Dani and I went to see Owl City at The House of Blues. The first warm-up band, Unwed Sailor, consisted of a talented drummer and three people who stared at the floor. In the absence of any melody or words (no singer) all of their songs sounded like the first five seconds, repeated for five minutes.
The second act was Mat Kearney, who was quite good.
But the audience was clearly there to see Owl City. This was a very different audience than I’d ever encountered at House of Blues, which normally attracts—how can I put this—drunk Gen Xers. Owl City attracts ages 8 to 60, but the average was probably 14. We also noticed the audience was essentially 100% Caucasion. The place was packed, upstairs and down.
I was afraid Owl City would turn out to be one guy (Adam Young) with a Macbook, but there were actually six talented musicians, and an assortment of instruments: two drum sets, many keyboards, cello, violin, bass, vibraphone, xylophone, and many guitars. Since there is almost no guitar in their music as first I thought the guitars were just props, but they did play a couple of songs where Adam demonstrated excellent guitar proficiency.
It was surprising that the music sounded completely different when played live. They used almost no auto-tune on the voices, and there was much more acoustic stuff. Definitely more complex than the typical tween band. They played two hours, which was great, but it meant we were standing for four hours. House of Blues is still the worst venue in town, but this was an excellent concert.
Ron organized a last dinner before my trip to Evanston, and we met at The Bull and Bear at the Waldorf Astoria. Dani flew in Friday, so she was able to join us. The five of us spent a lovely five hours in the private room, with great service by Arnaud. Even though Chef was out of town, Arnaud found plenty of interesting selections to keep the courses coming.
The Wines
We need to stop pouring the Burgundies first! These were mostly great wines, but the memory of the 49 Burgs blew everything else away. Those two continued to evolve for hours. I selected six wines from our cellar, and Ron matched them:
Mumm de Cramant Champagne (Ron)
Citrus, cream, 93
2005 Henri Boillot Corton Charlemagne (Ron)
Ash, vanilla, floral, lemon, hibiscus flower petal flavor, expect butter but ends with citrus peel, 96
Most restaurants open to indifference and close within a year. But every once in a while someplace hits upon exactly what the public wants and is an instant success. Cocina 214 is not a place I would have predicted would fall into the latter category, which is why I’m not in the restaurant business.
Located on an obscure side street off of Park Avenue in Winter Park, it’s even hard to find the door. But last month, when we heard about the place opening online and checked out their interesting modern Tex Mex menu, we decided to try it before they went out of business. No worries there. When we arrived today for lunch the valet was having trouble finding places to park cars, and there were at least a hundred people packing the restaurant’s dining rooms. Clearly there is an unsatisfied demand for gourmet Mexican food in this town.
Everything we had was good, especially Linda’s ceviche, and her chicken quesadilla, which was the best quesadilla I ever tasted — except for the ones Linda makes herself (and this one probably had about 5000 fewer calories). I also liked my fish tacos, and the verde y verde salsa we ordered was a great blend of lime, cilantro and jalapeno.
Prices were reasonable. Our waiter should return to whatever his former profession was, but I noticed that everyone working the dining rooms, kitchen and front desk seemed to be really happy to be there. The place is pretty noisy when it’s full, so I recommend dining outside on the patio.
In case you’re wondering, Cocina is Spanish for kitchen and 214 is the area code for Dallas, which is not where this restaurant is. But it’s definitely worth checking out Cocina 214 in Winter Park.
One of the under-appreciated restaurants in town is actually the closest to us (well, not counting sneaking in the back entrance to Victoria & Alberts). It’s Nine 18 at the Grand Cypress Golf Resort. The restaurant used to be The Black Swan, but about ten years ago they changed the name and reduced the prices, while keeping the menu pretty much the same. I’m not sure how that worked out for them, because the place is still usually empty, but they need to stay open to cater to their resort guests. Anyway, you can reliably get an almost great meal there for a reasonable price, and the service is terrific.
Somehow Imperium, a wine bistro in Celebration, had escaped my attention, although it’s been in business for three years. It’s a bit like The Cellar at the Stained Glass in Evanston, which we love. Maybe not a dinner destination, but certainly a nice place for wine and tapas style foods and flatbreads.
