Firstly, DJKD mentioned The Suite to me as a possible next venue.
Then HelenKitty tweeted that she had heard of it and suggested that we go there. MS echoed her sentiment.
Plus, since we were all making the obvious jokes about how we were certain to have a sweet time if we went, how could we not go? So with the hard part of deciding where to go next taken care of, organising this meeting was going to be simple.
I emailed everyone and included a link to The Sweet, sorry, to The Suite and that was that. Sure enough, everyone wanted to go, but a quick look at the venue’s website revealed that The Suite were offering cheese and wine tastings on Monday nights. There was a quite a strong show of support for the diary products. I guess word of Amphoras had spread.
As UltUp put it, “A Ballroom Blitz with wine and cheese – fantastic!”.
However, after much discussion, we agreed to stay with the Thursday night format of our meetings. Just as well, because soon all mention of Monday night wine and cheese was taken off the website. Funny, funny; maybe they heard we were coming…
So, with thanks to Alexander Graham Bell, I called ahead and made a booking for a table to accomodate the group. Thus, they saved a table big enough to fit us all and even left the door open so that we could find our way in.
Yes, reflections of the night seem to all point to there being only one major complaint. The music was at the right level with no need to say turn it down. The bar was easy to get to and was well stocked. The atmosphere was delightful and the lighting was fine. By why, having given us a table by the door did they then leave the door open for so long? It was like we were in a windy city, not a snug little wine bar.
So, who was there that night for the action? There was DJKD and UltUp, who were the first there; Morgandorffer, who was celebrating a deadline, HelenKitty, KM, SJVD, Bookbuster, Arotulon, Mrs D and our group mascot Rubie, who loved her time in the spotlight. Plus, after a lot of waiting (KM said that he left work at the same time as her) there was MS.
For a breakdown of the night, let’s hear from some of the members who gathered around the long table:
UltUp – “Great Ambience and it was a nice bar to talk in-also the proximity to work was handy. Shame about the lack of cheese. I enjoyed it tho.”
Blockbuster Bookbuster – “The chocolate/peanutbutter fondant was lovely. Also had very nice cider. A bit cramped and the door could have been shut sooner. But did you see the bathroom hallway decoration?”
Mrs D – “Wish I could have stayed longer :-)”
MS – “Olives were not of sufficient size” (Arotulon – gotta agree there – the bread was okay, but I get the feeling Ruby didn’t like the crusts – not that she needs them to make her hair curly)
HelenKitty – “HelenKitty is addicted to gin and tonics! I also found out some of the saucier details of True Blood books. 😛 There is also a cute little room off the hallway where one could repose with friends that we could possibly sit in next time.” (Arotulon – The Suite called me the week after and offered me this room for our ‘upcoming’ meeting. I explained that we had already been, but I had to ask why weren’t we offered the room before?)
So, apart from the door, (a case of they done me wrong all right) I think we all agree that we loved The Suite, and if The Suite could talk it would probably say this.
Oi Oi Aussies! Great to see the Barchivists out in action! Keep it up! That bar sounds “sweet” …
Yeah, why didn’t they offer us that room? Oh well, we can always go back.
How did I miss the Dr Manhattan poster?? o.O