We had a plan. We knew what we were up against. And we had. a. plan. Get to Lucali’s early (what I think of the Senior Citizen’s Eating Hour), stand in line forever, and try some of their famed pies. I wore comfortable shoes! I should have known that it wasn’t going to work out when I found parking a mere block away from the restaurant. And then I couldn’t find it! Where were the lines? Where was the pizza smell?
Then I spotted Karen, standing all alone, in front of an empty Lucali’s. The handwritten sign simply read, “On Vacation April 22-28.”
Now I don’t want to begrudge working people time off, but…
So there we were in Carroll Gardens, wondering where to eat and wondering how a closed Lucali’s was going to alter the Saturday night dinner crowd. I was trying to figure out some sort of displacement theory, relieved that Karen had told people to go to Luna Rossa so that we could get a chance to get in somewhere.
Although we weren’t going to eat pizza, this didn’t mean we weren’t going to eat out, and so we headed out. The first place we went, Blue Napkin Something or Other was selling fried chicken at stupid prices and had a 90-minute wait, so we went over to one of my favorite places, Watty & Meg , and got a table right away.
We had good wine (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre Yves Cheron ‘Les Dentelles’ 07 & Grignolono Luca Ferraris ‘Vigna del Casot’ 08), hamburgers and amazing french fries, and steak frites. For dessert we went to Sweet Melissa’s Patisserie. I don’t remember what everyone got, but I devoured my rhubarb&strawberry crumble miracle (my name for it) as soon as I got home and into my cozies (I warmed it up first!).
We’ll be back to pizza next month! Be sure to check in.
patricia a. matthew 