Ed Nixon at Garnett's

Leave it to Garnett's to give me a way to show my support for the Rams by eating.

And as usual, I can't go there without running into all kinds of people I know, which is absolutely part of the appeal of the place.  The surprise was the Go Rams menu with new sandwiches named after Joey Rodriguez (with pickled jalapeno, natch), Jamie Skeen, Brandon Rozzell and Ed Nixon. Hello boys!

I'd spirited my VCU pal away from her desk and we took two prime stools at the lunch counter. The A Team was working the kitchen, so I said hello to Mac and Gregg (who, as expected, drooled over my dive into the offal menu in DC over the weekend) before beginning our girl talk extravaganza.

I'd arrived craving the farmer's salad (Romaine, apple, Irish cheddar, bacon in a creamy sesame dressing) but was sorely tempted by the Ed Nixon (grilled Gouda, bacon, tomato and caramelized onion on rye), so we agreed to order and share both.

F.R.O. was working the counter, GayRVA was in the house and the source of my latest writing job took a seat at the end of the bar. But before I could get to any of that, my friend and I had some bases to cover (diamonds! weekend trips! art lust!) since that's why we were there in the first place.

The Farmer's salad's combination of salty and sweet was even more impressive for the new dressing, tahini-infused and stellar. Ed Nixon's namesake was the muscular cousin of Ipanema's grilled Gouda, flexing its bacon and rye biceps. I didn't think there could be a better grilled Gouda than the one at Ips, but I stand corrected.

F.R.O. joined in our discussion of visiting artists, the speed with which dating becomes living together and the inescapability of social media. From there, there was no place to go but straight to dessert and hummingbird cake got the nod, mainly because when we'd first sat down, the cake had been on the counter being sliced and that memory had lingered.

"This icing is wonderful because it's not too sweet," my friend noted. It's true, Garnett's has a lock on hummingbird cake perfection, although their cardinal cake (red velvet with chocolate icing) holds a lot of promise for ending a future meal.

I ask you, how many places can I overindulge in Rams-inspired sandwiches and bird cakes? It's a very short list.