As September blows on past, we are realizing that our opportunities to take Orvis along for Tuesday lunches are rapidly disappearing, so we decided that from here on out, weather permitting, every Tuesday lunch will be somewhere in town with outdoor seating – at least until we’re shivering too much to enjoy the meals.

Sonny’s, on Exchange Street in the Old Port provides the requisite cafe seating, and since we’d already been meaning to give it a try, we rushed over to beat the rain yesterday, and enjoyed some tasty drinks (a Caiprinha for her, an Anchor Liberty Ale for me, and a water for him) and a deliciously-filling meal with our furry friend.

The Fried Sweet Plantains we started with were prepared in that juicy-wedge, caramelized-exterior style that originally made us fall in love with the dish on vacation in Nevis. They were stand-alone delicious (I don’t even think we touched the accompanying chili sour cream), and Orvis may have even had the opportunity to try one for himself (he approved – we spent the rest of the meal trying to get him to stop begging). Meredith followed with the Goat Cheese Salad, with apples, pine nuts, mixed greens, and a house dressing, and I gladly ordered up an old favorite from the Mexican restaurants back in North Carolina – the Chile Relleno – which Sonny’s prepared with the excellence one would expect from an establishment taking its cues from the foods of Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, and the Southwest United States.

All in all, it was a fantastic way to spend an early fall afternoon outside, and don’t tell Orvis, but I think we’ll be returning a few more times after the weather turns cold this year.