Tuesday, August 23, 2005

ON THE TOWN WITH THE KING OF CRAP

Hopefully, Lair Simon will forgive me the title of this post, but I couldn’t resist. He is, after all, the twisted genius behind This Blog Is Full Of Crap, and all of its associated Crapsites.

After a full day of dragon-slaying at The Great Corporate Salt Mine, what better way to unwind than to spend a pleasant evening with Mr. and Mrs. Simon?

We made a run to Keneally’s Bar, there in the beating heart of Sweat City. Atypically for a Monday, the place was jam-packed, which kept Sean, our waiter, hopping.

And every time he hopped, the table would fill up with Guinness and good things to eat. Ever have Irish nachos? Yes, they are just what you would imagine them to be - nachos on a base of thinly-sliced russet potato. Santa Begorrah!

That was the appetizer. After that came the pizza, made with a razor-thin Tuscan-style crust. Sharp enough to slit your wrists with™. While Lair's better half enjoyed a vegetarian special - olives, onions, and bell peppers - Lair and I had ours with corned beef and anchovies. Great combination, but one that might make some people want to slit their wrists.

What do you call a corned beef and anchovy pizza? Why, an Irish Lady, of course!

All of this, of course, was washed down by lashings of cool Guinness.

There’s something ineluctably haimish about a good neighborhood bar. There’s a special Bar Pong in the air, that smell of smoke and beer that, for me, brings back memories of that hole in the wall in Oyster Bay, New York, where my friend Walter and I used to hang out more than thirty years ago. The only thing missing was the quarter-a-game pool table.

Next time I’m back in Keneally's, I expect that there will be a framed picture of Edloe hanging on the wall. You may have seen it: it’s the one where the Queen Grumpus is wearing that dopey Irish leprechaun hat. And I’ll drink a Guinness to her memory.

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