One might reasonably conclude that all of the snowed-in time might has provided me considerable time to write.  One would only be partially correct as replying to the Winter Meme I wrote last Friday is all I have been able to muster.

1. If you had to move away from your current city, what two or three cities you’ve never visited would top your list of choices? Because we are eliminating every city I have visited, most of the world’s major cities are off limits.  Because I cannot fathom living in a non metropolitan area my top choices are: Toronto for the close proximity to NYC and, from what I can tell from television, a very cosmopolitan feel (the high quality health care doesn’t hurt,) Portland, OR for its easy access to wine regions of Oregon and California and what my buddy Jimmy contends is an incredibly livable city, Madrid because when one is considering a move, not listing at least one city with old world European charm would just be silly.
2. What was the last thing that stayed in Vegas? I’ve never been a fan of strip clubs – something about the notion of men paying hundreds, thousands of dollars to be teased by women with whom their chances are roughly the same as John Grisham winning a Pulitzer Prize, seems a bit silly if not flat out pathetic.  However, on my last trip to Vegas, I got roped into going to a strip joint with my crew.  Upon returning from a trip to the restroom, a statuesque red head wearing an ankle length gown told me she had “instructions from my friends to take [me] in the backroom and give [me] a very special lap dance.”  For about two minutes, I forgot that she was just doing a job and didn’t really like me.  I felt like a fool for having the thought.  The last things that stayed in Vegas where a few hundred dollars in her garter and a piece of my dignity.
3. You are about to be snowed-in for two days and can pick any non-spouse, non-romantic partner, non-one of your children to be with you.  With whom would you like to be snowed-in (real life friend, and/or person you’ve never met)? Among my real life friends, I would happily be snowed-in with my dear friend the Only Slightly Sleazy Lobbyist, there are a couple of people on my blog roll who also fit that description.  Among the people I’ve never met, Rachel Maddow, John Stewart, and Salma Hayek are the short list.
4. What song should be kept in a case that reads “break glass in case of emergency or [insert your name here] is really depressed or being a raving lunatic? General emergency song is easy: Bobby Darrin’s 1962 live version of Mack the Knife; depressed or raving lunatic either John Coltrane & Duke Ellington’s sublime duet, Sentimental Mood, or the Tito Puente recording of Lush Life from the Concorde Years.
5. What was the first book that changed your sensibilities? I am sure that there is a better answer than this, and if I racked my brain, I might be able to find it.  However, the first book that comes to mind and keeps coming to mind is Mad at Miles: Deals with the Devil and other Reasons to Riot by Pearl Cleage.
6. When meeting someone of the gender to which you’re oriented (professionally, socially, casually, on a train, wherever,) what’s the first thing that you notice about them? Face, I’ve always been a sucker for a pretty face.  It also takes me about 3.2 seconds to notice a woman’s intellect
7. If you won a $1,000 today – assuming that today is not the day of snowmageddon and you have all of the flexibility you could want – how would you spend it? As I write this there is another (and completely non-charming, non-funny) edition of snowmageddon falling, so today I would spend it on a team of dogs to get me far enough south such that I could fly to the Keys.  Any other day I would spend it on a new set of cufflinks, a couple of spectacular bottles of wine, and dinner.
8. A great first date must involve ____________, and how does your answer change when in a relationship and it’s a date night? Great conversation is the easy part, I am sure that most people would say that.  I am going to assume that conversation is a given and say that a few really honest moments are essential.  Too many first dates are with people who are a cross between their own PR rep and their avatar, so give me a few really honest and unfiltered moments, and moments when I can be the same.  Regarding how my answer changes once in a relationship, it has been so long for me that I speculate and say that it would have to include an honest moment to discuss whatever might be recently problematic.  Not to suggest that something has to be problematic or that it must be discussed on date night, just that a great date night should have that kind of trust and openness that would allow for it to be discussed should we choose.
9. Upon a final edit, I realized that this question was a duplicate of #5.  Given that I have about three minutes to publish before leaving, and all of the art and everything else is labeled with Baker’s Dozen meme, what question do you wish I would have asked? As this was my meme this doesn’t really apply.

10.  What was the worst job you’ve ever had, and how much money would you have to be paid to do that job again for a year? There was a job that almost killed me, and I cannot describe it for professional reasons.  The part of me that has too much faith in his own intellect would suggest that, armed with my current knowledge, I could easily last a year in that gig and would do it for a million dollars.  I also know that it is a moot point, and more importantly, I know that I would never take it because there are too many other things with far too much value.

11.  If you were guaranteed honest responses to any three questions, to whom would you direct questions, and what would you ask? Casting Agent for CSI Miami: Does David Caruso have pictures of you naked with a goat?  Vice President of Customer Service for Comcast, or Verizon, or Sprint, or Direct TV, et. Al: How in the name of bacon and all things holy do you still have a job?  John McCain: do you feel guilty about the choice you made back in summer 08, do you feel guilty about the ramifications of it?

12.  As you’ve gotten older, to which list have you added more items: list of romantic deal-breakers, or list of romantic must-haves? What was the latest item added to either list? Each list has seen additions and subtractions over the years.  The deal breakers list has net additions and the must-have list is probably net subtractions.  The last deal-breaking addition was the “ability to be purposefully hurtful.”  I expect that everyone can be hurtful at some point in a relationship, however, I cannot trust those who have the capacity to do so deliberately.

13.  What is your most frequently occurring day dream? Moving to some place like Savannah, GA or Providence, RI and opening a B&B… assuming that the second “B” stands for brunch because I will not be rising that early.

There is a pretty short list of reasons for a gentleman to refuse a drink…

Mr. Thomas was a perspective client… well that is a bit of a misnomer as he and his partners spent the better part of a year jerking my chain and pumping me for free information regarding their new venture.  I allowed this one sided flow of information for so long because it held the promise of a perfect gig for me, one which would intersect my loves for dark liquors, wine, cigars and restaurants.

I spent untold and uncompensated hours dropping meal-sized bread crumbs of information about how to open and operate a successful place. My efforts to ration information in a manner that would underscore rather than eliminate their need for me were mostly effective and resulted in numerous confirmations that “I [was] their guy.”

My spidey sense told me not to invest too much emotional hope in their promises, however, when third parties began to congratulate me for the new client and contract, I let my skepticism relax.  Still, I was surprised but not shocked when other second-hand, but very reliable, sources told me that they were “going in a different direction.”

For the last couple of months, he’s moved in another different direction when we shared the same space – cowards tend to avoid issues – as occurred with some frequency due to our sharing of a bar or two, which was the impetus for our intial meeting.  Last night was different.

I saw Mr. Thomas sitting at the far right end of the bar just after I gave salutations to the bartender.  It was a brief glimpse, a sideways glance in which I identified him more from his distinctive shadow rather than his face.  I ignored him and expected that he would get his tab and flee as he has done most times since I heard “the news.”

About three quarters of the way through my bourbon, a server produces another with a cheery “This is compliments of Mr. Thomas.”

The server was two steps away before pride kicked-in and I said “take it back; I don’t want a drink from him.”

The Thanksgiving post is one of those clichés that I really like.  Bloggers the world over profess their gratitude for the readers, commenters, lurkers, and other bloggers who give context to our virtual world and outlet to our expression.  In a world that is so often self-absorbed, it is a refreshing act of gratitude.

Thank you to all of you.  You have been a source of great comfort, validation, a check to my ego, partner with whom to bend an elbow, a worthy foil, and so many other things.

I am

Thankful

For

You.

I recently created a feature, The RR-20, which is a list of the twenty restaurants I most readily trust with my cash, and my free time.  It began as just a list with hyperlinks to the restaurants websites.  That simple list will still be there, but I have begun to augment it with brief reviews/descriptions of the places on the list in a section titled The RR-20 Expanded.

