Carl Klutzke
: We were attending Birdy's (just west of the intersection of Keystone and
71st) at 7pm to see an 8:30 performance of Da Vinci's Notebook on a cold
December night. The floor was cleared so the artists could set up, and we
waited outside in a line in order to get good seats. Good thing we did: we
were able to claim one of the dozen tables near the stage, and most of the
audience was left standing. The place was dark and noisy, but not smoky,
thankfully, upon the band's request. It's not a big place. There's a stage
in one corner of the main floor, and a bar in the opposite corner. A door in
the east wall leads to an outdoor seating area where some people caught up
on their carcinogen intake, and stairs in another corner led upstairs to a
mezzanine with booths, a pool table, and another bar. I placed our order at
the downstairs bar and it was brought out to our table with a bottle of
ketchup about 25 minutes later. In the meantime we sipped $5.75 Long Islands
(on tap: no, I'm not kidding, I saw him pour it) and looked at the ads on
the walls for an upcoming Birdy's Christmas party, which apparently was
going to feature lots of attractive young women with bare breasts. The
sandwich came on a china plate with an abundance of tasty crinkle-cut fries
(so many I couldn't finish them), three crinkle-cut pickle slices (which
Karen ate), and, hiding in the fries, a crinkly white twist-tie fastener. I
don't know why. I didn't eat it. The sandwich itself was on a well-grilled
marbled rye, of good flavor. A slice of Swiss formed an effective moisture
barrier on the inside of each bread slice, but rather dominated the flavor
of the sandwich as a result. It didn't help that the beef was a moist,
flavorless mass. The dressing, though not really in short supply, was also
quite bland, but I managed to catch hints of it and the kraut on occasion.
Between the sandwich and the fries my appetite was pleasantly satisfied, and
the price was not as bad as I'd expected for a captive concert-going
audience. If I attend another performance at Birdy's, I'll again plan on
arriving early and dining before the show starts. I might even get another
Reuben. (2003-12-16)