Biba

 Went there Sat. for the first time in about 7 years, when I got
 what I think was food poisoning.  My friend from NY really wanted
 to go and it was fun altho not to die for.  First, I think they
 forgot that we hadn't been seated yet.  Then we got seated next
 to the kitchen door.  Not a big deal.  The bread basket is
 wonderful and altho my friend liked the lobster pizza appetizer
 (for a hefty $20), it didn't seem that special to me.  He got
 some kind of beef in red wine sauce with a popover and au gratin
 potatos and lots of grassy looking greens.  I got seared tuna
 but it seemed kind of stringy or fatty or something.  And I don't
 know if it's the hazard of serving tuna med. rare, but the dish
 was pretty cool and if it's not really sushi, I want some warmth
 to the dish.  The sauce was awesome tho, they said shrimp but
 it tasted more like langostinos and a basmati rice cake was great.
 I liked the chardonnay cuz it wasn't too woody and actually had
 a sip of my friend's red wine which usually the smell just puts
 me off (one of those weird personal hangups).  We thought about
 going to the Bristol Lounge for dessert but stayed there and the
 warm chocolate cake is definitely the thing to get.  I got some
 English treacle tart with pecans and that was quite good too.
 Then we ran into bike couriers I knew in the alley having a keg
 party.

 Too bad we didn't go to Sonsie like we did last year cuz it was
 chock full of celebrities which would have been fun.  Just in
 case you're interested, the Globe reported that everyone from
 Nomar Garciaparra to Ben Affleck to Jimmy Page was there Sat. nite.
 Oh well.

 Joanie