Monday, October 01, 2012

Best Goodbye Meals

First of all, you can file this post under "Things That Happened a Month Ago."  I got blog batlogged so bad.  Too many cool things happening, I suppose.

Ahem.  Moving right along . . .

In the past month(ish) I've shared many great meals with great people. But mostly because they were leaving.  So sad.  But the food was good.  Not as sad.

At the end of August New York was faced with the reality that Carol had to move to DC.  So we "celebrated" (how can that be the right word?) with one more trip to SriPraPhai in Queens.  Look at how everyone is happy and laughing!  That's what happens when we go to Sri Pra Phai.  We eat beef waterfall and papaya salad and laugh and laugh.


At that same time, Kelley was back in New York for a week.


We celebrated that (here this is the right word) with dinner at Fette Sau in Williamsburg.  Holy smokes, this place.  I knew it was sitting there on Metropolitan for years and years but I was just a foolish fool to have never visited it before.


We ate: Pulled pork, brisket, sausage, chicharron, bread and beans.  Way too much food to possibly eat, but the absolute smallest order I could possibly make.


And don't worry, they have vegetarian dining options.


It is difficult for me to reconcile the existence of racial prejudice with the existence of barbecue.  It doesn't add up.  


But Kelley's week eventually ran out and, as this is a post about people leaving and the food that was eaten to commemorate (I now realize that's the better word than "celebrate" that I was looking for) I here get back on track . . . Departure food of the Day: Meatball Sandwich at Parm.  


And homemade ice cream cake.  Don't let its looks deceive.  This is a serious dessert, not a tacky confection.  That's Parm's game, expert execution of food typically served on the super lowbrow tip.


Moving along, Carol and I shared one last meal at Yunnan Kitchen on Clinton Street.  I thought she had said "Union Kitchen" and could find absolutely nothing online about what turned out to be a Chinese restaurant.

We shared:

Chicken Wings dusted with sichuan peppercorn powder.


Green Tomatoes, Shisito Peppers and Potatoes on sticks.


Pork Belly 


Rice Cakes with Ham (more than a month later, I still crave this dish ferociously)


Another departure?  My buddy Mark from my Upper West Side days.  Headed off to air traffic control in Hawaii.  So the good news is that I've got someone to stay with in Hawaii now.


We had No. 7 Subs, that day I tried their Cold Meatloaf with Bacon Mayonnaise.  Mark had the superior Cheese Steak with Miso Whizz and Funyuns.


But since we're talking No. 7 Subs, let the record show that a few days before I had split the Zucchini Parm with Potato Chips and the MongolianTofu with Wax Beans with Patricia, who, fortunately, wasn't moving anywhere.


But you know what?  It isn't always other people that leave.  Sometimes it's me.  For example: Remember how I was in Utah for Labor Day?  Before flying back to New York I got dinner with Jared, Sam, Pearl and Owen.  You know what?  It's very hard to find a restaurant that's open on Labor Day in Salt Lake City.  Blue Iguana (seen here): Closed.  Chungas: Closed.


Red Iguana?  Open.


There were nachos!


And enchiladas amarillas.


The first place we tried for dessert, some kind of high tech ice cream joint, was also closed.  But not McDonalds!

Look how everyone here is making a funny face!  But Owen is making the funniest one.


Sundaes all around.  Not a single dipped cone ordered.



Bros.  If you didn't know.  People sometimes say we don't look alike?  But how can that be?  We cross our arms the exact same way.


And that's what I ate when saying goodbye to good people.  If you gotta go, we should at least eat real good about it.

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