My wife and I have known each other for the better part of two decades now. Even though she can still baffle me beyond belief, I've learned much about the woman over the years. I know her likes, dislikes and a million different ways to make her roll her eyes at me.

With all this knowledge, I set out to plan an evening out, sans children, for her birthday a week ago. In years past, a big night out for us meant venturing into Chicago to a fancy restaurant or to see a hit show. This year I planned to do just that, but keep it as local as possible.

I wanted to start our evening with a romantic dinner at a nice restaurant that wasn't one of the bajillion franchised places around. I turned to the NWI.com Web site (no fooling!) to give me some ideas. I had no idea how many unique dining places the Region has to offer. I eventually chose Scarborough Faire Cafe and Bakery, 12 W. Joliet St., Schererville. This restaurant is a restored early 1900s home combined with professionally prepared, classic dishes.

We were immediately taken with the charm of the building, complete with wraparound porch. The interior was intimate and quaintly decorated with beautiful paintings and tableware. The staff could not have been more gracious to us. I waited tables for many years and can easily sniff out genuinely kind staff or those who want to move you out to get their tip. These folks are the real deal.

My wife had grilled barbecue meatloaf with roasted pepper chutney, an upscale twist of classic comfort food, with a side of mashed potatoes that apparently had the perfect amount of lumps. My grilled pork tenderloin medallions with honey mustard sauce had an amazing flavor and were cooked to perfection. But what sealed the deal was dessert. One of the main reasons I chose the place was seeing raves about its bread pudding with caramel sauce, my wife's favorite. The look on her face as she took her first bite told me we'd be coming back again soon.

Part two of our evening took us to The Theatre at the Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road in Munster, to see a performance of "Phantom," running now through Aug. 17. My wife's favorite musical is "Phantom of the Opera," so I thought I'd hit the jackpot when I heard about this performance. Little did I know that "Phantom" is different than the more renowned Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Phantom of the Opera." "Phantom" is the Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit version of the Gaston Leroux 1910 novel that was conceived just before Webber's musical.

I was concerned this might be a second rate show since it isn't the version we knew. I could not have been more pleasantly surprised. Performances by Larry Adams as the title character, Johanna McKenzie Miller as Christine and Marilyn Bogetich as Carlotta were nothing short of spectacular. During intermission, I hurried to see what upcoming show they had planned.

After all, you don't need to leave the Region for an enjoyable evening of upscale entertainment.

The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at bbirgel@gmail.com.