Frames – Burgers, Beer, and Bowling (Birthday Edition)

The day started off rather normally. Well, as normal as any birthday weekend can start.

We had just come from Rockaway Beach, after a mini surprise party congregating at the boardwalk. Cake and friends and waves and dogs filled the day and I headed back with everyone feeling birthday happy.

There was rumor of another thing coming though and I excitedly boarded the a train back as my friends told me the dress code at this next spot was “dress to impress.”

I laughed as my BFF pulled out one of my favorite dresses from her beach bag. It was a little black dress covered in tiny cloth black roses.

“just in case we ran late at the beach” was her reason.

“when did you even go into my room and take that??” I exclaimed.

“I have my ways.” she smiled. “Anyway, you don’t have to wear this one if you don’t want to now that we have time to go home, but they said dress to impress.”

I took the dress from her. “I’m wearing it.”

Angelica Kitchen

So I have a co-worker who came back from the weekend about a few months ago and declared, “I’m on the Mediterranean Diet now.”

For a few weeks I made fun of him every time he pulled out his Nook to tell me a new thing he learned (the day he got to the chapter where it asks “Can you drink coffee on the Mediterranean Diet?” (answer: yes, the people of the Mediterranean do enjoy their coffee, you can just skip the milk) was a good day). He was a bit cranky and complained about wishing he was eating pizza right now instead of not eating pizza.

Then, in that magical third week, he waltzed in with his milkless coffee and said actually, he’s been feeling a lot better.

Of COURSE he was – when you cut out processed flour, red meats, other fatty animal products, and change the focus of your meals to veggies and good fats, you’re going to feel better. All diet advice really boils down to that, right?

Here was the kicker that got me to go on amazon.com a buy a copy of The Mediterranean Diet at the very moment the kicker happened.

He said, “My grocery bill is cut in half.” Turns out cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, chickpeas, and couscous are pretty cheap, especially when 4 out of 5 meals consist of these very ingredients.

Sold.

Red Hook Lobster Pound Food Truck

We’re having burgers that are not noteworthy enough for a blog post. Late lunch after two hours at the DMV so I can finally have a NY State ID card and not cart my passport around to every bar in the city. He pulls out his phone and begins scrolling through his emails.

“So.”

“So?”

“There’s a few things we can do tonight. You can say no if you want to.”

“Haha, okay.”

“There is an early thing going on. The Danger List is holding a press party for their series of events and shows at the Palms.”

The Danger List is infamous in the NYC party scene for throwing parties in places where you don’t expect people to have parties. The last Danger party we went to had a hot tub stoked by what looked like a campfire. The first Danger party we went to had us dress up like pirates, get in an unmarked windowless van, and had us walk the plank onto a Pirate ship. They’re a crazy bunch.

“What does press party mean?”

“It means they only invite press and their friends to preview the party.”

“So it’s not going to be as crazy as their parties usually are?” (Their parties are usually a bit overwhelming for a 9to5er like me who often considers Friday night her night of rest.)

“No.” He pauses. “And it’s a pool party.”

Bareburger

“So, inside, right?” the hostess smiles as we walk in breathing heavily, foreheads glistening with sticky sweat from our 40 minutes walk from midtown to downtown. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the 101 degree heat caught up to us around 14th street.

A chuckle is managed as we nod, yes, inside please. The hostess gestures towards a booth and before our butts hit the 100% recycled polyester vinyl, a large carafe of water hits our table.

“Thank you,” we both squawk and begin to pour out water immediately. One of us has our senses about him still and gestures for my very empty water bottle.

“Let’s fill this up first.”

“You’re a genius.”

We have been here before, thanks to a burger-themed Groupon, and I took the risk of buying two at once so we were here to redeem our second Groupon, already discussing how this could become a regular burger spot.

Reason #1: Meat selection round-up: beef, chicken, turkey, ostrich, bison, elk
Reason #2: all meat is either organic or all natural, grass-fed, and pasture-raised
Reason #3: So are their cheeses, breads, sauces, and vegetables. Heck, their tables are made from trees felled in storms and their tin roof is from leftover siding from barn raisings.
Reason #4: Curry ketchup dipping sauce.
Reason #5: Can their waitresses be any nicer?

67 Burger

“Wait, you guys were serious about this?” my boss laughs as I tell her we are off to our second Burger Club meeting.

“Yeah, I’ll show you the minutes tomorrow,” I jokeas I depart her office. Another head shake and laugh as she waves goodbye.

We all convene at the F train – this week we’re venturing into another burrough, crossing the Manhattan bridge to run around Brooklyn in search of our next burger. 5 Napkins is going to be a lot to live up to.