  Benches, little bistro tables, one-off patio chairs, and mix-and-match outdoor dining sets, not to mention checkerboards and bowls full of checker and chess pieces, all gave the place a great, chill vibe.  We ate outside so I only really got a glimpse of the interior, but I almost got the impression the inside had a more hip, urban feel to it.  (Which is fine, give me hippie over hipster every time.)

Drinks were way cool; artisanal sodas (killer root beer!) and citrus mint tea - unique and refreshing.  We started out with these zucchini and mozzarella fritters with a marinara-type sauce.  It was funny, what I meant to order were the pakora, which were chickpea fritters with cilantro chutney, but I chickened out on pronouncing pakora, and requested "those fritters" instead, while pointing vaguely at the menu.  Waitress misunderstood and brought the other (obviously more frequently ordered) fritters.  That'll teach me to wimp out!  (Somehow we managed to annihilate the zucchini fritters anyway without too much difficulty...)

For dinner, Nat got the Roasted Vegetables with Fried Polenta (the closest thing to a kids meal...hmmmm.)  Tunie got the Indian Thali plate, which consisted of two different curries, along with appropriate accompaniments, and I got the Chicken Piri-Piri, marinated and broiled to delightful tenderness and served with rice and collards in peanut sauce.  It was good.  Don't get me wrong.  But if I were to go again, I would order the Thali plate; way more interesting, to my way of thinking.  Tunie, on the other hand, liked Nat's food better than her own.  Go figure!  Tragedy struck Marc, though.  He was having a hard time deciding between the Fettuccine alle Vongole (clams in white wine sauce) or a New Orleans gumbo. (Is it just me, or is anyone else getting the impression that this menu does its fair share of globe-trotting?)  Care opened her big mouth and assured him that the gumbo was an excellent choice, and she was quite sure he wouldn't regret it.  Lo and behold, gumbo was placed before him, he takes his first bite with great anticipation, and very nearly needs to run for the fire extinguisher.  Fiery Nawlins gumbo was not designed for the delicate Midwestern palate.  Marc resigned himself to nibbling from his dining companions' plates, and Care hid her face in shame.  Moral of that story?  Do not give advice.  Ever.

On the bright side, Nat spotted the afore-mentioned cat, a quite pretty black kitty with the highly appropriate name of Mittens (for obvious reasons).  She was informed by her mother that she was not to pet the kitty until she had finished her dinner.  I have rarely seen a child more anxious for her food to arrive, nor have I seen a dinner dispatched so quickly by this particular young lady.  But in due time, she finished her dinner and retired to the parking lot to bond with Mittens, who being a typical member of her species, tolerated Nat's caresses for awhile and then vamoosed rather unceremoniously.  Poor Nat.  She needs a hamster!

All in all, we had a quite enjoyable dinner, complete with an epic game of checkers (we left right before Marc beat me).  We topped off the evening with housemade ice cream at Sweet Dreams - the perfect ending for a great outing.