Too much of a good thing

Last night Leo and I finally used the gift voucher that my parents gave us for our anniversary and had an amazing meal at J. Sheekey. The restaurant caters to the theatre crowd, so the tables have a time limit on them of 1 hour and 45 minutes, to get people in, out, and onto their shows in a timely manner. I had to explain this to Leo, who found it odd that the waiter kept informing us how long it may take to prepare and eat particular dishes. We decided to go all out and order the Fruit de Mer for two with the lobster (estimated eating time - 1 hour), as well as a starter of skate cheeks cooked with bacon and mushrooms, and a bottle of Rioja blanca.

The skate cheeks were amazingly tender and so rich. But the Fruit de Mer took center stage, with all eyes on it as our waiter brought it to our table. We knew we'd be in for a feast when we were first presented with our utensils - they came in all shapes and sizes, all having a mildly surgical look to them. The platter was two tiers of shellfish -
whelks, winkles, clams, langoustines, prawns, oysters, crab, and lobster. We were overwhelmed, but dove in. About an hour later we were happily defeated and properly bloated. For dessert Leo had a glass of Armagnac from 1966, I had a glass of Sauternes, and we split a very gelatinous, yet creamy panna cotta. It was a wonderful meal, but I think it will be a while before we can eat shellfish again. Thanks Mom & Dad!