Good Food, Good Company

Few things beat a nice, relaxing evening spent in the company of good friends while we dine on delicious food. Last night, we got together with some friends at Brummi's, our favorite German restaurant, where the food is superb and the service is friendly, personable, and all-around awesome.

I've waxed often enough about the food and experience at Brummi's, so this time I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves :-)

Parking, which is normally abundant either behind the restaurant or on State Street right in front of it, was unusually scarce last night. I think part of it is because of the new cocktail lounge next door, which replaced the dive bar that used to be there. Anyway, despite being a bit late, we were still the first to arrive, and immediately settled down and set up shop with our cameras ;-) Here are some of the new table decorations:

Nick and Michelle were the next to arrive after us, and Allan aimed his camera at the door when we saw them walking up through the window.

Don't they look like celebrities making a grand entrance? ;-)

We didn't intend it this way, but the table division wound up such that the three Asians sat on one side, while the white folks sat on the other side. And at the head of the table? Straddling the divide? None other than Todd, of course! How appropriate!

Nick, Michelle, and me

Allan, Mitch, Anna, and Ulf

Anna and Ulf, wearing their best loving expressions

 

Cheers for the whole table! Yes-- those large beers are 1-liter portions.

We had a good time, hanging out, even though the conversation kept devolving, from dancing-as-euphemism-for-swinging, to testicles-as-speedbags and worse. Nothing spells a good time like raucous laughter with a good meal ;-)

We all got to partake of Veronika's Oktoberfest special, the Schweineshaxen (pork shank), in addition to the usual German delicacies like potato pancakes, potato dumplings, schnitzel, spaetzle, and soft, steaming pretzels :-9

Finally: dessert time! Veronika had made a delicious Black Forest cake that was super moist, and super delicious, mostly because the cake wasn't as icky sweet as most other cakes.

Veronika and I pose with the sumptuous cake

I, of course, opted for my usual Apfelkeuchlein (apple fritters) with homemade vanilla sauce. Tonight they were even bigger than usual-- thicker slices of apple, and more dough. No complaints from me-- it's always delicious!

A little slice of German mouth heaven

Ready to dig in. Guten Appetit!

We wound up staying at the restaurant for nearly FOUR hours. We all arrived around 6:30pm and didn't leave until past 10:00pm. By the time we got home and put Todd to bed, I could barely keep my eyes open, packing things for his lunch the next day. And I felt a little bad that we left a full hour after closing, but we all had a great time, even if we didn't get to break out into Veronika's favorite German song ;-) I'm sure the non-singers in the group were grateful! All in all, a really great evening with delicious, filling food, great ambience, and lots of wacky conversations with our friends. I'd call the night a success!