Barton G.'s Liquid Nitrogen Drinks - is a little smoke worth 40$?

R and I went to Barton G.'s friday night, which we hadn't been to in forever. We used his boss's name and got a prime 830 reservation last minute. I don't know what impressed the Maitre'd more, my husband's job ( he is the head of paint and graphics at Cigarette, the Offshore boating legend and number one exclusive fast boat manufacturer worldwide, which brought us to Miami in the first place) I'll have to post about him and his fascinating rise from a graffiti writing kid in Queens to being the internationally known painter he is now- or the fact that we had just woken up at 1 pm on a friday afternoon. I told her I'd show her Miami Miami Style! Erica Braver, who is in the PR dept at Cigarette told us we absolutely had to get the liquid nitrogen drinks, b/c the alcohol freezes and as it melts the alcohol releases in some special way and you get really drunk. Not that I ever need the help - I get really drunk on 2 glasses of Pinot Nior!
The Barton G website, www.bartong.com, calls the drinks the "Below Zero Nitro Bar"
"liquid nitrogen, a cyrogenic fluid with a temp of -320 degrees F, is the key element in creating these new high octane cocktails"

BTW, WTF does that mean? In my opinion, it was a 40$ Martini with a lot of flash, and worth it if someone else is paying that's not your husband...
In the spirit of Journalism, though, I ordered two.
Richy got the BlueBerry 8 Ball, which made me think, our drink bill is going to be way more than a real one! The drink description is "Tanqueray 10 Gin, Muddled blueberries, lime juice, simple syrup, and a Tanqueray 10 and blue curacao pop." It also cam with a magic 8 ball on a big plate. We had fun asking it stupid questions - "Am I going to have fun tonight?" - hello - when does a night out with my darling Richy Rich ever not involve fun, and lots of it? My second drink was a Sin - Sation, which in my opinion is the drink to get if you are into spending 40$ on Martini's, which I definitely don't think I am, OMG, you all might never believe this, but the shuffle of my Itunes just put on Rockstar by Nickelback - is that what I get for this shameless voyeuristic look into our own consumerism? BTW, why does my face look fat in this photo above? It is so not!

Moving on, the Sin- Sation is Nitrogenized Absolut Vanilla and Rose Petal Nectar topped with champagne. If any of these drinks seemed slightly worth it, this was the one. Not only was it delicious, but it got me toasted and was served with a frozen closed beautiful rosebud and rose petals were poured all around the plate and all around her and me on my second drink, and it was very lush and indulgent.. In short, I loved it!

My first drink I wasn't incredibly impressed with was the Zen Tini. I don't remember it being served with anything special - is that a part of being Zen? All I could think was I'm not gonna be so Zen when I get this bill! Man I am such a Jew ( sorry Grandma, if I thought you could actually turn on your computer and I hadn't worked on 41st St in Miami Beach for a year I'd never say something like that). It was Absolut Rasberri, Triple Sec, Fresh Rasberries, and an Absolut Rasberri vodka pyramid... Hmm... Dont remember that. Just rasberry, vodka, and a big chunk of ice in the middle. Guess that was the "Pyramid"... We also had shrimp, beef carpaccio, and various other small plates, since we were going out dancing afterwards... Location undisclosed to protect the guilty!!!

Verdict: Barton G $40 Martini, kindof worth it if you've got the money and you know which one to order, kindof worth it if you don't order more than one and ridiculous to order on top of a full dinner I recommend going for drinks and apps like we did - our bill was still almost $300... but you still can't complain because you got to go to Barton G and it was your idea..... And because the atmosphere, the fanfare, the presentation, the service and the quality is consistently top notch. And that impresses me. Our waiter told me he was going to commit suicide if I smiled at him one more time... That my friend, is worth the $!

