My birthday and my mom's birthday are on the same day. We often trade off birthday celebration locations, and this year I happened to be in Southern California for the big day. It was going to be a low-key celebration this year, and is often the case with family get-togethers, we spent a long time considering where we could go that the grandparents would like. Being 86 and 87, my grandma and grandpa are adventurous to a point, but really like very specific restaurants. Ideas like brunch at Trump National Golf Club or dinner at Kincaid's were brought up and then discarded for one reason or another.
Suddenly, I remembered Stephanie's advice to me earlier in the week when she heard I was in Southern California: "Go to Hungry Cat and taste a cucumber martini for me -- Evan Kleiman raves about them and I'm craving one." Upon perusing the menu, mom and I weren't completely sure that grandma and grandpa would love it, but decided that it sounded delicious enough that we would give it a try anyway.
Driving to Hollywood with the grandparents was a fun experience. They have so many memories of the area from when they were young: Grandpa had a job in the forties making deliveries to the large movie studios, and he and grandma had a great time talking about the old dance clubs that they used to go to in the area.