Sunburnt Calf

(Telephone conversation with Mother)
Mom: So what did you do on Sunday?
Me: B, A, K and I went to brunch. An all you can drink brunch.
Mom: A what?
Me: Moooom, it's a thing. You go to brunch, get mediocre food and drink because you didn't drink enough the night before.
Mom: Oh. That's nice.

After going to bed at 4:30am Sunday morning, my roommates and I dragged ourselves out of bed to venture to the Upper West Side to the Sunburnt Calf. Our friend, K, who sat at the bar waiting for us received free shots while she stealthily held 4 stools at the counter just in case a table wasn't available. Luckily we arrived as the restaurant opened at noon and the lovely Australian man sat us in the 'conservatory' in the back of the establishment. 3 things were noted upon entering said room:
1. It was loud, no sound absorption anywhere
2. The roof is glass, the fans hang below the ceiling so when the blades swirl around I had the feeling I was stuck at the bottom of some jail pit with the shadow of a fan disappearing and reappearing on our table.
3. There were exactly 3 men in the room. There were approx. 20 women, give or take.

I guess men don't brunch. They should. It's a chance to dress in a cute outfit on a fall day, meeting your friends and giggle and gossip about the party you went to last night. Oh wait. I get it.

Our waitress leaned in upon introducing herself and as if this was for our table only she said, "It's a 5 drink limit...but we don't really keep track." Cue the predicted snickering. As much as I didn't want to drink, I did. I received my moomosa (yes, for a split second I thought there was milk involved, I know you did too) and was happy. Every time my glass got half-way empty, there was our Australian waitress refilling it from a pitcher.

For my meal I diverted from the usual sweet pancakes or french toast that I so love and opted for an English muffin with salmon, a poached egg, and avocado. It was served with leafy greens and french fries (much to B's happiness; she didn't get any with her eggs. On this note, B is a vegetarian and there were virtually no vegetarian friendly foods offered.) I was most impressed with K's pancakes which turned out to literally be sliced cakes. Yes, I did get a little pang of jealousy when she received that. The food was basic and filled my stomach but I would not return for the food.

2

After we swayed out I subtly mentioned that they needed to just 'see' the cookie place that I love so much. Ok, ok, you caught me, I knew their knees would buckle and mouths would salivate upon seeing this place. If this reaction doesn't occur, we cannot be friends. A and I descended the stairs to Levain saying we would split a cookie. The healthy K and the sweet-hater B, said they would wait outside. That lasted 2 minutes. They were down those stairs ordering a cookie fast then you can say 'can I have a glass of milk with this?'

5

All in all, it was a wonderful Sunday.