Bluestone, Red Face

My dad and I drove back to Montclair from Middletown last night. This morning Scep and Katie came to get me and we went to the Bluestone Cafe in Watchung Plaza.

We walked past Watchung Deli as we waited for a table. When I talked about my love for Hunan House, my high school friend Roy, who now lives in Japan, mentioned missing Watchung Deli when he’s living abroad.  (Roy’s been in Japan for several years now, with occasional visits home,  and if you’re keeping score, our friends Garan’s moved to Korea. I asked Scep to move to Indonesia to round out the gang of our friends now in Asia, but he said no.) Oddly, the Watchung Deli is now next to a sushi joint, a salon offering Japanese hair straightening*, and a corner shop full of anime fashions, brightly colored mini-sushi erasers and more novelty Asian imports. Watchung is ready for your return, Roy.

Since it was a holiday, there were plenty of other late-morning brunchers at Bluestone Coffee. Menus were coffee-stained unlaminated paper, listing two flavors of chai, coffees, teas, and a variety of yummy entrees, featuring ingredients that could not be altered or substituted. But the food was good, and the company was even better! I missed those two!

Our waitress made sure we didn’t linger, though, she literally took my plate away as soon as I lifted the last bite towards my mouth. By this time, it wasn’t crowded anymore, but it was uncomfortable lingering where the staff clearly didn’t want us to be, so we went back to my parents’ house.

It was great to catch up with Scep and Katie. We talked about the time my granny grilled Katie to see if she was worthy to be dating her now-husband Scep, and about Katie’s possible new job in the fall, and summer plans, and general catch up. Also, Scep and Katie pretended not to notice my ridiculous hairline sunburn. Although I diligently sunscreened myself with SPF 6.2^8 at Bethie’s graduation, I guess I didn’t get quite up to my hair and I have now a half centimeter of crispy red around my face.

Maybe Bluestone has a No Weird Faces policy, and that’s why we got the bum’s rush.

*I’m not entirely sure what that is. Do you know?