I must say this, though, eating out IS a real bargain in Florida when compared to eating out in New York, Washington, or other Northeast cities. At an Italian restaurant in DC, for example (and not just in the city either, even in the suburbs) they charge a minimum of $8 for a plate of pasta and this usually does not include salad and certainly not dessert. Salad is an extra $3.95 ($4.95 for Caesar) and dessert is close to five bucks nowadays – for a piece of pie. So a meal in Florida that costs $7.99 is more than twice as much where I live. Which is probably a good thing, or else I’d probably be eating out all of the time, too.
Not that I don’t like to eat out; I do. In fact, I like to eat out as much as the next person (unless ‘the next person’ happens to be a resident of Harbor View). However, I feel as if that is all we do when I visit Mom and Dad in Florida – eat, eat, and eat some more. I always look forward to going for my weeklong trip to Florida each winter because it gives me a chance to go outside and take longs walks in the nice weather, after being cooped up inside up North all winter long. But then at the end of the week we go to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet and I lose everything I’ve gained from exercise (or rather I gain everything I’ve lost). Oh well, I often think, biting into an egg roll, (slice of pizza, piece of cheesecake or whatever food I am eating at the time), I’ll go for an extra long walk in the morning.
Showing posts with label Chapter 9. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chapter 9. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Chapter 9, Part 3 - Eating Out
Food is a favorite topic for Mom, Dad, and their friends to talk about, no matter where they are. They talk about it at the pool in the afternoon.
“Phyllis, where do you want to eat tonight – Nana’s Nosh or Antonio’s?” Mom asks while slathering suntan lotion on her legs.
“Oh, Herb and I ate at Nana’s last night. They never brought us any pickles and we asked them about three times. Let’s go to Antonio’s instead,” Phyllis replies.
“That’s fine. Actually, Flo did mention to me that the service was going downhill at Nana’s. It’s a shame, too because they really do have the best matzo ball soup.” Mom says.
“You think so?” Phyllis says, “I like Bubbe’s soup much better.”
They talk about food when they are on the golf course.
“We’d better play an extra nine, Herb,” Dad says. “We’re eating at Antonio’s for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, you’re right. Thanks for reminding me. Gotta make room for that delicious New York cheesecake,” Herb answers.
They even talk about food while they are eating out.
“Ummm, this egg drop soup is delicious, and the noodles are extra crispy today. I can eat here again tomorrow,” Phyllis says one night at Wu’s Chinese Buffet.
“Phyllis, we’re eating at Barney’s tomorrow night, remember? They have that special with the all-you-can-stuff-your-face salad bar on Tuesday nights,” Mom reminds her.
“Oh yeah. You’re right. Maybe we’ll come back here the day after.”
A few days before I was set to visit Mom and Dad this year, Mom called me up and said, “We have to take you to Finnochio’s when you get here. They have the best chicken marsala. And it comes with a delicious Caesar salad, nice warm dinner rolls, and dessert – choice of pudding, ice cream, or cake.”
“Sounds good, Mom,” I muttered.
“Oh, and the portions are so huge. I usually take home half the chicken and eat it for lunch the next day. And I often try to sneak out one of those good rolls, too.”
“Sounds good, Mom,” I tried to fake enthusiasm.
“Oh, and the best part is,” she continued, “it’s only $7.99 for the whole meal. Can’t beat that price,” she chirped.
“Sounds good, Mom,” I said. For some reason, I just can’t seem to match Mom’s excitement over a piece of chicken. Maybe in 30 years.
“Phyllis, where do you want to eat tonight – Nana’s Nosh or Antonio’s?” Mom asks while slathering suntan lotion on her legs.
“Oh, Herb and I ate at Nana’s last night. They never brought us any pickles and we asked them about three times. Let’s go to Antonio’s instead,” Phyllis replies.
“That’s fine. Actually, Flo did mention to me that the service was going downhill at Nana’s. It’s a shame, too because they really do have the best matzo ball soup.” Mom says.
“You think so?” Phyllis says, “I like Bubbe’s soup much better.”
They talk about food when they are on the golf course.
“We’d better play an extra nine, Herb,” Dad says. “We’re eating at Antonio’s for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, you’re right. Thanks for reminding me. Gotta make room for that delicious New York cheesecake,” Herb answers.
