Silo's Steakhouse, Merrimack, New Hampshire

SILO’S STEAKHOUSE, Merrimack, New Hampshire
January 26, 2008

I had driven past Silo’s Steakhouse a million times (well it seemed like a million anyway) but never stopped for lunch or dinner. A friend asked if we wanted to go there for dinner with her and her husband. They had really enjoyed dinner there about a month before. It sounded good to me. I was really looking forward to going out to dinner, since we had not been out for dinner in quite some time.

We called ahead at 5:15 PM to be put on the waiting list and were quite surprised to hear that it would be at least an hour to be seated on this Saturday night. We thought for sure we would be the only people looking to go out to dinner so early.

When we arrived, we decided to wait at the bar and enjoy a cocktail. Ever notice how a cocktail seems to make time fly by so much faster? My husband spotted oysters on the half shell. I, of course, was thinking, “YUCK!”. I try to stay away from anything uncooked unless it’s in the vegetable or fruit department. Of course, my husband enjoyed the oysters. My friend and I decided to split a cocktail shrimp, since we were both starving. That too, was delicious.

I decided to have the special - a strip steak smothered with scallops, shrimp (and I think it was) a mornay sauce. It was unbelievable! I ordered the Silo’s own stuffing to go with it -- the stuffing was good. Although the salad was fresh, I’m not a big fan of vinegar-type dressings. Next time I’ll have to remember to ask if I can get it without the dressing. The steak was very good other than my second bite included gristle, which was stuck in my back molars until I made it to the ladies room to discreetly remove it. Speaking of gristle….

About halfway into our enjoyable dinner, my friend stood up and moved toward her husband. I could tell, looking at her, that something was seriously wrong. I realized she was choking. The two husbands were engrossed in conversation. I said to her husband, “She’s choking!” He reached up and gave her the Heimlich and she began to breath. I quickly looked around at our neighboring diners and it looked like absolutely no one noticed what had just transpired. I was very relieved, as I know my friend would have been very embarrassed to think people had watched. Choking in a restaurant, I’m sure, would be a little embarrassing for anyone. It made me think about how lucky I was. I could have lost one of my best friends in an instant. We spoke on the phone the day after and agreed on a few of things:

1. No one should ever worry about spitting food out in a restaurant or anywhere in front of other people.

2. Restaurants should always have paper napkins on the table to go with their cloth napkins (personally I prefer paper anytime to cloth). It seems it would be more polite to spit food into a paper napkin if necessary, rather than a cloth napkin.

3. Every restaurant should have a Heimlich dummy in the lobby. All customers should have to pass the test of dislodging the food stuck in its throat before they are allowed to order any food. Okay, maybe this one is a little far-fetched, but you get the picture.

I think the intensity of the moment caused us all to want to cry, but we continued our evening as if nothing had happened. Even though we had this terrible event, I would highly recommend this restaurant.

This was a real first for me …well I must say my first in a restaurant/public place. I have had two episodes at home with my husband. Maybe I’ll save that for a later blog. But I will just say, never let your husband fall asleep with a throat lozenge in his mouth and never let him watch Two and a Half Men while eating hard candy or anything else.

Speaking of Two and a Half Men….it has to be, by far, the best sitcom on TV right now. For me, it replaced Everybody Loves Raymond, when it went off the air.

This place get an "A-". I would have given it a higher grade if not for the vinegar dressing on the salad.