Girls Night Out

Joelle said at some point on July 13, 2007 while listening to illasounds - 66: Remembering John Coltrane

It’s GFI’s birthday this weekend, so we decided to go out last night to this new supper club / jazz venue downtown called Anthology.  They’ve only been open a month, but they have some pretty good acts coming through there, which usually require tickets anywhere from $15-$80 a pop, depending on the act and where you’re seated in the 3-tiered dining venue.  As much as the words “dinner theater” tend to evoke images of Tony & Tina’s Wedding, the set-up in there is primarily dining, with a bar and small cocktail lounge area to the front of the building. Also, the dining is a separate cost from the tickets, so be prepared for that if you decide to go.

Last night it was the house band playing, so there was no cover.  We got dolled up, had a glass of wine at home first then took a cab down to Anthology.  As soon as we walked in, we knew we were in love with it. The inside is just gorgeous and the music was great.  The house band was really solid and the female vocalist (whose name I can’t recall) had a smoky, soothing voice.  They played some of my favorites and from our seat in the lounge, we had a perfectly clear view of the stage.  There were also plasma TVs all over the place so you wouldn’t miss a thing.  During the breaks, they would play vintage jazz performances on the screens, too.  So awesome.

GFI and I decided to live on the edge last night, so we ordered a couple high-end appetizers just for kicks. We got Ahi tuna tartare with peddlefish caviar and a small potato “tot” thing.  (Like a tater tot, but the potatoes inside were whipped, like a bite-sized twice-baked potato.) It was a true amuse-bouche, as we had almost exactly 2 bites and it was gone.  Same for our second appetizer, which was a blue cheese quiche served with a cherry balsamic reduction, crumbled walnuts and a bit of pesto.  Again, about 3 bites… but so worth it.  Delicious.  I’m just a pseudo-foodie, but the real gourmands would really dig the dishes here, I think.

Then came the cocktails:  what was supposed to be just one glass of wine turned into 3 martinis, but hey, what can you do? We were celebrating!  I had something called a Kind of Blue, which was Stoli Bluberi, fresh lemon, fresh blueberries, a blast of soda and a bit of simple syrup served on the rocks in a collins glass. I can’t wait to make that one at home.  GFI had a Black and Blue Gimlet, which was gin, blackberries and blueberries muddled with a simple sugar and something else I can’t remember. It was a deep pink and really yummy.  The next round, I decided to stick with vodka and had a simple Cosmopolitan.  I rarely order those because bartenders tend to go heavy on the cranberry and I like my Cosmo’s really, really pale.  This one was a bit dark, but it was really smooth and I suspect they have some secret ingredient.  GFI had a momentary lapse of reason and ordered a Manhattan.  That conversation went a little like this:

GFI: Ooo… I want a Manhattan! I’ve never had one before!

Me:  *eyeing her* Dude, are you sure?  Do you drink whiskey or bourbon much?

GFI: Oh sure!  I was a tomboy. I used to drink whiskey sours. I can take it!!  (she says, as she bangs her chest like Celine Dion)

Me:  I see, so tonight you’re going to really grow a pair and have a Manhattan.  Okaaaaay…

GFI: Well, they did it on Sex and the City!

I laugh only because I avoid “brown liquor” quite often.  It has hangover written all over it, but GFI wanted a Manhattan and by god she was going to have one.  I really wanted to see how she liked it.  So, our drinks arrive and we toast.  The next thing I hear is…

GFI: Damn!  Now that’s some HOOCH!

I nearly fell off my very fancy barstool I laughed so hard.  Hooch. And you know, she was right.  I don’t care how elegantly you want to serve Jack Daniel’s, it’s hooch.  There’s something about the smell that says “I should be drinking this out of a barrel”.  Anyway, she asked me to take a sip to prove that it was, indeed, hooch.  The smell alone was giving me flashbacks of nights in my mid-twenties spent on my bathroom floor thanks to Southern Comfort (there’s nothing comfortable about Southern Comfort — they lie.).  But, I took the tiniest sip and declared that it would put hair on her chest, to which she replied, “No!!  On my nads!”

Now, when a beautiful, exotic woman like GFI in her little Audrey Hepburn dress declares “No!  On my nads!” with the more excited tone ever, it’s absolutely priceless.  Assuming she meant the nads she grew earlier by ordering the Manhattan in the first place, and not pre-existing nads I was unaware of, it was damn funny.  How many more times can I say nads?

Anyway, so we wrapped up the house band’s second set with a martini called After the Show, which was… uh… let’s see if I can remember… Oh! Stoli Vanil, Kahlua French Vanilla, Baileys, decaf espresso and a wee drizzle of chocolate inside the glass.  I’m not one for dessert martinis or creamy drinks, but this was light and delicious. The perfect capper to our evening.

But wait! There’s more!

While out waiting for our cab to go home, GFI decides we’re going to Mr. A’s to have a glass of wine on the terrace so we can look out over the whole city.  We’d both gone there as kids with our parents, so it was sort of nostalgic and really, the view from there any time of day, especially at night, is just breathtaking.  We had the wine steward order us some fancy wine, which we sipped, took in the view and mocked the parade of Russian models strutting around with their bitchy mom who sounded like Donatella Versace. 

Ahhh… good times.  Anyway, if you’re ever in San Diego, you like tasty martinis and a really decent house band, go check out Anthology. Sara Gazarek will be there at the end of the month for two nights at reasonable ticket prices, if you’re interested.