Food Weekend.

Jesus, where did I leave off. Sorry to be out of touch. Since I came back from Rhode Island, it was a whirlwind of activity. I raced back via Amtrak for Irene's birthday on Friday. I made it back just in time and just after putting my bags down, we went to this new place on Bowery, an Italian place called GEMMA that Irene had been dying to try. It's hard for me to grasp this place because of the location. like 10 years ago, the aggression were drinking with homeless people on this corner and now I'm sitting al fresco sipping wine and eating fritto misto. Surreal. Where the fuck is New York?? Anyhow, the fact that the place was great really helped overcome the sense of longing for being accosted by homelesses. This place was really good, but we didn't have a lot of time to enjoy it as we had to run BACK up the block to Webster Hall...



I know, Webster Hall. The worst. But despite the moronic bartenders, the overpriced drinks and the douche clientele Editors came and brought it. It's been great watching this band evolve. When we first saw them, they were shy kids who seemed hesitant to let go despite bringing a warm wall of big noise. Now, two albums in and a lot of festivals under their belts, they know how to work a room like pros, especially Tom Smith, who now has come into his own as a frontman. I really enjoyed the new songs live as they are BIIIIIIG and worked really well, and I give them a lot of credit for playing an ambitious set and bringing a newfound sense of showmanship to the proceedings. If they can deliver a strong third album, arenas are certainly their future in the UK. You can only go that way after 3 sold out nights at Brixton. Epic. (Photos by IB)



The rest of the weekend was spent being as lazy as possibly before engaging in several Irene Birthday Dinner Related Events. The first was a wine tasting on Saturday Night at her friend Anjuli's. I like Irene's friends a lot to begin with already, especially the handsome man known as Roger, but goddamn they love the quality food. Literally every time I soclialize with these folks, we have sick awesome food. This was no exception. They had great wine and prepared some quality stuff. Check it out:

I let the pix do the talking here. Then on Sunday, we met up with my folks and we went to Perilla, which is some awesome Italian that Irene had been dying to try cause someone from Top Chef owns it or something, It's right next door to Record Runner and it's REALLY good. Wow. This was a great meal.

I swear all I did was eat good shit this whole weekend.

Then on Monday, Irene got on a train and left for DC to see KAT, ther BFF from BITD (Back In The Day). Quality lady, that Kat. While they did that, I didn't deviate too far from the regular routine: Wrestling, Pluck, Comics, Music, etc. You know.

More eventually.

F