General discussion about Usagi Yojimbo, the comics, the stories, the characters, collectibles, TV appearances, Stan Sakai, Space Usagi, Nilson & Hermy, and all other related topics.
Morna-san & husband (Gary)
Shaxper & wife (Kiera)
David Petersen (friend and friend's girlfriend)
Stan Sakai
Myself & nephew (Nick) - finally confirmed that my nephew can go
MikeM & friend
Sergio
Oh man, I totally forgot about Jeremy Bastian and his girlfriend... which does put us at 12 or 13, depending on whether Sergio joins us or not.
morna-san wrote:Mike, I believe your list is accurate. That rocks if Sergio can come. I was thinking of inviting Guy Davis and Rosie but I guess we're at capacity already.
Since we appear to have more people than will fit at one table, a couple more won't hurt.
I was told when making the reservation that if the group requires more than one table, the restaurant could not guarantee that the tables would be next to each other. I do believe that the sooner we know how many will be going, the better chance of possibly making special arrangements with the manager for side by side tables.
MikeM wrote:Also, which one are we going to? There are three in Michigan and I have no idea which is the closest to Novi.
Stan Sakai wrote:I just talked to Sergio, and, yes, he will join us.
I guess we'll have to get two tables. Does Benihana (or even another restaurant in the area) have a tatami room for small parties?
Second choice for the dinner get-together was the Cherry Blossom Restaurant in Novi, near the Residence Marriot (43588 W Oaks Dr. Novi, MI 48377-3302) http://cherryblossom.biz/Novi/about.html
They have tatami rooms for special occassions and small parties..... I would appreciate feedback from everyone on which restaurant sounds better for the occassion.... (I have limited experience personally, having eaten a couple times at a habachi style restaurant similar to Benihana, but never at a more traditional style Japanese restaurant)
It would be nice if we could all sit together. The Cherry Blossoms sounds good to me, especially if we could get a private room.
You go to Benihana for the show, and it is not as conducive to hanging around once the chef leaves and the food is eaten. Not to say that we will be hanging around for very long once the food is eaten.
Benihana does not have private rooms, and still say that they can not seat the whole group together.
I called the Cherry Blossom this morning and, unfortunately, all their private rooms are booked for the evening of May 19th. They can still seat a party of 13 together at one table, so I went ahead and made a reservation for the group.
I was asked if we wanted a table in the smoking or non-smoking area, for which I answered non-smoking. I apologize to any smokers in the group.
Between Sergio, Stan, and David, I am pretty sure we will have more than enough entertainment, and having a chef cooking at the table might have been almost a distraction.
Last edited by Steve Hubbell on Sat May 05, 2007 8:56 -0700, edited 1 time in total.
my vote goes to the Cherry Blossom too. I'm not much of a fan of these "show" type eateries. The food often suffers in favour of showmanship, and I'm all about the food!
Cherry Blossom all the way. Benihana is fun, but it's a chain restaurant, and thus lacks some authenticity. As has been said before, it's less about the food and atmosphere, and more about the show. I love an entertaining chef as much as the next guy, but I don't really need one when I've got Stan and Sergio in the room.
wow, there was actually a choice of smoking or non-smoking? In Ontario, its a law that all restaurants are non-smoking. Which is fine since yesterday was the two month mark of being smoke free!
Oh, and I vote for Cherry Blossom. I think we should all sit together.
I apologize, but I cannot think of anyway to broach this subject in a tactful manner....
While discussing the upcoming Dojo Group Dinner get-together with a friend, I was asked the question of whether or not everyone knows that each Dojo member and dinner guest is responsible for their own dinner bill, and that I am just responsible for arranging the dinner. I will also cover Stan's dinner since he is the guest of honor.
I am hoping that everyone planning on attending had already assumed that they had to cover their own bills and have taken the time to check out the dinner menu on the Cherry Blossom Restaurant web-site and have planned accordingly. http://cherryblossom.biz/Novi/dinner.html
I apologize again for the tactlessness of this message.
Abayo,
Steve (scared of being handed a $600 dinner bill)
Steve, that made me laugh out loud. I just had this picture of you returning from the washroom and everyone is gone and the waitress standing there with a bill.
I always assumed we were responsible for our won bill so it's all good. I can understand the nervousness however.