Every couple of months there is a “Vine and Dine” event at the Everglades Restaurant at the Rosen Omni Center near the Convention Center. The events are usually quite fun, because the chef rises to the challenge of matching foods to wines, and you meet some interesting people at the communal tables. The event seems to attract a mixture of locals who are neither wine snobs nor newbies, plus random tourists.
Unfortunately, last night’s event wasn’t that great. The wines were a gimmick from the Mendocino Wine Company which owns Parducci. Made by Parducci’s assistant winemaker, they are basically supermarket plonk with a rock album label attached. The Chardonnay, in particular, suffered from severe smoke taint, and really shouldn’t have been bottled at all. The food was good but not really things we’d prefer to eat. And the people sitting around us happened to be newbies on dates, so it wasn’t nearly as interesting an evening as usual.
This fund raiser for the Orlando Science Museum was everything we hoped the event two weeks ago at Dellagio would be, but wasn’t. There were over 100 wines arranged around the fourth floor of the museum. Each table had 4 to 8 wines, and the event, while well-attended, was arranged in such a way that it was easy to get any wine. The wines were better quality than at most such events. A few favorites:
Roederer Estate Brut
Biltmore Reserve Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Coppola Director’s Cut Cabernet Sauvignon
Beringer Knight’s Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Quite a few restaurants participated, and the food was top notch. Highlights were:
Bang bang shrimp from Bonefish
Smoked Salmon from Stonewood Grill
Sushi from The Fresh Market
BBQ pork slider from BB King’s
The event included two seminars presented by Luis Torres from Constellation Wines. We attended the second, which challenged us to taste the difference between mountain and valley grown wines from Sonoma and Napa. This was the best wine seminar I have attended. Torres is an exciting speaker, with great presentation skills and technology, and even though his audience had been drink for two hours, they were quiet and attentive. This event was the exact opposite of the boring and chaotic seminar two weeks ago. Torres divided us into groups to evaluate eight characteristics of each wine, and then showed how those characteristics were the result of the growing region, as demonstrated by satellite imagery.
I heard about this place that makes insane hamburgers, so Tommy and I had to try it. They are… insane. Tommy got their very craziest offering, which included beef, chicken, sausage, ham, bacon, corn, lettuce, cheese, potato straws and a fried egg! No tomato though. I opted out of the sausage and chicken. Even Tommy couldn’t finish this burger, as his leftovers attest.
Not necessarily a great burger, but certainly a bit of insanity.
Yellow Dog Eats is a wonderfully funky hangout that the locals fill every day at lunch for the best sandwiches you can get in Central Florida—and perhaps anywhere.
The menu is filled with the eclectic creations of owner Fish Morgan.
The pulled pork is a favorite, but nothing here is that simple. Add applewood smoked bacon, a hint of raspberry sauce, some of the house-made and bottled mustard BBQ sauce… superb.
But my personal favorite is the Kitty Cat Nap Salad, Organic greens, raspberry vinaigrette, and the most amazing heap of exotic tuna—filled with craisins, nuts, and Chinese five spice.
Owner Fish Morgan circulates and makes everyone feel at home. Well, at home with a wacky brother, anyway!
Parking is behind the place through a narrow drive on the left, or across the street. Eat out back, in the charming patio.
Yellow Dog is hard to find, but packed every day. That says it all.
Tonight Linda and I finished a six month project of watching all of LOST on DVD. For me, it was the first time to see seasons 1 and 2, for Linda it was her first time seeing seasons 5 and 6.
The first time I watched the final season I knew a lot of things were fitting together, but it was much more fun this time, because I knew who all of the characters from the early years were. It was also fun to spot the forward references. There were many, as the writers clearly had most things planned out from the start. I really like all of the seasons, but especially 3-6.
It really is amazing how the whole show fits together. Since Linda hadn’t seen the last year, it was quite a struggle to keep from letting anything slip. But Dani and I managed it, and she was quite surprised.
SPOILER ALERT
Some of my favorite moments:
Episode 1, John Lock explaining the rles of backgammon to Walt: “Two players, two sides; one is light, one is dark.” That’s what the show is about.
Sayid in various episodes sometimes saying he is a good man, other times saying he is a bad mad. That’s also what the show is about.
Lock losing his faith, Jack finding his. That’s also what the show is about.
Christopher, who had a big part considering he spend all six seasons dead.
