Popination Coronation
a series of unhinged personal essays disguised as pub reviews. Today: Oliver’s.
Also, Som Dee Thai. Kind of. But also kind of neither one.
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I didn’t have a Popination ready yesterday, nor did I visit any pubs yesterday which would allow me to have one ready for today, so let’s do something different, yeah? Okay. Here’s two restaurants with bars that I’ve been to recently, though I didn’t sit at the bar at either place.
See, I’ve been sick recently and visited family as well as had family visiting us right after that. And I had a show Friday and a fight rehearsal for another show tonight. So: no time to go Popinating, really (though I hope you enjoyed my foray into The Pondy while I was up the mountain). Also, as an academic and an adjunct professor in particular, I don’t get a paycheck in January. So I’m pretty broke at the moment. Though I get lots of support from my partner. But still.
To be fair, I will definitely be returning to both of these places, just to sit at the bar for a bit. Especially the first one, which is closer to home. Let me tell you about it.
Oliver’s
is an Italian restaurant that’s sorta near my stepgoblins’ high school, and was recommended to my partner recently. So we thought we’d take the parents and the kids alike over there for a late lunch the other day, and see how it was. It turned out really good, though a bit slow that time of day. Excellent mid to high-ish end Italian fare, both brunchy stuff and lunchy things. I had some sort of creamed spinach with eggs and potatoes and it was, while delicious, immediately food-coma-inducing. Not that that’s a bad thing; I wasn’t driving.
The bar looked tempting, too, and I almost let the fam leave me there whilst I Popinated, but I got too sleepy to do so. Though they have a Negroni flight which I absolutely must sample, one of these days. Never heard of a Negroni flight before. And look at those cool lights!
Som Dee
Amazing chandeliers are a highlight of my weekend, it seems—and the ones at Som Dee were not only gorgeous and golden, but I hear they were imported directly from Thailand. A dear friend of the family owns this place: she was nanny to Partner’s kids when they were very small, and meant (and still means) the world to them as a surrogate mom. It was lovely to meet her and see her deep and abiding love for ‘her’ kids, and to hear about her journey into restaurateurship. This is her second place she’s opened, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. And prosperous, it seems—she’s a force to be reckoned with.
The food, too: authentic and delicious. I had some complex entree that I don’t remember the name of but the flavors were delicate and pleasing, and a couple of the fam got their heads delightfully blown off by theirs. And that was only on ‘medium.’ We were there to celebrate the older kid’s 18th birthday, which was a beautiful and pretty emotional thing. Friend Orapan was overwhelmed with how much the boys have grown since she’s known them, and the grandparents are so proud. Their dad (my partner) is, of course, freaking out, as the kid will be going off to college at the end of this summer. I’ve never been a parent myself but I can’t imagine how that must feel. I’m already amazed by how much he and the little one have grown since I’ve known them only a few years ago—what must it be like to send someone off into the wide world without you, who you fed his very first meal to, when he was hardly bigger than a potato?
Anyway.
I noticed that Som Dee had a very pretty bar extending the length of one wall, crowned by those amazing chandeliers, so I figure one of these days I ought to go back there and sit at the bar, nibble on some of those delicious crispy fried wings and tender potstickers, and experience the place that way.
If I do that to either Oliver’s or Som Dee, I’ll let you know. Who knows: maybe they’ll warrant a fresh separate Popination piece of their own. What do you think?
I’d go for the chandeliers as much as the food