Reading between the lines...
Wednesday evening at Lavinia's was a very nice experience, with a corner table in the pub and some live music by a lovely lady who, according to me, sounds like a cross between the Indigo Girls, Stevie Nicks and someone else who I can't put my finger on, but my wife didn't think my musical analysis was very accurate. She also liked the music, though.
The waitress's knowledge of beer was excellent, which perked up my rating of the place by several notches because there is nothing I hate more than asking what kind of dark, but not too dark, beer is on tap and being told, "Budweiser."
Unfortunately, not enough places in NH serve Yeungling lager from Pennsylvania yet, but in the past ten years its distribution has expanded from just PA and a bit of NY all the way DOWN the east coast into the Florida Keys, and I have strong faith that it will climb north soon. I think Sam Adams is putting on some sort of blocking maneuver down around Boston though, which is a problem.
(My wife had a blueberry beer, but we won't talk about that.)
While I wasn't overjoyed with the selection of steaks on the menu, seeing only two choices and opting for the cheaper flank steak at $25, I did think it was a very nice piece of beef and done exactly as I ordered it. Mame's has a better selection, and better prices, but the Woodshed is my favorite steak and prime rib place around, so far...
Reading between the lines, I felt that there is an underlying nervousness about the place. From the greeting at the door to the attentive service, all friendly and competent, it is just a feeling I get in restaurants when a manager is uncomfortable, new or worried.
Overall, to the average joe, the evening was great, but to my attentive, wannabe special agent, ear to the ground, intuitive and highly irrelevant, mostly useless ability to feel the mojo of a place, I didn't feel 100% at home at Lavinia's. However, we will go back on Wednesday nights because other than the aura, everything was fantastic and live music from a corner crooner with a guitar on her knee and a waitress who knows about beer and a chef who knows how to cook trumps everything else.
And by the way, in the car on the way home, my wife did not agree with me at all when I mentioned my theory about the aura...
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