I know everyone thinks that the only restaurants I go to are 5 star, and while those are indeed my favorite, I do like to go inexpensive places very much as well. I just love food and restaurants. The other night my glam friend and I went to Baoguette which as cheap as they come and so fabulous. It's a Vietnamese hole in the wall sandwich joint that has a terrific combination of authentic and more fashiony sandwich choices. I had resisted going for a while because I thought there would be only pork choices but I'm happy to report how very wrong I was. He and I each had the spicy beef that was a spicy chili of sorts then layered with julienned green mango, cilantro, basil with hot sauce mixed in for (very) good measure. Funny...we each thought about ordering a second sandwich but cooler heads prevailed and we decided to go back a second time for catfish...probably Saturday for lunch.
He was craving bubble tea so we went around the corner to Tease where we had his tea and I got a chocolate brownie that we shared. The shop was cute, the ladies quite nice and what we ordered hit the spot. It was still only about 7:30 and we were going to a birthday party at an acquaintance's apartment in the Village. We were on 27th St, walked down to the 14th St Trader Joe's to pick up a bottle of wine to bring, then, since the party didn't start until 9 we just sort of wandered across the city. ALL the way across-almost to the Standard Hotel when I realized and asked him why we were so far west. His answer so thoroughly charmed me that I did LOL. He thought that if we walked to the part of the City that had street names we would find Thompson St, it had a name ergo another named street would be close. I'm sill giggling as I type. Then, I who grew up here guided us to the part of the city that I find most difficult, a place where W4th St can cross with W12th St and therefore makes no sense. But I know the city well enough that I got us there. We were still too early so went into what looked like a charming French wine bar...beautiful smoke stained old tin ceilings, marble topped tables with pretty curly wrought iron table legs-you know the look. Let me warn you of the dangers of judging a book by it's cover...I had Prosecco, served in a thick walled wine glass that was so flat even I thought it tasted like white wine. I hated that, I hated looking like the cliched woman drinking a glass of white wine. I took 2 sips and left it. And my glam best friend actually got it taken off the bill! So impressive! He ordered a martini because the glasses did look particularly wonderful-an asymmetrical glass, higher on one side than on the other and completely crackled on the bottom though getting less and less crackled as it went up the bowl. I guess that's where the bar put it's money.
Ok, we finally climbed up the 4 flights of very patinaed marble steps with gorgeous Victorian wrought iron banisters to the apartment. It was overcrowded and really hot but nicely furnished and my friend, who is always quite solicitous of me found us a quiet spot near a window. We then held court there as his friends and acquaintances came to see us and we had a lovely time. When I announced I was ready to leave he walked me to the train and we had our usual touching goodbye scene, lots of hugs and kisses with declarations of love flying back and forth and somehow a plan to go to Miami.
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