My boss gave me a gift certificate soon after Ron and I had started dating so I took Ron to Radius, Michael Schlow’s first Boston restaurant. Ron and I didn’t know each other well, so it was a giddy night. The restaurant was beautiful – a circular room with white marble-paneled walls and a high gilt ceiling. The food was spectacular, and the service impeccable – I wish I had a photo to show you. It was one of the best dining experiences of my life. But….

I don’t remember what Ron ordered; I ordered the Shrimp Ragout. It was served in a low, wide bowl, and I savored looking at it before I even tasted it. Such elevated comfort. I was having a great time – beautiful room, amazing food, lovely company. When the waiter came by to check on us, I looked away from Ron only long enough it ask the waiter if it would be possible to get the recipe for the ragout? He smiled, and told me he’d have to check with the chef.

Conversation continued and meandered playfully, but then landed in an awkward space with Ron trying to convince me that nothing really mattered, that there was no meaning except the meaning we ascribe to things. I’m not sure where he was going with that thread, but I excused myself and walk across the restaurant, down the long, wide stairwell that curved down to the Ladies’ Room on the lower level. The bathroom was as exquisite as the restaurant – beautifully appointed, and so, so clean – gleaming. I stood looking at myself in the mirror, face flushed from the wine, trying to figure out how and even why I should address Ron’s existential nihilism.

So I strolled back to the table and flashed a smile at Ron meant to inspire a change in topic. Just then the waiter popped up, with an envelope in his hand – the recipe! Amazing. It was hand-written, clearly in haste but with care. And the last ingredient on the list was “love.” So that’s where it all began.

You may be wondering how we got from there to here. You may be wondering why the Radius envelope is so tattered. Well, long story short, I think Ron has managed to ascribe some meaning to this life we’re living, and it includes kitties! We adopted Mac from a rescue in Tennessee during lockdown, so we had to meet him on Zoom rather than in person. The first thing he did on the Zoom call was jump up on the director’s desk and start ripping up papers gleefully. I forgot to Mac-proof the house before he moved in, so it’s on me. He’s such a good boy!

P.S. I didn’t know who Michael Schlow was at the time. Since then, he’s become one of my favorite celebrity chefs. He appears on Simply Ming regularly and he’s just so incredibly gracious and warm. I wonder if he scribbled the recipe for me himself. I like to think so. Michael Schlow’s cookbook It’s About Time, is wonderful too, although it doesn’t include the recipe for this Shrimp Ragout. This a melinmac cooks exclusive.