olives

last night i ventured to olives. enough time has passed and i am ready to move on after the destruction of one of my favorite undergrad/grad school hangouts, uno's. (it seems like i've had to let go of a lot of them, including inn the wood) without describing the dynamics of the group in too much detail, i went to celebrate my friend's dad's birthday and to watch him drink his first irish car bomb. i myself do not partake in car bombs. i have an unreasonable fear the shot glass will hit me in the teeth and i will, for the rest of my life, look like i should be feuding with the hatfields.

for a place called olives, the pomegranate martini i ordered was a nightmare. sickeningly sweet cough syrup with a cherry. i almost sent it back, but i try not to mess with people who prepare food. there was also some confusion by the bartender on how to prepare car bombs. the car bombs eventually came out alright, but i chose not to tempt fate and switched from martinis to blue moon.

we sat in the bar area, which has a pleasant atmosphere and interesting metal sculptures. this was fine until the premier of 'the turtle' let out from the esquire and the bar was bombarded with the after-party. the cacophony rendered conversation impossible. i would probably eat downstairs next time.

for an appetizer, my mom and i shared the mushroom and artichoke strudel. my mom liked it very much, but i found it to be a little flat. if there had been salt and pepper on the table, i would have been happier.

the crabcake sandwich i had for dinner was much more flavorful (surprising) and had a great crispy outside. it was served with red cabbage (i think. that's what it tasted like.) and kitchen chips. the kitchen chips had a good balance of crispness and softness. my meal was pretty yummy overall. my mom had the cobb salad, which was somehow devoid of avocado, but she said it was good.

my friend's dad enjoyed his first car bomb experience. he had three of them.

plus an extra shot of jameson. and some beer.