Last Thursday, Betty Joan, EJ and I had a hot girl date and plan was to go balls out. Betty Joan moves to Atlanta in a few weeks (that was just a stifled sob you heard from me emitted over the tubes) and EJ is spending the summer doing VERY IMPORTANT THINGS to further her education and career; I will be left behind to…um…hit the bars? Go to the beach? Do some shopping? There is a weak link in every group.
First stop was The Source, the upscale newish restaurant located in the sparkly revamped Newseum. I am still as impressed as I was last time, though they rejiggered the tuna tar tar and not for the best. It still tastes great but makes an absolute mess, not an insignificant detail when you are crouched on a low couch I would still strangle a man with my bare hands for one of the kobe sliders and the pork belly dumplings were stellar. The mixed drinks were well prepared and the wine list was eclectic. My one complaint (besides the really old guy trying to pick me up who was convinced I was Russian) were the prices. I generally don’t balk at prices as I think of food as art, but for what it is, it is not cheap. Keep an eye on what you spend or you will find yourself suffering from a bit of sticker shock.
The next stop was Central, an idea we considered genius in our alcohol fueled states. I liked the scene in there more than The Source; it seemed a bit younger, more modern and not one old guy trying to discepher my ethnicity. (I kid; I love old guys. Without older guys and black men, my self esteem would be in the tank. They are my bread and butter.) This was more of a drinking kinda night, but we did share the home made Kit Kat. Lord have mercy. Crispy wafers, hazelnut nut filling with a side of homemade hazelnut ice cream? All that is right in the world, let me tell you. The wine list was great, and more affordable than The Source. EJ had a Violet Mimosa, a crisp and sweet cocktail, but not sickeningly sugary. It was like nothing I have ever tasted. I cannot wait to go there for a proper meal; the space alone begs more inspection.
It was a fantastic evening with great friends. Of course it ended with a few regrettable drunk texts, but any night worth having does. And my head didn’t even explode…a fine night indeed.
10:37 am on May 13th, 2008
А Б В Г Д Є Ж Ѕ З И І
К Л М Н О П Ҁ Р С Т Ѹ
Ф Х Ѡ Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Ѣ
Ю ІА Ѧ Ѩ Ѫ Ѭ Ѯ Ѱ Ѳ Ѵ Ѥ
I am an idiot…for a moment, I truly believed I had some sort of formating issue.
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11:08 am on May 13th, 2008
I’m just trying to help you get closer to actually being Russian. I mean, I figure you’ve already got the drinking part down.
You know, I read this article this weekend about drinking and women in my age bracket. I am now pretty sure I could be defined as an alcoholic…which was shocking, but I am sure I will forget about it after a few drinks this evening.
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12:24 pm on May 13th, 2008
Pork belly dumplings sound awesome . . . I’ll have to check them out. And the kit kat at Central rockz! Have you tried Chef Power’s version at Corduroy? Definitely worth a visit! As an aside, I ate at Central a couple of weeks ago and my dining companion spotted a mouse in the dining room. She was a little wigged out . . . me, not so much . . . but here’s the kicker . . . I notified some staff on our way out the door and they certainly seemed to not give a shit. How do you like the decor/atmosphere in Central? I get the sense from your post that you did it. I thought it was way too bright . . . cafeteria-like. But the food’s definitely worth returning for. Hopefully, the mouse will have vacated the premises by my next visit!
I have worked in food service and the mouse would not bother me…it happens. Management should have apologized, though. As far as decor, the lighting seemed fine to me; I enjoyed the yellow and orange tones. Very mellow.
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1:19 pm on May 13th, 2008
Jealous.
I have a lot of love in this heart…we need a waffle house date, remember?
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2:46 pm on May 13th, 2008
Only slightly off-topic, but when you get together like this, do girls talk about or comment on what parts of the male body, other than the face, they really like? And does a particular girl tend to focus on one part more than the others?
For guys, this happens all the time (”look at her boobs,” “check out her ass,” etc.), and guys come to know who are the boob men, leg men, and ass men. There’s even some peer-reviewed research on what personalities the different types tend to have.
But for females, I can’t find any information, and all I have is anecdotes. There are arm girls and back girls for sure, and I think arm girls are the more dominant and assertive girls, while back girls are more appeasing and wanting protection. Is there another type, like how a tiny percent of guys are leg men? Maybe chest & abs girls?
