It is mother effin’ cold in NYC. Whenever it’s this cold I think of that scene in Moonstruck when Cher forces Nick Cage to eat some steak because it’s good for his blood. Last night all I wanted was red wine and red meat to warm my blood from the mother effin’ cold.

My roomie and I went to Butter last night for restaurant week. Butter is well-known for it’s trendy night life scene and Lindsay Lohan sightings but it also has some pretty good food.

I started with a bowl of New England clam chowder and Vic had the butternut squash soup.

“Taste this soup. It tastes like fall in a bowl.”
I tasted it.
It did!

Her soup was accompanied by a tiny bowl of popcorn. Maybe I’ve been watching too many episodes of Top Chef but how the hell does popcorn enhance the flavors of butternut squash soup? And the popcorn was stale. It’s like a bus boy ran over to the Union Square theater and stole some leftovers.

For my entree I had the braised short ribs which were very tender and Vic had the pork chops. We shared a side of potatoes that looked like it was a remnant from the Chernobyl disaster. Note to future diners of Butter: Order the entrees, skip the sides.

After dinner, we decided to brave the Siberian temperatures and walk over to Pravda, a Russian speakeasy type of bar near Cooper Union. We sank into buttery, leather chairs and sipped glasses of warm calvado. Ahhhh, yes, come to mama.

As I sat and sipped, I got all excited thinking about the weekend. Tonight I’m going to see a dance performance and then tomorrow is a friend’s Mexican themed birthday party–margaritas and sombreros and all. And then my roommate pointed out two girls who were making out in a booth across from us.

Life seems so much more fun when you’re sitting in a leather chair.