r.e.m. in dallas

I’m a big, big R.E.M. fan, and this year, I got to see them twice on the same tour. I arrived in Dallas on Friday, October 24, 2008 for a twenty-four hour stay in the pinnacle of rock around the clocktober. My flight was slightly because of bad weather in ATL, but it didn’t faze my enthusiasm once I was on the ground.

Sharon picked Mariano’s Mexican Restaurant, whose proximity to the Nokia Theater was perfect. A quick dinner with family and friends and we were off to the venue.

Inside, the venue was cozy. There really wasn’t a bad seat in the place, and we were in the first row of the second section, literally against the wall and behind a railing. I was worried about the seats when I purchased the tickets, but these were really great seats, even if they were off to one side.

Old 97’s opened for R.E.M. There was some Old 97’s fans in the audience; they were hopping around and singing. Every song sort of sounded the same to me, but I wasn’t listening too closely.

R.E.M. took the stage around 9:30. They opened with Living Well Is the Best Revenge. From memory, they played a number of songs from the recent album, such as Man-Sized Wreath, Supernatural Serious, Hollow Man, Sing for the Submarine, and Horse to Water. They also played (not in this order): Seven Chinese Brothers, Electron Blue, Ignoreland, Exhuming McCarthy, Disturbance at the Heron House, It’s the End of the World as We Know It, The One I Love, What’s the Frequency Kenneth, Walk Unafraid, Imitation of Life, Losing My Religion, and of course, they closed as they always do with with Man On the Moon. They also played two songs right in the middle which sounded new, but I didn’t recognize at all.

If I didn’t know better, they seemed a bit tired. I know they’ve been on the road all year and have just two or three more concerts, then they’re done. It seemed to me they were just going through the motions. There were fewer addresses to the audience than the Atlanta concert in June and Michael had fewer happy recollections. Instead, Michael seemed to go out of his way to stir the pot by remarking more than once how they knew they were in George Bush’s backyard and made sure to pad the playlist with protest songs. He also went on to explain how he lived in Texas as a child and didn’t like it. As a result, they were heckled a bit – something I can’t even fathom happening in Atlanta. The concert ended just before 11:30. The Atlanta show had higher energy and they played longer, but I’m still very, very happy to have had the opportunity to see them again. They’re without question my favorite band and I can’t wait to get to see them again.

filed under: dallas, r.e.m., remdallas

restaurant review: stoney river (roswell)

October is Anniversary month. My wife and I were married in October, as were my parents. This year, they came to visit as they celebrated their 40th. We went to Stoney River in Roswell for dinner and it was a fantastic evening.
I called ahead to hold a table just for after 7 PM. Even though it was a Monday, we didn’t want to risk a long wait. Funnily enough, my Dad called ahead as well, but after me. When he explained he was celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary and would like to hold a table, he had quite a laugh when they addressed him by name. The apple didn’t fall far, Dad.
We were greeted and seated promptly. There was a large party of co-workers seated nearby finishing their dinner. They were a bit loud and some were jawboning into mobile phones. It was tough to hear our server when she initially greeted us, but as soon as they left, the ambiance was much nicer.
Diving right into it, may parents split a Spinach Salad ($7.99) and my wife and I split a Head of Lettuce salad($6.99). Yes, it really is about 85% of an entire head of lettuce. My parents enjoyed theirs and ours was excellent, too. The lettuce was amazingly crisp (which illustrates a simple-to-do but often overlooked quality of iceberg lettuce). The tomatoes were fresh, the bacon crisp, and they remembered the extra blue cheese dressing I’d requested.
Next, we all had Filet Mignons. My Dad went for the 10oz Lodge Filet with burgundy mushrooms ($30.99) and the rest of us all ordered the 10oz Lodge Filet Oscar ($46.98). Stoney River doesn’t use any breading in their crab cake, so what arrived basically amounted to a filet with lump crab meat on and next to the steak. Both were the steak and crab meat were nicely seasoned and complemented each other (the crab cake even had bit of a southern drawl when it told the filet how nice it was). My wife and I both had baked potatoes; my Mom had the caramelized onion mashed potatoes.
The dinner was served at a well designed pace. We were able to eat and converse without rushing either.
The really nice surprise, however, came when instead of our server arriving to offer coffee and dessert – she just brought it! As anniversary gifts, we received the Almond-laced Top Hat (vanilla ice cream, raspberries, and triple sec sauce topped with a crispy almond sheet) and the Chocolate Fudge Cake (with vanilla ice cream and nuts). We ordered coffee and four wheel barrow assists so we could make it back to the car.
It was a spectacular evening and Stoney River really came through to help us celebrate. The service was very attentive, and we really enjoyed the experience. Stoney River has now firmly cemented itself as our #1 spot for special occasion dining on Atlanta’s north side. The food was just a bit more expensive than I’d like to see given the area and competition, and when busy, the acoustics were a bit rough, but the food and service were absolutely top notch.

