1 is so creative and spunky and nostalgic...she decided it was going to be the coup de'gras on the ole' 30th birthday celebration to drag her besties to the Olive Garden in Chelsea. Yes, there's an Olive Garden in Manhattan - I didn't know either. And just like every other Manhattan irony, it sits beneath a NY Sports Club. So from the outside, you get Olive Garden guilt and windows above with crazy chicks going 400 miles an hour on treadmills. Only in New York, kids... So on to the Olive Garden experience. Having not been there myself in about 15 years, I was sort of excited to go back and experience this resto of my youth. H-ette was not so much - I tried to explain to him that only in NY is Olive Garden considered a theme restaurant of sorts - that in the rest of the country it's considered a great place to go for dinner on Friday night. He thinks I'm crazy. But I'm a firm believer that the OG is not starved for business. Made evident by the fact that we had to wait nearly 45 minutes for our "reservation" to be ready. I suppose that could just be part of their theme park experience...
On to the reason why we were there. Unlimited salad and breadsticks - duh. OG has changed up their policy however. They no longer bring out your breadsticks upon being seated. No, they wait for you to actually order entrees before they give up the goods. I guess the OG has a history of clientele who "breadsticks-and-bounce." Shocking.
The OG also now dedicates a page of its menu to the "nutritional" information for all its items. Which is kind of funny, really, because there's nothing nutritional about the OG. H-ette was considering ordering the "Tour of Italy" entree until I pointed out to him that it was 1,650 calories - sans breadsticks, salad, wine, dessert. Holy shit.
All that aside, dinner was surprisingly tasty. Loads of breadsticks were consumed, followed by tasty pastas and breaded meats and then gooey desserts that we definitely had no right eating at that point.
Ette1's Abba made a surprise appearance and graciously picked up the tab for the whole affair. He's a good man, that Israeli.
The evening was followed up with a visit to 1 and Pants' fancy hotel suite, where yours truly was mistaken for an actress and photographed out front by a sweet old papz. (Sorry, sweet lady, I lied to you when you asked me if I was that "young actress" and said yes...and then I posed with H-ette giving you a solid three angles, and really working your camera. I hope you didn't try to sell my picture to any paper, because I am not famous, and it only would have embarrassed us both.)
All in all, it was a great night. 1, I'll go to the Olive Garden with you any time. I suggest we wait until after your wedding, however, so you fit into your dress - I wouldn't want to be responsible for that - so we'll wait to become OG regulars until, you know, you become a 'wife' and you can let yourself go because it doesn't matter anymore.
JK, Pants.
On to the reason why we were there. Unlimited salad and breadsticks - duh. OG has changed up their policy however. They no longer bring out your breadsticks upon being seated. No, they wait for you to actually order entrees before they give up the goods. I guess the OG has a history of clientele who "breadsticks-and-bounce." Shocking.
The OG also now dedicates a page of its menu to the "nutritional" information for all its items. Which is kind of funny, really, because there's nothing nutritional about the OG. H-ette was considering ordering the "Tour of Italy" entree until I pointed out to him that it was 1,650 calories - sans breadsticks, salad, wine, dessert. Holy shit.
All that aside, dinner was surprisingly tasty. Loads of breadsticks were consumed, followed by tasty pastas and breaded meats and then gooey desserts that we definitely had no right eating at that point.
Ette1's Abba made a surprise appearance and graciously picked up the tab for the whole affair. He's a good man, that Israeli.
The evening was followed up with a visit to 1 and Pants' fancy hotel suite, where yours truly was mistaken for an actress and photographed out front by a sweet old papz. (Sorry, sweet lady, I lied to you when you asked me if I was that "young actress" and said yes...and then I posed with H-ette giving you a solid three angles, and really working your camera. I hope you didn't try to sell my picture to any paper, because I am not famous, and it only would have embarrassed us both.)
All in all, it was a great night. 1, I'll go to the Olive Garden with you any time. I suggest we wait until after your wedding, however, so you fit into your dress - I wouldn't want to be responsible for that - so we'll wait to become OG regulars until, you know, you become a 'wife' and you can let yourself go because it doesn't matter anymore.
JK, Pants.
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1 comment:
I love the Olive Garden!!!
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