Monday, December 22, 2008

BEN'S BISTRO

Ben's Chili Bowl is expanding next door. "Next Door" is the name of the addition, but really it's Upscale Ben's, or Ben's Bistro. Hardwood floors, a long bar featuring ice cold Greenie Meanies* on tap, table service and a menu of girlie food. Don't worry, you can still get a chili cheese dog, or sausage and egg sandwich while you watch the flatscreen tvs. Or rent the space in the backroom for parties. Open till 2AM weekdays, it's the best of all worlds, where the elite meet the street. U Street. soft open in a few weeks, grand opening? I'm guessing Inauguration week.

*Heineken

THE BEN'S DIET:
are you sure you want to know?

Sunday, December 21, 2008

home, home!

Duncan's sweetheart was coming home. He bought steak and greens, good red wine, apple cider, half and half. juice oranges, idaho potatoes, a 10-lb turkey. Don't make turkey the first night I'm home, said his true love. So Duncan bought lobsters. bib lettuce- hydroponic, and chocolate ice cream. and butter pecan. He bought persian cucumbers and pickled them, and an english cucumber and pickled it. and did the rest in yoghurt with garlic and shallots. He decided not to buy blueberries from south america because of the carbon footprint. Duncan opened the Godiva and chose from the chocolate chart. dark caramel embrace: a chewey-soft center of chocolate caramel enrobed in dark chocolate. perfect. He picked up the other guide in the Godiva. Nutrition Facts. WHAT THE ...?
Duncan hadn't played in a long time. He sat at the piano and eased into Stand By Me, in a dark caramel embrace.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

DUNCAN BLITZ AT 5AM

The phone rang at 5AM, waking Duncan Blitz. Night calls meant work, not worry. But it was a long time since Duncan had freelanced, and the long wait of a long distance connection scared him. Something went wrong in China. “hello?” Wrong number.

Duncan fumbled the phone into its cradle and went back to sleep, shaking.

The worst thing about being old, Duncan’s mom told him, is that your friends die. Moody died and Zannes died. Duncan’s mom died too, and Duncan’s dad. Then Hal died. Holly was in a clinical trial, and Jeff was getting ready for an ordeal designed to save his life.

Duncan Blitz thought: I think my hair is thinning.

MOOD MENDER TEA:
Put two long slices of fresh ginger in a mug of water and nuke 1 min 11 sec.
sip.

MOOD MENDER MUSIC:
MOZART
Piano and violin sonatas