There is something to be said about the concept of take-out sushi. There’s also something to be said about the $10.99 3-roll dinner special at Sake II (one of the Bronx’s best kept secrets, and a Fordham favorite). Usually, I will lurch for my cell phone at the slightest suggestion of having a box of eel avocado delivered to my dorm room.
I sometimes use sushi as a motivating mechanism, too. I’ll be on the treadmill at the gym around 5pm, and my phone will explode with the group message with my friends deciding on dinner plans. (Please note: most of them are conveniently enrolled in night classes).
So yes, when the dinner consensus becomes sushi, again, treadmill-girl has the honor of placing the order and the kind asian man on the other end struggles as I pant and beg for seven VERY SPECIFIC dinner roll specials. My point: This little scenario happens so frequently, I have everyone’s orders memorized, and a note on my phone just in case. And, DONT FORGET THE EXTRA SPICY MAYO, unless I care to provoke a national crisis. To say the least, take-out sushi has far surpassed a concept… it’s become a freakin’ epidemic in my life.
It was a rather low key Monday afternoon and my roommates and I were, you guessed it, craving sushi. Seeing as the delivery man had made a visit the previous Tuesday AND Friday, we decided we should probably take our raw-fish-connoisseur-selves into Manhattan for the real deal. Naturally, deciding on a restaurant was a challenge itself, as we scrolled through our catalogued screenshots of Foodstagrams from drool-inducing sushi restaurants.
FINALLY we decided on Blue Ribbon Sushi, in the heart of Columbus Circle, known for its pricy rolls and high class clientele. We paraded our best-dressed selves into the minimalist-decor restaurant, noses high and stomachs growling. As we made our way to the table, in an effort to remain blasé, Kate quietly squeezed my hand and motioned over to our right. She mouthed: “Heather, RHONY…” as we took our seats and the table directly next to Heather Thomson. My spine stiffened and I quickly side-glanced over to confirm it was correct. My eyes then directly bolted to my left, where MK was seated.
PC: http://bit.ly/1EMQKlT
You see, sweet sweet MK often has an uncontrollable reaction when it comes to celebrity encounters. Take, for example, our first weekend in NYC as college freshmen. We were strolling the streets of SoHo sipping lattes and bragging to our friends at home that we spend our weekends shopping, rather than cramming into sweaty football stadiums for “HASHTAG GAME DAY!” All of a sudden, a large black Escalade approaches and parks nearby. MK spots the vehicle and automatically assumes a celebrity is inside. She proceeds to launch herself on the hood of the car and scream, hoping that said-celebrity emerges…… we were quickly escorted away.
Fortunately, MK missed Kate and I’s exchange and was still clueless as to whom our co-diner was. After our extensive order of Dragon, Negi Hama and house-special Blue Ribbon rolls had been placed, I took it upon myself to calmly notify MK of the current state of the union. Deep breath in, I leaned over to her, told her to neither scream, stand up nor choke on her sake, but there was a celebrity sitting next to us. Of course, she reacted in each of the preceding ways.
Kate and I clutched our stomaches in a fit of laughter. MK whipped out her phone to begin the “sly” documentation. We politely shoveled the remaining rolls into our grinning mouths, lapping up the remaining spicy mayo as quickly as we could. Then, we asked for the check so we could gracefully depart the restaurant for a delightful shriek on the sidewalk. We soak in one final longing glance toward Heather–proud to be abstaining from autograph or photo harassment– nibble on the remaining edamame and head for the door.
Obviously there was some sort of theme in place that evening, for as we reached the exit, David Muir (aka, anchor of ABC World News Tonight) politely holds the door open for us. Commence shrieking.
The next day, my throat hurt. Perhaps it’s best if we stick to the Sake II dinner roll combo from the comfort of our dorms. It’ll save our dignity and wallets, but since I’m a food-obsessed college student living in New York… I’ll take it.
Until next time!
XO,
Tay