Rena's Birthday with Mezza Lebanese Food

When we lived in Massachusetts, I discovered the Ninja Turtles. I used to pretend to be a turtle, fighting evil with my neighborhood friends. At Pamela's house, we'd steal her brother's figurines and play with them, too. I guess you could say I was on the brink of tom-boyhood. Really, I just wanted to be a strong girl who could kick butt one minute, and be a lady at a fancy dinner party in my dress-up clothes the next.

I guess things don't really change a whole lot as we age.

When we moved to Atlanta, my parents enrolled us in popular Southern sports. They attempted golf, while I did an embarrassing job on swim team and made descent attempts at tennis. When all of the Brownie troops were full and a re-attempt at ballet seemed uninspiring, my mother had me signed up for my first free karate lesson. I was hooked. We did a little shopping around for karate schools in our area, and settled into dojo life at a little school in Alpharetta. The people here became my second family, and life long friends.

After 15 years in and out of a few styles of martial arts, I decided I was a bit burnt out. I decided it was time, at 24, to try a few other things. Since then, I've dabbled in various types of dance lessons, taken up running (and by that I mean jogging), restarted jewelry making, yoga, and taken various types of gym classes. Some of my karate buddies are still practicing the art. One of my dearest friends, Rena, now hikes with the Trail Dames on weekends and belly dances during the week. Her belly dancing is so inspiring, that belly dance is my next class to tackle.

For Rena's birthday, she chose a Lebanese restaurant in Decatur called Mezza. Mezza features small plates and belly dancing entertainment on weekend nights. We were a large party, seated across the floor on low benches and cushions; Rena was surrounded by people who have come to know and love her over the years from karate, dance, drumming, and social circles. Instead of family style service, we all decided to order individually. The waitress was very helpful in identifying the GF items, and informed me they only cook in olive oil. Narrowing the list down to what I could actually eat was a tad difficult.

By the time the waitress got through the group and over to me, I blanked on what to order. Trying not to take too much time, I started with one I did remember "goat balls." The waitress gave me an expression indicative of stifled laughter. I realized I had omitted the word "cheese" from my order.

"Goat cheese balls?" the waitress asked, straight faced.

"Exactly," I replied. "Goat balls. The bigger the better." My table mates laughed.

I went on to order a few other dishes. My favorite things (mine, and samples of other people's food) were the potatoes, goat (cheese) balls, olives, and grape leaves (non-veg). I found the lamb to be a bit too vinegary for my taste- I'm not a fan of vinegar. I loved the social aspect of sharing the small plates and socializing in between watching the beautiful belly dancer memorize us with her fluid movements. I supposed to go tip her politely (by throwing money over her head) during her final routine. Only, I was so distracted by the sword balancing on her head and hip, that I just could not move from my seat.

We even snuck in an impromptu belly dance lesson in between dinner and coffee, thanks to Rena's belly dance teacher, Fox, being there and providing us with fun scarves.

I highly recommend going to Mezza for a fun evening.
GF Accommodation Skills: check.
Good Food: check.
A Fun Environment for Social Interaction: check.