Juliet’s dying words about getting coffee and going Dutch, lines she repeats in the final episode.
Repeated lines, sometimes by different characters: “See you in another life, brother,” “It worked,” “I wish you had believed me.”
Every actor; they were all perfectly cast.
The revelation that the flash sideways of season six were the afterlife caught Linda by surprise in the final episode. She liked the concept, just as we did. The writers had really boxed themselves into a corner, because so many favorite characters had to die to serve the plot, so showing how they would resolve their lives on their own provided fans with some gratifying wish fulfillment without being contrived or sappy. It also allowed the final episode to exert a tremendous emotional pull, as characters remembered their loved ones through a series of split second flashbacks that amounted to a greatest hits retrospective of the whole show. Then, ending the show exactly the way it started—the plane, the bamboo field, the tennis shoe, Vincent the dog, and Jack’s eye—was a stroke of genius.
I’m sure it will be a long time before I see anything of this caliber again.
Ron organized this 1982 Bordeaux tasting at Bull & Bear. Words cannot express how much better a tasting this was than the 1986 Bordeaux event in New York last week. That said, I still don’t see what all the fuss is about 1982 Bordeaux. There are many better years.
There was almost unanimous agreement on the best wine of each flight; this almost never happens. The highlight for me was to have the different flights organized by region, and really be able to see the consistency between them.
It was also great to have such exceptional palates at the table. Attendees were: Ron, Bev, Steve, Linda, Keith, Parlo, Russell, Andres, Paula, Rafaelle and Audrey.
My wine of the night was the Pichon Lalande. Other standouts were the Gloria, which was way out of its class, the Yquem, and the Armagnac.
The food was, as usual, far beyond that of a normal steakhouse, and everyone chipped in with some exceptional wines. Great service by Arnaud.
35 wines, 11 people: sounds about right.
The wines and food:
Warmup Wines
96 Perrier Jouet – Rafaelle
Pleasant, high acid, 92
NV Brut Jaques Selosse Initiale – Ron
This was my WOTN from the Dominus tasting, and it came close again tonight.
Yeast, peel, perfect balance, 98
2003 Bruno Giacosa Extra Brut – Andres
Fresh, vanilla, 100% chard, 90
Flight 1
82 Certan de May (Pomerol) – Keith
Medium garnet, Smoked meat, ash, lime, red berries, oily, 94
82 L’ Evangile (Pomerol) – Keith
Chalk, restrained fruit, nuts, potpourri, smoked meat, took a few moments to open up, iron and glycerine finish, 96
82 Latour a Pomerol – Andres from Ron’s cellar
Youthful, floral, smoke, tomato leaves, not Pomerol- like, 92
Flight 2
82 Leoville Barton (St Julien) – Keith
Green vegetables, soil, mint, forest floor, rich, 90
82 Gloria (St Julien) – Steve
Lightest color, Smoke, fruity, low acid, high fruit, bacon, mocha, mint, Burgundian, coffee, elegant, really interesting wine that was easily the best bang for the buck, since it is an unrated growth, 95
82 Leoville Las Cases ( St Julien ) – Russell
Dark, Chocolate pudding, flan, chewy, very young, structured, fruitcake, pine, sawdust, wax, 97
Flight 3
82 Montrose (St Estephe ) – Russell
Plastic, slightly musty, vegetables, rust, metallic, I’m not a Montrose fan, but this seemed off even for Montrose, 90
82 Cos d’Estournel (St Estephe ) – Ron
Vanilla, meat, spice box, bacon, smoke, 96
82 Calon Segur – Andres from Ron’s cellar
Light, earthy, iron, blood, like. Rhone, soy sauce, cedar, 92
Flight 4
82 La Legune (Haut Medoc) – Rafaelle
Bubble gum, toothpaste mint, a bit short, this flight was quite different from Flight 3, into which this wine was originally mistakenly poured, a good lesson, 92
82 Pichon Baron ( Pauillac ) – Steve
Hint of the bubble gum, disappointing 91
82 Haut Brion ( Graves ) – Steve
Oxidized, Cinnamon toast, goes on forever, butter, vanilla, flawed bottle but a great wine, only Linda and I could get around the oxidation, everyone else disliked it, 95?
