You're young, you're urban, you're out of college and sick of Ramen Noodles.

Today's post-college/pre-marriage folks -- variously called slackers, twentysomethings, baby-busters, and Generation X; loosely defined as people born between 1965 and 1980, the babies of baby-boomers; the subjects of movies like Slacker, Swingers, Singles, and Reality Bites -- are finally, contrary to popular opinion, coming up with a solid, discernible culture. For a long time we moped about, refusing to move out of our parents' houses (after all, that last expulsion -- the one from the womb -- left us feeling ill-at-ease, to say the least) and accusing the boomers of using up all the Social Security money from our McJobs.

But all that is changing now. Over the past few years, we've seen signs of a longing for an odd mix of all things nostalgic -- cigars, lounge music, even bellbottoms fer chrissake -- that makes the late '90s look like a confused mix of the '50s, '70s, and early '90s. Generation X is getting a bit older, has a little more money, and has moved out of its parents house and into a rent-controlled sublet in the former slums of every city in America. We're looking for something a little better than the canned weirdness and Pop-Tarts that were the gourmet fare of college.

Ann Shoket, a founder and the editor-in-chief of GoldenNYC, a downtown hipster guide, is hip to my scene, baby. "I see a big difference between now and when I first got out of college," she says. Then, "I ate a lot of macaroni and cheese and ... uh ... well, macaroni and cheese was a big thing. And salad. But I started to notice about 3 years after college that my friends and I had money to eat out. Not at top restaurants-- we were still going to pretty frugal places --- but now, we eat out maybe 3 nights a week." Shoket herself edits a section of her site called Fabulous Advice, which is "all about substance, style, and not spending a lot of money," and recommends spots like Frutti di Mare and Yaffa Café for non-diner indulgence.