a night in provence

after spending the previous day as a bundle of nerves, i was glad to have tuesday as a real day off. despite having every intention of sleeping in, i started to stir around 7 AM and was completely restless by 7:30. i decided to get up and start my to-do list:

clean & organize apartment
laundry
dishes
catch up on emails
hit the gym

after showering and getting dressed, i hit a lazy lull and spent the remainder of the afternoon goofing off online and watching shrek 3 (great movie with lots of laughs). around 4PM i headed downtown for an appointment and then stopped by bloomies in soho. i did a little window shopping to kill time before meeting up for theng's b-day dinner at provence.

since none of my friends were free to grab a happy hour drink, i decided to pick up a magazine and head to the bar at the restaurant. i ended up chatting with the amicable bartender, shorty, for quite some time. . . turns out he's from australia who majored in math/comp sci in college who came to NYC for a long weekend vacation but ended working in the restaurant/bar industry here for 3.5 years. . . it's always fascinating to discover how people wind up in nyc. in any case, by the time Q2 and theng came, shorty was letting me test cocktails he was working on for a big event this weekend.

dinner was fabulous! the mixed reviews had me a bit worried, but the food was excellent, the service attentive, and the ambience warm and unpretentious. we shared the octopus appetizer served on a tasty bed of israeli couscous and lightly topped with greens. i ordered the flank steak which was incredibly flavorful and succulent (shorty's rec). Q2 ordered the venison which was also wonderful- the meat was not at all gamey and surprisingly sublte in it's flavor. theng ordered the seared scallops, perfectly prepared. over glasses of red wine, we sampled one another's entrees, gossiped, and indulged in girl talk. it was a lovely evening and a perfect end to my day off.