French Friday

One of the things that I love most about summer is that vacation vibe that's always in the air, even if you haven't left town.  Maybe it's because the days are longer or that the sun seems to shine brighter, but I love that feeling of being able to take things a bit more slowly, be more relaxed, and make time to enjoy the little things.  It also helps that my office does summer Fridays, so my work week has been cut down to four days, which feels much more humane.  On one such Friday off, I met the other Rebecca for lunch at the downtown location of French Roast.  We've come to this cute little spot before for after-work drinks but this was the first time that we had decided to make a meal of it.  Speaking of drinks, I couldn't refuse their weekly cocktail special:  a cucumber mojito:

This beauty was crisp, refreshing, and smacked of summer.  Rebecca stayed a bit more virtuous and opted for an iced coffee, which arrived in the largest goblet I've ever seen.

We ordered our food and then, while waiting for it to arrive, we sipped and chatted about helicopter parents and Rebecca's recent European honeymoon (No, there wasn't really a segue between the two, in case you were wondering).  One of the reasons why we had chosen French Roast for lunch that day was because she was going through Paris withdrawal, and we figured that a Parisian-style bistro could only help to ease the pain.

Soon, the food appeared.  Rebecca had gone for the soup (French onion) and baguette sandwich combo (tomato, mozzarella, arugula and roasted red peppers)....

while I went for the lamb burger, topped with goat cheese and served on a pita with hand-cut frites (I mean, you might as well order the French Fries when in a French restaurant, right?)

The burger was massive, but the pita was a nice change from a bun and lightened it up a bit.  And the fries did not disappoint.

The food was very good, and the portions, both of our dishes and of everything else that we saw in passing, were huge.  And I spotted some amazing-looking Croque Madames at the next table over, so I will definitely be back to try those in the near future.

Rebecca and I finished up and then parted ways for the weekend, but it was such a beautiful sunny day that I wasn't ready to go back inside.  Luckily, G had texted to ask if I wanted to meet up in Central Park and I thought that it sounded like the perfect plan.  Continuing the French theme of the day, we grabbed a seat at Le Pain Quotidien near the Sheep Meadow area of the Park and ordered Matcha Vodka cocktails.

It's a little known fact that vodka actually enhances green tea's antioxidant properties. 

If you haven't heard this before, it's because I just made it up, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

G and I filled each other in on what we had been up to all summer as we breathed in the balmy air and the tranquility of the garden-like setting.  We whiled away the afternoon, enjoying the fact that there was really nowhere else that we had to be.

Summer days like these should last forever, in my book.  What's your idea of the perfect summer day?

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