BoysNightOutAtWolfgangs8-17 For the past 7 or 8 years, a group of several guys has gone out for dinner each August to Rao’s, the celebrated (and impossible to reserve) Southern Italian establishment at East 114th St. and Pleasant Ave. in Manhattan. Fred Klein (our host, connector, leader, mascot, and muse) led our band of merry-makers in our annual festivities that came to be known as “Boys’ Night Out at Rao’s.” (Yes, none of us technically qualifies as “boys,” unless you consider some of the behavior….) Alas, this year, our table rights at Rao’s disappeared, so we sought another venue, and one of our group came up with Wolfgang’s Steakhouse, on Park Avenue at 33rd St. (the flagship of what now has become a small chain of high-quality steakhouses in NYC and ranging as far as several outposts in Japan). See attached photo. Wolfgang had been a waiter and host at the venerable Peter Luger’s Steakhouse in Brooklyn for several decades before he started this venture, and by our collective assessment, it’s a big success. While we may return to Wolfgang’s next year, it’s also possible that this now has become a “moveable feast,” and there’s even talk of a possible road trip to an as-yet undisclosed location. Some traditions survive the bumps in the road, and I’m glad this one survived and is thriving.