82 La Mission Haut Brion ( Graves ) – Ron
Tight, tar, olives, sweet soy sauce, tomato paste, meat, I expected this to be wotn, but it was disappointing, 92
Dinner & Wines
82 Laville Haut Brion blanc – Ron
Oil paint, linseed oil, pineapple, mineral finish, slightly corked, would have been a real standout without the TCA and the stiff competition, 92
2000 Ch. “Y” – Ron
Paint thinner, citrus, intense tropical flavors and apparent sweetness on the palate (elicited a long discussion about fruit vs sugar), wax, sawdust, New World style, 97
1999 Ch Beaucastel – Andres
Vanilla, restrained fruit, caramel, 89
Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle – Rafaelle
Balanced, green, vanilla, toast, great match to sorbet, 93
Marinated salmon
Red pepper sorbet – this was amazing!
Escargot with gnocchi – perhaps the best escargot course I’ve ever had
82 Giuseppe e Figlio Dardi Barolo – Steve
Oxidized, iron, vanilla, 89
82 The Magician Cantina Delatorre del Mago Aldo Barolo – Ron
Spice, youthful, figs, wood, 92
Foie Gras on brioche with orange compote – great dish
82 Feeemark Abbey Johannisberg Riesling Edelwein Gold – Steve
Medium brown, pears in syrup nose, botrytis, great acid balance, fantastic with the foie gras, this later faced the Yquem and took no prisoners, I wish I had more, 95
99 Brunello – Russell
Mushroom, Eggnog, dirt, vanilla, char, 92
Diver’s scallops with cauliflower
71 Vosnee Romanee Bouchard Pere & Fils – Ron
Fresh Pinot, pomegranate, cherries, dried out, I expected more of this since it’s a good year, vineyard and decent producer, disappointing since it was the night’s only Burg, 90
Abacus, ZD (solera) ninth bottling – Keith
Big cherries, vanilla, wood, butter, this wine is a true solera, with the new vintage added to the old each year, very interesting, 95
1993 Chateauneuf du pape, Mathieu Pierre Anselm – Andres
Vanilla, Very Burgundian, tasted blind everyone thought it was pinot noir (although I thought it was pinot meunier), 90
Steak, carrots, potato puree, mac & chesse with bacon (amazing) and sauces
82 Kenwood Artists Cabernet Sauvignon – Steve
Cedar, cherries, better than I expected by far, 92
90 Pichon Lalande (rated 78 by Parker) – Keith
Vegetal, didn’t deserve a 78 but not a good wine considering the great year, they must have picked too early, 87
Lemon peel, cooked and cream filled – a wonderful dessert, and actual lemon that was steeped in gran marnier until the peel was an edible container.
2007 Hermitage Perrin – Rafaelle
Vanilla, Bacon, lime, an interesting wine, but should have been served with the meat to really enjoy it, 94
82 Joseph Phelps Insignia – Ron
Dried cherry, served too late to really appreciate it, it needed an hour to evolve and we didn’t have an hour, 92
82 ch d’Yquem – Ron
Very balanced, botrytis, citrus, vanilla, spice, great with the dessert, 98
82 Labordole Bas Armagnac – Steve
Chestnut, vanilla, floral, this is the armagnac we had at Robouchon, but an even better year, a great finish to a great evening, 98
The 5 Browns is a classical music group of five siblings—Desirae, Deondra, Gregory, Melody and Ryan Brown—who play piano. Five pianos. All Steinways, all at the same time. They put on a great show last night at the Plaza, playing a combination of classical and more modern “classical” music, plus several film scores.
I hadn’t been to the larger of the two theaters at the Plaza before. The concert wasn’t well attended, with only about 150 people there. I blame that on poor marketing, because the Browns certainly put on a great show. The day before the show, Martin sent me a special offer to see them at the Plaza theater last night, and I ended up with a $45 fifth row ticket for $10! That hardly pays to move five Steinways around the country.
My favorite moments of the show were:
The opening number, Holst’s Planets, where the orchestral parts were divvied up amongst the pianos.
A suite of music from Star Wars. Apparently they also recorded this at LucasFilm.
Reflections On “Shenandoah,” a modern piece composed for five pianos.
A solo performance of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. I’d only ever seen Daffy Duck perform this, so it was pretty impressive to see how a human accomplishes this near-impossible piece!