Out of a possible five stars in each category, Stoney River scored:

Atmosphere:	Food:
Service:	Value:

My opinion: Book it!

filed under: restaurant review, roswell, stoney river, urbanspoon

so, so glad they never made “who’s rattlin’ my cheney”

Weeks ago, I promised myself I would remain completely out of the public debates related to the upcoming 2008 Presidential election. However, I found something too impossible to not comment. It seems Tina Fey and Saturday Night Live aren’t the only ones in the entertainment industry parodying the woman who may become the next US Vice President. Hats off to Larry Flynt for producing “Who’s Nailin’ Palin.” The First Amendment never fails to surprise! I really have to wonder if the book in the picture was on the list of items "questioned for banning” in Alaska?

filed under: politics, parody

restaurant review: maze grill (london)

I am so very fortunate to be able to visit not one, but two Gordon Ramsay restaurants on my London trip. The Maze Grill is a smoothly run, very impressive operation. Without question, this was the best meal I’ve had on my trip this week.

While most of my team flew home last night or today, my friend (and my boss, too) David and I stuck around London for a vacation day. We made it to Maze Grill five minutes before our reservation. We were promptly seated, and after sitting for a few minutes, we were greeted by our server who took our drink order (the easiest of the entire week, one coke, one tap water with ice). Strangely, the menus weren’t given to us when we were seated or during the drink order, but instead afterwards, and by someone who it appeared was his specialty to bring the menu and step us through it. I only saw him repeating this process in the restaurant at other tables. Our drinks finally arrived, our orders were taken, and things were pretty snappy until just before the end.

As a starter, we split a sushi grade tuna tartar with avocado, caviar, and ponzu dressing for £14.50. Molded into a small biscuit shape, the tuna was bright red, the avocado bright green, both were very fresh, and the ten pixels or so of caviar and sprig of green added a nice color contrast to the top.

There were five steak categories, each with multiple cuts of beef available. From the least expensive, there was grain fed aged 21 days, grass fed aged 25 or 28 days, corn fed aged 35 days, or Wagyu beef. I selected a 10 ounce grass fed Aberdeen Angus ribeye aged for 28 days. The cow’s name was Horatio; he liked hoof painting, sampling various species of Kentucky Bluegrass, and once auditioned for a Chick-Fil-A commercial. The rib eye was about a quarter of an inch thick, seasoned and cooked perfectly, and seemed larger than 10 ounces. It was £25. For sides, David and I split an order of french beans with shallots and an order of garlic fries, both at £3.50. The steaks were presented on their own wooden cutting boards, the green beans in a tiny skillet, and the fries in a stainless steel cup with a wax paper liner. The cutting boards were interesting, they had a gutter all the way around to catch the steak juices, and were slightly tapered to draw everything to the top left corner where there was a golf-ball size divot. The steak knives were delivered with the cutting boards, stuck perpendicularly into a gouge across the top of the board. The thinness of the ribeye made it look a lot like a tampiquena steak, just without any mariachi music in the distance. It was unfair to judge this book by its cover, it was GOOD.

We opted out of dessert but did ask for two Cafe Americanos. Each arrived as two espresso shots in a large coffee cup, and water was added tableside to dilute the espresso. We asked for cream for the coffee, and this yielded about a five minute wait. This delay was consistent with the unusual wait for menus and drinks at the very beginning, but to be fair, the latency was the only operational imperfection. Seated at six sharp with a receipt time-stamped at 7:15, this was the fastest dinner of any night since our team arrived Sunday, proving quality and speed are not opposing forces.

Because we were seated just around the corner from the kitchen, we could hear the orders going in followed by the chorus of “yes, Chef!” as they were captured. After dinner, I asked to see the kitchen and was happily escorted to meet those who engineered the meal. The team was all smiles, shook my hand, and seemed genuinely enthused to let me take a peek.

