Friendship And Vitamin C

Yummy and Full of Vitamin C!

Dinner with my college roommate was magical, moving, sobering and full of Vitamin C.

Seeing Julie after a gap of maybe six years made me realize the impact of time is much greater than a calendar shift. Life experience, force of friendships and family, daily tedium, tears and triumph shift perspective.

Julie looks the same (damn her). She laughs the same rich, roiling, infectious laugh. She’s still way funnier than I am (damn her again).

And yet everything is different.

The perspective shift is subtle and fundamental. I think time must rearrange our innards and alter how we look out at the world. We might feel like we’re 20 but we don’t think as a 20-year old thinks. We stay the same in a different way.

It was a profound moment, sitting across from Jules, when I realized I was re-meeting one of my oldest and dearest friends.

And thank GOD the re-meet went well! We went to Empellon Taqueria (230 W 4th St) and it would be a shame to split a great meal with bad company.

We had perfect guacamole and two types of tacos:  Fish Tempura with Cabbage and Lime Mayonnaise and Chicken with Black Kale and Salsa Verde. It was all amazing. The Fish Tempura taco is so good I considered snatching one from Julie’s plate but I nixed the idea since I was trying to keep up a civilized appearance.

And of course we had margaritas. They were homemade and refreshing. A great drink for a hot summer day. As much as I liked them, I have to admit the balance of flavor was tilted heavily toward sweet lime. As Julie said, “Nobody at this table is getting scurvy. Nobody’s getting drunk either.”

Today is Empellon Taqueria’s one year anniversary! Happy Anniversary Empellon! I wish you many more years of great taco making.

And Julie, I never doubted that our re-meet would be amazing. You made a lasting impression when we met freshman year and I’m sure that no matter how much time passes or how much we change, I’ll always know you. (If that sounded at all stalker-ish, I apologize and blame it on low blood sugar. I gotta go get me a taco.)