A Good Time Was Had By All

It wasn't what one would call a rocking Friday night at Brooks Tavern last night - it was, after all, First Friday, a notoriously crappy night for those of us on the outside of downtown - but I know I had a good time and I'm thinking a few other people did too. [as documented by photo below]  We had enough guests to keep us busy but not so many that it was stress only.  There was certainly plenty of placemats and noise. I spent a good deal of my time talking to my "friends" (aka "customers"), which is honestly how I prefer to spend my time at my so-called "job" on the floor.  Opening wine, sharing stories, gossiping about local events, chatting about meals, past, present and future.  A lot of talk about Taste of the Town, honeybees and marriage.  And always about food - how good this or that dish was, how it was produced, how Kevin came up with the idea and on and on.  My poor staff, having to repeatedly drag me away from one table or another when they needed some attention of their own.  

A couple of pictures:

Kevin was most excited about this special of pork and veal meatballs, filled with mozzarella cheese and resting in an escarole enhanced broth.  They looked pretty appetizing.  He had taken a MeatBall cookbook out of the library a few weeks ago, hence the sudden obsession.  The first order to go out went to Jan Callahan, who graciously allowed me to document the cracking of the meaty orbs.

Jan wouldn't let me take a picture of the actual tasting, seeing as the strings of mozz were most likely going to be trailing the meatball into her mouth. 

The new pork chop, with a marmalade of rosemary and onion, was also quite attractive.  It's nice to have a fresh local crop of asparagus to garnish the plate with.  And to put in the bay scallops and pasta special.  And to make soup with.  And to include with the piccolo frito...this time of year, if you don't like asparagus (I'm talking to you, Mallory) you are going to find it hard to avoid on our menu!

The fish special last night was hake with this crown of crab and Smithfield ham.   Set on a little pool of lemon butter sauce, plated with carrots, bokchoy and rice cakes, it looks hard to resist. 

With food as the common bond, the dining room was a little loud last night, with people celebrating life.  Some were celebrating the life of some one no longer with us, others were celebrating life with each other.

The Burden group was of the latter category. 

 A good time was had by all. 

Eat. Drink. Relax!