Have you seen me?

The big news from last night’s Soup and Bread?

The penguin appears to have been mug-napped.

This heinous crime against flightless aquatic birds and their chinaware representations has caused many patrons no small distress–but we’re not calling in the authorities yet. If he’s returned to the back bar by next Wednesday we’ll consider the incident closed, no questions asked.

This sorry affair aside, the evening went off without a hitch. Soup chefs Celia Bucci, Judy Cohn, Hugh Amano, and the gracious ladies of Vella Cafe (in absentia) came through like champs, whipping up stracciatella, yellow split pea with Indian spices, cabbage and kielbasa, and creamy cauliflower soups with aplomb.

We had a smaller turnout than the first two weeks, which I’d chalk up to post-inauguration hangovers and (at least in the case of other Hideout staffers, who had been in DC for the last few days) some well-deserved trips to slumberland. And it was really nice, even if, in my own sleep-deprived fog, I was forgetting drink orders by the time I’d walked three feet down the bar. Everybody seemed to feel happy, mellow, and well-fed — and tossed a collective total of $65 into the donations bucket.

Recipes coming soon. For real this time.

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