Indecisively Restless: Mad Men Style

Saturday was Robert's birthday, or as he says, hatching. I had work the night before which meant coming home at 630am and sleeping until 1pm, which was perfect because Robert had gone out with his friends the night before and wasn't going to be up any earlier either.

The first thing I had him do was open up his presents. I always like to give gifts in themes. This year's theme? Martinis.

I got him martini glasses, vermouth, martini onions and olives, and this molecular cocktail kit he had been wanting.

The molecular gastronomy cocktail kit and all its contents.

Figuring it probably wouldn't be wise to test out martinis on an empty stomach we decided to eat somewhere. We ended up at Red Robin. I ate this amazingly delicious burger with A1 and some of their famous strawberry lemonade. Robert had a burger as well.

Robert had been trying to watch Prometheus for days and so, figuring it would be fun to watch the movie and then go eat and drink downtown he called his friends who were to meet us at the Palladium.

Since Red Robin is right by the theater we relived our childhood by hanging out in the arcade where I whipped his butt at air hockey. Then we tried to grab a Domo out of "the claw". I don't even know what a Domo is besides cute.

We both failed. Then Robert played Mrs. PacMan until the rest of our group showed up.

The movie itself was eh. I have never seen Alien so there was a lot of stuff I apparently didn't connect. The beginning was great and I was interested and invested and I actually thought that I had been wrong but then it continued and I ended up disappointed. Robert and mostly everyone else liked it though, so maybe it was just me.

After the movie we had just enough time to rush home and change into our Mad Men-esque attire for the night. All the men wore suits and I wore a dress, though everyone was nicely dressed.

Robert wanted to go to Esquire Tavern downtown. He and I had been there once before but no one else had. The gastropub, as it's called, is located downtown right off of the Riverwalk. The bar itself was first opened in 1933 (right after Prohibition) and boasts the longest wooden bar in Texas.

The inside of the restaurant is dimly lit with vintage looking bulbs. The wallpaper is patterned felt that makes you feel like you've stepped into the past. They also have stuffed animals everywhere: foxes, porcupines, and boars. It's reminiscent of an old man's drinking, cigar smoking clubhouse.

Jordan and I had the biggest fight over what animal that is.

The drinks there can be pricey but their bartenders are very well versed in all sorts of liquor most have never heard of. They are knowledgeable about what pairs well together. Their drinks aren't frou-frou. They are hard liquor with more hard liquor added. No frozen margaritas here.

The first drink I had was called Smokey Tiny Dancer.

Tequila, mezcal, framboise, lime, honey syrup, egg white.

It was delicious and cute. The second drink I had was something with sour in it but I can't remember what it was called, our waiter suggested it for me.

Also very cute.

I was still pretty full from the burger I had just a few hours earlier so I only had chips and dip to tide me over. The chips are handmade and their dip was incredible. It was this spicy onion dip with something that made it over the top.

Robert had a chicken salad that wasn't my favorite. I have this thing about mixing sweet with my dinner food. I don't like pineapple on my pizza or in my Chinese. I don't like apple in my chicken salad. But he liked it so I guess that's all that matters.

Robert and Jordan got very excited when they found out that Esquire serves absinthe drips. Absinthe is an old liquor that used to be called the Green Fairy because apparently the wormwood in it made you hallucinate. That type of absinthe is outlawed now but the liquor itself still packs a punch.

It does look pretty though.

The absinthe drip is filled with ice water with two taps connected to it. The taps slowly drip water into the glasses filled with absinthe. Over each glass is a strainer and a cube of sugar. The idea being that the water drips over the sugar, melts it into the absinthe diluting it and making it taste better. It doesn't. I hate the way absinthe taste. It's disgusting, like licorice. But it looks pretty.

Justin ended up getting Robert some awesome gag gifts. And the bag he put them all in came with 4 Batman masks that ended up making their way around our table.

After spending way too much money but being sufficiently buzzed we all went back to the apartment to eat the cake that Claudia had made for him.