Category: Travel

Travels around the world

Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Some Broadway shows have plots so convoluted that it requires advance study to follow them. This is a not a problem for Priscilla Queen of the Desert. The entire plot may be summarized as: three drag queens and a bus.

That’s not to say the show isn’t fun. It is. Filled with stunning costumes (cupcakes, human paint brushes, a dress made of flip flops), top notch musical performances, and a collection of pop hits from the 70s and 80s, the show will delight anyone who enjoyed La Cage Aux Folles (although that show actually has a deep story).

As good as the cast was, they were at times upstaged by the bus. It twirls, spins, opens up, hangs over the front rows of the audience, serves as an anchor for a twenty foot long high-heeled shoe, and eventually every surface of it is revealed to be a video wall. If it sounds tacky, it is, but all in good fun. The audience ate it up.

Earlier in the day we had lunch at Jean Georges, one of our favorites, and New York’s best lunch deal. It was a novelty to simply walk downstairs from our room to go to the restaurant.

Then we went for a long walk in Central Park. I’d never really had a chance to explore before, and we climbed to the top of Belvedere Castle. It was fun, but hot, and we all needed showers when we got back to the room.

Our late dinner after the show was at db Bistro Moderne. So nice to be in a town where you can make an 11pm dinner reservation and not be keeping the waiters up late.

Eleven Madison Park

A few months ago Linda and I went to Eleven Madison Park with our friends Ron and Bev, and had the best meal of our lives. So it was with some trepidation that I made a reservation for a return visit during this trip. Everything was so perfect in that earlier meal that I was afraid we were set up for disappointment. But it was just as perfect on this visit. Both food and service were just as delightful.

The amazing thing about the food here is the number of discrete flavors identifiable in each and every dish, and then the way they come together into something greater than the individual elements. Through about twenty different offerings on the tasting menu, each course offered new tastes, as there were few repeats from our previous visit. This time we had the matching wine pairing, which was also a little bit of genius. Definitely our favorite restaurant anywhere.

Trump International Hotel

This is the first time we’ve tried this hotel, and it seems ideal. Our room is a spacious one-bedroom suite that overlooks Central Park. The view is really quite amazing. Best of all, the hotel restaurant is one of our favorites, Jean Georges. I had no idea they served breakfast, but we can’t pass that up, even though we’re also having lunch there tomorrow! The Amex platinum deal is great, with one night free, breakfast included, and late checkout. And it’s an easy walk to the theaters and restaurants we have planned, except for tonight’s outing to Eleven Madison Park.

 

Road Trip Wrap Up

10 Days, 11 States: Chicago IL, Detroit MI, Cleveland OH, Pittsburgh PA, Hot Springs VA, Beckley WV, Asheville NC, Sevierville TN, Charleston SC, Savannah GA, Jacksonville FL and home to Orlando. A little over 2000 miles.

Attraction Highlights

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Forbidden Caverns, and The USS Yorktown aircraft carrier and USS Clamagore submarine at Patriots Point.

Hotel Highlights

Best service and amenities were at the Ritz-Carlton Cleveland, with its club lounge. Best room was the condo at The Residences at Biltmore.

Restaurants

We tried to find the best restaurants in the places we stayed, but only hit two home runs on the road trip. Here’s how I’d rank them:

Excellent

Very Good

Good

Mediocre

 

Yorktown and Clamagore

Dani was up late editing her Duchess of Malfi video, so she slept in, and when she got up we walked a few blocks to The Pit Stop Deli for some tasty sandwiches. Then we drove across Charleston’s impressive Bridge to Patriot’s Point to see the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier and the USS Clamagore submarine.

The Yorktown offers a half dozen self-guided tours. We wandered through many levels, seeing the mess, galleys, bunks, sick bay, surgery, x-ray room, radar rooms (one full of giant racks, one with red lights and many small screens), navigation room, bridge, helm, and flight deck. It was neat to see all this sixty year old high tech equipment. The tour is definitely not ADA compliant, as there are many ladders, both up and down, and many water tight doorways with six inch sills.

On the other side of the quay we descended into the USS Clamagore, the last of the navy’s diesel powered submarines. This was an even more interesting sub tour than the U-boat in Chicago, because it is nearly unaltered from its original condition. That means you have to swing up and through the many watertight hatches that separate the compartments. I think this sub is similar to the one Tom Gottshalk served on. I can’t imagine how crowded it must have been with a full crew, as some of the corridors were so narrow that both my shoulders touched.

Both ships were really interesting tours, and the breeze from the ocean kept the 90 degree day pleasant.