We actually have naked pillow fights when we get together…
Of course girls talk about what they like. What do you think we talk about? I tend to be a shoulder girl myself…I don’t know what that means. I feel like I am betraying some sort of girl code, but girls talk about sex all the time. Not boys, but sex. Or maybe I am running with the wrong crowd.
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3:20 pm on May 13th, 2008
I second everything that Lemmonex says above. At The Source: the tuna was messy and refreshing, the pork belly ravioli creamy and decadently rich and I wish I could bathe in the onion jelee that comes with the kobe beef sliders. I drank a fantastic mojito-like cocktail that was garnished with candied ginger. I also nearly had a seizure over our bill. Despite its much-vaunted status as one of the ten best new restaurants in the country, according to Frank Bruni, Central was much more reasonable on my much-abused wallet. Plus they have the gourmet Kit-Kat served with hazelnut ice cream. My cocktail there tasted… purple. No other description can really compare. It was the essence of purple.
Lemmonex, no betrayal of girl code by cluing in agnostic. Given what we uncovered at this particular girls’ night, I’d say our girl code is rock-solid
I think purple is the best description. I want to bathe in it’s purpliness.
And I blocked out what we uncovered…seriously. We uncovered something?
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3:29 pm on May 13th, 2008
I know girls talk about guys and sex. What I mean is, are they specific in pointing out body parts like guys are? (Girls tend to focus less on a guy’s looks, and emphasize chemistry and mood / atmosphere more.) And does a girl reliably focus on the same body part?
You talk like this is obviously true, though if it were, everyone would know about it. Girls know that guys talk about specific body parts, and have heard the phrases boob man, ass man, and leg man. But Google “arm girl” or “arm woman” — nothing comes up.
And it’s OK, you can betray the girl code. I mean, *I* would never tell anyone…
Hmm… I don’t know if such terms exist, but yes, I find my female friends tend to focus on the same physical traits. And while I do think girls maybe focus a little less than guys on looks, they still do. And there are always exceptions; I love tall guys (cliche as it is) but have fallen for a few, er, men of average stature. I’ll always notice shoulders first though…always.
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3:43 pm on May 13th, 2008
Hey, you gotta give that old guy some props–he had some serious cojones for approaching you when you were with such non-Russian hyenas as me and EJ.
I liked the Source, and I certainly think your app recommendations were spot-on, but I get a little ooky when I think of how much of our bill was just for the “Wolfgang Puck” attached to the entrance sign. I mean, I’ve eaten in some restaurants with some pretty famous chefs (Morimoto in Philly and wd-50 in NYC come immediately to mind), and at neither place did I feel like I was being raped in the wallet. Oh, and at both of those restaurants, the famous chef in question is, more often than not, IN the kitchen. Such is our culinary society, I suppose.
Regardless…you CANNOT put a price on a quality girl date like this one. Mwah!
You are right–props to the old guy. And “raped in the wallet” has been added to the lexicon…spot on assessment. Viva la girl date!
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4:18 pm on May 13th, 2008
When I lived in Baltimore, I was always amused at how much higher the wine prices were in D.C. It must be really expensive to move those bottles 40 miles!
With Source, it really was the food that was more the issue, but I agree…wine prices are often insanity.
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7:02 pm on May 13th, 2008
Agnostic–Girls definately talk about men’s parts they like…its just in a different way.
Its more of a “type” thing. Some girls love big burly guys, some love skinny guys, some love tall guys or a combination.
It also tends to be more of a coloring thing with us…where you guys are more ass/boob/leg men…girls are more often having types based on dark guy/blonde/black/asian guy.
Or a style. I know lots of girls who only date Preppy guys or Metro guys or Indie Guys.
I hope that helps.
I am with Lemmonex–I love shoulders and tall guys…and good looking men. Some girls really like ugly or average guys.
I definately prefer a handsome men. Maybe its a fetish?
You and your crazy handsome fetish, Kass.
But you are so spot on with the coloring thing. I am not a fan of the blondes.
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12:28 am on May 14th, 2008
Shoulder girls, huh? You learn something new every day. It’s so specific, like not arms or back, but just the part that connects them. Are there girls who value a good knee or wrist on a guy too?
Guys have the overall body type prefs too (petite, tall, etc.), and the coloring thing (oh I don’t know, like mocha skin, green eyes, and black hair). And of course you guys don’t prefer blondes: they’re not very take-charge.
I would not have pegged you for a guy who wants a woman to take charge.
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12:08 pm on May 14th, 2008
Well, not a ball-buster, but a little bit of feisty goes a long way.
Noted. It is a hard line to tow, the ball buster vs fesity one.
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