The Browns were extremely professional at what must have been a difficult time, given the events of the previous day. I’m really glad Martin alerted me to this show.
On our 33rd anniversary we invited our friends Ron & Bev Siegel to join us at Victoria and Albert’s chef’s table. Ron and Bev just celebrated their 36th anniversary, so it was a dual celebration. Maitre d’ Israel Perez managed to rearrange his schedule to host us, and Chef Scott Hunnel outdid himself, preparing some of our favorites and introducing us to some new creations.
The Food:
Sour Cream Ice Cream with Caviar
Chef Scott tested a new sturgeon caviar from Florida on this dish, one of my favorites from last New Year’s. He also placed the ice cream on tiny flakes of potato. Amazing dish!
Buffalo served under a glass filled with smoke
Tuna Tartar on a salt block
Scallop and Octopus nicoise
Lobster panna cotta
Simply an amazing course. The buffalo in particular is extraordinary, because of the fresh smoke. The charred (and tender) octopus is also great. The tuna tartar is new.
Curry Lamb
The lamb is warm in the center, but the dry ice under the plate chills the outside, when the juice is poured on. A favorite of ours.
Alaskan King Salmon cooked tableside on a very hot salt block
Another favorite, introduced when they opened the Victoria Room
Pullet Egg with Pork Belly
This was a pretty edgy course, with Chef Scott playing around with “sous vide” low temperature cooking in a bag. The egg was semi-raw. Fun, but I probably wouldn’t have it again!
Maine Lobster in Coconut Curry
This was a completely new dish, and a really neat presentation. Delicious.
Quail with Apples
Boy, does that name under-describe this dish. One of the best game bird dishes ever. A mixture of quail and duck, served on an amazing puree. This experiment is a keeper.
Herb Crusted Niman Ranch Lamb
Just a wonderful piece of lamb.
Australian Kobe Beef with Garlic-Potato Puree
Monterey Abalone with Toasted Capers
A great entree. The abalone was pounded thin and delicate. The Kobe had that grass-fed slightly gamey flavor. But I’ll be glad when we can get Wagu from Japan again.
Cheeses
Israel opened both dessert wines for this, and it was fun to see how the white matched the aged Gouda while the port matched the Stilton
Vanilla-Poached Pear
This was new and delicious. A nice light addition to the dessert offerings
Chocolate Mousse Timbale
Perfect with the port
Assorted Friandises
There’s a new banana-filled chocolate that’s really good
It was fun to try so many new things. We were lucky to go on a night when Chef Scott had time to experiment.
The Wines:
For the evening’s theme I chose vintages with special meanings for us, and Ron matched them.
NV Billecart-Salmon Rose (purchased from V&A’s list)
Hard to believe this is supposed to be a rose, no pinot noir character at all.
Very pale, citrus, caramel, 91
93 Haut Brion Blanc (Ron)
Initially corked, but if left to sit and not swirled, the nose blows off
Citrus, creme, stone, wax, caramel, vanilla, 93
2008 Aubert Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay (Steve)
White pepper, citrus, toast, butter, lemon finish, chalk, vanilla, brown sugar, 93
56 Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon (Steve)
Linda’s and my birth year. Unfortunately, a terrible year for wine, worldwide!
Good color, smokey, metallic, some fruit, slightly bitter finish, wood nose emerged after 1 hour, 92
91 Dominus (Ron)
This is the wine I’ve been acquiring for Dani, as it’s regarded as one of the best California wines ever. It was nice of Ron to bring this for her.
Very Bordeaux-like nose, olives, tannic, burnt coffee grounds, 96
1964 Leroy Pommard (Steve)
Classic old burgundy, good fruit balance, spicy nose, mint, spicy, iron, coffee, sweet, 98
My “wine of the night”
78 Ch Mouton Rothschild (magnum) (Steve)
I have very few magnums in my cellar, so it was a treat to see how much fruit this had.
Smells just like the Dominus! Coffee, lots of fruit, lead pencil, wax,wood, 96
95 Ch Mouton Rothschild (Ron)
Really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really tight! It was simply impossible to drink or evaluate this wine, and this will likely continue to be the case during my lifetime. Check back in 2040 or 2050. 94?
