Sorry for the extended absence...

Hi everyone!  I'm so sorry that I just disappeared for the past 9 days (and won't be back again until after this weekend), but I haven't had time to sleep, let along think about blogging or cooking for the past two weeks.  Work has been insane - and by insane I mean that last night I was at the office until 3:30 am and it looks like tonight is going to be more of the same.  As I left last night my boss told me to rest up as much as possible since tonight was going to be another late night.  Oh goody.  And as much fun as it would be to blog about the food that I have been eating at my desk every night (some of which has actually been fairly decent), I am going to pass.  And since Alex and I are headed down to Maryland tomorrow for our best friends' wedding (congrats Mark and Robin!), there won't be any posts until next Monday at the very earliest...

But I am going to at least leave you with a picture of some shrimp and grits that Alex and I shared at Char No. 4 in Brooklyn this past weekend.  Alex and I managed to squeeze in a few late dinners out over the past few weeks, including Char No. 4 and Social Eatz.  I thought that both meals were interesting, but I preferred Char No. 4 because I thought that the dishes were more composed.  Social Eatz had some really great french fries and a nice bimbimbap burger (which won the Eater 2011 burger contest), but I thought that they were a little heavy handed with the vinegar in their toasted sesame salad, and their kung pao sandwich and smoked ribs were nothing special.  Those ribs in particular tasted like something you could get at TGI Fridays.  And that is not a good thing.  Nothing at Char No. 4 blew me out of the water, but I thought that all of the dishes were consistently good and their house-cured lamb pastrami was fantastic.  Plus I liked the vibe of the place and overall found it to be a better experience.  For all of you out there who love bourbon and whiskey, they have a really kickass selection and actually offer both in flights, which I think is pretty darn cool.