Last Thursday Matt and I ventured into Manhattan to have dinner with friends at Flex Mussels.

Even if you think you don’t like mussels, you should go. Obviously the mussels are sensational, but the oysters are refreshing and delicious and the doughnuts? YES YES YES. Get the caramel ones!

On the train to Penn Station we sat two rows behind a group of four men who epitomized the hipster stereotype: skinny jeans, scruffy reddish beards,and flannel shirts a size and a half too small? Check! While they seemed like perfectly nice guys, they were LOUD. After a minute I couldn’t help but listen (isn’t that why they were talking so loud in the first place?) and what I deduced rather quickly is that one or two of them work in a wine store.

Let the glass clinking begin! Yes, they were basically holding a private wine tasting on the Long Island Railroad. Three of the four got off the train in Jamaica to switch to the Flatbush train (Brooklyn hipsters!) but before they left we enjoyed these nuggets:

The tannins on this vintage are so well blended!

Mmmmm, this has woodsy chocolate hues.

And my personal favorite: That cab franc is so broad-shouldered!

I love wine as much as the next person, but let’s keep the wine tasting to the vineyards shall we?