DGM DIGEST: April

If I learned anything from this past month, and turning 24, it’s that bread and butter should be a complementary staple at restaurants, and everything is always happening at the same time. When life feels overwhelming, we beg for a break. But the truth is, the break and the chaos coexist; it's all happening at once. Balance isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to focus on both the calm and the chaos as they unfold together. You can’t have good without bad, or light without darkness.

Your car will break down at the same time you find out you got rejected from the job you really wanted. A friend will go through a breakup, and you’ll find out someone you love is sick, your roof will leak, you’ll throw your back out somehow, you’ll forget to pay a bill, get a parking ticket, and you'll get in a fight with a friend. It’s gonna feel like you’re being personally attacked by the universe, but you’re not. You’re human, and this is life.

Life will not pause for you to take a breath and find your balance; you have to figure out how to do all of that at the same time, while everything else is happening. It sounds obvious, and yet we all struggle to get by day by day. That’s why it’s so important to appreciate the life we have, not just in the good and great moments, but all the time, because it’s all happening all the same. As for the complimentary bread at restaurants, I just think it’d be nice.

April showers bring May flowers, as they say, and somehow this month has been blossoming with new opportunities and endeavors with each stormy day. Celebrating two years of Dry Gin Martini, publishing the special edition magazine with the help of so many talented friends and creatives I admire, who I hope to be friends with after this. There’s so much to be grateful for, so much more to learn and experience.

We write about these things to taste life twice. Here’s a taste of this past month's specialty: drinks, dinner, and a movie! DGM DIGEST: April.

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Like I said previously, bread should be a complimentary starter at every restaurant. Look at Texas Roadhouse, some people just go there for their welcoming, warm, buttery rolls. The complimentary bread welcomes you into the establishment better than the host sometimes; it tells you what they’re all about and what they think of the customer. A fresh baguette, crunch on the outside, warm fluff on the inside, waiting to be buttered, says, We’re so happy to have you, don’t feel rushed to get through your meal. Get to know her. Get to know us, become a regular. The little birdseed crackers that make more of a mess than a Nature Valley bar at a trendy upscale joint say, You’re about to spend way too much money on a side we’ve labeled a main dish while sitting  on a cold metal chair because it fits our minimal aesthetic.

No matter the venue, guests should feel welcomed, which later encourages them to be more generous. Complimentary bread is a baby step back into the way service was pre-COVID, in my opinion. We don’t have time to elaborate on that now, though. All I know for certain is that the entrée should never be the first thing you eat at a restaurant; it’s preposterous.

In a similar vein, an appetizer should never come after the entree. It disrupts the flow of the dinner. Just as someone bringing you the bill before they’ve offered dessert disrupts my peaceful state of mind. It’s already a hassle to go to dinner in this day and age, trying to find time with your friends, all juggling opposite schedules, then there are kids running all over the place, drinks are $12 minimum, and a salad is the same price as a pasta dish, and don’t even get me started on QR code menus.

Despite all these champagne problems, I remain a devoted fan of restaurants and the dining-out experience, enjoying great food, good company, and lasting memories with friends, even if it runs my wallet dry; everything else in this economy does anyway. April is a big birthday month in my family. To celebrate my birthday and my mom's, we went out to Waylan Brewing and enjoyed their Master's Cocktail menu and shared apps, surrounded by way too many children for the type of venue we were in. To celebrate my friend Sofia’s, we went to High Violet, and I drank one too many cosmos as expected. I’d never been there before, and I really liked the interior; the music was abysmal, so much so that we played charades to fill the space. My birthday was celebrated in two parts, one with my friends, where we hit up Tappo, and one with my family at Mother’s Restaurant.

Whenever I go out to dinner, it always ends with drinks at a second location. My friend Ari took me to Canal Club, where we had the most delectable strawberry cheesecake, followed by a nightcap at St. Neri, which I have now exhausted and will be taking a break from for some time. I found a new place to haunt where people actually dance.

Swaying your hips in a circle with a circumference of 1mm may be considered movement, or even feeling the music, but it’s certainly not dancing. After months of digging around town to find a semblance of a dance floor, we struck gold this past weekend at No Fun Lofi Bar. What looks like a refurbished shed that someone would try to turn into an Airbnb, nestled behind High Violet on Elmwood Ave, is the delight of the decade. I had so much fun spending time with loved ones this month that I rarely had time to watch a good movie.

