miami fav #108 / arabian nights
doral, doral, doral. you did not have me at hello. and for awhile, you did not complete me. not.even.close. i pretty much didn’t like you (and i like almost everything!). do you remember when all i wanted after parkouring was a decent pizza joint? i mean, how easy of a foodie i was that day! well, in the world of warehouses, easy is apparently difficult. remember when i actually did find a pizza place!? but it was in a warehouse. and it was closed. because it was the weekend (i mean, who needs to eat on the weekend?). everything else you had to offer was a chain! i am not going to hooters no matter how hungry i am and no matter how many times i have to drive by it in search of a real restaurant. finally, i googled pizza places and thought ‘this time i found it.’ this had to be the one. the name was a winner. and doral, do you remember i pulled up only to find that it was attached to a gas station? oy vey. work with me here. after some breathing, some (kind of) patient friends (i love you), and driving a bit more out of the way, we found a place that looked decent - but it only served meat =(. luckily at a store nearby the owner was super sweet and shared some wonderful news. he knew the best restaurant in town! and it was locally owned! it wasn’t pizza, but i felt like i had won the lottery! and so off we went. and we arrived. and it was otherworldly. wondrous. it was arabian nights. which i sang over and over again with complete joy (along with many other aladdin songs - i.can’t.help.myself.). they even had wooden camels. and aladdin hats. and hookahs. and we sat on pillows. and there were silk sheets draped above our heads. i felt like a princess. and the food! we had grape leaves and hummus and falafel! and the shrimp kabob was divine! and doral? that was the beginning of a beaauuuutiful friendship.
