Fun times for our 4th.
I didn't do a speck of house work or even cook all weekend long. The only thing we made was coffee. Friday, I took Jonah down to Huntsville and dropped him off with Chris' mom. Then I booked it back home in time to meet Chris for a beer at the new Yazoo taproom when he got off work. We each drank a pint of their stout and discussed dinner plans. We had Groupons for Miel, Allium, and Suzy Wong's House of Yum, all of which are places we wouldn't take Jonah. Chris tried to call the first two for reservations but they were booked up for the times we wanted. So, I tried Suzy Wong's and got us in at 8pm.
We went home and changed then headed back out to Suzy Wong's. Their beer selection is crap (four beers, all rice beers from Asia, except Rogue's Morimoto Soba ale, which I've never been very impressed with). But their cocktails are FAN-freakin-TASTIC! Between the two of us, we tried four of their specialty cocktails: Chai-tini (with chai liquer *drool*), blackberry mojito, lychee cocktail (which was so light and sweet and yummy) and a ginger orange-aid, which was the most disappointing of all of them and the only one remotely hot (alcohol wise). We opted for a couple of tapas type things and then split an entree of mussels in green curry and coconut milk (and lots of roasted garlic). Of the tapas we got, the Asian nachos were fantastic! They were wonton wrappers topped in perfectly cooked bbq pork, edamame, lettuce, Sri Racha sauce and some sort of aioli. The crab and bacon wontons we got were disappointing, though. They were a bit soggy (poorly fried) and absent of bacon or at least any flavor from it and just really plain. Just lump crab and green onions. The atmosphere was fun and funky, if not a little too dark. I saw one table with a flashlight trying to look at the menu. I wouldn't want to hang out there for a long time, like we've done before at one of their sister restaurants, Cha Chah (we ate a 3 hour meal there once). At 9pm sharp, they crank up the music at least double the volume. Trivia note, for what it's worth: the owner of Cha Chah, PM and Suzy Wong's House of Yum has been invited to appear on Top Chef.
After that, we headed over to catch the 9:30 showing of When You're Strange. I loved it, except for the only footage that was not the actual Doors. There were these dramatized scenes with a fake Jim Morrison driving around in a mustang in the desert doing things like listening to reports of his death on the radio, drinking, filling up with gas at a full service gas station, drinking, swimming in a canyon stream, drinking... you get the idea. It was lame, tacked on and felt like filler. The rest of it was great, but really only if you like or are remotely interested in The Doors. They barely mentioned Pam and didn't even call Patricia by name. Other than that, the hype surrounding them was kept to a minimum apart from what was necessary to illustrate how Jim fed on the attention. It wasn't so much a focus on the drug use and drinking, again, apart from what was necessary to show how Jim's recklessness kind of tore the band apart after a while and eventually lead to his death. It was more a focus on the band as musicians and how they interacted with each other. It's really fascinating to see some of this footage that's never been seen before of rehearsals and backstage and such. Also, it was narrated by Johnny-sexy baritone-Depp. ;) Also, also, Yazoo on tap at The Belcourt, FTW! I love having a movie theater in town where we can get a decent beer.
The next day, I slept in way late then we were way lazy as we discussed what to do for breakfast... and then brunch... and finally lunch. By noon when we still hadn't eaten anything we finally got decisive and went down to Broadway Brewhouse in Midtown, because it's the only one we can't go to with Jonah and it's also the one with the awesome beer list AND it's the one with the jambalaya burrito that is smothered in etouffee *drool*. We stuffed ourselves silly, drank a beer, then walked a block over to JJ's Market for some coffee. What a weird coffee shop. Feels like a gas station, but they make a heavenly latte.
After that, we went home and watched Alice in Wonderland (the new one) to kill time until our dinner reservation at Miel at 8pm. I liked it! It was a neat take on the world of Wonderland, though I would have liked to have seen more journeying through the world, I guess. I loved the costumes, but there were no surprises there, as I've been looking at the costumes since last fall. Poor Chritsopher Lee only had like 2 lines in the whole movie. I will say, P.J. and Del Toro could take a note or two on an awesome dragon as they go to create Smaug. I deemed it suitable enough for Jonah to see and he watched it yesterday afternoon. He said, "Oh no, they killed that dragon. Awwww, poor dragon." Heh.
