A Morning at the Empire

This morning our breakfast group went to a new restaurant, the Empire Café.  As I mentioned before, I’m not a fan of eating establishments that do not offer table service.  But I promised the gang that I would go along and not pout.  I’d eaten at the Empire Café about 10 years back.  The food was quite good then, so I expected that the food would be appetizing this morning.

As The Man and I were standing at the counter line with our seven friends, he turned to me and said “This place reminds me of Onion Creek.”

“You know what this place reminds me of?”  I asked.

His eyebrows went up, his mouth to the side.

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Then I said quickly.  “Sorry…I had to get just one in.”

During the course of breakfast, no less than four of my friends offered to get coffee for me.  I thanked them but got it myself.

While we were there:

Music :

·         “(Don’t’ Go Back to) Rockville” R.E.M.

·         “Serpentine Fire” Earth, Wire & Fire

·         “Tumbling Dice” The Rolling Stones

·         “Veronica” Elvis Costello

·         “Rhiannon” Fleetwood Mac

·         “Don’t Get Me Wrong” The Pretenders

·         “Life in a Northern Town” The Dream Academy

o   A young man in his mid 20s was seated next to us with what were obviously his parents, perhaps visiting from out of town.  The mom held up a cookie that was served with her coffee “Well, at least I like this…” (maybe she'd have preferred an Egg McMuffin?)

Ø  The Man and one of our friends, seated on opposite ends of the table, texted each other bad jokes.  Example:

v  Q – What do you get when you cross a Rottweiler with a Collie?

v  A – A dog that bites off your arm and then goes for help.

§  One of my single friends was thrilled with all the eye candy, indiscreetly pointing out all the cute guys in the room.

So ... Empire Cafe?  Great food (the Bella Frittata with its portabella mushrooms and gorgonzola cheese was superb); Good coffee (rich full Peruvian blend).  Good ambiance (saffron-colored walls with cheesetastic paintings of burlesque ladies in various national themes - Dutch, Spanish, Indian).  Nice Crowd (good mix of hipsters, glamorpusses and regular joes).  

All in all, it was a fun time that I would have not experienced had I exercised a prima-donna boycott.  OK…maybe for once a week I’ll act like I’m not a brat.

Play "Life in a Northern Town" The Dream Academy