Is my foodie showing?

So, in my last post I mentioned that I live in a major city, but I purposely did not say which one. I thought that it would be wise to say as little about myself as possible. Then I thought to myself "Self, you live in a city with more than 1.54 million people. There is little to no chance anyone will string together clues enough to figure out who you are. And if they do, that is kind of impressive." Also, there are so many location specific things I want to talk about that it will just be easier to say where I live. So here it is, I live in Philadelphia. I wasn't raised here, so I am not a typical Philly person where I fight about hoagies vs. subs or anything like that (they're subs by the way but shhh don't tell my neighbors), but I do live and work here and I love it.

Anyway, the reason why it is important that you know I live in Philly is because we have our own little things we obsess about. One more resent Philly obsession is FOOD! We are slowly but surely, with the help of Iron Chefs, the Travel Channel, and a dedicated group of restaurateurs and chefs, becoming a food town to rival many a food town. Among our food elite there is one restaurateur who has lead the charge in the name of food and has been attributed with singlehandedly revitalizing the Old City restaurant and nightlife scene. His name, if you haven't already guessed, is Stephen Starr, and I went to one of his restaurants this evening for dinner. I actually went to his newest restaurant, El Rey, a really cool, kitschy, Mexican dive kind of place. Even though a Starr restaurant tends to be a bit overpriced, they all have some really cool calling cards that tell you instantly that they are a Starr restaurant, and El Rey is no different. All Starr restaurants are themed. Not theme in a stupid way like the Rain Forest Cafe (blegh!) or Hard Rock Cafe (gag!) but things that are done really well and tasteful and make the dining experience something special and different. One of his most famous places is called Buddakan and has a giant gold Buddha right in the middle of the dining room. I'll get back to the Starr empire another time, because I want to bring it back to my night.

I went with my boyfriend T, whom I take on most of my restaurant trips, and we went right as service was starting. Actually we got there more than half an hour early and hung around the city for a while until service really started. Then we were seated and the night started as many a night at any restaurant, I ordered a cocktail (a margarita on the rocks, with salt thank you) he ordered a beer and so it began. We got guacamole with homemade tortilla chips to share, which were great and came out about 5 minutes after we ordered them. The we chatted and waited for our meals to come out. While waiting we got to see the restaurant swing into full gear. Since we got there so early, we were actually only the second table there, but it did not take too long for the place to fill up. Then, the best part, we got our food! I got a Mexican Short Rib Sandwich type thing, and T got a "los moles" plate that consisted of chicken, pork, and lamb all in slightly different mole sauces served with tortillas. Mole is a Mexican savory chocolate sauce that is not sweet at all but really tasty. Both were extremely good and while eating them we both agreed we would have to come back to try it again. Always thinking about the next meal, that's us!

So, there we are all enjoying our food, just about finishing and ready to order dessert when I see Stephen Starr himself come out of the kitchen and sit at a table in the back. The man, the myth, the legend was actually in the restaurant, checking up on it at the end of its second week of service. In the iconic words of Rachel Zoe "I litrally died". I had a mini freak out over some of the best churros I had ever eaten. I was a little star struck (and a little drunk) if you couldn't tell. T told me that I should have given him the thumbs up, but I didn't cause I am a scardy cat so we just paid and left.

Well, that was my night. I spent the rest of it watching the new Stephen Hawking show and hanging out. 'Cause that's what I do.