Christmas Party

Last night my wife, My Anh (me-ann), and I attended her Christmas Party. In my life, I have attended some extravagant affairs and – far too often – I consumed too much alcohol. During this dinner party, I was offered cocktails by the servers and by my wife’s boss…all of which I declined. It’s not just that liquor has become more hazardous at my age; alcohol is an unnecessary expense. I enjoyed the food and gave the appropriate accolades to the boss and the planners without the aid of alcohol. I should point out that the dinner party was paid for by my wife’s company and all alcohol was included. Even so, I did not want to add more expense to the tab. There were about fifty people all together. The dinner party was phenomenal! It was a short and relatively quiet affair, seemingly representative of the tumultuous year that now includes mysterious drones in the skies over the United States. The main event – THE FOOD – was extraordinary. ‘KPOT Korean BBQ and Hot Pot’ was a very unusual culinary experience. Located at 2802 Tuttle Blvd in Longview, Texas, KPOT offers an All You Can Eat Korean BBQ meal that is of very high quality. The large tables have a large central BBQ tray for personally cooking meats and fish, while each place setting has its own adjustable ‘Induction’ cooktop. For those of you who might not be familiar with Induction burners, they are not hot to the touch so, not hazardous. We ordered from a large menu of items that included Beef, Pork & Bacon, Chicken, Fish and Shells and a very wide array of fresh vegetables, Tofu and mushrooms. My wife works at a very large and successful Vietnamese Nail Salon in Tyler, Texas, so, this was an Asian affair where I was in the miniscule minority. There is a great deal of dignity in Asian culture and, though short, the party was a great assembly of goodwill, laughter and cheer. The KPOT Restaurant cut no corners on the food and the thick flavored bacon was particularly tasty. Each table had a large pair of scissors with which to cut meat and vegetables. Asians are keen on cutting meat and vegetables in this manner and – for the first time in my long life – two pairs of scissors hang above our kitchen sink. There was no gift exchange, no long speeches, no outlandish dresses or shirts and no one got even close to drunk. I was the only man in a suit coat (no tie) and many of the guests – myself included – were in dress jeans. KPOT isn’t simply dinner; it is an experience similar to Beni-Hana without the theatrics. There are many KPOT locations throughout the central and Eastern United States with more than a dozen each in Texas and Florida. The service was outstanding and never missed a beat. I LOVE BAR-B-QUE!!!