Dinner at Peninsula Grill in our hotel, voted Charleston’s best restaurant every year since 2001, was very good. The highlight was the Madeira tasting flight:

  • 1969 D’Oliveiras Sercial Reserva
  • 1981 Barbieto Verdelho
  • 1968 D’Oliveiras Boal Reserva
  • 1875 Barbieto Malvasia

Charleston

We left Asheville in the morning and stopped in Columbia, South Carolina for a surprisingly tasty Indian buffet at Punjabi Dhaba, then continued on the Charleston, arriving at The Planter’s Inn about 3pm. It’s a Relais & Chateau hotel at an excellent price.

After walking around town and through the tourist shops on Market Street, we checked out Magnolia’s and decided to cancel our dinner reservation due to their felony cholesterol abuse. In its place we went to O-Ku, a Japanese restaurant about ten blocks north. It was one of the best Japanese meals I’ve had. In particular, the Toro four ways appetizer was amazing: otoro, kanpachi, hamachi and salmon, each with a perfect sprig of accompaniment and sprinkle of spice: pepper, salt, truffle, serano chile, or cilantro.

Forbidden Caverns

Dani and I took a day trip to Eastern Tennessee to see Forbidden Caverns. I think in the past it might have been called Blowing Cave, but the PR guys changed it for obvious reasons. In any event, it’s on Blowing Cave Road and there’s a Blowing Cave Baptist Church nearby.

It’s a really great cave, probably the best I’ve toured. Since it’s a wet cave, there are lots of formations, including North America’s biggest flowstone formation. This is a much better cave than Mammoth Cave, and the tour is a nice walk, with only about 60 steps, but suitably twisty. There’s also a river running through the cave that comes out of the mountain a half mile away at the “You Hook ‘Em, We Cook ‘Em” trout fishery.

We also stopped at The Old Grist Mill for a photo op, and then had lunch at the Bush’s Baked Beans Visitor Center, which was packed. Don’t laugh. It’s a lovely new facility with one of the best corporate films I’ve seen, all about their automated factory.

Back at The Residences at Biltmore, I got caught up with my classes while Dani edited a movie she shot of a Northwestern play. For dinner we’re walking to a nearby Mediterranean restaurant, Rezaz.

Asheville Downtown

Our early morning Harry Potter extravaganza ended about 3am, and I only got about five hours of sleep, although Dani got a couple more. We had breakfast and a lazy morning at the condo, then headed to downtown Asheville for a late lunch.

Downtown Asheville is very cute. The shops are aimed at tourists, but the restaurants seem popular with the locals. We had a light lunch at Thai Basil and then strolled past the two other restaurants I had dinner reservations at, deciding to cancel the one for tonight, as the menu at Table was a bit odd. Dani found a book of 340 O. Henry short stories in a used book store, and we returned to our room for a vegetative afternoon.

In the evening we returned to downtown, which was hopping, with a drum festival in one park, and a concert closing off other streets. We dined at Jerusalem Garden Cafe, where the belly dancer offended Dani’s feminist sensibilities, but was better than the food. Then we returned to the Residences at Biltmore to watch the fireflies on the lawn, and take in the view from the pool and fire pit at the top of the hill.

 

 

Asheville, NC

Before checking out from The Homestead we had breakfast in the dining room and used our resort activity credit to take the shuttle up to the ski lodge and try our hand at archery. Lots of fun, but we made it a quick stop, because we didn’t want to get sun-burned. Then we headed south through the Allegheny and Appalachian Mountains to Asheville, North Carolina.

Along the way we stopped at the King Tut Drive In for an authentic drive-in experience, complete with car hop service. The menu is extensive, to say the least.

In Asheville we checked in to a lovely one bedroom condo at The Residences at Biltmore, and then drove to Greenlife, a Whole Foods spinoff, to pick up some supplies for breakfasts.

We had an excellent dinner at Fig, a nearby bistro. It was the cheapest, and one of the best meals of the trip.

After some chill time back at the condo, we headed for the local cineplex, and the 12:04am showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2.

 

The Homestead

We had a lovely if somewhat long drive today. We stocked the car with all the goodies from the club level of the Ritz-Carlton Cleveland, and headed for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is a surprisingly beautiful city, nestled among many forested hills. They really need a new PR company, as we loved it. We had lunch at a French bistro Dani found online, Paris 66. They had good crepes, although I ordered one with too much saffron.

The we headed south, and through the hills (mountains?) into West Virginia. Our drive through the Monongahela National Forest was very scenic. We mostly avoided the rain, but did drive up into the clouds as we crossed the Allegheny Mountains. Crossing into Virginia on a two lane country road we still passed the usual barrage of warning signs telling you what the ever-hospitable state will do to punish you for a variety of infractions. We’ve been letting the Tom Tom app on the iPad guide us, but for a while the clouds blocked the GPS, and Dani had to resort to navigating by paper AAA maps. Eventually the Tom Tom remembered what it was doing, steered us onto a single-lane road through some farms and around a half dozen deer, a grouse, a baby raccoon, one ground hog, a squirrel, and two other cars, and by 7:30pm we arrive at The Homestead resort.