Procrastination Station

It's always nice to have friends from out of town come stay with you, but it's always nice when they go home too. My friend Carissa from high school was visiting from last thursday until tuesday night, and while we had a blast, I missed my blog! And my time alone. Nothing like someone else in your house to realize how selfish you are... And I still haven't written a fraction of what I've set out to have written in the last week.. What is the major mental malfunction here? I swear, it takes me over an hour to make a 30 minute meal! Today, instead of finishing my article about the blogger brunch at nexxt, I ;

1. Cleaned an entire white area rug with a toothbrush and a bucket of oxiclean and hotwater
2. Researched ( but did not go to store or actually purchase or write down specifics) new washer and dryer ( thinking of going with Whirlpool Duet)
3. Emailed the girl from Marine Parade to try to figure out how to get my tickets for Adam Freeland at Bed next Thursday since my dumbass deleted my entire inbox when I was drunk
4. Took pictures of Hibiscus, Lucky, ugly purple bush in corner of yard. Posted some to MiamiBeach411.com
http://forums.miamibeach411.com/index.php?/forums/viewthread/1928/
5. Thought guiltily about finishing blogger brunch article
6. Called my mom and bitched about how ugly my younger sister's bridesmaid dresses are and why I have to wear and pay 304.50 for one

Blogger Brunch At Nexxt Cafe The Prequel

This is me, being totally fascinated by a bunch of friends I'd never met before. Local blogging icon to my right... Kudos to my friend Danny Dillon, owner of Shampology Salon and Supply on 39th in btw NE 2nd and 1st in the DD ( that is Design District, to see the other type of DD's you have to cross the causeway to SoBe) who not only hand sewed me extensions ( real hair) onto little hair clips, he also put them in for the 3rd time ( you have no idea what a klutz I am) and blew my hair out, all while we ordered from The Daily and drank red wine..... The day before this amazing brunch that Gus of MiamiBeach411.com invited me to....More about that tomorrow...

Becca's Chicken Marsala Recipe

Ingredients:

4-6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup all purpose flour
5 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp shallots, minced
2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
2 tsp fresh rosemary
1/2 cup chicken stock
4 tbsp butter, cut into cubes
2 eggs, beaten in a bowl with milk
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Pound the chicken breasts to a 1/2 inch thickness. Cut them into smaller pieces.
Heat saute pan over medium/high heat. Dip the chicken breasts, into the egg, let excess drip off, then dredge chicken in flour. Add olive oil to pan and then add chicken. Cook for about four mins on each side or until lightly browned. Remove from pan and set aside to drain on a paper towel covered plate. In the same pan over medium heat, add the shallots, mushrooms, and rosemary. Cook for about two minuntes or until aromatic. You can add a little more olive oil if the pan gets too dry, I usually do. Add the marsala wine and boil down until the liquid is reduced by half. You can fugure this out by paying attention the the ring the sauce in the pan makes on the side of the pan, as the sauce reduces, a line will stay where it used to be.Otherwise, just guess. Then add the chicken broth and boil the whole thing down until half of that liquid remains. Remove pan from heat, whisk in butter cubes until smooth, return chicken breasts to pan and simmer for a minute or two on the burner after you turn it off. I like to serve it with mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!

And this is what I performed

Wild Child

I snuck out, an audacious child
cracking open windows, slipping out at night
swearing and spitting, irrefutably wild
traipsed your backyard, just tonight.
Angry thing, confrontational, high or blind.
A girl like that is fired by spite
whatever she’s trying to find.

I smuggled my way into many hearts
thugs, poets, unpolished jewels
wore Goodwill or Gucci to play many parts
switching cliques, blond hair then black, and schools.
Relying on being wanted to keep that self defined.
A girl like that wears tit shirts too tight
Je ne sais quoi
All she finds.

I’ve ridden bareback, men and horses
reins and crop in my left hand, sky in the right.
Breaking the last wild impulses, guiding the courses.
Temptation whispers in the night
And our hips smack, and slap, and grind.
A woman like that is a phoenix, alight
And will learn from whatever she finds

The Bohemia Room

“More than JUST WORDS ( Sorry Barack)”

Hit me with your best poem! The Bohemia Room, the performance poetry weekly event hosted by the lovely Ingrid B. moves to Tuesday night and a new venue this week at sexy Cielo, 3990 Mary St, in downtown Coconut Grove. “It’s a man’s world” will feature spoken word artist Komplex, who stopped by http://www.thebohemiaroom.com to post “Bohemia Room is one of the dopest spots in the country, Its been a long time. Daddys coming home.” There is always open mic time, and poets of all forms are welcome. “At the end of the day, it’s about people sharing their thoughts,” said Ingrid. Simone Hylton and Da Youngsta, will be celebrating birthdays that night as well. “Thank you for creating and maintaining such a beautiful experience for the people of Miami,” says regular Honey LaRochelle. Doors Open at 8 PM. Free Admission until 9. After that, $10, and hey – that’s less than a Corona on South Beach