Chez Oskar

Chez Oskar, Dekalb Ave and Adelphi St.

Hello nobody! I'm sure you've missed me.

I have been to this locale once before, on one of those dates where the other person looks really good on paper and then it ends up being a total mess.

THIS evening, however, I had made plans with a friend to eat somewhere in Ft. Greene, as she was a newbie bike-rider and we thought to meet somewhere equidistant from our respective neighborhoods. She woke up from a late afternoon nap feeling like doody, so I went by myself.

I sat at the bar; perhaps because I am a bartender, I really like sitting at bars. The bartendress was the same cute French? girl who when I called asking if there was seating at the bar (I couldn't recall from that one genial date) I had to repeat the question three different times with different nouns and verbs.

I ordered a Kronenbourg 1664 while I thought about the menu. A number of things called out to me, but something about an entree portion of Steak Tartare pulled at my heart strings and I wanted to scream-sing me some Edith Piaf. Instead I just ordered the dish.

It was heaven. I big thick patty of raw fresh beef minced with capers and onions with a raw quail egg on top and toasted baguette and french fries. The second I ordered a glass of house cote-du-rhone to finish off the meal, some early evening jazz band started up in the corner of the restaurant.

I have an aversion to live jazz in restaurants. It's cheesy and it begs attention from whatever else I want to be doing. Like giving bedroom eyes to the beautiful bald black lady in the other corner. When I dine alone I am Captain Anyone.

But they weren't half bad. And as I scraped my plate clean and they finished the first song, I clapped. Because they were good, and I wasn't really gonna make it with that bald lady anyway.

The bill was $32 on the nose, and I paid with a credit card but left $6 in cash.

Another meal enjoyed, all alone.