A popular, surprising food trio is this summer’s ‘It’ meal
This summer’s “It” meal might just be the new “girl dinner.”
Comprised of chic cult classics — a Caesar salad, order of french fries and dirty martini — the holy trinity of summer noshing has taken the internet, and local eateries, by storm.
The trifecta, dubbed a “NYC happy meal,” has been touted by a bevy of content creators, and even Long Island City’s American Brass has boasted the meal online, calling it the “perfect bar trio.”
“I need an espresso martini, Caesar salad, truffle fries, and a forehead kiss with $10K and some peonies on the side. Nothing too crazy,” one enthusiast of the spread wrote on X.
“POV: you have to order fries, a Caesar salad and a dirty martini because you’re just a girl in the world,” another creator wrote on a TikTok clip.
Cookbook author and olive oil sommelier Emily Lycopolus opts for the trio instead of a $30 entree that she “might not like and likely won’t fill me up,” she told HuffPost.
“If I’m out with a few girls, we’ll often order a few different salads (iceberg wedge, Caesar, Cobb), then share the fries, and then share a dessert,” she explained.
“We all get what we want, and the night can linger on.”
It’s an order that rarely disappoints at the biweekly girl dinner summit on an unassuming restaurant patio — the Caesar salad is crisp and light but the dressing filling, the fries served for the peckish to munch at leisure and the dirty martini adds a sophisticated bite with spirits and olive brine.
“The dressing is assertive so the salad feels like a main component of the meal rather than an afterthought, the fries dipped in some of that dressing is what dreams are made of,” cookbook author and YouTuber Laura Vitale told the outlet, adding that she “always feel satisfied” without being “overly stuffed.”
Should you choose gin over vodka, the spirit has “earthy, peppery or even nutty” notes that pair well with the parmigiano reggiano that tops the salad, explained EXAU Olive Oil co-founder and author Skyler Mapes.
It’s hard to mess up the humble triad, even at one-dollar sign establishments, spice expert and author Caitlin PenzeyMoog agreed.
“I’m talking about the mediocre gastropub restaurants that are ubiquitous,” she told HuffPost. “The ones where you can always get a table, where maybe there’s a nice outdoor patio, where it’s not amazing but not terrible, and its main draw is convenience.”
While the sober girls or those who don’t prefer to drink martinis may instead opt for a Diet Coke, the beverage still completes a satisfying trio with a certain je ne sais quoi that “men will never understand,” one X user posited.
As the viral, meme-ified saying goes, “You’re not sad, you just need a Caesar salad, side of fries and a dry martini.”
