Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Wednesday Nights At Ginger

Last night I hooked up with my longtime home girl, Eda...it had been a VERY long time since we had hung out and "got our drink on". So the plan was that she would meet me uptown on 125th & Morningside and together we would walk up the hill towards Broadway and check out Jazzmobile at Grant's Tomb. The day was absolutely perfect! It was nice and warm but not too hot...perfect for live Jazz music and camaraderie...now I don't know about anyone else, but the Jazzmobile of my youth was something else...I never particularly cared for Jazz Music but the surrounding festival was always AMAZING! Vendors lined the sidewalks and there was always mouthwatering food to be purchased and you couldn't leave with out a big container of homemade lemonades or "Half and Half's"...that's 1/2 iced tea & 1/2 lemonade...for those of you NOT in the know...lol. It was always like a reunion to me because I would always run into folks I hadn't seen since high school or college. And then the crowd (or the really smart folks in the crowd...including myself) at around 7pm would head down the hill over to Perk's...where they had "Jazzmobile Wednesdays" and the drinks were two for one...lol...if you got there after 8-9pm...you weren't getting in because the place was packed!!!

Anyway,I was very excited at the prospect of attending Jazzmobile because I hadn't done it in YEARS....actually the last time I went...the er...young people (wow...I always feel old when I say that but it's the truth) began to turn it into a hoochie show and it just got way out of hand....totally ruining the Jazzmobile concerts themselves....It started to feel a bit dangerous to me...like a night on Crenshaw Blvd in LA...so I just stopped attending.

I knew right away something was terribly wrong...because only a few stragglers with beach chairs were headed towards the park....definitely NOT the festival of my youth...by the time we got up the hill and to the Tomb....I saw what appeared to be a reunion of the class of 1912....lol...there were so many senior citizens out there...we felt like we stood out like sore thumbs...and apparently the festival has been canceled for a while...so I guess it is truly about the music now.

Well, an immediate change of plan was in order and we decided to head over to Ginger...a still fairly new Asian themed restaurant located on 116th & Fifth Avenue. I heard that they were having cocktail specials and a party there on Wednesdays, so we jumped in a taxi and headed across town. Well, we got there pretty quickly and we found out that nothing was really happening yet, the party, given by Moet & N Harlem New York (The new clothing boutique also on 116th St in Harlem)...was actually an AFTER party and the PRE Party was at the Boutique...did you all follow that??? It was just a block away and since Ginger was still empty...we walked up the street to check out the boutique.

N Harlem New York, is actually quite beautiful...I loved the layout of the place...the cocktail of the day was a Sangria made with Moet and mixed fruit...it was quite tasty!!! We grabbed our cocktails and quickly started going through the racks...Although Miss Eda saw lots of things that she could see herself in...the same could NOT be said for The Runway Diva...So I inquired about their sizes and the proprietor asked me what size I was looking for...she did have some plus sized things she could show me...So I told her I was a size 16 and she made the mistake of asking me what I liked...so I pointed out a dress that I liked...and I wasn't the least bit surprised when she frowned and told me she didn't have that dress in my size...I laughed and told her I wasn't interested in seeing any "old lady clothes" in Brown, Black & Navy Blue...lol..(I don't know if she found this funny or not) but she DID tell me that they were going to be carrying Monif C.'s stuff in their shop by the fall. (Congrats Monif!) It was at this point that a woman caught my eye and I thought I knew her...as it turned out I did!!! It was a former Encore model named Rashida who used to be one of "Diva's Encore Models" back when we were RUNNING THINGS in NYC!!!. Rashida looks good and is a designer herself these days and I wouldn't be me if I didn't take a few photos of her!! We exchanged numbers, hugs and kisses and promised to be in touch.

Eda and I then took our Sangrias and headed towards the back of the store to the backyard lounge area the store has (it's pretty cool ya'll) and we just chilled there until we were ready to head back to Ginger.



We realized we were drinking on empty stomachs, so we decided to head back to Ginger to get something to eat....When we got back there were a whole lot more folks in the place and the DJ was spinning some music. We found two seats at the bar and immediately began chatting up the man who was sitting to my left. He filled us in about the restaurant, the food AND the event. He was really nice. The pretty bartender gave us some menus and suggested what would be good to eat. We wound up ordering some shrimp dumplings and the teriyaki (I think) beef ribs with scallions...my eyes got huge as she brought out these TWO BRONTOSAURUS RIBS on a plate!!!! I kid you not!! These ribs looked like those things they put on Fred Flintstones car when he goes to the drive in and tips his car over..ROFL!!!! But baby!! They were GOOD!!! They were so good...that I swear to ya'll...I got tired of fooling around with that knife and fork and put that rib right in my mouth!!! I can't WAIT to go back and order them again...

We had a couple of drinks, we actually ate dinner...salmon & Broccoli rabe for me..(it needed some rice) and a catfish dish for Eda...(I don't think she enjoyed as much as I enjoyed mine) and then the folks from Moet arrived from the other party and the champagne was flowing....for free! (You KNOW I love me some champagne). While we were sitting a lot of familiar folks began trickling in...Photographer Donn Thompson, Artist & Designer Tony Nigel, A musician friend of mine named Tevin and Eda's home girl from back in the day...Diane.

We sat there eating and chatting till about 10pm...when we decided to depart (Eda had to be up at the crack of dawn). But we had already decided that we were coming back....we both enjoyed the vibe.

Next stop....Floridita on 125th St & Bway has a new tapas bar that I am dying to try out!

Smootches Family!

"Maturity must be recognized in order for new growth to start."

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