2004 Grange (Steve)
Woody, very big but drinkable, menthol, chocolate, vanilla, more open than the 1988.Grange must have made a stylistic change, because this wine is more drinkable than most old Granges, 97
91 Rivendell Tear of the Clouds late harvest Vidal (Steve)
The only wine to ever be a unanimous best of show winner at the Florida State Fair.
Youthful, medium sweet, great acid, not cloying, apricot, 95
92 Guenoc Port (Steve)
Wow, this is holding up well! We should try this against a vintage Fonseca. Youthful, not too sweet, good acid, citrus, great match to chocolate, vanilla, mint, 97
Whenever we go to Victoria & Albert’s chef’s table I always say it’s the best event ever, and this one was no exception. A truly word-class restaurant.
One of our favorite casual restaurants is the independently owned Colorado Fondue Company in Casselberry. Dani started a tradition of going there on or near her birthday when she was ten, and we always take a picture with their moose.
Martin and I went to see Rachael Sage, one of my favorite performers. It was no small feat finding this concert, which was inexplicably part of the monthly Orlando Folk Music meeting. It was originally advertised as being at a diner in Osteen (wherever that is) and then at Lieu Gardens, but it turned out to be at a private home on Lake Ivanhoe. The home featured an upstairs art gallery which proved to be a good performance space. About thirty people showed up, which was basically a full house. As far as I could tell, three of us knew who Rachael Sage was (including Martin, who didn’t know two days ago). The rest seemed to be the regular folk music society members, who, surprisingly, seemed to mostly be retirees.
The afternoon began with a guitar duo who played mediocre folk/bluegrass/blues for a half hour. I presume this is the usual fare for this club. Then Rachael Sage came on, solo, and played piano and sang for two 45 minute sets. I was concerned that her music–which is certainly not folk, but rather complex contemporary alternative–would not be well-received, but the crowd was very enthusiastic. She has a great personality, and shared lots of stories about herself and the songs, and didn’t take things too seriously, interspersing her lyrics with comments to the audience, and also the owners’ dog, who kept strolling through!
Her set list was a dream. Essentially she played my entire five-star Rachel Sage playlist, drawing upon, as near as I could tell, all nine of her albums. At intermission I asked for my favorite, Jane’s Demitri, and she noodled around with it, but couldn’t quite remember the details, but she told my that next time, if I posted the request to Facebook, she’d practice it in advance. Wow.
This was a wonderful concert, and I felt guilty that it only cost $12, and that I already own all nine of her CDs, so couldn’t buy anything.
The ugly tree in the backyard has pretty flowers on it. Linda planted this cutting a few years ago, with the promise that each branch would grow a different kind of fruit. Mostly it grows dead twigs. But this branch has produced a couple of pieces of fruit in the past, plums I think. Usually the squirrel sneaks into the screen room and runs off with them.
Tonight Linda an I went to a pre-opening test run of a new restaurant by the family that created Pebbles, Harvey’s Bistro and Manuel’s. For a first night, things ran remarkably smoothly. It was fun to try some of the dishes we used to love at Pebbles, and we had a chance to provide some detailed feedback to the owner, who provided us with a tour. The decor is nice, with romantic lighting, 1890’s light fixtures and photos, and an inviting looking bar. Nothing about the service or the food would have tipped us off that this was their first night. It looks like a successful concept, and we wish them well for their opening this Monday.
A couple of months ago I posted about my friend, Jim Carstensen’s project to refurbish his father-in-law’s 1937 Silvertone radio. The project is now complete, and I wanted to post these before and after photos of the assembled console. What a beautiful piece of furniture!
The touring production of West Side Story visited Orlando this week, and Linda and I saw it on our season ticket subscription to Broadway Across America. Of all the hundreds of musicals we’ve seen, it’s curious that neither of us had ever seen this show onstage. Of course, we’ve seen the movie, but the show’s complex orchestral score must be beyond the talents of regional theaters, so we had to wait for this revival.
Surely no other fifty-year-old musical stands up as well as this one. Even today the orchestration is fresh, cutting edge, and unlike anything else. And the choreography is simply the best we’ve seen, easily outdoing other famous “dance” musicals such as Oklahoma. The extremely young troupe put incredible energy into each number, and it was easy to believe they were two teen gangs; they were!
