Octavio Dines at Cafe Drake

Dispensing with multiple courses and complicated cocktails, Cafe Drake shared a simplified meal with longtime friend and upstairs neighbor Octavio Fenech recently, sending off the final days of Summer with plenty of food and wine but scant formality or pretense. Our menu included pan-fried shrimp (seasoned with cumin, fennel and nigella seeds), basmati rice, peas and squash, fried and salted chili peppers, okra pickles and a grape tomato salad heaped with shredded mint and cilantro. Two whites to drink with this casual, catch-up meal: a golden yellow Chardonnay (Domaine Raissac) and a dry Muscadet (Chateau de la Chesnaie).