Weekend Wrap-Up:
Lots of my friends’ parents were gettin’ it on ’til the early morn on Valentine’s Day years ago. Hence I have a ton of birthday dinners and parties to attend this month. This weekend was no different. Friday night, 25 of us converged on Eclipse di Luna (764 Miami Cir., 404.846.0449). The sangria pitcher costs just $25 and pours at least 5 glasses if you’re not sharing with someone stingy. It’s made with red wine, fresh fruit, and it’s a tantalizing tongue teaser. You can upgrade to a version with chambord and champagne, but that’s too sweet for my taste. The staff handled us remarkably well, and never gave me a problem with the reservations (no money down, no annoying prix fixe menu, no credit card to hold the table, and one long table where we could all dine with the birthday girl). The spread of tapas is fabulous. No matter what you order, be sure to nosh on the patatas bravas con ramesco, a dish of seasoned potatoes. Tip: On Sunday, Eclipse di Luna offers its bottomless glass of sangria for just $10 a person.
Saturday evening, a smaller group of six gathered for a more intimate dinner party at The Real Chow Baby (1016 Howell Mill Rd., 404.815.4900), a new American stir-fry restaurant. They don’t take reservations, so when we arrived, the host told us there was a 30-minute wait. Fine. Normal, right? Sure. Not normal? The host then handed us drink certificates for martinis and margaritas as Slice, a boutique pizza joint across the street and said he’d call us on our cell when our table was ready. Perfect. At dinner, the step-by-step process goes smoothly: pick up a bowl, fill it with rice, noodles, veggies, sauces, and meats. Drop it off with a paddle named after you at the fry station. Minutes later, your dinner is served to you at your table. I savored my personal version of pad thai with chicken. Top off your meal with a bottle of Momokawa Pearl sake to share with your pals ($28).
After dinner, we continued on to the Red Chair (550 Amsterdam Ave., 404.870.0532) for another friend’s birthday. The non-smoking video and restaurant lounge has always maintained a sophisticated, hip and upscale atmosphere geared towards gay men with Saturdays for ladies. The club was recently purchased, and the vibe on Saturday night was strange to say the least. They’ve washed all but a few of the old bartenders and replaced them with unfriendly and slow workers. The rumor is that the new owners are trying to transform it into more of a straight club, but with the drag king show going on Saturday night (every first and third Saturday of the month), and its new monthly dinner and a show tonight featuring a coterie of drag queens, I doubt it. It’s still worth going to, but the changes are unsettling to the regulars.
