We Must Pick Ourselves Up, Dust Ourselves Off... And Eat Some Ribs

We'd like to introduce you to Andrew P. Goodman, an old schoolmate of Editor Jill's, and our newest addition to the Phillyist staff. Andrew is a planner at Penn Praxis and sometime-contributor to PlanPhilly.com—meaning we can count on him to keep us updated on all sorts of cool stuff going on in Philly's urban development. But for now, he's just going to tell us about some serious soul food. Welcome, Andrew!

We don't know about you guys, but we will definitely take some BBQ sauce on top of our hope and change. Victory was tangy and smoky last night.

While millions of newly-rejuvenated Americans partied the night away, your humbled and slightly hungover Phillyist found himself in the VIP lounge of Ms. Tootsie’s Soul Food Restaurant Bar Lounge, the “uber stylized” (their words, not mine) version of the Soul Food Cafe of the same name next door.

The wretched memories of defeat in 2000 and 2004 were nowhere to be found at this southern restaurant last night. Guests came out dressed to the nines to sample the special southern-Hawaiian fusion buffet (in honor of our new multicultural president) and raise their glasses to the new commander in chief as he danced the night away. The spread featured lamb chops, pork ribs, chicken teriyaki, hope, and change (see image above for a sample of the Obama-infused buffet). We learned this week that our new Numero Uno makes a wicked chili, but if he had the chance to sample the fare last night, he would not be disappointed.

The drink of the evening was the "Obamatini"—a strategically poured combination of vodka, triple sec, blue curacao, and strawberry pucker. In this case, patriotism tasted sweet. Two or three more of those... ow that's a girly drink we can believe in.

The crowd can best be described "celebratory chic"—cool, calm, collected, and... well-dressed (Phillyist is disappointed we could not complete the alliteration). Happiness permeated the place, a sense of confidence and reassurance that was almost as ethereal as the lounge's all-white decor. The bar at Ms. Tootsie's has a seductive chill to it already, and by the time the new president flashed his shiny white bow tie, the proverbial panties were dropping all over the place. While teary Beyonce's performance for the First Couple's dance at the Neighborhood Ball definitely got the loudest applause of the evening, it was clear that many of the party-goers had already shed their tears earlier that afternoon. But now it was time to celebrate the momentous occasion with good people in a relaxed atmosphere...

...and of course, the smell of fried chicken didn't hurt either.