At the risk of depressing those who live in areas "sparsely populated" with MM'ers...let me add my dos duros (before we switch to the euro) on Friday night's L.A. dinner:

¡Qué ilusión! I enjoyed meeting laduque (and her charming mother :)), jdowney-who will be walking the camino with her 65 yr old father next month...GO JD!!!!, roses (and her artist friend Warren) who is off to Spain to skate into the olymipics!!!???, as well as renewing acquaintances with Shawn, who's mulling over a trip to bone up on "el castellano puro de Valladolid". Good choice. We spent about 3+ hours just yapping on about whatever. Normally you get those "7-minute lapses" in a group, but not this one. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Allegria is definitely NOT a Spanish restaurant. The menu has paella and jamón serrano on it, and the music that night was flamenco, but as our waiter pointed out, the city of Long Beach is not ready for a full-time 100% traditional Spanish kitchen. Their loss. The food we did get was tasty, though...don't get me wrong, and the service was good.

I really enjoyed the evening, and hope that all present did, too. I believe the next meeting will be in San Diego at laduque's hubby's new restaurant: Costa Brava. As was pointed out at dinner, the $$$ partner had final say in the name, and even though the chef is from Santander, thought Costa Brava was better. Oh well, laduque...we're not eating the menu or the marquee! Good luck!

Nicole, you were missed! It's okay, though...they didn't have chorizo on the menu. We'll catch you on the rebound.