Ah, the planning.
First there's finding a time that everyone is free. Actually, that was pretty easy.
Zelia has expressed interest in "getting out of the neighborhood." Most of us live on the Upper East Side, so our dinners are almost always somewhere in the 70's, 80's, or 90's. But like Zelia, I agree it'll be fun to go somewhere else.
Zelia picks a place called Essex on the lower east side. I make the reservation, secure it with a credit card, and send out the confirming email.
Then I hear rumblings. "It's inconvenient. It's far. it's two subways." Zelia and I reconvene. Understandably, Zelia wants people to come together and be happy about it. She gives everyone an out, by offering up a restaurant that's closer. Surprisingly, everyone is now settled in to the first choice.
So at 7:30 tonight we all meet at Essex. By subway or Uber, it takes about 20 minutes; surprisingly fast.
We get a group picture, minus Pam who hasn't yet arrived. Zelia agrees without any fuss; I think she feels bad about suggesting a place all the way downtown. She needn't.
We hang out at the bar for a few minutes talking. A woman there thinks Janice is Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook fame. She does kind of look like her. When I ask the woman to take our photo, shockingly no one objects to being in it.
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| Janice, Zelia, Brooke, Shari, me and Ronda |
The place is great. We order wine, two dozen $1 oysters, mac and cheese, and the biggest hit of the night: angus short rib sliders. We all choose one of two main courses: the burger or the lobster special. Both are great.
The conversation is animated and all over the place: kids, politics, men, and more.
The place is loud, the waiter is great, the food is excellent, and everyone agrees that for the next birthday celebration, "Let's pick a place below 23rd."
It takes a fast 15 minutes to get home by cab.
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