My wife and I wanted to go somewhere nice as part of our night out this weekend. But we didn't want to dress nice.

So after our movie on Saturday, we decided we'd check out Grill 23 & Bar, on the corner of Berkeley and Stuart Streets...but because we weren't necessarily dressed for it, we'd sit at the bar.

We ended up not exactly at the bar, but in the bar area - with our backs to the bar sitting sort of at a shelf facing the rest of the restaurant.

That was the extent of the new-ness of the night.

I have a weakness when I look at a menu: if something says "avocado" I have a really hard time not choosing that meal.

That's how I ended up having the scallops with avocado and some other vegetables at the steak house Saturday night. (I did try the steak frites my wife had. The steak was delicious. So were the frites. Next time we go I promise I'll have steak.)

It's not that I would have had a new dish Saturday night anyway - I knew going in just the experience of eating at Grill 23 was going to be the New Thing. (It's one of those places with the really thick disposable hand towels in the bathroom. I'm sure they're terrible for the environment, but man do I feel like I can really get my hands dry with those things.)

The bar area quickly got too crowded...we got there a little before 7 and within a half-hour we would not have found our bar seats, and even worse there were people right on top of us.

I told you the other day my wife and I would be repeating this date experience when the weather was warmer. We might just go back to Grill 23. If we do I'll take the extra step to wear a nicer pair of pants, and we'll make a reservation so we can sit in the dining room. And I'll definitely have the steak.