I heart NY

...and Tortilla Flats.

On Saturday, we took my stepson H into NYC for 24 hours or so of...well, NYC. We saw downtown/Ground Zero, went to MoMA, saw the view from the top of Rockefeller Center, and had dinner with friends at Tortilla Flats.

When we finally settled on the dates for the visit, I emailed my friends in NY and let them know we were planning on dinner there at 6 pm, and to meet us if they could. Normally, when I email 20 people and tell them I'll be at a certain place at a certain time, I'll get a return rate of maybe 3 people. Truthfully, I was expecting less than that--Saturday night was very stormy in NY, with thunder and lightning and strong winds and pouring rain. Not the kind of weather people go out in. But lo and behold, suddenly we needed a table for 13 (with 2 additional kids).

The maitre d' managed to accommodate us (with a few dramatic eye rolls) by squeezing us into the outdoor area, which was cordoned off with heavy plastic flaps. Normally fine, but a bit blustery in stormy weather. However, it turned out to be one of the best dinners I've had out in quite some time.

I need to sidetrack a little here and tell you the history of Tortilla Flats. My grad school program at Columbia was small--there were five of us in my graduating class--and every month since graduation, we've gotten together for drinks to talk shop. (Well, not all five of us every month, these days, since two of us live in the Boston area, but that's beside the point.) The first time we went to TF was February of 2007. We were celebrating Maria's birthday, and it just so happened that night was the annual Ernest Borgnine Look-Alike Contest. Bob won, in a dance-off, getting the table free t-shirts and a few rounds of free tequila shots.

My mother was also there that night--she was helping me move into a new apartment, and came along for the evening out. Brian, a TV producer, plied her with the neverending margarita pitcher and stories about producing TV shows. I was worried she'd be out of her element, but she had a great time. She called my dad after we got home that night, and I overheard this part of the conversation from the next room:

"I had a good time, they're a lot of fun." Pause. In a quieter voice: "They drink a lot."

Ever since then, my dad has been convinced that margaritas are somehow my mother's downfall, and every time she drinks in front of him, I hear, "Don't give your mother any margaritas!"

Anyway, so that first visit was an epic evening, one that immediately earned a soft spot in my heart for TF. I've been back a few times since then (none quite as fun, although the next year we reprised the evening and watched a drunken Maria get spanked by one of the waiters "for her birthday"), and because it's a loud, raucous, very casual Mexican restaurant with cheap food, I figured it would be a good place for adults and children alike to have fun.

I was right, and Bob was in rare form. He set the tone for the evening before we'd even ordered--as a group of women decided they didn't like the outdoor seating and took the party inside, he proclaimed, loudly, in front of them, the kids, and everyone: "Someone got their twat hairs in a tangle!" Later he waxed rhapsodic about the gay porn collection he'd once had on his Palm Pilot, and announced that the hand dryer in the men's room was so forceful that it "blew his piss sideways."

I haven't laughed so hard in months.

For a table of randomly assorted friends, most of whom didn't know most of the other people, it was a great time. Everyone had fun, the kids seemed oblivious to the adult conversations (thankfully; I was sure they'd be scarred for life), and we got a couple of free rounds of tequila shots out of it.

H announced his favorite parts of the trip were the subway and Rockefeller Center. I was worried about what he would think (we were staying in Bed-Stuy, traditionally a run-down neighborhood, and the subway was looking dirtier and more decrepit than usual) but he took it all in stride and helped me find subway rats while we waited for the trains.

The one downside was not being able to spend quality one-on-one time with each of my friends. I promised them all individual dinners next time I'm in town, which I hope is soon. This weekend made me painfully aware of my mostly self-imposed suburban isolation. I think more trips, and more weekend time out of the house, will have to be arranged.