There I was sitting at our table at the Skylark Diner and Lounge in Edison, New Jersey for Mother’s Day Dinner. Just 24 hours earlier I was at Applebee’s, eating their ostensible Chicken Parmesan entree, as you might recall. A meal of breaded chicken, topped with sauce and cheese, and served over pasta was obviously the furthest thing from my mind, right?
For a normal person that would indeed probably be the case. No reasonable, well-adjusted adult in their 30s would dine out twice in the span of 24 hours and order the same thing at two different restaurants, right?
Normal. Reasonable. Well-adjusted. I’ve never called myself any of these things.
Before looking at the menu, I figured since this was a sort of upscale kind of a diner with a full service bar I might be able to order a negroni cocktail. It’s my favorite drink but I’m usually disappointed by the number of bartenders who don’t know how to mix equal parts of Campari, Gin, and Sweet Vermouth together into one delicious drink. Today, however, I was in luck. It was on their cocktail menu.
With that out of the way it was time to choose my main course. I’m notoriously indecisive when it comes to dining out but given the holiday my menu choices were limited. I began to peruse when the inevitable decided to slap me right across the face:
Chicken Parmesan Style? What the hell does that mean? Why did they add an additional and unnecessary word? I didn’t understand anything about this. Utterly baffled, I concluded that there was really only one thing I could do about this.
Outside of the odd name choice this was as good as anything you’d get at your favorite Italian restaurant. I mean this as a compliment. After all, I am a self-ordained authority on the subject. Everything about this was pretty great and not what you’d expect from a “diner”. Not a single taste offended me. If and when I ever get married this is exactly the kind of Chicken Parm that I’d be happy give my guests as a choice. Look, it’s got me talking about my hypothetical wedding. If that’s not the highest of praise, I don’t know what is!
I still don’t understand what they meant by “Chicken Parmesan Style”. Did they mean, “Chicken, Parmesan Style” or did they mean, “Chicken: Parmesan Style”?!? Maybe they were just trying to say, “Look, this is our god damned Chicken Parmesan and when we do it we do it with fuckin’ Style, capiche?”
Some questions don’t have answers. The good news is that you can always order another negroni. Lord knows I did!
Semi-Parmed Life 