Yes, I know it’s hard to believe given my incredibly youthful good looks, but your dashing blog hostess turned the big Four-Oh this month. The celebration was uncharacteristically un-theatrical except for the fact that Trish and I celebrated with two of my closest friends, Chris and Jaygee, who happen to be actors (see adorable pics below). It was actually a perfect evening for me since I no longer have the patience or energy to hike it down to Chelsea to ogle the buff eye candy at Splash - just me and a couple of friends hanging out at Studio Square, the “new” beer garden, in LIC. PS, although Studio Square is sleek and modern, the old Beer Garden in Astoria is still my sentimental favorite - boasting more character, better food and none of the young douche-ie types that seem to congregate at the LIC establishment. Not that I’m a size queen, but the Beer Garden’s also got bigger, thicker, juicier brats. In your face, Studio Square.
Speaking of food, how can I not mention the Pineda family’s most recent all-you-can-eat Easter food orgy at the Stone House. Mom and dad were up from Richmond and though technically not immediate family, black Billy and a non-Pineda relative, Merce (a newly arrived San Franciscan joining us just a week after moving to NYC!), joined the festivities. Anyone who can match a Pineda plate-for-plate and cocktail-for-cocktail, I consider family. With a few champagne sangria’s in us, the lips loosened up and we started commenting on a Filipino family sitting at the table next to us. As if on cue, the patriarch at that table got up, approached my dad and asked him if he was from Concepcion (my dad’s hometown in the Philippines). That wouldn’t strike most as unusual, except for the fact that my dad hasn’t been to the Philippines in decades and we were at a random lunch buffet in the middle of Jersey - small world indeed. As for the food, well, what it lacked in culinary excellence it made up for in volume. I mean, how can you complain staring down at a plate of breakfast sausage, spicy tuna sushi, lamb and paella?
To keep on topic, can I just mention my latest NJ food obsession - a cheese steak sandwich with potatoes. It’s thoroughly disgusting, dripping with grease and cheese (or some tasty bright yellow facsimile) and topped with… wait for it… french fries! Why have I not known about this heavenly creation until just recently? The first time Trish and I tried ordering this strange, but glorious creation, we asked for the cheese steak “with the french fries on it.” Our request was met with silence, then confusion and then finally “We don’t have fries... Oh, you mean the cheese steak with potatoes.” Um, duh. I mean, I can understand someone correcting us so that we could order more accurately in the future, but potatoes versus fries? Is there really that big a leap in logic? New Jersey mystery #1 - A restaurant that doesn’t serve french fries as a side dish, yet puts french fries on their sandwiches. Eerie…
JG & me (notice fancy pin from Chris)
Trish hiding, Chris wasted as usual
Blowing out the candles
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