Pre-Vacation Eats

Vacation's not really vacation until you get on a plane, go somewhere and land. So my pre-vacation consisted of wine and oysters at the new Mayes Oyster Bar on the seedy side of Polk Street. Skip it. The place looks like someone suddenly came across a lot of money and decided to open up a restaurant. It's cheesy and tasteless with vulgar decor. Dean said he was surprised he didn't see framed pictures of basketball stars lining the walls. After that tragic bad decision, we recovered by spending the rest of the night at Amelie which is the wine bar where we met. Amelie is french chic adorable with dim lighting and accents of red. When you're there, make sure to order a tray of their homemade chocolates. Dean isn't a dessert person, but he said it's now his favorite thing on the menu. Vacation is all about food, yes? The next morning before heading to the airport, my dad and I went to Brenda's French Soul Food back on the very very seedy side of Polk Street. The problem with Brenda's on the weekends is it's jam-packed. The line wraps around the corner past Kentucky Fried Chicken. Weekdays? No problem. I also found out from their web site that the owner Brenda is Filipino Creole. Very interesting. I knew my dad would love it. We packed what we didn't eat to go and as we were making our way back to the car, my dad gave the food to a homeless man. When you live in the city and see homelessness everywhere (hello Gavin, do you think you think you can try to focus on our city now instead of your political fucking aspirations?!), you get desensitized. I surely don't give away my to-go items, especially from coveted brunch spots like Brenda's. Good for my dad for still seeing the suffering in people. Sadly, I'm so inclined to avoid the homeless and their requests for change ("Like Obama, I need change."), I forget they're human. But all of that is out of my head now because I am on vacation!