Today I added Komi, Restaurant Eve, Palena, Regent Thai, and Coppi’s Organic Pizza.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Check my math and send me an email if you’d like details.

So in the spirit of “Something else I have started but may not finish,” I am kinda sorta, maybe, don’t hold it against me if I don’t quite finish, participating in NaBloPoMo.  There is a new post over on My Recipe Blog – go read about my take on Lomo Saltado – so this counts.

I hope you have a great evening and decide to forward some random kindness in the world.

I found this note on the Metro yesterday, and I began to wonder “what can we accomplish with post-it-notes?”  I don’t know that answer; but I did go buy a pack of em’.

If you were going to leave a note to a random stranger, what would it say?

Top Chef, the ground breaking culinary reality show that made Tom Collichio a bonafide star and the phrase “Thrown under a bus” my most hated cliché since douche bag, is winding down its sixth season on Bravo.  Last summer we saw the terrific spin-off Top Chef Masters and now they are creating Top Chef: Just Desserts.  Do you think you’ve got what it takes to be on the Sweet Sibling, or the flagship?  They’re holding an open casting call in DC on Wednesday, 10am – 2pm at the Occidental Grill.

I won’t be there but I am certain that hundreds will – maybe I will post just to watch what happens, but I doubt it.  I am not the kind of chef who would do well in that environment (though I am pretty damn positive that I could cook Robin under the table with provisions from a 7-11 and a bunsen burner.)  Good luck to anyone who does audition.

______________________

p.s. special thanks to the little birdie who gave me the heads-up about this.

…Whether something might be offensive, it usually is. Still I need some general guidance.

Despite my general disdain for what Halloween has become, I am considering going to a costume party this evening. With such a last minute plan, my costume options are limited. I am thinking about going as a “Top Chef” as in a chef who is a top. Too much, offensive? Thoughts anyone?

I know where you and your drink should be tomorrow.  We have worked out an arrangement with the owners of Evolve such that people attending the Happy Hour will be getting the HH discount well after the normal 7pm cut off time for their HH.  I can hear the wheels turning in all of your pretty heads right now.  You’re wondering how the staff will know that we are all in one crew, right?

Three words: Mardi Gras Beads.  It’s an idea so fraught with potential for rapid descent into debauchery that it carries just a touch of brilliance.

Find me, or LiLu, or Lemmonex to get beads or bring your best beads from your closet.

I had my last first date today.  For those of you who know of my whorish ways, this may be a shock that’s larger than a bread box; but I am officially off the market… and she’s the one.  I know it with the certainty of my own name.

Ours was a chance meeting – I was just passing a store that could pound a nail I didn’t know was sticking out until I saw a place selling hammers.  Sydney seemed to be waiting for me.  Almost six feet tall with a crown of dreadlocks draped just past her shoulder, her look was almost regal.  Words were a melodic mélange of Caribbean, British, and Spanish flavors that reflected her Jamaican upbringing and British prep schooling.  I could sit for hours just listening to that voice.

Courtship moved so quickly – within moments of our meeting Sydney was massaging my neck and shoulders.  And that was before she really started to work on me.  Forty-five minutes later I knew I was in love…with the best haircut I can remember and I was off the market for a new barber.

This blog began because of an urgent need to purge something painful anywhere and the whole world seemed like a logical choice at the time.  More than a year later it has become the source for more than a few friendships, a couple of … ahem, interesting dates, and a few people I can’t imagine my life without.  So when two people in that last group told me they wanted to throw a bloggy happy hour, I endorsed the notion wholeheartedly and joined the merry band to host the shin dig.

Next Friday at 7pm we’d love it if you joined us for drinks and shenanigans at Evolve.

Leave a comment, post this picture, or just drop me an email (restaurantrefugee@gmail.com) to let us know you’ll be attending.  When you arrive just look for the group with the loudest and most raucous members – that will be us.  If that fails, just look for LiLu who’ll be wearing a tiara.