#whataboutmeagen: day #16: famous for over 125 years

i've gotten all sorts of thrown off with my day count after the janeane garafolo post was late. and since i was back working this week, the exciting factor of doing things has been at a minimum. so, i am just going to go right into day 16 - and i'll make up day 17 in a two-fer post when i'm not working next week so i am able to get back on track. ok? ok.

since i have lived in new york, i've wanted to try peter lugers. it's been open since 1887 and has been named best steakhouse in ny 28 years in a row. we all know how i feel about reviews, so this was a no brainer for the new york bucketlist part of the challenge.

my "i'm going to peter lugers" smile

oh man. where to even begin? i'm still dreaming of the steak. let me just say, it was the most mahvelous of evenings. my friend angela was gracious enough to accompany me on this challenge, even though the only reservation i could get was at 10:45pm. we decided to go early just to see if they could seat us, so around 10p we grabbed a cab and headed over the williamsburg bridge to lugers.

greeter

as we walked in, we were greeted two bartenders in white shirts and black bowties behind a long wooden bar. further in, we spotted the host - a dapper gentleman with a curled moustache and grandpa glasses. he found my reservation, and we decided to order a drink at the bar while we waited (glass of red, naturally. not 10 mins later, we were whisked back to our table in the front room. the waiter presented the menus with fanfare, and i couldn't stop staring at everything. the bavarian beer influences, the bare wooden table, the clientele. the lights were incredibly bright. the waiter came back with bread, and asked us if we were ready. he tried really hard to push the steak for two (at $97), but since we wanted to get sides we each decided to get the small steak (at a more reasonable $34), german hash brown potatoes, and broccoli - you know, to keep it healthy.

when the waiters brought out the steak, the sauce/juices were sizzling on the plate. the steak was brought pre-cut, and was served onto our plates along with the potatoes. and oh. my. god. it was INCREDIBLE. tender, juicy, flavorful, omg MEAT. clearly, i enjoyed myself as you can see in the clip below.

i kept telling myself i was going to save some of the steak to eat in the morning (steak and eggs - yes!), but i ended up eating it. the whole thing. we were going to stay and have a glass of wine for dessert, catch up, talk more, but i was so full i didn't think i could fit anything else in my stomach.at the end of the night, i really wanted to take a pic with our hosts, but when we left they were enjoying a steak of their own at the bar, as it was almost closing time. damn! here are the pics i did manage to snap: