mommy does new york

roasted red pepper omelete

Mothers can be a mix of emotions when they come to visit. For me, they bring all the baggage I've held on to my entire life, and every word may bring out the worst in me.  Yet, there's no-one I'm more comfortable with.  That's how my week was.  Spending each day with her, escaping every night, answering  mundane repetitive questions quietly, with blistering efforts made to not roll my eyes so far back that my eyeballs would dislocate themselves, all in a futile attempt to escape the quandary as to why I don't' have an iron or  black thread and needles.

In the best of words, she rocked out with me, and it was good.

Chouchou Salad

Now, a brief background.  My mother is VERY religious, and strict in what she will and will NOT do.  However, I'm kinda persuasive, and my boyfriend NYC lives in the forefront of my life, so with a little bit of spirit-fingers, he won her over, and we went from restaurants to parks to lounges where she danced until midnight, and got kisses on BOTH cheeks, that made her blush while she smiled.

And who else will wake up at 4:30 in the morning and come downstairs in her nightgown to open the door for you because you lost your house keys at a costume theme party called the Red Light District at Rebel? (picture costume here)

poached eggs with spirit fingers

By the end of the week, I was a bit surprised that she agreed to come with me to boozy brunch on Sunday.   Of course, there was the firm agreement that she would not bless the food, glare at the drinks being downed, or make any reference to Hell.  With that in Mommy-writing, off we went to Jules Bistro. And the crew came out to meet her!  I can't express how much I love my NY family.  I truly feel a warm and enveloping group-hug approaching whenever I see their shiny happy faces, and it makes living here the reason for living here. We had thirteen peeps in all, counting brothers, my chosen family and friends.

Cast Iron Baked Merguez & Egg

The restaurant made this the best brunch EVER!  Of course, we are only at #9, and spring right around the corner, but the day was beautiful, sun shining and everyone wearing the beginnings of summer gear.

So,  what makes a restaurant a jewel in the crown of the East Village:
 1) They took reservations for 10 people and didn't blink when more arrived.
2) They made us SIT at the table, before everyone had arrived...(let that sink in,  'cause it's true byatches!!)
3) LIVE Jazz music with a Latino rocking singer and CONGO drums!

We got skills on having double-entendre heavy conversations with the Mommy present, using words like sleep instead of sex, and was the ice-cream cone big, you know the drill.  So when S. ordered another bloody mary to wake up from all the sleep and ice-cream she had last night, I heard my Mom's lilting accent clearly state "That's the beak of the cock!"  I quickly turned to see S. and K.'s blushing faces and Mom's proud stare for she'd remembered an old Jamaican saying.  I had to explain that cock was short for cockerel, and cockerel is another word for rooster, and what she really meant to say was "hair of the dog" or drinking to lessen the effects of a hangover...that she was NOT talking about a man's penis.  That made my Mommy blush.

I give the spot 4 out of 5 hey-girl-heys and 3 out of 5  duh-winnings! 

very very

Afterward, as the crew sadly disbanded, my Mommy went off to visit my brother, and a smaller group of us wandered into another joint for some Mojitos and sun-sitting.  This spot, Candela Candela,  was a lovely gift,  and our server, Roberto was on-point and very very very.  Another brunch spot perhaps?  Why not, with 43 to go!

BRUNCH #9

PLACE: Jules Bistro

EATS:  Chouchou Salad, Thin crusted pizza, Poached Eggs Benedict, Roasted red pepper omelet, Cast iron baked Merguez and Eggs and lots of bloodys..
TRACKS : James Brown - This is a Man's world
OUTSTANDING WORD: Unignorable