We cut it a little too close on getting ready after the movie and we had to dash around to find a print center where we could print a copy of our Groupon for Miel. We made it to the restaurant about 10 or 15 minutes late. This place seems instantly pretentious. I lost count of how many times our flatware configuration was adjusted by the waiter through the course of our meal. The food was mostly fantastic though and their use of microgreens was very unique and creative. It took me a while to realize the sprouts on my perfectly cooked, medium rare lamb loin were cilantro and dill sprouts. Genius and delicious! However, I was disappointed by the heavy handed sauce put on the dish. It just tasted like Chinese five spice and perhaps Hoisin not much else. It overpowered a lot of the other flavors I was looking for (such as the Garam Masala crust on the lamb). Also, the eggplant was bitter. I think thinner slices of it, salted and seared would have been a better way to get a good texture from the eggplant. We tried escargot for the first time and it was delicious! About like mussels in texture and somewhat in flavor as well. They were served almost like a scampi, sauteed in butter/olive oil garlic and some herbs (probably parsley). Chris had a fantastic soft shelled crab sauteed in a browned butter sauce and served over spring vegetables. They really focus on the details there and you can tell a great deal of consideration and creativity goes into each dish. We regrettably finished off with a large pot of French pressed coffee (from local roaster, Drew's Brews) and a refreshing panna cotta with strawberries and mint sprouts. I say regrettably because we were so full and the large pot of coffee was larger than we expected. The panna cotta had excellent texture and a gentle touch of cinnamon and perhaps some nutmeg to spice it up a bit. It was very subtle and a very nice end to the meal. They also serve whatever the food equivalent to an aperitif and digestif would be. Before the meal, they brought out a single ball of honey dew melon (which was not very ripe), coated in honey and sprinkled with what looked like tiny radish spouts. At the end of the meal, after dessert and all, they brought out a tiny spoon dipped in honey from East Tennessee with a little speck of bee pollen on it. Very nice presentation and wonderful food, but I felt like I couldn't breathe in the place without feeling like I was committing some dining faux pas. It's supposed to be a French and Southern fusion, so that explains the stuffiness. It was very minimalist in decor, which was kind of neat. But pretension emanated from the waitstaff.
After that, we went home and watched Pineapple Express, of which I had only previously seen the end scene in the diner. Speaking of the end scene in the diner, I think the movie would have been 100 times better without it. It was a goofy comedy of errors all through and then they just had to cap it off with "I love you man" stoner ramblings (which, in my experience was more akin to annoying people on extacy rather than stoners). Left a bad taste in my mouth, but it was a pretty funny movie overall and I love Seth Rogan.
Sunday, I slept in again and we got ready to meet Chris' parents and brother at Ted's Montana grill at 11am for lunch. Let me tell you, next time I want a greasy burger, I'll just book it to Fat Mo's instead. At least we didn't pay for it, but the food was terrible! My bison burger was perfectly cooked, but tasted like nothing, essentially. Not even salt and pepper? Also, I thought bison was supposed to be super lean. This was so greasy and the bun so inadequate at holding that grease, it was a complete mess to eat. Also, the Caesar salad I got instead of fries was horrible! They used all the parts of the lettuce you're NOT supposed to use. I know, hearts of Romaine are the traditional green for a Caesar salad, but NOT the ROOTS of the plant! Why am I not surprised that Ted Turner has low expectations for his establishments? Won't be going back there, if I can help it (this is my third visit there).
We had a great weekend, but now the kiddo has returned and life falls back into routine.
We went home and changed then headed back out to Suzy Wong's. Their beer selection is crap (four beers, all rice beers from Asia, except Rogue's Morimoto Soba ale, which I've never been very impressed with). But their cocktails are FAN-freakin-TASTIC! Between the two of us, we tried four of their specialty cocktails: Chai-tini (with chai liquer *drool*), blackberry mojito, lychee cocktail (which was so light and sweet and yummy) and a ginger orange-aid, which was the most disappointing of all of them and the only one remotely hot (alcohol wise). We opted for a couple of tapas type things and then split an entree of mussels in green curry and coconut milk (and lots of roasted garlic). Of the tapas we got, the Asian nachos were fantastic! They were wonton wrappers topped in perfectly cooked bbq pork, edamame, lettuce, Sri Racha sauce and some sort of aioli. The crab and bacon wontons we got were disappointing, though. They were a bit soggy (poorly fried) and absent of bacon or at least any flavor from it and just really plain. Just lump crab and green onions. The atmosphere was fun and funky, if not a little too dark. I saw one table with a flashlight trying to look at the menu. I wouldn't want to hang out there for a long time, like we've done before at one of their sister restaurants, Cha Chah (we ate a 3 hour meal there once). At 9pm sharp, they crank up the music at least double the volume. Trivia note, for what it's worth: the owner of Cha Chah, PM and Suzy Wong's House of Yum has been invited to appear on Top Chef.
After that, we headed over to catch the 9:30 showing of When You're Strange. I loved it, except for the only footage that was not the actual Doors. There were these dramatized scenes with a fake Jim Morrison driving around in a mustang in the desert doing things like listening to reports of his death on the radio, drinking, filling up with gas at a full service gas station, drinking, swimming in a canyon stream, drinking... you get the idea. It was lame, tacked on and felt like filler. The rest of it was great, but really only if you like or are remotely interested in The Doors. They barely mentioned Pam and didn't even call Patricia by name. Other than that, the hype surrounding them was kept to a minimum apart from what was necessary to illustrate how Jim fed on the attention. It wasn't so much a focus on the drug use and drinking, again, apart from what was necessary to show how Jim's recklessness kind of tore the band apart after a while and eventually lead to his death. It was more a focus on the band as musicians and how they interacted with each other. It's really fascinating to see some of this footage that's never been seen before of rehearsals and backstage and such. Also, it was narrated by Johnny-sexy baritone-Depp. ;) Also, also, Yazoo on tap at The Belcourt, FTW! I love having a movie theater in town where we can get a decent beer.
