The Very Social Weekend

So Friday Wifey and I drove up to Shorecrest, and met Patricia and Paul at Ferraro's, and Italian place on 79 Street that D1 and Joey had recommended. It is really great to see a 'hood where you used to have to lock your car doors evolve into a lovely, gentrified one. We truly feasted -- the food was terrific.

Afterwards, we drove to D1's house -- Paul wanted to see it for the first time. D1 was hosting 9 of her friends, all women, as Joey was in Colombia with his brothers and close friends playing golf. We showed off the new digs, had some dessert, and left the ladies to their millennial talk...

Saturday had more Italian -- we drove up to Oakland Park to meet Dana and Eric at Il Pasano, my favorite restaurant from the Check Please show. Eric had taken his whole family after the show, and the lovely South African and Mozambique -Italian owners knew us well.

I was a celebrity because of the show. No fewer than 4 diners came up to me, with some saying they had come to the restaurant after seeing Check Please. Paola, the owner, said that they were doing well before, but after the show, things had gotten crazy. They had a 50 person wait list for last night. They were going to remove tables because, she said, the place had gotten to be something other than what they wished -- a small and chill intimate place.

An older fellow waved our way. I waved back, but alas, I wasn't the celebrity -- the man was a patient of Eric's! He wanted Eric to know he was eating heart healthy. Eric told the fellow he was off duty.

A fit, well dressed man with an accent out of the Soprano's came by, also to tell me he had come because of seeing me. His accent was pure Brooklyn/Staten Island. He lived in Boca and told Dana and Eric about a hidden pizza place there. They will try it out.

Even with the glow of celebrity, we had a normal time -- catching up about our kids. Their boy Josh just got engaged, and we joked about making sure we coordinated dates -- D2 and Jonathan will marry around the same time.

I had joked on the show that I had become that cranky old guy who rarely drove north of the Miami Dade-Broward line. It's actually true. But last night, like our first time at Il Paesano, was worth the hour drive.

And the fun continues...yesterday Barry's boy Josh, my nephew of another brother, turned 21. We're having a men's night for him -- Kenny and I are meeting him and his Dad for dinner, and then a politically incorrect comedy night -- we're seeing Andrew Dice Clay at the Doral Improv.

Barry needs this the most. He works in academe, the most politically correct milieu there is. A night of hearing the opposite will give him some needed release...

It's rare to have three events in a single weekend, but nice to still do. Oh, and Paola and her husband Virgilio comped our wine, beer, and a dessert last night. Celebrity has its perks...