They even talk about food while they are eating out.
“Ummm, this egg drop soup is delicious, and the noodles are extra crispy today. I can eat here again tomorrow,” Phyllis says one night at Wu’s Chinese Buffet.
“Phyllis, we’re eating at Barney’s tomorrow night, remember? They have that special with the all-you-can-stuff-your-face salad bar on Tuesday nights,” Mom reminds her.
“Oh yeah. You’re right. Maybe we’ll come back here the day after.”
A few days before I was set to visit Mom and Dad this year, Mom called me up and said, “We have to take you to Finnochio’s when you get here. They have the best chicken marsala. And it comes with a delicious Caesar salad, nice warm dinner rolls, and dessert – choice of pudding, ice cream, or cake.”
“Sounds good, Mom,” I muttered.
“Oh, and the portions are so huge. I usually take home half the chicken and eat it for lunch the next day. And I often try to sneak out one of those good rolls, too.”
“Sounds good, Mom,” I tried to fake enthusiasm.
“Oh, and the best part is,” she continued, “it’s only $7.99 for the whole meal. Can’t beat that price,” she chirped.
“Sounds good, Mom,” I said. For some reason, I just can’t seem to match Mom’s excitement over a piece of chicken. Maybe in 30 years.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Chapter 9, Part 2 - Eating Out
Speaking of people who do not live in Harbor View, I must make mention here about Mom and Dad’s other friends in Florida. Mom and Dad moved from New York to Pennsylvania when they were in their thirties. Having both been born and raised in New York, they left a lot of friends behind. Now that they are spending their winters in Florida, they have reacquainted with a number of them, since many New Yorkers, as it is well-known, have also retired to Florida.
“Oooh, I feel like I am back in New York again,” Mom said to me one day.
“Why, because of the food?” I asked, knowing that many Florida restaurants feature New York delicacies such as bagels, bialys, black and white cookies, and egg creams.
“Well, that, too. But I go out with so many of my old friends, it’s like we never moved away.”
The proof that so many New Yorkers have retired to this southern state is that there are actually class reunions for New York high schools – more than 1,000 miles away in South Florida. If you open one of the local Florida papers in any given week, you will see announcements like “Stuyvesant High School class of 1951 reunion at Willow Lakes on Sat. February 28” or “Bronx High School of Science 50th class reunion being held this Saturday.”
Mom and Dad knew that some of their old New York friends had retired to Florida, but they have run into many of the others by coincidence. For example, Mom will be talking to a woman on the Harbor View shuttle bus, and the other person will mention the neighborhood she lives in back home in New York. Mom will ask her if she knows an old friend of hers. And the other woman will say, “Oh yeah, they have retired here to Florida, only about 10 minutes away.” It has happened so many times that Mom doesn’t even find it uncanny anymore. Of course, Mom then goes and calls these old friends up, and they make plans to get together and reminisce – over dinner, of course.
“Oooh, I feel like I am back in New York again,” Mom said to me one day.
“Why, because of the food?” I asked, knowing that many Florida restaurants feature New York delicacies such as bagels, bialys, black and white cookies, and egg creams.
“Well, that, too. But I go out with so many of my old friends, it’s like we never moved away.”
The proof that so many New Yorkers have retired to this southern state is that there are actually class reunions for New York high schools – more than 1,000 miles away in South Florida. If you open one of the local Florida papers in any given week, you will see announcements like “Stuyvesant High School class of 1951 reunion at Willow Lakes on Sat. February 28” or “Bronx High School of Science 50th class reunion being held this Saturday.”
Mom and Dad knew that some of their old New York friends had retired to Florida, but they have run into many of the others by coincidence. For example, Mom will be talking to a woman on the Harbor View shuttle bus, and the other person will mention the neighborhood she lives in back home in New York. Mom will ask her if she knows an old friend of hers. And the other woman will say, “Oh yeah, they have retired here to Florida, only about 10 minutes away.” It has happened so many times that Mom doesn’t even find it uncanny anymore. Of course, Mom then goes and calls these old friends up, and they make plans to get together and reminisce – over dinner, of course.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Chapter 9, Part 1 - Eating Out
If you compared the activities at Harbor View to an ice cream sundae, then eating out at night in restaurants would be the whipped cream on top (and in Florida that would include all-you-can-pile-on cherries, sprinkles, and nuts). Every evening, after a morning of activities or shopping, and an afternoon of lounging by the pool, the residents of Harbor View and other condo developments in Florida embark on their evening rituals, which usually begin with eating out. Eating out in Florida is an activity in and of itself, and I do believe that it is this activity, rather than golf or Mah Jongg, that many of the retirees at Harbor View actually come for.
