F-Yeah, 6 Months of Zupper

Hooray! Well, mostly for me. Trying to get all you clowns with "real jobs" together once a month is harder than getting Paul F to talk about his personal life. So welcome F'ers. Farina. I expected generic, Italian food, a la Olive Garden, just less gardeny. We were quickly seated at a bench style group table. Tyler to my left. Alex L to my right. Gosh I love that little cupid. She's so cute, she needs to be punched. First up: appetizers. We got Prosciutto di San Daniele, burrata e focaccina. Prosciutto say whaaa???? Doesn't matter because it was hella good. Then Focaccia di Recco. You don't need a lesson in Italian to understand that last dish mean 'eat me - you'll like.'


Last on the app train were some sort of dried salted fish. I couldn't do it. They had faces. But everyone else dug in. Nick was gobbling them down like tiny shark topedos:

Sean was there. MJ was in FULL EFFECT. Jock kept that full grown baby in her person. I expected to be splashed as her water broke every time she laughed. I noticed Paul always sits at the head of the table. Why is that? Are you king zupper? Are you growing out your bangs?

Total Mad Men shot. Black shirts. All serious n shit discussing 'product.' Nick's angry because... hrrump clients shmiants.

The Mains were good, though heavy and creamy and Frenchie. I thought we'd be eating more meatballer type meals. I got salmon wrapped in a gargantuan fig leave. Looked more like a palm frond. Delicious? Yes.

Some got the Pesto Pasta. Looked like green boring spaghetti. I sorta faded out at this point, talking to Craig about his impeding fatherhood, to MJ about being cool, and then BOOM. Check arrives. OH! Martha/Ian pulled a half-Foulkes (Please refer to zupper C).


Fun night. After the group shot, we broke into threes and walked hand in hand through the Mission, until the heavy, Italian glutenony rendered us defeated. We all sat down (9 deep) on a ridiculously long bench and relaxed into sleep, waking with the dawn and the homeless going through our pockets.
Bring it G.

E-lectric

What. Is. Up?

ELIZA's. Packed house. I was late (as usual). We had special guests: Jason Harris and Karen Appel. Parking was a bitch - but hello delicious. Steamed dumplings, a truckload of potstickers (I believe at some point someone was cut off from ordering them - Craig). Service was swift and attentive. We also had a table malfunction (more peeps showed than expected) and they accommodated us accordingly.

Next was mains. Mu Shu Pork equals mouth ecstasy in a flour blanket. String beans - party in taste bud land. A plethora of rice was ordered. White rice, brown rice, mixed race rice. Portebello mushroom with shrimp was something I'd invite back over. I tried to shimmy over to Paul F to get the latest on his dating life, but I was shut down. It was BLYTHES BIRTHDAY. Celebration! Her mysterious hubby got donuts for dessert. Including candles and a singing jag. I give Eliza's a thumbs up. Though they should totally employ a lazy susan situation so we could all talk more effectively.




Oh, one last thing: Tyler insisted I include this joke.

"What kind of food covers it's legs???? Shy-knees"
Keeping it real.

D is for Dosa

This blog is a long time coming. A whole two weeks. I was actually told to hurry my shit up by an unnamed zupperite (Ian).

DOSA!!! Chandeliers, four plates of food, cool sexy bar. We all arrived early to adorn ourselves with Bald Guy Greetings garb in celebration of Kalman's birthday. We gathered in the bright drinking area, ordered elaborate cocktails (mine was the craziest - a diet Coke!) Soon, everyone started to wander in. There was a strange request from the child carrying Mangins: to bring a doll. So the doll was brought, and was actually the life of the party! We had some first timers: The Goldblatt's and Sean Farrell was actually in town. We also had a special guest who we're really hoping will join the roster. MJ Otto. Yes - THE MJ Otto. Fabulousity times ten.

