What? What did you say? I’m sorry, what? We nod, we smile. We cup our hands behind our ears. We attempt lip-reading. There is a number of times (right between four and five, I believe) that Americans can bear to ask and re-ask “What did you say?” After that, all bets are off. We nod and smile again, but this time, we are sort of pretending we understood what you said. Continue reading It’s getting loud in here
Comfy Cow growing into a herd
“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.” Once a popular ditty of the “Roaring Twenties,” this folk wisdom has grown into a simple truth.
Who doesn’t like ice cream? As Mary’s father used to say, even after an ample meal, “There is always room for ice cream.” And with Spring belatedly breaking after one of the most relentless Winters in recent memory, the signs of the season include, in addition to green buds, bright flowers and insane allergy-pollen levels, long lines of hungry supplicants forming around just about every ice-cream shop in town. Even the perennial ice cream trucks have brought their clangy rendition of “Camptown Races” back to the streets of our fair city. Continue reading Comfy Cow growing into a herd
Hay!! Chi Wa Waa! Where in the heck is Chapinlandia?
Hay!! Chi Wa Waa!? Chapinlandia? What the heck is going on here? Did someone just yell, “Alex, I’ll take ‘Restaurants with Unusual Names’ for $500”? Nah.
Continue reading Hay!! Chi Wa Waa! Where in the heck is Chapinlandia?
Irish Rover takes us to the Emerald Isle
I’ll never forget my first and only visit to Ireland. We spent a week or two driving around the country, learning wrong-side driving and stopping at every pub we could find to enjoy a pint of Guinness. Damn, it was hard to find traditional Irish music, though. Pub after pub after pub, the food and the mood were Irish, but the music was international rock. When I finally found a crew with a harp singing “Danny Boy” in a tiny pub in Killarney, it was jammed with American tourists, of course. Continue reading Irish Rover takes us to the Emerald Isle
We Meet The Buddha on The Road at Saigon Café
Does the Buddha daydream?
As the ancient story is told, more than 2,500 years ago when Siddharta Gautama experienced his awakening, his six years of meditation and study provided him with sudden vast insight into the meaning of life. Thus he became the Buddha, “The Awakened One,” and one of the world’s great religious traditions was born.
So meditate me this: Does an Awakened One sleep? Probably not. What would be the point? But surely the Buddha daydreams, for what is daydreaming, after all, but random meditation?
Buddha’s Daydream! It’s a Zen koan, and it’s a dish at Saigon Cafe in St. Matthews. Continue reading We Meet The Buddha on The Road at Saigon Café
No “I” in the winning t-e-a-m at The Place Downstairs
Just weeks after smacking a home run with El Taco Luchador, their tiny taqueria-style eatery in the midst of the Baxter Avenue fun zone, the team of Fernando and Christina Martinez and Fernando’s cousin Yaniel Martinez have slammed another rocketing blast high over the left field bleachers with The Place Downstairs. The place, specifically, is downstairs (via a quick elevator ride) within Mussel & Burger Bar, another of the Martinez’s growing list of restaurant success stories. Continue reading No “I” in the winning t-e-a-m at The Place Downstairs
Kitchen communication
In a full-service restaurant, the front (service team) and back (cooking, prep, warewashing and janitorial team) of the house have to work together in concert. As two teams, we rise and fall together like a chamber orchestra, like a synchronized flight demo team. If everything’s going well, we look like heroes. But if even one team member gets off script in any way, it’s chaos we have to look forward to.
Continue reading Kitchen communication
Dashboard Dining With Latin flavor At Gara Empanadas
Wow! I’ve got to tell you about the cozy little place where we ate on a trip out to Oldham County the other day.
It was a small space, intimate but surprisingly comfortable as we sat surrounded by walls of glass that let in plenty of sunlight and the suburban view. The colors were muted, almost spartan, wsoft upholstery and crisp edges in shades of gray. The seating was most comfortable of all, form-fitting and even adjustable; and we could take our pick among scores of entertainment channels. Really, about the only downside I could see was the the big steering wheel in my lap that made it kind of hard to get at my food.
Yep, we were dashboard dining! Continue reading Dashboard Dining With Latin flavor At Gara Empanadas
Andalous takes us on a tasty trip to Morocco
Quick! Where’s Morocco? Can you point to it on a map? Tell us something about its history! What do you know about its culture and cuisine?
Stumped? Sorry! But if you’re not comfortable with these questions, don’t feel too bad. You’re hardly alone in the geographical illiteracy that researchers say afflicts a majority of Americans, particularly the younger set. Continue reading Andalous takes us on a tasty trip to Morocco
Times change, Martini Italian Bistro carries on
“Oh, times, oh customs.” as the ancient Roman philosopher-politician Marcus Tullius Cicero said. (Well, okay, actually, Cicero said “O tempora O mores” in the original Latin, but that’s another story for another day.) Cicero’s ringing phrase tells us, simply, that as time passes, things change. Continue reading Times change, Martini Italian Bistro carries on