Desserts

I had this picture stashed in my camera and was saving it for a quick post about our new friends Michelle and Al and hanging out with them last Saturday. We met them in SoHo around 7 and stopped for a drink at the Cub Room, where Craig and I have eaten a pretty decent lunch before. Michelle and I drank wine and Craig and Al drank beer and we caught up after our returns from Mexico. Michelle has two children (Al is stepdad and hockey coach to the boy, Ben) and they were able to drop them with family and travel from Jersey into Manhattan to meet us. After a drink, we walked to Dos Caminos at West Broadway. Our reservations were shifted from a floating table in the middle of the dining room to a booth, which we all preferred anyway, and we ordered their feature homemade guacamole, which yes, was very good. I've had notably as good guac at Taco Taco right here on 2nd Ave, but that's okay - Dos Caminos did a nice job. Their Sangria was pretty stand-up as Sangria goes, too. We ate our entrees and had fun conversation and then following dinner, Michelle and Al had been encouraged by a friend of theirs to go to Ferrara in Little Italy (very nearby). Evidently a mother of one of the boys who plays on Ben's hockey team, coached by Al, is part-owner or is related to the owner of Ferrara, and Ferrara has been around since the late 1800's with renowned espresso (the first? ever??) and desserts. So, we went because Michelle and Al felt strongly that we couldn't turn down such an invite, and wow, were we glad we did go (see above photograph for details). We were herded in front of a long line of people waiting to get into Ferrara near midnight, seated immediately and served the coffees and desserts we ordered promptly. Then Al tried to obligatorily pay at the end of our Ferrara experience, and our waiter told us, "Management has taken care of you." Nice!! So it was not only fun and delicious, but also free! We thanked Michelle and Al profusely for their kindness. Then we managed to crash a birthday party at a bar across the street, which is another story for another time. I just wanted to make it clear yet again that living in New York is a constant unfolding of events, whether it's free dessert and coffee at Ferrara or a dinner on a client at Giando on the Water in Brooklyn, which we're going to schedule for February 2nd, the evening following an afternoon performance of SYREN, my friend's wife's modern dance company based here in New York. Perhaps I should insert here that we're going to Joe's Pub with Lauren's boyfriend next Saturday night for a show, after eating Korean at St. Mark's Place, and that the next weekend we are headed to Cinci to see our old co-worker and good friend Wojo get married...oh, and wait, this Sunday, my friend Jen from college is traveling to NYC and bringing her new baby Langston and we will see them at an Embassy Suites on the West Side for a couple of hours. And there are a lot of new social events scheduled for January and February, and while we completely love staying home and being quiet, we also love the thrill of the social activity that seems to arise steadily. I'm excited to spend time with people we love in 08. I'm excited to see 08 unfold and become one of the best years we've ever had.*