Thursday, April 19, 2007

Every now and then, something funny happens on my way to work, and it makes the whole day go smooth and easy. Just now, as I walking into my building, one of the maintenance men was spraying the sidewalk with water as he does every morning. In the midst of doing this, an attractive woman with a rather short skirt walked by. She had a swagger about her, and she also had a hint of cleavage showing as well. Mr. Maintenance Man got a glimpse of this woman, and immediately lost control of his water hose, and not only sprayed an innocent man(with water), but he also sprayed himself. I laughed in his face, I laughed at the dude who got sprayed, and I'm still chuckling as I type this blog. As I've said before ,the streets of DC are a comedic gold mine. I'm just glad I have a front row seat to it all.

So last night, I went to this vegan spot called Vegetate, and it was my intent to write a review, and by golly I will do my best to write one--although I must admit what I write here in my blog, won't be as in detail as what I submit to the newspaper. Anyway, I walked in the spot about 6:30, and immediately, I was met by a mixed woman with nice glasses and a nicer smile. She directed me upstairs to the happy hour area, but before she did, I was sure to tell her that I had read about this restaurant/lounge in the weekend section of Friday's paper, and I was so inspired that I decided to pay a visit to her establishment. She smiled from ear to ear, and said that she wondered whether that article was going to improve business, and she was glad I had been inspired. She also touched me at this point, which caught me a bit of guard, but perhaps that was part of her vegan charm..who knows. Once I got upstairs, I noticed that it was still early, and there really weren't any patrons there yet. The people there were all white, all women, and they all appeared to be in their early 20s. When I walked into the spot, they all turned around, and immediately I pulled my genitalia out(just kidding), but I did nod hello and I sat down. I told the bartender the exact same story of how I found out about the restaurant that I told the hostess, and she smiled and said welcome. I asked her if I get a free drink, and she blew me off(not literally) and gave me the glass of Sauvignon blanc I requested.

The atmosphere in this place was pretty damn cool. An androgynous looking DJ was spinning on the turntables, the place was dimly lit, and scented candles filled up the entire room. There was one floor designated for people who were there to eat and eat only. The second floor had about 12 tables, and 20 barstools (I could be off by about 10) that were all setup for the happy hour atmosphere. And then there was another room that I suspect was the dancefloor area, which contained a small spot for the aforementioned DJ, and then a dancefloor, where I saw rhythmically challenged white and black people dance to great hip hop music. The third floor, from what I was told, is for VIP Vegans who make reservations in advance. I was very impressed with that, but overall I was bored out of my mind. My attempts to make small talk with people there were met with cold indifference, so I called up a variety of friends to make small talk with them, all while drinking half glass after half glass of Sauvignon blanc(for some reason they wouldn't pour me an entire glass). Before I knew it, the place was jammed packed and jelly tight(a southern expression). There were about 30 white women, 3 black people(who were in love with white women and seemingly had the ghey) and about 15 white men, half of who had they ghey as well. I was clearly out of place, and when I made eye contact with some of these folks, they seemed to confirm my suspicion. At one point, I saw this dude drinking some beer that I had never seen before, and I asked him what it was..He looked at me as if I had an impressive display of boogers in my nose, and then he told me what the drink was, where it originated, and what stores I could purchase it in which blew my mind, and of course I dont remember the specifics. This quite possibly was the highlight of the evening.

Soon after this, I left out of there, and when I did, I noticed that the downstairs restaurant area was PACKED with people who were dining. This area seemed to be a bit more normal than the happy hour area. There were attractive men and women eating, talking and drinking, and immediately I was wishing that I had based my review on this part of the restaurant, but at that point I was more than tipsy and I couldn't evaluate the situation properly. I will say this though, the vegetarian sliders that I ate were absolutely on point. They were a dollar each, and I think I ate about 6 of them, and I didn't feel full at all, which did nothing for my tipsy state...I need to learn how to make them.

I left Vegetate, and went to another spot I like to attend in Adams Morgan called the Common Share. I went in there to see what was going on in the day of sports, and to have a drink or two. I was only in there about 20 minutes, but while in there, I saw an old friend and her girlfriend at the bar, which just added to the jovial time I was already having. And as an added bonus, they just happened to be sitting next to a dude who went to Hampton, but talked my ear off as if I was going to be giving him some later. At one point I looked at him, and I was thinking, man I am not gay, I will not give you any so please shut the hell up..but he didn't. Anyway, I finished my drink (Jack Daniels), hugged my friends, and I rolled out and headed home. Quite an evening indeed.

So to recapitulate, if you come to DC, I suggest to go to Vegetate and bring your straight friends who can dance, so that you can even out the whole ghey demographic and you can show folks how to boogie properly. And eat plenty of vegan sliders..

And yes I have my first hangover since New Year's Day.

If I Had A Chance - Eric Roberson

6 comments:

Miss. Lady said...

Rashad, next time take someone with you! LOL! I know where I am headed to on my date next Friday. :)

Anonymous said...

when i ate at vegetate, it didn't have its liquor license (some bruhaha about a nearby church, if i recall correctly). the food was decent. artful presentation and all that. the people sitting next to us were a bit friendlier than in your experience, but i never went back. if your androgynous dj was a man with locs, that's the owner. it's definitely not a place to go if you're hungry and want to get full.

Unknown said...

I might go there since it's so close to my house. I didn't want to go before because they didn't have their liquor license for reasons stated above.

Jo said...

I am truly upset about the mixed woman comment . . .gosh .. how un-pc of you RM. What the heck does that mean? . . .and based on your review, I am kinda luke warm about the whole Vegetate experience. I think I would rather do Common Share! ;o)

Jo said...

PS. By the comments posted here, you have a lot of alcoholic friends! LOL! Not bad . . . I am sure they are all fans of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab." ;o)

GemEnigma said...

Jo, I was thinking the same thing, about the political INcorrectness of the term "mixed woman"! Too funny.

Personally, I thought this entry was hilarious and entertaining.