To begin with, there are more choices of restaurants than your stomach can imagine – Chinese buffets, Jewish delicatessens, Greek diners, Italian trattorias, Cuban bodagas, Mexican cantinas, bagelries, bakeries, and more. And of course, there are several to choose from in each of these types. With so many restaurants, one might think that the best of the restaurants in each category would drive the others out of business.
But ‘the best’ is always subject to interpretation, and when it comes to old people and food in Florida, there’s a lot of serious interpretation going on.
“You must try the matzo ball soup at Nana’s Nosh,” Mom said to me on a recent visit.
“Only if you want your blood pressure to rise 20 points. It is full of salt,” her friend Flo retorted. “Bubbe’s is much better. The matzo balls are fluffier, too.”
Or in the case of some restaurants, there’s a general consensus that one food is the best at a certain restaurant, while another food in the same category is the best at another. So, if you are in the mood for chicken picata, you go to Giuseppe’s, where the chicken picata is fantastic, but all of the other entrees are lousy. On the other hand, if you are craving veal parmesan, you go to Antonio’s, where the veal parmesan is out of this world, but the picata is very much in it. If you are dying for some chicken picata, and your partner is craving veal parmesan, then you are out of luck. So you go to Tony’s where nothing is great, but it’s all-you-can-eat for $6.95.
Going out to dinner is an almost nightly event among Mom, Dad, and their friends. Like many other residents, Mom and Dad sometimes go out by themselves. Other times they dine with Flo and Irv, and still other times they eat with friends of theirs from the ‘Young in Spirit’ club. Furthermore, if Mom and Dad want to get together with friends who do not live in Harbor View (and who are unwilling to pay the $3 visitor’s fee to sit at the pool), what better way to catch up with them than over dinner? “Besides,” Mom says, “with the cheap prices at the restaurants here, it just doesn’t pay to cook.”
To begin with, there are more choices of restaurants than your stomach can imagine – Chinese buffets, Jewish delicatessens, Greek diners, Italian trattorias, Cuban bodagas, Mexican cantinas, bagelries, bakeries, and more. And of course, there are several to choose from in each of these types. With so many restaurants, one might think that the best of the restaurants in each category would drive the others out of business.
But ‘the best’ is always subject to interpretation, and when it comes to old people and food in Florida, there’s a lot of serious interpretation going on.
“You must try the matzo ball soup at Nana’s Nosh,” Mom said to me on a recent visit.
“Only if you want your blood pressure to rise 20 points. It is full of salt,” her friend Flo retorted. “Bubbe’s is much better. The matzo balls are fluffier, too.”
Or in the case of some restaurants, there’s a general consensus that one food is the best at a certain restaurant, while another food in the same category is the best at another. So, if you are in the mood for chicken picata, you go to Giuseppe’s, where the chicken picata is fantastic, but all of the other entrees are lousy. On the other hand, if you are craving veal parmesan, you go to Antonio’s, where the veal parmesan is out of this world, but the picata is very much in it. If you are dying for some chicken picata, and your partner is craving veal parmesan, then you are out of luck. So you go to Tony’s where nothing is great, but it’s all-you-can-eat for $6.95.
Going out to dinner is an almost nightly event among Mom, Dad, and their friends. Like many other residents, Mom and Dad sometimes go out by themselves. Other times they dine with Flo and Irv, and still other times they eat with friends of theirs from the ‘Young in Spirit’ club. Furthermore, if Mom and Dad want to get together with friends who do not live in Harbor View (and who are unwilling to pay the $3 visitor’s fee to sit at the pool), what better way to catch up with them than over dinner? “Besides,” Mom says, “with the cheap prices at the restaurants here, it just doesn’t pay to cook.”
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