1/15/2005

Two sickos in love

Filed under: — Aprille @ 12:50 pm

Well, just as I’m getting over my cold (which, by the way, landed smack dab in the middle of the Busiest Workweek Ever), it looks like Denny’s coming down with one. I bought supplies to make chicken soup.

We went out to dinner last night to Givanni’s to celebrate finishing the tough week and accomplishing various goals, and we looked into their rehearsal dinner possibilities. So far, these are our contenders:

1. Devotay, a cute little place downtown that specializes in tapas and other Mediterranean/Iberian delights.
PROS:

  • Walking distance from where people will be staying
  • Very tasty food and wine
  • Intimate, charming atmosphere; since we’d rent the whole place, we wouldn’t have to feel weird about making speeches and stuff potentially within earshot of strangers
  • Local business

CONS:

  • Expensive
  • Base price does not include wine
  • Menu may be a bit exotic for some of the group

2. Givanni’s is the “upscale” branch of the Mondo’s family. It’s an Italian place with a mix of traditional and semi-creative food.
PROS:

  • Walking distance from where people will be staying
  • Wide variety of choices; everybody will find something he/she likes
  • Decently priced; base price includes wine

CONS:

  • We’d just be renting the mezzanine, not the whole place; other customers could presumably eavesdrop
  • While not a chain, it’s part of a larger group that I’ve heard isn’t the most scrupulous. I’d rather support a true local business.

3. Atlas is a medium-casual downtown place with pretty creative, internationally-inspired food. We haven’t gotten a quote from them yet.
PROS:

  • Walking distance from where people will be staying
  • Diverse yet thoughtful menu; people could probably all find something they like
  • (Presumably) less expensive than previously mentioned places–TBD
  • Local business

CONS:

  • Rather casual; may not impart the atmosphere we’re looking for
  • We’d be renting a room, not the whole place, so same disadvantage as Givanni’s

4. Venuto’s is a newcomer to the Iowa City scene–in fact, it’s not even open yet. It just moved from Mount Vernon. We’ve heard good things about it and always meant to try it, but by the time we got all the way to Mount Vernon, there was no way we could skip our very favorite place, the Lincoln Café (unfortunately not a contender for rehearsal dinner for a variety of reasons). So anyway, Venuto’s has moved to Iowa City, and it’s in a really cool space (formerly Gringo’s, of the lovely space but crappy food).
PROS:

  • Walking distance from where people will be staying
  • Since they’re new, they may be willing to negotiate a good deal. TBD, of course.
  • Local business

CONS:

  • Totally untested–can they handle it? Is the food good?

So, as you can see, much has yet to be determined. In other news, we made an appointment at DeLuxe bakery to talk about possible wedding cakes.

I swear, we’ll get a wedding together yet.

2 responses to “Two sickos in love”

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