Felicidades at TANGO!

Posted by Mickie T on Sunday, June 1st, 2008

I’m not writing this because the California Supreme Court ruled that the state must grant legal marriage to same-sex couples.

I’m not writing this because Governor David Paterson made public his directive to state agencies to grant comity and parity to same-sex couples legally married outside the State of New York.

I’m not writing this because, by the time you read this, we’ll be at the Queens Gay Pride celebration in Jackson Heights.

And, lastly, I’m not writing this because of the heated debates on the quality of steakhouses and restaurants on this forum.

I’m writing this because my parents took me and my wife out to Buenos Aires Tango for our 3rd wedding anniversary on Friday, we had a great time and we thought it was delicious!

My parents, who still live in the same place where I grew up in Rego Park, continue to amaze me with their support and enthusiasm for us as a couple. It wasn’t an easy road, so I’m still not used to it. When they called last week and insisted they had to treat us and give us a proper anniversary dinner, I almost cried.

My dad loves this place, and always jumps at the chance to go for any celebratory occasion. On Friday and Saturday nights, they have tango dancing, and a duo who sing Latin American songs. When my folks told us they wanted to take us there, honestly it wasn’t our first choice. I thought, “Oy, how cheezy! How tacky! How Queens! I’m writing for a blog! I’m supposed to go to places that are cool and show disdain for those that are deemed uncool !” But, as I said to my parents, “Since it’s our anniversary, we’ll do whatever makes you two happy.”

We were nearly the only non-Latino people in the place, so we took that as a good sign. Since my dad and I are pretty proficient in Spanish, we practiced with the waitstaff, and I think both sides enjoyed that. The service was very good, almost fawning. The dancing was lovely and the singers were also good. The red sangria was fruity, potent and yummy. And the steak…Oh, the steak…the steak….mmmmm. ¡Que sabor!

We were both very impressed with the quality, taste and price point of the beef at Tango. It was great! My wife is nearly 100% carnivore, and she loved it! Sure, we’ve been to some of the “legendary” steak places in NYC, pero oye, m’ijo: just say no to steak status snobbery!

The DW and I shared a shell steak with mushroom sauce and a strip steak, both cooked to precisely medium rare. Both were very tasty, but the shell steak was exceptionally tender. Wow, that’s a piece of meat! The red potatoes and scallions, and the cubed potatoes with sauteed spinach that accompanied them were also fine. (I regret not taking photos! Sorry, I was too hungry! )

The kicker was the bilingual “felicidades” (celebratory announcements) by Sylvia. In addition to announcing two confirmations and two birthdays, we got a rousing “Happy Anniversary” announcement, a song, a round of applause, and a “Whisky ice cream sundae” with a candle on top!

Look, I know that NYC is one of the easiest places to live - if not the easiest - for a gay person. I know that everyone here has seen it all, neighbors don’t care what you do, as long as you’re quiet and don’t smell, and that New Yorkers raise being blasé to an art form.

However, despite amazing advances and improvements for LGBT people all over which I never thought I’d live to see, you can’t take things for granted in this world. Queens has its reputation of parochialism, provincialism and small-town NIMBY attitudes, and the Latino community is not known for rolling out the red carpet for “queers”. Most notably, Queens has been the home of:

• The murders of Julio Rivera (1990) and Edgar Garzon (2001)
• Mary Cummins and District 24’s battle against the Children of the Rainbow Curriculum (1992)
• The recent homophobic letters against City Council candidate Charles Ober.

Not to mention that, when we were making our will, our attorney told us that Queens courts had the worst track record in NYC for probate and legal challenges against same-sex couples.

That’s why I appreciate experiences like the one at Buenos Aires Tango. These are not small or insignificant gestures in my view, and I do not take them for granted.

Our dinner at Buenos Aires Tango warmed our hearts and stomachs, and we would recommend it to anyone.