Frankie's for Valentine's now a must, or else

If you're thinking of changing your mind at the last minute and opting to stay home for Valentine's Day rather than make it to that dinner reservation you have, think again. My husband's credit card will be charged Dh500 if we don't show up for our reservation, thanks to a credit card authorisation form we couldn't get out of filling.

Several days ago, my husband made us dinner reservations at one of our favourite restaurants in Abu Dhabi:

. I told him to go ahead on one condition: that we did not have to partake in any set menus and could just have a regular night out, ordering our favourites from the menu and enjoying the atmosphere of a place we like to visit any day of the week.

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He was courteously told by the hostess, when placing his reservation, that our choice to forgo the set menu that the restaurant had on offer that night was not a problem at all; we were not the only ones to want to partake of the

a la carte

menu.

"However," she said, "We will send you a credit card authorisation form that we require you to fill out and send back to us."

Why?

Because if a last minute headache or unexpected delay or late night work commitment should crop up and force us to cancel our dinner plans, we'd still be required to pay for our non-appearance.

The restaurant was expecting us at 7:30pm on Valentine's Day (the only available time slot on perhaps the most popular night of the year). If we're a no show, we'll be charged

Dh500

regardless.

My husband made it very clear that no last minute "headaches" would be tolerated. Which means I'll be having the "Grilled scallop, roasted pumpkin puree, poplar mushrooms, baby spinach salad" tomorrow night:

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