Monday Night at Pete's

When I first moved to the city, I was a lowly "Ad Girl" making a lowly salary. There were few things I allowed myself in the area of "luxuries" and even then my "luxuries" were hardly luxurious. I lived for bargains (still do!) and relished in them when they fit in my paultry budget.





But there was one thing I relished more than most, at that was Monday nights at Pete's Tavern.

Every Monday, Pete's has "Pasta Night" and my roommate Laurie and I would meet there almost weekly to enjoy this insane special. For just $9, you would receive a glass of house red wine, salad and bread and a huge bowl of pasta that could easily be stretched for 3 meals. It fit into my budget easily, and because the food and ambience this quickly became a staple of my first year of NYC life.

Last night, Josh and I retreated back to Pete's, and since it was a Monday night, and Pasta Night, I insisted we get the Pasta Special. Josh LOVES the veal parmigiana at Pete's, but for once I felt he needed to see the beauty in the bargain of $9 pasta meal. So we both had pasta -- linguine bolognese for me and angel hair marinara for him -- and it was a lovely meal and night. We topped the night off with Tartufo and Heroes. It was just splendid.

Sometimes as we move through life it's easy to get caught up in moving on up. The chicken and veal parmiana are easily better than the poor man's pasta plate, and I can easily afford more than the Monday night Pasta Special at Pete's, but I love to revel in the memory of my first year in NYC and see how far I have come.