The next day, I slept in way late then we were way lazy as we discussed what to do for breakfast... and then brunch... and finally lunch. By noon when we still hadn't eaten anything we finally got decisive and went down to Broadway Brewhouse in Midtown, because it's the only one we can't go to with Jonah and it's also the one with the awesome beer list AND it's the one with the jambalaya burrito that is smothered in etouffee *drool*. We stuffed ourselves silly, drank a beer, then walked a block over to JJ's Market for some coffee. What a weird coffee shop. Feels like a gas station, but they make a heavenly latte.
After that, we went home and watched Alice in Wonderland (the new one) to kill time until our dinner reservation at Miel at 8pm. I liked it! It was a neat take on the world of Wonderland, though I would have liked to have seen more journeying through the world, I guess. I loved the costumes, but there were no surprises there, as I've been looking at the costumes since last fall. Poor Chritsopher Lee only had like 2 lines in the whole movie. I will say, P.J. and Del Toro could take a note or two on an awesome dragon as they go to create Smaug. I deemed it suitable enough for Jonah to see and he watched it yesterday afternoon. He said, "Oh no, they killed that dragon. Awwww, poor dragon." Heh.
We cut it a little too close on getting ready after the movie and we had to dash around to find a print center where we could print a copy of our Groupon for Miel. We made it to the restaurant about 10 or 15 minutes late. This place seems instantly pretentious. I lost count of how many times our flatware configuration was adjusted by the waiter through the course of our meal. The food was mostly fantastic though and their use of microgreens was very unique and creative. It took me a while to realize the sprouts on my perfectly cooked, medium rare lamb loin were cilantro and dill sprouts. Genius and delicious! However, I was disappointed by the heavy handed sauce put on the dish. It just tasted like Chinese five spice and perhaps Hoisin not much else. It overpowered a lot of the other flavors I was looking for (such as the Garam Masala crust on the lamb). Also, the eggplant was bitter. I think thinner slices of it, salted and seared would have been a better way to get a good texture from the eggplant. We tried escargot for the first time and it was delicious! About like mussels in texture and somewhat in flavor as well. They were served almost like a scampi, sauteed in butter/olive oil garlic and some herbs (probably parsley). Chris had a fantastic soft shelled crab sauteed in a browned butter sauce and served over spring vegetables. They really focus on the details there and you can tell a great deal of consideration and creativity goes into each dish. We regrettably finished off with a large pot of French pressed coffee (from local roaster, Drew's Brews) and a refreshing panna cotta with strawberries and mint sprouts. I say regrettably because we were so full and the large pot of coffee was larger than we expected. The panna cotta had excellent texture and a gentle touch of cinnamon and perhaps some nutmeg to spice it up a bit. It was very subtle and a very nice end to the meal. They also serve whatever the food equivalent to an aperitif and digestif would be. Before the meal, they brought out a single ball of honey dew melon (which was not very ripe), coated in honey and sprinkled with what looked like tiny radish spouts. At the end of the meal, after dessert and all, they brought out a tiny spoon dipped in honey from East Tennessee with a little speck of bee pollen on it. Very nice presentation and wonderful food, but I felt like I couldn't breathe in the place without feeling like I was committing some dining faux pas. It's supposed to be a French and Southern fusion, so that explains the stuffiness. It was very minimalist in decor, which was kind of neat. But pretension emanated from the waitstaff.
After that, we went home and watched Pineapple Express, of which I had only previously seen the end scene in the diner. Speaking of the end scene in the diner, I think the movie would have been 100 times better without it. It was a goofy comedy of errors all through and then they just had to cap it off with "I love you man" stoner ramblings (which, in my experience was more akin to annoying people on extacy rather than stoners). Left a bad taste in my mouth, but it was a pretty funny movie overall and I love Seth Rogan.
Sunday, I slept in again and we got ready to meet Chris' parents and brother at Ted's Montana grill at 11am for lunch. Let me tell you, next time I want a greasy burger, I'll just book it to Fat Mo's instead. At least we didn't pay for it, but the food was terrible! My bison burger was perfectly cooked, but tasted like nothing, essentially. Not even salt and pepper? Also, I thought bison was supposed to be super lean. This was so greasy and the bun so inadequate at holding that grease, it was a complete mess to eat. Also, the Caesar salad I got instead of fries was horrible! They used all the parts of the lettuce you're NOT supposed to use. I know, hearts of Romaine are the traditional green for a Caesar salad, but NOT the ROOTS of the plant! Why am I not surprised that Ted Turner has low expectations for his establishments? Won't be going back there, if I can help it (this is my third visit there).
We had a great weekend, but now the kiddo has returned and life falls back into routine.