Hotlanta

Over New Years, Seth and I fled New York City for a weekend getaway to the ATL. There was a lot of drinking, football watching, and naturally, loads of eating. Our hosts for the weekend rolled out the red carpet and let us form our own ass grooves on their couch. Some of my highlights of the weekend:

1. The Waffle House

2. Endless conversations with Eva about which animals live in the Zoo

3. Equally endless conversations with V about the Heineken Kegerator

4. My jealousy of Amanda's shoe closet

5. Clarke and Christy's unbeatable Southern Charm

6. Fried green tomatoes

7. Our Bulgarian drivers

8. A Penn State win in the Capital One Bowl (this is more for Seth)

9. Chik fil-a nugget platter of 150

10. Flying out of Newark airport in 3 inches of snow without any delays

And finally - this masterpiece of a burger from Flip Burger Boutique in Atlanta. They had fried pickles - that's right FRIED PICKLES. This little piece of heaven is called the Southern and consists of a country fried beef patty, house-made pimento cheese, homemade pickles, and green tomato ketchup. When in Rome, right?

Dinners of Champions

Starting on Saturday, Seth and I have had friends in town from Texas (hi Berries) and London (hi LoBalbos). Naturally, when friends fly in, we eat. A lot. When picking the restaurant for Saturday night (Berry night) and last night (LoBalbo night), we thought carefully about what our friends like and what they may miss eating in this area since both couples have spent time living in either New York, New Jersey or D.C. For the Texans, we chose seafood (with a side dish of bagels); for the Londoners, meat. (Frankly, knowing Brian, I am not sure there was any other choice). This morning, as I sat on the train bemoaning my hangover and early start time at work, I reflected upon what was consumed this weekend. Behold.

Saturday night - Aquagrill (split amongst 6 people - hi McGowans):

Peppered Tuna Carpaccio (two orders - the second order came at the end of the night when Austin decided he wanted it for dessert)
Maine Lobster Salad
Crispy octopus appetizer
Seafood plateau royale
Chilean Sea Bass
One Pumpkin Souffle
One Chocolate Souffle
Lots of bottles of wine

Monday night - Minetta Tavern (split amongst 4 people):

Lobster Bisque
Pate
Black Label Burger
Cote de Boeuf for two
Bone Marrow
Side Salads
Jacque Torres Chocolates and Coffees (strong enough to make anyone grow hair down there)
Countless bottles of wine (the LoBalbos know how to drink!)

During the meal at Minetta, we split all of the dishes. The waiter was incredibly nice and managed to form that mess of an order into a four course meal and made it easy enough for us to share. We apparently sounded like such food nerds, he asked us if we were "in the business." We replied that our only business was the nerd business and after that he stopped coming to our table. We didn't get home until close to 1:00am from this meal and this morning, the alarm felt like 1000 screaming voices in my left ear.

As a side note, I would like to tell a little story. Our apartment faces a very busy avenue in NYC. Because of that, we run our air conditioner at night to drown out the extraordinary noises that can creep through our windows. We run the air conditioner for two other reasons. (1) Our apartment is about 85 degrees in the winter given the extreme tactics that building management takes to heat it. (2) Seth sweats. Last night, Seth's metabolism was apparently working so hard to digest all that food, that the air conditioning wasn't enough. So, in his wine induced stupor, Seth believed that the only solution to this problem would be to open the window. I spent half the night wondering why the trucks were so loud and worrying that our guests wouldn't be able to sleep. When I finally realized the window was open and asked Seth about this interesting fact, Seth replied "Oops." Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe making your wife believe that a truck was actually driving through her bedroom is a very good reason to buy said wife a present.

But, I digress. Despite my extreme discomfort this morning, I wish that both meals could have lasted for days. Three hours with such good friends is never enough time, especially when such great people live so far away.

But what I have decided is that, while it is always sad when your best friends move to far off locations, it is a testament to those friendships how little the distance matters. In the wise words of Mary Ann, "we may have a few less shopping trips, but that's what the internet is for." Cheers to that, a few thousand miles can't keep us apart! We miss you Berries and LoBalbos but that only makes our friendship stronger.

r.i.p. o.g.

Last night, S and I had dinner at O.G. Restaurant, a great little place on 6th Street and Avenue A. This restaurant means a lot to us for many reasons - two of which being that our first date was there and we ate there the night that he proposed. We had hoped to hold our rehearsal dinner there as well.

But these aren't the only reasons why I love this restaurant so much. O.G. Restaurant represents to me what is great about living in NYC. This restaurant has been successful for more than 10 years, in a city which chews up and spits out restaurants every day. In my opinion, its finest feature is its lack of pretense. You are always greeted at O.G. with a smile, a great wine recommendation, unbelievable food and a shockingly cheap bill at the end. The service never waivers and their dumplings are some of the best. New Yorkers live for these treasures amongst all of the fly by night, velvet rope ventures that seem to the riddle our neighborhoods all too frequently. O.G. makes you remember why you moved here - it feels like home.

Sadly (and after all that hype), O.G. is closing as of Saturday. The owner tells us he is tired, wants to try new things. I understand that, but selfishly I wish O.G. didn't have to close for him to do so. There are certainly lots of other places that I hold close to my heart in this city, but this one was at the top. I look forward to discovering my next O.G. (and I hope it also serves wasabi mashed potatoes).