What's For Dina?

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Brunch at Clover Club

Last night my roommate and I hosted a wine and appetizer party where we managed to squeeze and feed 40 people in our apartment.  I woke up this morning feeling like I was hit by a bus and all I wanted to do was consume lots of food.

We headed to Cafe Luluc on Smith Street which is one of my go to spots for brunch because it’s a few blocks from my apartment, has a very reasonably priced menu and they make the most amazing lightly fried pancakes.  But the 30 minute wait for a table was too long for us to wait.

Luckily right next door to Cafe Luluc is Clover Club which has been getting press for it’s old school, speakeasy vibe and carefully made cocktails.  Before today I never knew they were open for brunch and I am so glad I ended up there.  I had fluffy ricotta pancakes with lemon-honey syrup, apple compote and a side of potato pancakes (these sound so simple but I can’t stop thinking about them).  My boyfriend had baked eggs with chorizo and manchego cheese.  Known for their drinks, Clover Club did not disappoint.  I had an elderflower cocktail and tasted one of my friend’s Bloody Mary, both were fantastic.

I will definitely be returning very soon since it was well priced and because they have an item on the menu called “Tasting of Bacon” that I must try.

Wine Week at Smith & Wollensky's

See all these wine glasses?  I learned this past Thursday if you want to be useful at work, it is best not to consume all this wine in the middle of the workday and expect to be productive when you return to your desk.  Since I was with my co-workers, I didn’t feel like a delinquent employee.

Besides the mean Italians sitting next to us, the lunch was very enjoyable.  I am not a steak fanatic but I was pleasantly surprised that all their non-red meat dishes were done well.  The soft shell crab special appetizer and hash browns were especially tasty.  I am not an expert on old school steakhouses in midtown but this was definitely better than my past experience at Del Frisco’s.

Los Abrazos Rotos - Full Length Trailer

A couple of weeks ago I posted a short teaser trailer for Pedro Almodóvar’s new filmLos Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces). The film is coming out in the US on November 6th but hopefully I will be able to see it at the NY Film Festival in October.  I re-watched Volver last weekend and it was as great as I remembered.  This is definitely my most anticipated film release of this year.  My Spanish isn’t as good as it was in college but you don’t really have to understand every word to be affected by the trailer.

Handsome Furs At Mercury Lounge

Went to see Handsome Furs last night and they were awesome.  Their entire setlist was comprised of songs off of their new album Face Control with the exception of Dead and Rural from Plague Park.  Face Control comes out this upcoming Tuesday but thanks to the magic of the internet I have had the album for the past 2 months so I was more than ready to hear them play their new stuff.  Almost every song off the new album is meant for dancing which turned Mercury Lounge into a sweaty dance party.

They only played for 45 minutes so we continued the dance party at The Annex.  Due to a few vodka shots throughout the night, I ended up paying $15 for a pastrami sandwich from Katz’s Deli at 2 AM.  It was so good.

Goddess PJ Harvey

In college, I switched over my female angst music obsession from Tori Amos to Polly Jean Harvey.  Her last project White Chalk was an extremely challenging listen.  Gone was her electric guitar and in came a lightly played piano and harpsichord.  Most jarring was her falsetto singing that replaced her signature low wail.  If you are first discovering PJ, do NOT start with White Chalk.

She has a new collaboration with John Parish coming out on March 30th, A Woman A Man Walked By and from the first listen from their new single below, old PJ seems to be back. She doesn’t tour extensively anymore so I am really excited to see her at Irving Plaza on March 26th.

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince

There was only one trailer before Watchmen last night:

Yes, the books are a thousand times better than the movies but this looks pretty badass.  I hated Chris Columbus’s first two attempts to make a good Harry Potter film. Alfonso Cuaron did a great job of taking the film series to a dark place and it has been continuing since.  I am not crazy about the new scene they will be adding to the movie that was not in the book, but nonetheless I am super excited to get a new Harry Potter fix now that the books are done with.

Watchmen at Midnight

I am super excited to see Watchmen on IMAX tonight with a bunch of friends.  I have never gone to a midnight screening before but this should be really fun, even if it sucks.

My first job out of college was at DC Comics where I had every comic book they have published at my disposal. For some reason I procrastinated reading Watchmen and read a ton of other Vertigo titles instead: Sleeper, 100 Bullets, Preacher (the only thing I remember is that a dude has sex with a chicken), Y The Last Man, etc. I finally read Watchmen a few months ago and it is by far the best of the graphic novels I have read. It’s a given this film won’t be anywhere as great as the book so I am not going in with the highest of expecations.

But this trailer is AWESOME, (you can watch it in HD, just click the button on the bottom right!):

The commercials I have seen do not stack up to the trailer and I am hoping the entire movie isn’t in slow motion. I am going to stop reading reviews which have been really mixed so far because I don’t want the experience to be ruined.

Winter, I hate you

I am sitting in my freezing cold office wearing my company fleece, fingerless gloves, scarf, and hat.  The only thing I enjoy about cold weather is that I get to wear cute boots.

Ugly snowstorm means I am not wearing cute boots today.