What's the deal?

Since I love you all (and I really do), I've decided to start the blog off today on a good note. Tonight head over to Phat-n-Jazzy at The Social for their new special that will knock your liver out of downtown Orlando. For $5 at the door you not only get in and listen to some cool music, but you drink free wells, imports and domestic drafts until midnight.

The last time I attended this night they didn't have this deal and it was a ghost town inside, I was one of maybe 10 people the whole time I was there. Please fix this folks, this is a long-running night at a great venue with killer drink specials. You're just plain dumb if you don't go.

Now for the bad note. Living in Thornton Park I'm well aware of the pretension that surrounds me (it's kinda hard to miss). But how I love the area so, I could just do without some of the people. Once upon a time a restaurant named HUE opened to cater to, what seemed to me, those people specifically. I went only once for brunch (and it was good, I will say) but for the most part avoided the yuppiness. Some time later, a new restaurant opened called Shari, right next door. But they had a happy hour that everyone could appreciate, $3 select sushi rolls and $4 saketinis (a martini with sake instead of gin). I saw a mixture of types in the crowd the three or four times I went and didn't feel out of place in the slightest, and yet, I was still on that corner in Thornton Park.

Well those days are long gone, the recent expansion of Shari, seems to have brought on an expansion of ego by the restaurant as well. Friday night, my best friend Kristin comes to visit. Kristin is all about style, so this hanging with the beautiful people sort of crap amuses her to no end. But she's also frugal with her money so I decided the perfect choice for our Friday evening out would be Shari. My fiance Casey came along as well. We were dressed business casual I would say, I even wore my Coach bag for crying out loud. But yet, we stood and waited for a table to "open up" in the hot sun with two other couples. In the meantime, other people (who clearly recognized the five hostesses standing out front, do we really need five?) were brought right in.

Once the other two couples were brought in they quickly exited. I imagine they tried to hide them in a corner from the pretty people, even though in my book, they looked a lot more normal than half the plastic in the joint. That said, we were asked if we would sit at the sushi bar. Fine, we say. Again forgotten. But two girls come up and are seated instantly. That was our cue to go, believe it or not, over to HUE.

Maybe the folks had reservations, but none of that was discussed with people at the door. They just walked right in while we were sent off to the side. A friend of mine, who loves the place, said her recent experience there was poor as well. Surprisingly, HUE was quite comfortable, there was a mix of people on the front porch, it was as if the two restaurants switched crowds. Service was friendly, although the bill was not. Four cosmos, two glasses of wine, three salads and two soups later had us looking at a bill over $100.

I guess some things never change.