An Old Dear Friend Dines at Cafe Drake

Years may have passed on the calendar, but it was mere days for all reality when Cafe Drake hosted our dear dear friend Julianne Zaleta for a Vietnamese-themed dinner. Said cuisine proved perfect on the hottest (so far) day of the year, a muggy affair, but a/c and cooling accompaniments kept JZ and CD happy as clams while we spent the evening catching up and laughing like the old days.

A festive kick-off began when Julianne brought over a bag of goodies fresh from her garden in Park Slope: baby oak leaf lettuce, nasturtiums, squash blossoms and a bouquet of purple pansies, some for the vase and some for our salad!

Starters included Vodka Collins, khakri wafers with cumin powder and a salad composed of J's offerings and topped with Vietnamese Pork Meatballs. Our main was Broiled Chicken Skewers with a homemade tamarind-garlic sauce, a brown rice pilaf, an herb plate of cilantro, mint, basil, chive buds, sliced chiles, and cucumbers and house-pickled cukes, onions and carrot ribbons.

Dinner was tasty enough, but much more delicious were the hours spent reunited.