the steaks are high
july 23, 2006
yesterday was one of the hottest days of 2006 thus far. it's one of those days where beads of sweat form on your scalp and trickle downwards without relent even though you're just sitting there doing...nothing. it's not just the heat but the humidity that compounds the sweltering feeling that envelops us. there hasn't been a day like this in a long long time.
it's like what we angelenos call..."earthquake weather".
we kinda threw together a last minute celebration for sriracha's birthday last night. it's been awhile since i've been out to see anyone and it's so great to get together with close friends who you've grown with. since sriracha really loves bloody red meat (not the british term bloody mind you), we opted for dinner at nick and stef's steakhouse in downtown la.
there are actually a lot of restaurants serving up steaks and the like but with two semi-new sets of parents in tow, we opted for the one that would strategically get everyone home in a decent hour. out of the many i threw out for suggestions were: ruth's chris, taylors, flemings, houstons, mccormick schmidts, lawrys and of course nick and stef's.
i haven't taken the dslr out to play with for a long time now. ever since being on this injection of hormones and stuff, my hands have been really shaky and so it's hard to use the dslr when you're like a crack addict. i've also been so tired and fatigued like never before. this hormone stuff is not for the weak i tell you. the worst part is the joint pains and the muscle pains that kick up sporadically at certain parts of your body. man, i feel so old. and like i'm falling apart.
damn, i'm digressing...
nick and stef is located right in the heart of downtown LA. on the weekends, traffic is great in downtown and you can practically drive the wrong way on one way streets without a problem. ha! the night we all met up for dinner, the streets were all closed off due to some movie or tv filming.
ah..the joys of living in hollywood-land. i don't know if many of you are aware but there are tons of movies filmed in downtown LA. it's a pain in the ass when they close of streets though and make you loop around to find another way to get to where you need to go.
the food at nick and stef's is considered high-end due to it being a part of the patina group. service of course was very attentive and the prices high. more importantly to me as always is the company i'm with. although i'm a foodie, it doesn't really matter to me where i end up, as long as the food is good and the company, even better.
as it was a steakhouse, most of us ordered steaks but there was a nice shortrib, lamb chops, rib eye and new york steak going all around the table. we all had some sort of appetizer as well and a plethora of side dishes too, and not to mention a pricey merlot. i actually took a lot of photos but lighting was dim and my hands were not steady, so i lost a lot of good photo opps. that's life i guess. you'll just have to excuse the photos that aren't all crystal clear. it's not the camera's fault...it's mine.
as famous and as pricey as nick and stef was, i thought the food was average. i don't think they are amazingly knock me off the chair and i can die happy now type of good but it was really very decent. damn, for the price it better be very decent i say.
on the way to the bathroom, you can see the storage locker where the meat is aging. 28 days i think they say. tons of meat and prosciutto and other red bloody stuff galore.
the best part of the night is always the conversation, the laughter, the stories, showing new baby pictures over dessert and the like. i love the fact that even though my girlfriends have kids and a husband, they still make time for each other and we recognize in celebrating with one another.
TGILW and i opted for the trio of ice cream. it was pretty damn divine. strawberry ice cream/sorbet, pistachio and vanilla. mmmm. the one above is called apple buckle...so amelikan. ;)
when we left the restaurant at 11pm, it was still scorching outside. the wind blowing in the air was hot as can be. it reminded me of summers in indio. yes, good ole indio. there was a giant light shining down onto the street and it was all part of the aforementioned movie filming in action. there was some acura TL racing down the street with a film crew following it. although it was nighttime, it was so bright out with the filming lights everywhere. everyone looked quite surreal standing there watching them film. although it's not perfect, i like this shot a lot.
i always love taking photos of people in their natural state without posing. i always wonder what they are thinking.
the lights made it look like christmas...but it sure didn't feel like it. we were sweating bullets.
what a lovely end to a great evening. it's so good to get back out to see people again.
currently listening to: evanescence, my immortal
