Last Night's Dinner - 100th Post!

Cafecito (Avenue C between 11th and 12th, NYC) with Papper, Adrienne and Donovan.

Papper, always a bastion of enthusiasm, invited some people over to his place last evening for some post work lychee martinis, followed by dinner at Cafecito. I don't actually work, but if someone's having post work drinks, I'm there regardless. Though, the tricky thing is that I'm trying to limit myself to two drinks a day right now, because once I hit that third drink, I find that I just want to drink my face off. I'm sorry to report that I exceeded my self-imposed drink limit by four drinks, bringing last evening's drink total to six. The good news is that I did in fact wake up with my face on this morning, which I am very glad for.

So anyway, Cafecito is one of Papper's favorite restaurants in the City. I went there on his birthday, but just for drinks, so had never sampled the food there myself. I have to say, it was not only delicious, but a great value as well. They couldn't seat us immediately, so Paps, Adrienne and I just hung out at the sidewalk bar on Ave. C (it really looked more like a snack bar window, but bigger), drinking mojitos (always delicious and refreshing) and eating tostones with an amazing garlic sauce. We were seated after about fifteen minutes.

Just as our food arrived, I noticed some movement in the large potted plant outside the window. I looked closer and it was none other than Donovan - a truly magnificent form of urban wildlife not often found outside of its natural habitat. We invited the little Donovan in. He adapted very easily to the confines and customs of the restaurant and ordered a Dos Equis and a Cubano.

I had the churrasco, which is simply chargrilled skirt steak with Cuban chimichurri sauce and lime cured onions. The steak was served with yellow rice, which I passed on per usual, black beans and MORE tostones with the amazing garlicky sauce. The steak was simply succulent (I feel like Youthlarge was just saying the other day that she HATED alliteration. Funny.). It was also cooked to the correct doneness, which I was pleasantly surprised by. I really didn't expect it to be as skirt steaks are usually over done.

Papper started with the grouper ceviche (very light, perfectly seasoned with just the right amount of lime juice and cilantro) and ordered the Cubano as well. I've had my fair share of Cubanos in this town and think this might be the tastiest one I've ever had. It might have something to do with that garlicky sauce they use. Papper said that in addition to the standard ham, they also put a thin layer of prosciutto on the sandwich. Now, I don't know if I really buy that, but I suppose it would explain the extra savory goodness I experienced. Hmmmm. Well, I guess I could just order it sometime and take a look under the hood before I finish eating it. That's what I'll do on my next visit. I hope I don't forget though.

After dinner I tried to convince people to go to Ace Bar for some skee-ball action, but had no takers, so we ended up just going to Parkside for a nightcap. Man, I swear, if I could get back all of the hours I've spent at the Parkside I would be a much younger woman. Cheers.