This morning I find myself thinking about the difference between when women plan parties and when men plan parties. When women plan parties, there has to be a theme. Like everyone has to dress like a character in a James Bond movie, or wear all black, or dress like they are going to a Hawaiian luau. There are glow sticks. There are party hats, and God help you if you don’t put one on, no matter how much of a don’t-wear-hats person you are.
Last night I went to a party planned by a man. There was Gus’s chicken. There was Aldo’s pizza. There was more beer than I had ever seen in my life.
Men are the best party planners.
The occasion was our friend Boo’s 60th birthday. Boo is pictured above in her big purple sunglasses, with party planner and husband Gary standing next to her.
Lots of good people came out to South Main to celebrate Boo’s big day.
Memphis restaurant royalty, right here. Chef Michael Patrick of Rizzo’s and Tawanda and Cordell Pirtle from Jack Pirtle’s Fried Chicken.
Gary’s selection of pizza from Aldo’s illustrates why men are better party planners. No foo-foo toppings like pineapple or eggplant. Nope, he went with crowd-pleasers like a pizza topped with sausage, pepperoni, and Aldo’s grandma’s famous meatballs. There was the Memphis, a pizza topped with Central BBQ , BBQ sauce, and cole slaw. I don’t know if any vegetarians were invited to the party, but if they were, Gary made sure they were taken care of, with a white pizza with four cheeses including ricotta.
Normally at parties like this, I will stick to the pizzas with meat on them, so that I don’t take away food options from those who don’t eat meat. However, there didn’t seem to be any vegetarians there, and there was a lot of extra white pizza. So I had some! Man, that was good!
The piece de resistance of the evening, however, was not pizza; it was a cake created by the superbly talented MK.
MK’s special talent is that she can bake a cake that looks like any object imaginable – but it’s all cake. Boo makes pottery and sells it at the Memphis Farmers Market on Saturdays. So MK made her a cake that looked like a pottery wheel. MK is one half of Two Girls and a Whip, a new bakery that will be opening at Front and Huling. Give them a shout if you need a custom cake for a special occasion.
MK’s cake wasn’t just any cake: it was a tiramisu cake. I love tiramisu! So yummy.
Happy birthday Boo, and thank you so much for inviting me. It was a wonderful Saturday evening with friends that just couldn’t have been much better. Folks, if you weren’t there, you missed out on a good time!
All right. I only have one news item at the moment, so I guess I will hold it until Monday. D-RANKS with B-RAD at the Blind Bear is my first stop at 11. I may venture back to South Main later in the day.