Lunch with an old friend renewed....

Over the weekend, on Saturday I had met my friend Stacey for lunch.  It had been a very long time since we had seen each other and I was looking forward to it.

Stacey and I used to work together before we both moved on in our careers.  She and I went on a work trip in 2009 to Key West, Florida and were roommates on the trip.  We had so much fun on the trip and it was a pleasure to get to know her and to now have her as my friend.

We keep in touch via Facebook as most of us do in this day and age.

We chose to meet at the at the Vig Uptown for a couple of reasons - 1) it was a central location for us to meet,  2) we both have never had the brunch/lunch menu before (Stacey has never been to the Vig) and  3) the Vig had just finished some remodeling and added new items on their menu.

While waiting for Stacey I took the opportunity to take pictures.

This is my second visit to the Vig Uptown, though I have been to the Vig Arcadia several times.

If you've never been to the Vig Uptown before,  you might drive right by it if you don't know what the building looks like.

I had to ask the bartender what had changed as I couldn't tell.  She told me to look past the hostess station.  They had knocked the rest of the wall out and had turned it into a smoker friendly patio.  They had also built a ramp and installed rails at the entry.























It was nice being able to check out the place during the day.














They certainly have plenty of seating inside and out.









I got there about 1130am so I could get a few things done and write out some notes.  I was the first one there. Woohoo!!!  Had my pick of where I wanted to sit!  lol...











The bar has quite the selection of premium alcohol and array of wines.

There's a little bit of something for everyone.

A couple of my favorite drinks are the  Bombasiled and the Cruzberry (at Arcadia).











Love the bench seating around the fire pit.

They also have an area to play bean bag toss and
bocce ball.








Stacey and I were meeting not only to catch up (it's been two years since we've seen each other) but
was to talk about getting her business venture rolling and back on track.  When Stacey arrived we caught up on the chit-chat and then placed our order with our server.  We both opted to do brunch.

While waiting for our brunch, Stacey and I talked about her vision of where she wants her business to go and what her timeline is to make it happen.  Bounced a lot of ideas and suggestions for her to get her ramped up to where she wants to be with the timeline she wants.  The server was a little apprehensive to come over and check on us as she thought it was a business meeting.  It was, but it was more casual but we thanked her for her concern and told her it was fine to come and check on us.



Our food arrived.  Mmmmmmm......




I ordered the smoke salmon (they smoke it in house) and a bed of greens with warm pita, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs and chive-lemon cream cheese. It comes with red onions and capers - but I don't like those.

The salmon was moist and tender and the bed of greens had just the right amount of dressing on it. The pita was warm and tender and I loved the chive -lemon cream cheese.  LOVED IT!!
















Stacey had "The Right Stuffed".  It's a french toast stuffed with sausage, Fuji apples and cream cheese.

















We shared the potato pancake topped with apple sauce and sour cream.  It was very, very yummy.

After our server cleared our table, Stacey and I went back to her business.  She's got her list, her goals, her timeline, and she's got her mission.  Our server came back to see if we needed anything else and we decided to share a dessert.








 We shared the lemon cheesecake bar.  The cheesecake was really good and tart.  That first bite made me pucker!

A few things about the Vig Uptown.  Their patio area is really nice but it is enclosed and has roof unlike the Vig Arcadia.  It can be a bit chilly so you might want to bring a light sweater.
I was told they have Wi-Fi there but I was having issues and was not able to get access. :(  

I will have to re-visit the Vig Uptown and try some of the new items on their menu such as the beef satay, hot hotties and the holy mac and cheese to name a few.

Good food, good friend and good times!   I will be checking back with Stacey in a few months to see her progress ~ so more to come!

See ya ~