The voices in this show were good, particularly Michelle Aravena as Anita. (We saw her on Broadway in 2006 in A Chorus Line.) Ali Ewoldt as Maria was also good. Sadly, the lead for Tony was sick, and his understudy wasn’t at the level of the other performers; he seemed more like he belonged in a (good) school production of the show.
Amazingly, the Bob Carr acoustics failed to defeat the sound engineer, perhaps because the levels were lower than most shows. As a result, the orchestra sounded great. Most of the lyrics were also clear, although America was inexplicably unintelligible.
This show mixes fairly extensive Spanish dialogue and lyrics with English, which works great and adds to the believability of the antagonistic relationship between the Sharks and Jets. Because the plot is conveyed through the action, no translation is needed. An excellent show.
Everglades Restaurant at the Rosen Centre Hotel hosts a food and wine event about five times each year. We particularly enjoy these events because of their fun and intimate nature, the opportunity to meet interesting people at our table, and their interesting themes. They’re also a good deal, with five course and five generous servings of interesting wines for $65. For my birthday, Linda, Martin and I attended this month’s event, called “Around the World in 180 Minutes.” It was themed like an airplane trip, right down to the boarding passes we were issued to enter:
As always, the food was terrific, the presentations about the wines were kept short and to the point, and a good time was had by all. My favorite course was the salad, which combined incredibly tasty tomatoes with a wonderful vinaigrette that matched the Spanish Albarino beautifully.
The soup course was also impressive, really a bowl of lobster tail and other fish and shellfish with an almost marinara-thick sauce. The desert was also delicious, and the tart mango slices worked beautifully with the Lexia (muscat).
The next event is March 25th, and every course will contain chocolate!
Barry Manilow rarely leaves Vegas these days, but last night he kicked off a new tour at the Amway Center in Orlando. This is the second concert I’ve seen there, and the jury is still out on the acoustics, but Barry’s sound man definitely didn’t have a handle on it. I’ve never heard so much feedback in a major concert production. Since this was the first stop on the tour, hopefully they’ll get it straightened out by the next show.
But Barry did a great job. We saw him thirty years ago at the Greek Theatre in LA, and he still has the voice and puts on a great show, even in the face of adversity, which the sound mix certainly created.
My favorite moments were the ballads, but I also really enjoyed seeing four guys play one piano at the same time!
Some excerpts from the Sentinel’s unusually on-target review:
Although Manilow will tell you that the road show doesn’t aim to copy the glitzy production of his Vegas act, there was a decent amount of that showroom pop Thursday at Amway Center, especially in the oversized opening moments and the thunderous, confetti-adorned finale.
The orchestra, about 70 members strong, looked to be having a blast, waving instruments in the air in the opening moments to a pounding drumbeat…
The sound mix was a blaring, muddled mess, especially in the monster crescendos … in the early going. Equally frustrating, Manilow’s voice almost disappeared when he dipped into the lower register in the understated moments…
And the man was working the room. He prowled the stage energetically, if awkwardly, belting out songs to the back row with crazy arm gestures that might have been showbiz semaphore decipherable only to veteran casino patrons…
If Manilow likes things big, it’s not because he can’t do a ballad. One of the night’s most captivating moments also was among the most delicate. Seated on a stool, the singer tenderly offered “When October Goes,” a song that he adapted from unfinished lyrics by the iconic Johnny Mercer.
Of course, Manilow himself has no shortage of songs…
“You didn’t think we’d let you go home without doing this one,” he said, launching into the obligatory “Copacabana.” Like most everything he does, it was over the top.
For a decade we held season tickets to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, which hosted some of the best productions in the Southeast, but then they terminated their affiliation with Broadway Across America, and stopped getting the interesting touring companies. So, for the past two years, we’ve subscribed to the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center in Orlando, a theater with worse acoustics than the average 7-Eleven restroom.
Once again last night, the Bob Carr soundly defeated the audio system (pun intended). But the touring show Rock of Ages has far worse problems than audio. With the exception of the female lead, this was the most untalented cast I’ve ever heard in a national touring company. And her ability to sing and act simply made everyone else look even worse. Honestly, I’ve seen many high school casts better than this one. As the Orlando Sentinel critic noted, we couldn’t tell if they were paying homage to the songs, or parodying them.
The song choices themselves were good, and the on-stage musicians played them fine. But the songs have so little relationship to the show that, even if they had been well sung, they could have provided no emotional tug.
