South Florida 2025 - A Meal With the Mob

Adjacent to our condo was a fairly large shopping center which included several restaurants. Apparently the area where we stayed is sometimes referred to as the Russian Riviera. At dinner one night this came home when we found ourselves among a large number of swarthy individuals talking at various tables about God only knows what. At one table two carried on a conversation which seemed, through volume and gestures between them, to indicate that future events would not end well for someone they were acquainted with. Huge bodybuilders, leaving the gym in the center, swaggered by with a "nice place you got here, it'd be a shame if something happened to it" demeanor, spoken in Russian of course. The group behind us was celebrating something, champagne was being downed in a rapid fashion, and their table groaned under the weight of the abundance of food. I dined on a wonderful creamy pasta with a generous amount of shrimp garnished with parsley sprigs, shaved parmesan cheese and a dollop of caviar. Somehow the caviar seemed appropriate.

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