All told, it was perfect except for the handful of nagging short delays in the very beginning and ending.

Out of a possible five stars in each category, Maze Grill scored:

Atmosphere:	Food:
Service:	Value:

My opinion: Book it!

filed under: restaurant review,london,gordon ramsay,maze grill, urbanspoon

restaurant review: york & albany (london)

I’m in London this week for a team meeting and as a reward for a lot of hard work throughout the week, I’ve helped arrange a team dinner in Central London at York & Albany, one of Gordon Ramsay’s newest restaurants. Chef Patron Angela Hartnett leads the new kitchen and she was warm and friendly when I popped my head into the kitchen to thank her for a wonderful meal.

I arrived about 15 minutes late; the trek from the office was grueling. But the other half of my party was there and seated, so I was in my chair within two minutes of entering the restaurant. The place was immaculate, the decor pleasant (though our corner was a bit dark), and the bathrooms well-lit and sparkling. I expected this for a restaurant open slightly over a week. Oddly, there was no signage for the restaurant anywhere outside.

Perhaps the only quirky aspect about York & Albany is their team approach to service. After sitting a while without being greeted by a server, we flagged down the hostess and asked if she could coax the server to our table. She promptly replied “I’ll take the order” and walked away for just 30 seconds to grab an order pad. At the time, I was really impressed by what I thought was a great recovery and empowerment. Throughout the meal, different members of the staff came by to deliver food, and someone completely new arrived at the end to take the dessert order. We wondered if he’d been our server all along, so I asked when the restaurant manager came by with the check. I learned at that moment we never had a designated server. The team approach works by the closest person taking care of the table. It sounds like a great idea, but in practicality, we had but one round of drink refills mid-dinner, because again, we had to flag someone down to request it. I think this negatively affected the atmosphere a bit, too, because we didn’t really have a personal relationship with someone on the staff during the meal.

For dinner, I started with the autumn vegetable soup. The presentation was an empty white (and hot) bowl. The soup arrived in an individual pot and was poured in front of me into the bowl. The clear broth was well balanced and there was small cubes of new potatoes, carrots, and kale. The vegetables were almost al dente, for lack of a better description. They were not mushy. They were not crispy. It was really, really nicely done.

Between the courses, foie gras was delivered to the table with long narrow croutons. It was warm, presented in a mason jar which popped when opened. I’d never had foie gras so I gave it a try. It was ok, but the little toasties were too few to and too skinny to really get a feel for the stuff.

My main course was a dinner for two shared with a co-worker. I was having trouble deciding what to order and he wanted the chicken for two if someone would share it. I figured, “that’s teamwork,” right? The roasted corn-fed chicken and seasonal root vegetables arrived like the soup: an empty hot, white plate, followed by a skillet with a quartered chicken. The skin was crispy; the chicken inside moist and flavorful. The neat part was I was free to scoop as much of the thick reduction from the bottom of the skillet as I could to drizzle onto the chicken. The veggies were the same as in the soup. The other dinners arrived plated, and everyone seemed to agree they were happy with their choices.

For dessert, I ordered chocolate parfait with hazelnut ice cream and roasted william pear. I also asked for a coffee, but they forgot the coffee. The chocolate parfait was very mousse-like (maybe I’m showing my naïveity and lack of formal food training because these may be the same thing). It was very, very good. The ice cream teardrop atop the parfait fit right into my spoon; I only wish they’d brought more.

We thought we were finished, but the dinner actually concluded with a single circus-style popcorn bag filled with homemade caramel popcorn. It was tasty, but a bit too sticky and crunchy for me.

The prices were extremely reasonable considering a Michelin rated chef was in the kitchen. I wrote down my selections, but not the prices. So from memory, my starter was £6.50, my main about £16.50, and my dessert in the £6-7 range.

Overall, the food was fantastic, the staff very friendly, but the service a slow and bit choppy. I politely relayed my opinion to the restaurant manager when our meal concluded. I just think they’re going through some start-up bumps. And of course I asked, but Gordon himself was not there. He had been there each day since opening (even before), but things were up and running and they mentioned he may be off to NY. He does have a few things going on between the other restaurants and TV shows.

Out of a possible five stars in each category, York and Albany scored:

Atmosphere:	Food:
Service:	Value:

My opinion: Book it!

filed under: restaurant review, london, gordon ramsay, urbanspoon, york & albany