Sweet Caroline! I Think We're Having a Journey Moment!

Cue the Moon! Cue the Moon!

You know when you watch a movie and suddenly everyone in the restaurant begins singing and dancing and then total strangers on the street join and everyone seems to be connected in some weird cosmic manner?

You now the scene.

A Laughing Couple dines on penette alla ariabita and chicken parm. The Singer sets up and begins playing and a rogue drummer joins in on the bongos for a song or two. The Singer rolls into September and everyone is dancing in their chairs but the lady across the patio begins to dance outright. The man at the table across the way is caught up in the beat and joins her.

A fountain bubbles in the crisp autumn air under a clear midnight sky as four young women giggle and dance to music only just now heard as the director cues groups of two and three to walk past, admiring the diners, dancers and music. Waiters hustle between the wrought iron tables delivering delicate glasses of wine and The Singer serenades a birthday girl as the diners join in.

The Laughing Couple joins the dance with You Make My Dreams Come True. The man mocks his wife for her Molly Ringwald impersonation and she tells him he reminds her of Rob Lowe-in About Last Night, not so much St. Elmo's Fire .

The Singer wraps it up for the night, to the disappointment of his faithful audience. He moves through the patio, shaking hand and offering hugs, posing with The Fountain Girls for a giggling picture as Volare rings over the sound system and the Diners fall into an impromptu conga line. The Waiters shake hands as checks are paid and everyone laughs and says 'until next time'. As the moon rises higher above the rooftop the Laughing Couple knows they have been privileged to once again experience magic.

The director calls cut and the credits roll.

You know the scene.

Well, that scene was my Saturday night. 

The setting was Paul Mineo's in WestPort Plaza.

This Italian restaurant was a surprise to my husband and me, although it has been around for years. The food is amazing and did I mention the wine glasses are huge? If you go I highly recommend the dishes mentioned above as well as the Artichoke appetizer and the Filet stuffed with seafood. Yum.

The part of The Singer was played by Brian Clarke, a St. Louis musician who -HELLO- should be getting his own category in the next Riverfront Times Best of Edition.

He has played in the St Louis area for years, covers every song ever written as well as his own tunes. He inadvertently played our wedding reception. (It was undercover, he never knew so technically I guess we still owe him.)

The parts of the Diners and the Fountain Girls were played by a group of people who just happened to come together for an amazing evening.

And the part of the Laughing Couple was played by yours truly and my husband.

Molly Ringwald and Rob Lowe were not harmed in the dancing.

yup, that's the size of the wine glasses...on the Moon