I was in a little Italian restaurant in Cincinnati. Didn't know the place but I was hungry. The waitress comes over and without looking at the menu I said, I'll have your best lasagna.
She said, We don't have lasagna here sir, what else would you like? As I started to respond, the other waitress overhearing the whole thing says, I just saw a lasagna on the out board, and its not mine. My waitress says, Alright? I'll get it for you.
She brought me the lasagna and it was the best I have ever had in my life. It was fantastic. I paid the bill and left but couldn't forget how good it was.
After a couple of weeks I go back to the restaurant. I noticed that the waitresses were different. When the waitress comes over to the table, of course, I order the lasagna. She immediately got a strange look on her face, and looked down. She says, We do not serve lasagna here anymore, not for seven years, not since 'the incident'.
I said, You must be mistaken, I had lasagna here only two weeks ago. She gasps and says, Are you sure it was here? I said, Yes, of course. What is going on?
She said, Seven years ago our chef worked all day on the perfect lasagna. He gave it the perfect wine, the perfectly aged cheeses, the perfect sauce and handmade pasta. Finally, he was finished. He was so happy.
As the waitress was carrying it out she tripped on something and the lasagna went tumbling, plummeting to the floor. We tried to save it, but it was unrecoverable. It was gone. There was sauce everywhere, on the walls and tables, on the people, all over the floor. We cleaned up the mess, but you can still see marinara stain on the hardwood floor. It will not come out no matter what we do. Sometimes, late at night, you can still smell the perfect wine, and the perfect cheese of the perfect lasagna.
She went on, Sometimes the lasagna, it comes back. We find it in the kitchen but we do not touch it or serve it. It just goes away by itself. It is a ghost lasagna.
I had eaten the ghost lasagna, and it was the best I ever had. I hope that by the waitress serving it, and me eating it, that beautiful lasagna can now, finally, rest in peace.
