last night i met a girlfriend for dinner here (it’s very yogi and very delicious). and while i certainly enjoyed her company (hi C! thanks so much again for gabbing with me while i inhaled that veggie-stuffed spud), i couldn’t help but be a wee bit distracted by the clientele.

well, let me be more specific. i was distracted by the potential for a guest appearance from a select patron of said restaurant clientele. one whose acquaintance was made via paper napkin some two years prior (has it really been that long?).

need a refresher as to what in the sam heck i’m talking about? by all means…

napkins aren’t just for cleaning up messes | october 2010

so perhaps my case of paranoia was a bit well-warranted, no? the truth is, napkin boy and i had a bit of a fling in the fall of twenty-ten but its duration was about as long as the shelf-life of a napkin itself (hint: that’s not very long, even if it’s the super strength brawny brand). and while i’ve managed to contain all future contact with said paper-product prince to two separate fortuitous (and thank goodness VERY brief) run-ins along the encinitas coastline since that fateful october evening, i couldn’t help but still feel a tad bit cautious that lucky (or unlucky) number three was looming.

but thankfully the only familiar face i saw last night was that of my lovely dinner companion (well her and a pure barre instructor), so phew, y’all. phew.

and while part of me had once decided to forgo all future feedings at lotus cafe so as to avoid the possibility for an untimely re-visitation of napkingate, a pause for reflection of some of my past almostlationships (as i liken them, taxxing around the runway but never taking off) revealed a sobering trend.

if i avoided all establishments where i have either ruthlessly flirted and/or dated one or more of its regular patrons or as is the most cases, its employees, i would be hard pressed to find a place to feed and/or grocery shop for myself. 

so apparently not only do i like to mix business with pleasure, but i spend most of my free time around either prepared or packaged food. which is you know, pretty accurate.

after a bit of dating inventory, i found that in addition of lotus cafe, i have managed to rack up quite the collection of restaurants-slash-food-suppliers where i’ve dabbled in finding mister right:

i mean, hello the encinitas location of trader joe’s (here & here)
honey’s
carlsbad jimbo’s
encinitas von’s
cardiff starbuck’s
nashville starbuck’s (specifically this location)
frothy monkey (nashville)

and there are probably a few more that i’ve either “conveniently” forgotten about (funny how selective memory works like that…).

bottom line is, i best be careful where i decide to get my flirt on, because if things go south, i’ll be out another dining option, and i love food too much to let that ever happen again.