Like In The Heights, the show attracts non-theatregoers. The misanthropes next to me appeared to have never been to a cultural event, talking through the show and occasionally shouting at the players.
While some in the audience did laugh at the bits of dialogue they could understand, it had the feeling of nervous laughter, since the book writer seems to have simply thrown in every idea that came to him (again quoting from the Sentinel) with an emphasis on middle school references to sexual anatomy.
The best thing about the show was the second act, because we were at home, asleep.
We had a lovely Christmas, leisurely opening our packages all day. The best gifts were homemade. Dani wrapped up a LOST-themed Dharma pillow in DHARMA “Standard Wrapping Paper” that she made herself, and she also gave us a world map she framed herself and inserted push pins into, marking 100 places we’ve traveled to. We had our traditional breakfast burritos for lunch, and then Martin and Nicole came over for Christmas dinner.
Christmas Eve we went to Disney’s Grand Floridian for our traditional dinner at Victoria & Albert’s. We’ve gone every year for more than a decade. Here, Dani poses in the lobby in front of the jazz band. The enormous gingerbread house is on the left. Downstairs there was a long line to great Mickey and Minnie in their Victorian Christmas garb.
For some time I’d been wanting to try Jean Pierre’s Bistro, a French bistro and bakery in Water Tower Place, the cute shopping village in front of Disney’s Celebration. Orlando doesn’t really have any true French bistros, with the possible exception of Chefs de France at Epcot, which isn’t exactly convenient—or cheap.
I had some doubts when we arrived at Jean Pierre’s for dinner, because the place was deserted, and quite brightly lit, more like what you’d expect from a bakery or a sandwich shop—both of which it is, during the daytime. So it wasn’t exactly the ambiance I was hoping for from an evening bistro. But the food was everything I’d hoped for.
We started with the house made paté, a cheese plate, smoked salmon, and a salad with traditional French vinaigrette. All were excellent, especially the pate (really a terrine), which was fresh, flavorful, and had a wonderful mixture of spices on the outside. We could have used some soft, stinky cheeses, but I understand why American tastes run to firmer, less fragrant ones, and the half dozen choices were all very flavorful. The salmon was fresh and very smokey, with just the right accompaniments, and the salad was perfect, just like in Paris.
Our main courses were Beef Bourguignon and Chicken in a mushroom and madeira sauce. Both sauces were excellent, and each was accompanied by a rich, creamy dish of scalloped potatoes. A particular highlight was the fresh baked French baguette, which was plentiful and very authentic. As parting gifts the owner bestowed upon us glasses of Muscat and a fresh loaf of this wonderful bread to take with us.
I was impressed that the owner, with little assistance, could turn out such a diverse offering in so little time; and there were at least twenty other dishes we could have chosen. Prices are very reasonable, and the wine list has a couple of nice choices at good prices. It’s too bad his location isn’t higher profile, and that his website is fairly poor, because this is just the sort of French bistro Orlando needs.
We had a great time at the Alcorn McBride Christmas party last night. This year we hired Puff ‘n Stuff to cater the event, and they did a great job. It was nice to have more time to spend with our friends, and to have the house all put back in order at the end of the evening. My favorite foods were the cheddar and bacon dip, poached salmon, beef empanadas and the mashed potato bar.
We poured a half dozen sparking wines, of which I thought the best were the Piper Heidsieck Brute Champagne, Iron Horse Fairytale Cuvee (the only non-Champagne entrant) and the Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial. The two nectares from Moet & Chandon were too sweet for me.
All of the red wines poured were made by Sparky Marquis from Shiraz, but they were all different. In descending order of my ratings: 2003 Henry’s Drive Reserve Shiraz, 2002 Marquis Philips 9, 2009 Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy, 2009 Mollydooker The Boxer. Perhaps not coincidentally, that’s also descending order of price!
We were very lucky with the weather. After two weeks of very cold (for Orlando) weather, with some nights dropping into the 20s, Friday was in the mid 70s, and the evening was warm enough to sit outside until after 10pm. The next morning we woke up to rain, so our timing was perfect!
Linda was up early this morning and happened to notice the sun slanting into the kitchen and lighting our cork crane diorama. She quickly grabbed this shot with my iPhone.