First this - appetizers. Giant balloons of Indian delight. I tried really hard to put a name to these delicious bubbles of yum, but still have no idea what the balls they're called. I even googled. Same size as my head? also yes.




Then came #2 - shut up gross thinkers. Some masalas, uttapan, and peas were consumed. I was happy. Someone had told me the food wasn't that great, but my tummy was like 'more - more'. #3 All sorts of South Indian Curry. All Delish. I had the Tamil Veg Curry and was like 'hello, you are my friend.' I don't know if anyone got the Pepper Chicken, but it was described on the menu as 'Fall-off-the-bone' - so that kinda turned me off. I don't like bone being mentioned when I'm getting my grub on. But that's just me.

Then guess what??? No...not Gulab Jaloon, like you were all thinking. CUPCAKES!!! Martha surprised her man with a scrumptious plate of cupcakes. We sang happy birthday, split the check, then all went back to Ian's and took a much deserved group nap. The last sentence isn't true, but wouldn't that have been fun?! See you all at E!

'C' is for Capp's and Completely absent Paul

BAM. Italian food. We gathered at the small, historic Capp's Corner, deep North Beach area. So deep, I was half an hour late. Some may say I have bad navigational skills. I actually just take my time - do a couple of laps before I commit to parking. Foulkes was missing. We hoped all was well, but imagined how much more interesting this blog would be if he'd really been murdered. Not the case. He was trapped in an apparent apartment drama. But nobody was hurt except the chair at Capp's waiting for Paul to sit on it.


We ordered a bucket of soup. Literally. I think it was Minestrone. Regardless, it was really good. The breadsticks were as big my legs and they kept coming. Constant bread. I like that. Then came a salad, also served in a bucket like apparatus. Thumbs up.



On to the main courses. Tyler got Lasagna and took it down fast. Veal Milanese was Blythe's choice, and they had a good time. I even had a bite, and yep - breaded and vealy. A couple of Chicken Parmigiana's were ordered and - more bread. The only bad choice was unfortunately mine. I got Linguini with Steamed Mussels and Clams, and then pulled over on the 101 and chirped all over the freeway. Ahh... good times. The food was yummy/heavy/Soprano's minus the money italian and I give it a 7.26. We then compared stomachs (jordache is growing) and eyeglasses. See you all at D.

B is for Meat

The chef slash owner greated us. What a guy.



We did it! Zupper B! And god damn - I'm still full. We arrived at the tourist filled restaurant and were seated promptly. I was so happy to see everyone, I didn't notice the decor (demonstrated in the above pics) until we exited. Huge photos of super-late thirty somethings partying in the bar. Two broads servicing a milk shake. Amazing.

A couple new monikers were discussed. Drinks were ordered (after Jomo spilled the news about little Jordache). We got a round of definitely palatable appetizers. Among them - breadcrumb covered pickles, some sort of poppers, and well, something else fried. I ate the fried part off the pickle then put the limp cucumber on my plate.

Next came the MEAT ordering. All I know about Kobe is he's a Laker and a rapist, so I stayed away from the Kobe Beef burger. Tyler wasn't afraid and ordered it - no hesitation. I got the Angus Beef burger. It was meaty alright. I must say, the highlight was the onion rings. I think I lied to the pregnant Jocelyn when she asked 'has everyone had one?'. I shook my head and stuffed it in my mouth. Delish. Ian was awesome. As I explained we named 'Van' - 'Evan' to avoid family griping, he let me know Evan Morrison had the same problem. And of course, Mango, well, he ate his burger, drank his shake, and kept on going. I don't know what that last sentence means, but I wanted to mention Mango.

All in all, the sixth floor of Macy's sorta disappointed, but the company - as always - was like family. See you all at C!!

First Dinner A Sucess.

I assume?! I have no idea if the food was good. Nor do I know if you enjoyed yourselves, or ended up brawling in the streets. But this is our blog, and here we will document our adventures until the final letter, Z. Regardless of Double Dragon absentees.