Barefoot (And Pastrami) In The Park

It's all about the little things in life, right? Well, last night was one of those times where that old adage lived on--and on and on. I'm talking about the Bryant Park Summer Film Festival sponsored by HBO. I absolutely lurv going to these free flicks because they always show my fave classics on the BIG screen (bliss!). Last night's screening was Robert Benton's Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep (and little Justin Henry, who played the son, Billy. I think he's the youngest person, at 8 years old, to be nominated for an Academy Award). The scene I love, and that reverberates through everybody's hearts, is the father and son french toast scene. Watching little Billy and daddy Dustin as they struggle to make french toast. And then it all comes full circle by the end of the movie. Sigh.

When the lawn "opens" at 5 pm (for an 8:40 pm movie start time--whew!), the (probably) couple hundred people waiting on the sidelines rush front and center onto the lawn so frantically, I'd swear they were giving away money. Here's what it looked like after the first round of crazies carved out spots on the lawn:

While Danielle's friend kindly joined the crazies to find a spot for us, I tended to my grumbling tummy. Danielle and I went to 'wichcraft since it's 1) scrumptious; and 2) in Bryant Park. I got my usual: pastrami with swiss cheese and whole grain mustard on rye bread (I asked for only a little bit of sauerkraut; I believe it takes away from the meaty, juicy goodness of the 'strami. yum. yum.). Sure, we had fruit salad, humus, and other such nonsense, but the meaty 'strami is what I was all about!

It was just as delicious and succulent as all the previous times I've had it. It's just the right amount of pastrami. I generally don't order pastrami sandwiches from other places because they make it way too greasy, and being a pastrami sandwich, it's not like you're attempting a jaunt to healthville in the first place, so it's nice that 'wichcraft's pastrami is sandwiched between two unbuttered slices of rye bread and just the right amount of cheese and mustard.

The restaurant is solid. Their sandwiches are consistently good--good quality and pretty fresh ingredients. My favorites are the pastrami sandwich (not really a steal at $9.50, but a nice treat), the grilled gruyere with caramelized onions on country bread (5.95--and you have to be in the mood for it, as gruyere has a smell akin to feet after running a marathon..and triathlon), and the goat cheese sandwich with avocado, celery, walnut pesto, and watercress on multigrain bread ($8.95. ANYTHING with goat cheese is phenomenal. You know how people say you could put butter on dirt and it would taste good? That's how I feel about goat cheese.)

Here's another close up--try not to get the saliva on your keyboards....

We got fussy. we walked around. more people had showed up!

Finally, after nearly four hours of talking, laughing, drawing fake tattoos on one another, staring at people, trying to figure out if they're on a date, finding a clean bathroom, the film began! well, first an old school cartoon of roadrunner and the coyote, and then the traditional pre-movie get-up-and-shake-it-off dance! woot woot!

I've seen Kramer vs. kramer before but i loved seeing it a second time. Hoffman's character, Ted, is definitely the heroine in the movie--or at least in my opnion. i fully understand a mother's want and need to establish a life, an identity, a career that is independent of her role as a mother (and to be fair, Streep's character, Joanna, does declare that her confusion over what she wants out of life does not make her a bad mother), but she did leave her son for eighteen months. plain and simple.

half the fun of the bryant park movies is the crowd: screaming, cheering, clapping uncontrollably at all the right moments. good people. good eats. good times.

Be happy and carpe diem!