I was reading after a brisk walk with the heavy-hands around the long block. The temperatures have dipped a bit, and I could have worn a sweatshirt but didn’t. The brown chair was comfortable and the iPad rested on my lap as the clock counted down to a quarter to five, and time to go over to the Amen Corner to meet the regulars.

It was a good turn-out: JPeter, Old Jim, Jake, Jon-without, TLB and Mr. and Mrs. Missileer rounded out the corner. There was plenty to talk about- the Missileers are headed for Paris and Barcelona for a couple weeks, and we yacked about our favorite places in both cities. Jon and Bea only had a couple, since they were headed to SER, the new Spanish-themed tapas and comfort food restaurant located in the high rise across the block from where I used to work on Glebe Road.

Tracy O’Grady came out from the kitchen to press the flesh with us all, and talk got onto the restaurant gossip. She had a copy of Arlington Magazine with her, and showed us that her co-owner Kate Jansen had her famous gluten-free Warm Bourbon Chocolate Cake with Moorenko’s Vanilla Ice Cream and whipped cream on the cover.

“It looks fabulous, Tracy” said Mr. Missileer. “I might have one tonight.”

“I will try to spoil your appetite,” she said. “I have something I want to try out on you.”
“What is it?” I asked.

“Buffalo-style chicken nuggets with hot sauce and blue cheese on a bed of shredded vegetables. I might introduce it on Buffalo Night this month.”

Brett the bartender came up with a fresh drink and some little tapas plates and forks. I love it when Tracy uses us to test drive her new creations. It also means I don’t have to cook dinner.

Kate stopped by after finishing the baking for the day to say hello. I reminded her of my request for a couple dozen slider-size Kemmelwick Rolls with fennel and sea salt for the pot luck slow-cooked top sirloin roast I was going to take to the party on Saturday, and she smiled and said she had not forgotten.

We got lost in restaurant gossip and the favorable mentions of Willow in the magazine, and the general trials and tribulations of the food and beverage game. Margins are thin, and successful launches and staff stability are the keys to making a living at it.
“That and hard work,” said Heather, who had Sabrina’s father cut her bangs, tint her hair, offer legal advice, and relationship counseling in one all-service hair appointment.

“This is the only adult place I can hear myself think,” said Rosslyn, who was taking off her bike helmet as Sammy appeared, as if by magic, with a glass of her favorite happy hour red.
“Did you hear the big news?” she asked.

I screwed up my brows. There is so much going on about so many things, that I shrugged. Jim growled that he didn’t know, as Chanteuse Mary walked in to stand next to him.

“They are going to open another Italian Store. It is going to be where the 7-11 was in the Westover Strip Mall on Washington Boulevard.”

“That is great news. I have been craving one of their sub sandwiches for weeks but I never seem to get over to that side of town,” said JPeter.

“I love going to Westover. I researched it when I first moved to Arlington. It was created in the 1930s housing boom along with Buckingham where Big Pink is planted. It was one of the first mixed-use neighborhoods when this was still a rural county. It was garden apartments and single-family homes built to house the earnest New Dealers who flooded into Arlington to serve in the FDR Administration,” I said, taking a deep gulf of the vodka and diet tonic.
“It was when I wanted to learn why it was the way it was, why the dramatic population shift out to Fairfax started after the Civil Rights Act was passed.”

Tracy had gone back to the kitchen and emerged behind the bar with a long narrow plate with the chicken nuggets neatly aligned under a vegetable garnish. They almost instantly disappeared. The meat was firm but moist, the breadcrumbs and batter crisp, the hot sauce a delightful contrast to the rich blue cheese morsels scattered between them.
“Delicious!” went the Amen chorus.

The Missileer wasn’t done, though. “I’m going to be needing something sweet. If it is good enough for a magazine cover, I’m getting Kate’s chocolate cake!”

And he did.

One thing about Arlington I am going to miss, besides the people, is Willow. But there are a couple other places that are pretty good. I am interested in Jon-without and TLB’s review of SER, and whether their tapas are Willow-esque good.

Copyright 2015 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303