Maggiano's At the Grove

Apparently, a lot of my friends had been here before but it was my first time. It was the reception for my friends wedding. This was also my first wedding for a gay couple. Actually, they aren't "married" but "domestic partners". It's all messed up. Hopefully the state or the feds will fix all this soon. Anyway, this was a pretty cool place for being in a fancy mall. We were all up stairs in this nice room. I was impressed with the feel of the room. For a place that's fairly brand spankin new, it really felt lived in, unlike most of the Grove. It helps to have a good architect I guess. We had a house salad that was a creamy dressing drenched through lettuce. It was almost a coleslaw. We also had a Caprese style salad which wasn't the best. The tomato's were not ripe enough and the cheese wasn't at room temperature nor fresh to the taste. I think they should of poured some olive oil and threw more cut fresh basil over it. The pasta on the other hand was awesome! "Mom's Lasagna" was rockin and the Gnocchi with Tomato Vodka Sauce was my favorite portion of the dinner. I had seconds of the Gnocchi. It was so tender and girthy. The Salmon was pretty good. The Chicken Rosemary was a little dry. Next was a duet of Tiramisu (so-so) and Profiteroles which were two huge cream puff like halves with vanilla ice cream in the center. How could you not like that? Hey! Who's brilliant idea was it to serve two desserts before the wedding cake? Three of us had to share a slice. We were beyond our max. It was a cash bar but I brought my flask filled with Patron Silver (one of the brides request) so our table was set for the night. But seriously, it was an honor to be at this wedding. I felt I was part of a mini revolution. I was the only male and only straight person at my table. My friend announced I was an honorary Lesbian. Not sure how I'm supposed to react to that one.