Last weekend I hung out at Mekong with K & R and then they took me to a dessert place called Chikalicious. I had been wanting to try it out ever since Sterl had raved about it, but just hadn’t had the chance to. Now that I’ve been, I think I’ll have to make a point to get there more often. For just $12 you get a mini 3-course dessert, starting with a little amuse bouche, a dessert you pick from the menu, and petit fours. I chose the honey parfait in a concord grape soup. I’m a huge fan of grapes in general, and the soup totally won me over. It was like liquid welch’s grape jelly only not as cloyingly sweet and with a little more pronounced brightness and tang. The amuses and the petit fours were delicate little bits of perfection too. I was particularly impressed by these thin little cookies which were somehow light as clouds yet as rich as butter cookies. Each menu selection can be paired with an optional dessert wine, and mine was paired with a nice port that evening. It’s a clean and bright tiny little space, with the Japanese woman Chika working her magic with the desserts behind the counter while her husband, a super friendly black gentleman works the tables as the sommelier and waiter. They are both infectiously nice people, in love with what they do as much as they are in love with each other. It’s not surprising there are often lines down the block with people waiting to get in.
In other news, last night was the final night of Mekong. I got there at 6p and it was totally gutted. All the tables and chairs had been removed already, and most of the stuff at the bar had already been ripped out. They had been open the night before with a totally open bar for friends and family and last night would be the same, but nobody was there yet. J said he wasn’t expecting to have anybody in until around 8:30. He asked if I wanted a drink and poured me some Sauza Commemoritivo on ice in a plastic cup. Just like a frat party! Brian was in an easy chair in the back room sleeping. I guess he was pretty baked. I finished my drink and headed off to meet up with Mish whom I hadn’t seen in at least a year, and we walked around looking for a place to hang out for a while. Neither one of us was hungry, but we found a little place called Le Jardin Bistro with tuna tartare on the menu, so I made the OG call and decided we had to eat there. I ordered the tuna tartare and a glass of sauvignon blanc. Then they had soft shell crab as a special so of course we had to try that. Then Mish wanted to try the foie gras terrine. As you probably know, I’m not a big terrine fan, but I’m always happy to comply whenever a chick wants to order foie gras anything. Then we saw mussels and fries on the menu so we had to get that too. And the waiter mentioned they had escargot as a special too, which is for me another of those things that I can never refuse, so I ordered that up as well. Not a bad spread for two people who weren’t really hungry. That’s how I roll!
After stuffing our faces it was back to Mekong and people had started to arrive. Hing’s girlfriend C was already there along with his good friend F who was being a humorously neurotic about his claim to a little wooden chair in the corner (there wasn’t much furniture left in the place, so when he stepped away from his chair, he kept worrying someone would snag it). Hing couldn’t fly back for this occasion, but it was cute to see C had thought of him and decided to wear her Seattle t-shirt so he could be represented in spirit. Anyway, then the drinking began and everthing seemed to run in fast motion for me for the rest of the night. Swilling down drinks left and right, watching the Yankees lose on the fuzzy tv above the bar, hanging out with friends I hadn’t seen in a while, it was all good. I had originally thought about getting a hotel room or taking a car service home, but decided I was drunk enough by 12:30 that it was time to go and I could still catch the last Metro North train home. Besides, I would be drinking again tonite for R’s bday, so unleashing the fury on my liver last night would have been a bad idea. So ends my last chapter at Mekong. Here’s to hoping there will be a new chapter at a new location coming soon…MP mentioned he was in negotiations to try and secure a spot on Bond St, so with any luck, our adventures may continue in the months ahead. Keep your fingers crossed!