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The first of the three movies starring both Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, The Drama, came out on April 3rd. A sharp comedy about a couple one week before their wedding and all the chaos that ensues when they’re forced to recognize they might not know everything about their partner. I found the subject matter quite evocative, especially given its European director and European approach to dark humor. The real standout for me was the instrumental character, Misha, played by Hailey Benton Gates. I loved the different conversations surrounding the film, especially considering the focus on gun violence in America and the accessibility to violence for children. A lot of people found this film offensive or disrespectful, and to that I say, we watched a totally different movie. Thankfully, film is subjective, as is taste.

Erupcja, directed by Pete Ohos, was so tasteful, in fact, I can’t wait to watch it again once it’s released. I had the opportunity to see an early screener of this film, and it blew me away. There was a unique simplicity to the cinematography that was extremely stimulating. As I said in a minor TikTok review, this is the kind of film that makes you want to pick up a camera and make your own movie. I love movies like that.

Just as I love movies about making movies, Sentimental Value offered a whole new perspective, tackling uncomfortable familial relations through a father famous for filmmaking, and his estranged daughter, who’s an actress. When the death of her mother brings him back to town, she and her sister are forced to come to terms with the man whom they both remember in vastly different ways. Stellan Skarsgard plays the father and broke my heart with his performance. Elle Fanning was such a delight on screen, bridging the gap between him and Nora, played by one of my favorite actors, Renata Reinsve.

Sometimes, quality is better than quantity when it comes to media consumption, which directly contradicts all the reality TV I’ve been watching, but personally, that’s quality TV in my book, prime time even. I am currently keeping up with Summer House and all the drama surrounding Scamanda. If you’re unfamiliar, allow me to reference Euphoria to dumb it down: Amanda Batula is Cassie, West Wilson is Nate, and Ciara is Maddy. People keep trying to compare this cheating scandal to Scandoval, but what they forget is that West previously humiliated Ciara in the press a few summers back, and Amanda consulted her about it up until this season. Props to my mother, she always knows best and hasn’t liked Amanda since the start of Summer House. In other Bravo news, Southern Hospitality might be my new favorite show, and Mia is my favorite cast member. Finally, some good, honest reality TV, well, except for Emmy, there’s nothing honest about that woman.

Euphoria is back and more saturated than ever. Season three kicks off with a time jump following Lexi’s play in season 2. Each episode falls further and further down the Tarantino rabbit hole: sex, blood, and feet. Each character is chasing their own version of the American Dream, but what they don’t realize is that there is no American Dream, and the real chase is running after them. Sam Levinson continues to use shock value to excuse plot holes and poor writing. Luckily for him, he struck gold when he cast the show back in 2019. Unfortunately, without the help of Petra Collins and Labrinth this time, the show is noticeably different.

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Sometimes, different is good; welcoming change is a nice quality. This past year has brought nothing but change into my life. Growing more patient as the days progress, or attempting to. Maybe that patience is what’s needed to get through the remainder of Euphoria… kidding.

Today, May 1st, marks both a full moon in Scorpio and a late DGM DIGEST, but we made it nonetheless. Cheers to new beginnings and opportunities, 2 years of DGM, and 24 years of life. “ Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn" is probably the greatest piece of advice I’ve been given over the course of this entire process. There’s always something new to learn, a way to grow, or a goal to reach for. DGM has helped me chase those goals, and lately, its influence feels stronger than ever.

Follow your dreams, they’re out there waiting for you to find them. No act is too small, no dream.  I know I said there is no such thing as the American Dream, and I don’t believe there is. I think a dream is something that burns inside of you, and if you don’t follow it, you will be consumed by those same flames. The American Dream is a singular experience. To succeed in life, you need community, no matter its size.

Life will not pause for you to take a breath and find your balance; you have to figure out how to do all of that at the same time, while everything else is happening. You have to create a pause for yourself, maybe it's a nice drink, maybe even a good movie. Right now, for me, it’s a long-awaited trip to Europe!

Signing off for the next two weeks! Till next time, stay flirty, stay thirsty, give yourself grace, have patience, and take a minute to appreciate how far you’ve come. Watch more movies together, make more movies together.

Au revoir,

DGM.