Seventeen

Babette's Cafe was discovered by yours truly, when I was seeking a a job in a really awesome book store called Atlanta Book Exchange. They buy and sell used books. Every wall is covered, floor to ceiling, with used, stinky books. It was fantastic. It looks a little bit like this.....

Room after room is filled to the brim with books owned by strangers, with strangers' finger prints, strangers' notes, and even stranger odors. I feel like I could work in a place like this, breathing in poems, prose, and expositions day in and day out. Submerged in the great words of the great works of the great writers before me. I just think a book store is the absolute best place for an aspiring writer to become inspired....sucks that they weren't hiring......... fantasy kill.

So I walked out towards my car, and saw directly in front of me, Babette's Cafe. "I'll just grab a menu togo, and I'll come back another day when I have more than $20 in my wallet," said the thrifty, thin girl in my head. After I shut her up, I told David the bartender that I'd like to sit down at one of the white-clothed tables. I already knew that I was going to order. Two small plates.... the half order of steamed mussels ($5) and the mushroom and squash risotto ($6).

Preceding my mussels and risotto, my model-esque waiter, who says things like "would you like something to drink while you peruse the menu?", brings me a baguette in a linen-lined bucket with a ramekin of homemade butter. I love you, I want to say, but, instead, I tear into the crunchy, warm bread. They've got me! 

The mussels were in front of me 5 minutes later, swimming in a strawberry-serrano pepper sauce. The sweetness of the sauce was an interesting and  yummy contrast to the salty mussels. I particularly enjoyed sopping up the sauce with the remainder of my baguette. Mmmmm. The risotto appeared to me as a shiny, hot blob topped with cheese.  It was definitely filling. I didn't finish it. I wish I had saved room (and cash) for dessert.

I had a great experience at Babette's. I'll definitely be back to try dessert, and possibly even an entree. But if I find myself back there in a cash crisis again, I find comfort in the prices of the small plates! God Bless appetizers.