{"id":1449,"date":"2011-08-05T14:00:12","date_gmt":"2011-08-05T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/?p=1449"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:00:12","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T14:00:12","slug":"kate%e2%80%99s-cupcakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/kate%e2%80%99s-cupcakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Kate\u2019s Cupcakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\n(Masters of Industry, with Tiara. Photo Socotra.)<\/p>\n

I needed to take a break from the merriment, but it just wasn’t in the cards, even though everyone was dragging a bit at the office yesterday due to the team-building cum birthday celebration at the bar Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

A good time was had by all, from what I gathered, though my involvement was sundered by a cab ride down to Old Town, where my son and his navy buddies were enjoying some Alexandria liberty after an orientation of the agencies here in town with which they will interact while on active duty, and beyond.<\/p>\n

It was raining that afternoon, of course, which made finding a cab back a bit of a challenge, but it went along with the theme of the week, which was drafting obituaries and observing the market collapse in Wall Street. I had bet on a decline and made a stock purchase immediately after the debt ceiling agreement had been signed.<\/p>\n

I thought I was clever. The markets didn\u2019t agree with me, and I got clipped for 4% of the value of the trade in addition to the cost of making it. Fuck me. \u201cBuy high, sell low,\u201d that\u2019s my motto.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the sun was out as quitting time rolled around yesterday and I thought I might do something modest and get a good swim under my belt.<\/p>\n

Captain Chris was sitting on the Willow\u2019s veranda as I walked up, and I greeted him with warmth. We have been trying to get together for weeks, and it appeared it was going to work. The Captain is an interesting guy. We went inside and sat at the Amen Corner where a few of the usual suspects were either conducting business or looking blankly into space.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Captain Chris,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi, I am Jon-with-no-H,\u201d said Jon-with-no-H. He is easing into the whole work thing, and was enjoying one of Big Jim\u2019s hefty cocktails before rendezvousing with the Lovely Bea at P.F. Chang\u2019s later for a rack of Chinese fusion ribs. \u201cI really have a craving for some ribs,\u201d he said with a shrug. I have to say, he has worked the George Hamilton tan thing to a fare-the-well, and they ought to just retire the trophy this summer and let him keep it.<\/p>\n

\u201cJon-with-no-H lives across the street,\u201d I explained. \u201cHe is in the perfect nexus to triangulate The Front Page, Willow and P.F. Chang\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey all know me,\u201d said Jon without.<\/p>\n

We shot the shit for a while. It turns out Captain Chris\u2019s son just graduated from the Merchant Marine Academy at King\u2019s Point, which my buddy Phil\u2019s did just a couple years ago. If you want to talk about dysfunctional government, that is a pretty good place to start, and we did.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son\u2019s education cost the taxpayers $380,000 and he is sitting home now waiting to see if he can find a billet on a merchant ship. It is crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n(Big Jim from Pittsburgh, Willow\u2019s master bartender. Photo Socotra.)<\/p>\n

Captain Chris enjoyed a Coca-Cola \u201cIt isn\u2019t a twelve step program or anything,\u201d he said, to pre-empt speculation. \u201cI just never enjoyed it even back in college.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jon without nodded. \u201cI have had an uneasy relationship with Demon Rum in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just embrace it,\u201d I said, and took a hefty sip of happy Hour White. \u201cBut only wine when I am out on the town. Vodka at home, since it is the next to last stop on the Oblivion Express.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the last one?\u201d asked the Captain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t got there yet,\u201d I said. \u201cBut if you are hungry, this is a great opportunity to check out Tracy O\u2019Grady\u2019s Neighborhood Bar Menu. It gives you a cane to sample what Robert is putting out to the full dining room at a bargain price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big Jim dropped off a couple menus and I walked the Captain through the opportunities. He decided on the Salmon Kebab and I settled on the Polyface Farms deviled eggs with a side of hot sauce.<\/p>\n

When the dishes arrived, we all were awed (as usual) with the presentation.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n(Willow Salmon Kebab with herb garnish on a bed of roasted garlic coucous. Photo Socotra.)<\/p>\n

Jon Without made his farewell to wander in the direction of Chang\u2019s as we ate. The lovely Pastry Queen Kate came in from the patio, looking cool and elegant, and I introduced her to the Captain. \u201cKate owns the place with Tracy,\u201d I explained. \u201cShe handles all the desserts, and has recently expanded into a retail trade between the bar and the dining room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very exciting,\u201d said the Pastry Queen. \u201cWe are doing cakes, cookies and cupcakes and will go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you show us what the latest is?\u201d I asked. She nodded with a smile and we walked around the low wall that separates the frivolity of Big Jim\u2019s bar from the more stately elegance of the dining room.<\/p>\n

\u201cTracy is thinking about doing a sort of bridge menu here in the lobby, with a more formal setting in the back,\u201d she said, gesturing at the private table in the alcove in the front and the tables along the backside of the wall. \u201cAnd here is my bakery.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and Tracy have replaced the old serving station from the original steakhouse days with an actual working pastry line behind a chest-high wall with a new dark granite top. The walls are adorned with shelves and object d\u2019art to showcase the pastries. A fantasy lemon-zest white cake sat prominently in the middle of the counter, flanked by gift-wrapped cookies and a tray of vanilla and sinful dark cupcakes.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n(Kate\u2019s cupcakes. Sinfully delicious. Photo Socotra.)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou gotta try the cupcakes,\u201d I said. \u201cThey are not your mother\u2019s style, let me tell you. They are light as air and the icing\u2026well, suffice it to say that I heard what happened to some of the icing when the gang was eating them at the bar the other night. Sinfully delicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kate thanked us for our interest and the Captain and I retired back to the bar. I looked at my Happy Hour White with satisfaction, and we started to talk about how to deal with parents and dementia. He is just heading down the road the Socotras have been on for a while.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet the paperwork in order first, before it all starts to go south and you can\u2019t do a damn thing. We were lucky to get Raven\u2019s signature on a durable power-of-attorney about the last week he could sign his name in front of witnesses. You have to hope everyone cooperates. It is a hard thing. We waited too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Captain nodded and told me about where his family was in the saga, and then he decided to try dessert. He glanced at the menu as we talked about family trusts and legal issues and decided on the Double Crunchy Walnut Brownie Sundae with vanilla bean ice cream, hot fudge sauce and drizzled with caramel.<\/p>\n

It looked every bit as good as the cupcakes, but as you know, I have declared war on carbs. I took as much pleasure in watching it disappear though. The way Willow does things, looking at the food is nearly as good as consuming it. Sort of like getting your cake and eating it, too.<\/p>\n

Which is something that doesn’t happen often in Washington.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n(Kate\u2019s astonishing brownies a la mode. Photo Socotra.)<\/p>\n

Copyright 2011 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Masters of Industry, with Tiara. Photo Socotra.) I needed to take a break from the merriment, but it just wasn’t in the cards, even though everyone was dragging a bit at the office yesterday due to the team-building cum birthday celebration at the bar Wednesday night. A good time was had by all, from what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1449"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1457,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449\/revisions\/1457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}