Le Chef!

Bird and I were going to meet for brunch at Penelope's a few weeks back. I had been to Penelope's twice before...in April...on the same day....within two hour's span. A doctor (long story) had recommended it to Charlie Chainsaw so we went there for lunch.  After our lunch, I had gone to meet Bird during her work break.  She said she had Googled "good salad places" and Penelope's came up. So, we went there. I told the workers that it was so good, I couldn't stay away. It must have looked like I was interviewing people for the job of being my friend.  Actually, I lied when I said I had been there twice; Bird and I had ended up going there the next day as well. Well, when you know what you like...

Anyhoo, as I was saying, Bird and I were going to go there for brunch again, but the line was cra cra and time was not on our side.  So, we stumbled upon a little French joint on the same block. We entered what felt like a different era, a different world even.  Kitsch and clutter everywhere,  yet somehow very charming and right up our alley.  We waited a few minutes.  Where was everyone? We heard some chatter and banging coming from somewhere.  The place was so cluttered it took us a few minutes to discover a stairway.  I heard a voice telling someone what to do.  Bird and I were kind of afraid to see what was going on, but eventually we made our way up the stairs.  We were met by the French man pictured.  He didn't greet us but rather told us to "wait" and so we did. A few other people were there. The place was something else. Large emphasis on the "else".  We sat down and remained quiet for awhile, afraid that the French man would yell at us if we spoke. This place was totally bizarre, even for our standards.  One Yelp user wrote: This place looked like an ax murderer hacked up an evergreen and decorated the place with the dismembered branches. The place looks as though someone was having a garage sale, but instead of selling they were actually buying more crap to fill in an already cramped home. The outside looked nice enough, but upon opening the doors you feel like you've stepped into the home of a shut-in who has not left their abode since before the Reagan administration. To make matters worse, while they had been open to serve breakfast all of their benches were blocking the aisle as you tried to make your way toward the staircase. Bird and I had no idea where we were, or what we were eating, but we rather liked it.

Once we were no longer afraid to speak, Bird told me about her work trip to Buenos Aires.  She said how the locals were surprised that her and her work crew dressed "so hip".  "Weren't Americans supposed to wear high socks and sneakers??" Bird asked them if they wanted to visit the U.S. "No!" they all said.  "Why not?" "Because Americans carry machine guns! It's not safe." Even the dude from Toronto who had moved to Argentina felt this way. Dude, you are from Toronto. Really??!  Even he was scared of New York City.  One local said he was very familiar with Queens however.  "I very familiar with Queens. We watch 'The Nanny'. Very good show. Love Fran Drescher. Very popular here." 

Okay. Things I got from this brunch:
1. Bird and I will not always agree with the average Yelp user. Though, we do totally get where they're coming from.
2. Argentinians (and Canadian transplants) believe that America is full of machine guns, high socks, and   nasal-voiced nannies that have big hair.
3. I'll definitely be coming back to this place.