I'm Lovin' It

I spent last week in New York City visiting Christian and as expected, it was a blast. A definite highlight included seeing a taping of David Letterman where Jon Stewart and Nick Lachey were the guests. Stewart was hilarious, almost upstaging Letterman at times, and Lachey was as hot as expected. The entire interview was about his divorce, which I sorta felt bad about until he preformed his new song “I Can’t Hate You Anymore” or whatever its called and I thought ‘this guys is still making tons of money off that relationship”, so then I didn’t mind as much. Of course, if he needs any comfort, I would be happy to help.

We also went to hear none other than my fantastic-favorite DJ, Kaskade, spin at a mega-club called Pacha, named after one in the clubbing mecca of Ibiza . It was one of those clubs that have 6 floors. It had the works, from a chill downstairs to hip-hop floors, and reminded me of the kind that I used to go to with my girlfriends before I came out, where I sorta liked the music, but never really got the crowd. I was a little concerned by the people in line, which were pretty "bridge and tunnel", as they say. But once inside, it didn't matter much. Christian and Derek managed to find the one gay bartender in the place and we were set with one free round of cocktails after the next. (Membership has its privlidges!) Kaskade didn’t come on until 1A, but it was well worth the wait. He played a bunch of songs from his new album, ”Love Mysterious” and the song he played right before we was my all time favorite by him, "It’s You, It’s Me”. What a treat! (Thanks to Lem for the suggestion)

We also ate a number of fantastic restaurants, as expected in New York City . The city is renowned for the variance and quality of the places to eat, with good reason.Particuarly where Christian is living, just south of Tribeca, there were many great new places to discover. An instant favorite for brunch is a place called Kitchenette, which has the best peach jam this side of the stuff my great grandmother used to jar herself and store in the basement of our house. However, as great as most of them were, there always seemed to be something that made it not as good as expected. We visited old favorites such as Rosa Mexicano (pomegranate margaritas are as good as remembered and we sat near Glenn Close, but $28 for a small serving of guacamole???!). Odeon is a 24-hr cafe that was frequented by Andy Warhol and other 80s luminaries back in the day and while the burgers were good, but the end price ended up being ridiculously high. We also visited The Harrison , a swanky place with a great interior and promising appetizers, but alas, my main course came out not cooked enough and was just ok. (at least my Dad picked up the check for that one, thanks Dad!) So while each place had tons of great things going for them, the end feeling usually left me wanting something more.

So I flew back Sunday night, and after only eating brunch before I left, by the time I got back to SF, I was fairly hungry. T-Todd was sweet enough to stay with Hobbes while I was gone, so he picked me up and I was getting ready to take him home when he said “Don’t tell anyone, but I am really craving McDonald’s. Do you want to stop there on the way to my place?” (Sorry Todd, guess I just told people..) And so we did and I must say, the meal was pure heaven.Two cheeseburgers and a large fry, and I was a happy man. This meal cost about $5 and all I could do was think about all of the $$ I spent on these fancy restaraunts in NYC and if I’m being truly honest, none gave me even close to the pleasure I got from woofing down those burgers and fries.

Does this mean I am giving up on fine dining for Taco Bell Hell? Not exactly, but it did stop and make me think. Where else can $5 buy so much culinary happiness?

Maybe I'm more "bridge and tunnel" than I thought....