I have two East Bay Lounges I frequent where it feels like 'Cheers' when I go. It's always a welcomed feeling, but my most recent visits came with, 'hey where ya been?'. I had to let Ben and Chris know that I've been working on my sexy and that I'm not drinking as much these days.
Bijou Restaurant and Bar and Mimosa Champagne Lounge are my spots! I love going there and being greeted with warm hugs from the owner Ben, Chef Christian, or Alfred the bar manager at Bijou. Or a big hug from Chris & JP, owners of Mimosa or a hug from Tim the bartender. By being that frequent customer comes a few perks that I admittedly enjoy.
While visiting Bijou, I noticed they changed the menu and didn't see my panko shrimp I often ordered to enjoy with my basil gimlet. I asked the server about the missing item and he informed me the item has been removed from the menu. In jest, I asked to speak with Ben. Not in an angry way, of course. I asked Ben if it were possible to ask Chef to make the shrimp. He honored my request without a thought or a question. I loved it!
This past weekend, I visited Mimosa. A place I've not been to in months! It was great to see everyone and was even asked where I'd been. My response, 'drinking is counter productive to bringing sexier back'. While hanging at Mimosa, I tried two new mimosas on their menu, blueberry-limon and pineapple. YUMMMMM!! Both were very refreshing. Our server Tim pops by to check on us and brought a round of apple-pie mimosa-for us to 'sample'. YUMM, again! Bar Manager, Amy pops over to say hello and than asks, ' have you girls tried our white chocolate mimosa?' Next thing you know...here comes white chocolate mimosas. Not my favorite, but appreciated the 'sample'. Chris stops by our table to say hey and to see how things are going, etc. He walks away and returns with amaretto mimosas. Now that I'm full of mimosa's, next on my conversation list was the after drinking food fest! I wanted a cheeseburger and fries or just fries to ease the hangover I was sure to have the next day. My sister was the driver and declined my requests to make those stops. I settled for waffles with butter and a tall glass of water.
In thinking about my drinking experiences, I always pair drinking with eating. My post drink meals aren't typically healthy choices, either. It clicked even more for me why I cut back significantly on my drinking. I can't physically afford to drink and eat as often as I did. As I mentioned above, it's counter productive to bringing sexier back.
Yes, I love going to Bijou and Mimosa, but I have to learn to exercise a drink limit. I can have a great time hanging out with friends. I can also have a great time by drinking a glass of sparkling water after I have one adult drink.
If you're ever in the East Bay, check out Mimosa or Bijou.
Cheers!
http://mimosachampagnelounge.com/
http://www.bijouexperience.com/
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