Fiamma’s energetic theme nights guarantee extended happy hours

KAREN, my partner-in-crime-by-default, and I play a little game of tug-of-war every other Wednesday night or so.

From my office in the north, I would travel to Makati to her place of work along Jupiter Street and pick her up. Our plans usually involve going home and having a quiet dinner. Two minutes into the car ride, however, the plan normally changes.

Our dialogue goes like this:

Karen: Wait. is in Fiamma. We should stop by and say hello.

Me: Define “stop by.” The last time we “stopped by and said hello” we went home as Semisonic’s “Closing Time” was being played.

Karen: We won’t stay that long. Let’s just have a round or two.

Me: Uhm, okay.

Of course we just don’t have a round or two. With a drink-all-you-can offer every Wednesday night, you’re encouraged to drink at least three rounds. Okay, maybe five. And perhaps an order of Kamikaze Blue.

But more than the drinks, the main attraction of Wednesday nights for me is the 80s and 90s music that’s played throughout the evening. Karen normally freaks out when they start playing Tea For Two’s “Time and Love” or Madonna’s “Where’s The Party?”

I get excited when the DJ starts playing some obscure song like Aztec Camera’s “Walk Out To Winter” or a classic like Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark.” We invariably end up dancing, covering steps that range from The Cycling Punk to The Running Man.

Before going home, we almost always chow down on their pizzas in an attempt to even out the alcohol and sober up. Fiamma also has other theme nights, and we’ve managed to check out the Fresh Fridays (featuring R&B and Hip-hop music) and Sinful Saturdays (with funky House music all night). The crowd is slightly different (read: younger) but the energy is quite the same.

Last week, we got home relatively early with Haircut 100’s “Love Plus One” looping in my head.