Fangirls, Steak and Yiddish

My first piece of excitement to share with my loyal readers is a cute article in the NY Times called “Yiddish Resurfaces as City’s 2nd Political Language” Nothing earthshattering, but I wanted to share. Did you know Colin Powell speaks a little Yiddish?

The second piece is about my awesome dinner tonight. It’s Restaurant Week in NYC which means fancy restaurants only charge $35 for a 3-course meal. I went with some of the coolest girls ever (some friends I met at work) to Delmonico’s on the advice of our boss. Delmonico’s is famous for being ancient (opened in 1835), having the most interesting clientele and is credited with inventing Eggs Benedict, Lobster Newburg, and Baked Alaska.

As we walked up to the restaurant (not too far from our office) I saw a familiar looking figure go up the stairs right before us. Big guy, glasses, wearing shorts and a t-shirt. It looked a little bit like … no … it couldn’t be. Oh my god, but it was. Kevin Smith. And he was holding the door for us.

Let me explain. I have lived in NYC my whole life. I have bumped into tons of celebrities, seem them on the street. We all pretend to be too cool for school here, so I never really got too excited, or made a big deal. Except – Kevin Smith! I have always loved him, and I won’t pretend that I didn’t have a crazy crush on him in the early years.  I have never marked out or been so excited before. I had no idea what to do.  I kind of just stared at him, as he held the door – trying to confirm in my head that it was him. I got a little ridiculous and just kind of stared deeply at him and was all “Thank You. Very Much.”

I mean – what do you do? I wasn’t even sure it was him until the last second and then even if I was – I didn’t want to make a big deal out of anything. The poor guy is just going out to dinner and what could I say? Anything would just seem trite. It’s not like he changed my life, or saved me from jumping off a bridge. I just think he is funny and adorable and ohmygod, it’s Kevin Smith!  So, I didn’t say anything, other than an overly emphatic thanks for holding the door.

First we had drinks at the bar (I needed to calm the hell down). The bar was great, the bartenders were funny and adorable and both Jill and I ordered stuff we would never have ordered, because Carolann ordered such an adult drink (she even knew what gin she wanted!) – we were obviously outclassed.  We gossiped, had a great time and about an hour later, agreed to sit down.  Of course, Carolann asked the maitre’d to seat me next to ohmygodkevinsmith.

So, we sat. About a table away from Kevin, his gorgeous wife, his kid and some older couples. Maybe family. While the girls were awesome and trying to get me to say something to him, I wouldn’t do that. Not with his whole family there. If he was just with a friend, maybe I would have sent over a drink or something, but this was just going to have to do. I am sure my constant leaning over and staring at him was flattery/terrifying enough.

Oh, the food? I had Lobster Bisque, the filet mignon and dessert and a glass of a really nice Cabernet. The lobster bisque was delicious, but not very hearty. Tiny portion but delicious flavor. The filet was perfect. I ordered it medium-rare, but I think I got Carolann’s rare, and I will never order it medium again. For dessert, instead of the brownie or cheesecake that was advertised, we were offered some sort of yogurt panna cotta or a a “Yankee Doodle” cake. We went for the Doodle, which was stale and uninspiring and a Baked Alaska to split – which was delicious.  Then we guilted the adorable Croatian waiter into giving us a brownie, which was even better, and had marshmallows on top. We had a blast, and I can’t wait to go out with these ladies again, but the night will always be “The Night Kevin Smith Held The Door For Me.”