The Homestead is a beautiful estate, sort of a clone of The Greenbrier, with the same plusses and minuses. The room we have is really two complete rooms, a bedroom and sitting room, with three huge walk in closets. But it is also really old. The building is huge, and has any imaginable amenity: archery, hiking, fishing, equestrian, golf, paint ball (!), a bowling alley and movie theater. The dining room is large and has the biggest dance floor I’ve seen in thirty years. But the food and service seem to be the products of someone who has never actually been at a fine restaurant, but only read the descriptions. (Waldorf Salad = a cup filled with mayonnaise, with a few nuts and bits of apple in it.)  This, in fact, seems to be symptomatic of Virginia resorts, as it is not only the case at the Greenbrier, but also The Williamsburg Inn.

Fortunately, it’s a deal, at $229, including breakfast and an activity credit of $100.

Tomorrow we may try archery to use up our credit, and then will head to Asheville in time to visit Asheville’s premier attraction, the mall where they’re opening the last Harry Potter film at 12:04 am.

 

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Today we visited The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, one of Alcorn McBride’s largest midwest installations. We were greeted by Meredith, the curator of the new Women in Rock exhibit, who gave us a fabulous personal tour of the exhibit. Then we spent about two hours touring the rest of the exhibits on our own, finally meeting Rob, the technical manager, for a peek backstage. They have the largest stack of installed LightCues that I’ve seen.

Throughout our time at the museum I was impressed by how the exhibits engaged their guests. The artifacts are really interesting, and the interpretive material is just the right amount— informative without being overwhelming. I was also impressed by how friendly all of the employees were. A very nice attraction.

We had a late but light lunch at Shooters on the water, and watched a really, really large ship squeeze under the railroad bridge and up the river.

Dinner was at Michael Symon’s Lola. It’s on 4th Avenue, a cute pedestrian street with lots of restaurants. Good meal, but not sure how he won the James Beard award as the best chef in the midwest.

The Henry Ford

I didn’t really know what The Henry Ford in Dearborn Michigan was until we came here. Silly me, I assumed it was a car museum. But it’s much more. The museum includes important artifacts from American history, such as Kennedy’s Dallas limo and Rosa Parks bus. There is also a village, somewhat like Williamsburg, where you can see Edison’s laboratory and the Wright Brothers workshop.

We stayed at The Henry Autograph Hotel, a new brand by Marriott that is a de-frocked Ritz Carlton. It was a good deal, because the $229 rate included breakfast, admission to The Henry Ford, and a nice coffee table book.

Upon arrival we drove into Detroit to the Motor City Casino and Hotel for dinner at Iridescence, a nice restaurant with a view to the south (yes, south) into Canada. The casino is trying to be a Vegas casino, but the patrons are the usual inner city losers. The restaurant, however, has a different clientele, and our server, Jackie, was wonderful. Recommended.

Road Trip: Chicago to Orlando 2011

10 Days, 11 States: Chicago IL, Indiana, Detroit MI, Cleveland OH, Pittsburgh PA, Hot Springs VA, Beckley WV, Asheville NC, Sevierville TN, Charleston SC, Savannah GA, Jacksonville FL and home to Orlando. A little over 2000 miles.

The day before the road trip we decided to be Chicago tourists.

We took advantage of having a car on our last day in Chicago to do touristy things, visiting the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Sears (er, I mean Willis) Tower.

They’ve really fixed up the museum, as the last time we were there, four years ago, most stuff seemed to be broken. On this visit there were lots of new exhibits, and everything seemed to be working. Hopefully it’s because they’re using lots of our gear.

The body exhibit was the main thing Dani was interested in. They’ve taken real human bodies and replaced all the part with injected plastic, then performed autopsies on them. Fascinating, but not for the squeamish.

We also went through the U-Boat, which is now indoors. I could have spent several hours at that exhibit alone. They’ve added audio and lighting effects to the tour of the sub itself, which is quite effective.

We also went to the Wills (Sears) Tower and stood on the glass floor. They had a pretty good movie before the elevator ride. It seems that some smaller attractions are getting better at hiring storytellers to design their experiences.

Lincoln Park Zoo

Now that Dani has finished her German class (and got an A, of course) we have a couple of free days in Chicago before our road trip. We spent today at the Lincoln Park Zoo, a lovely oasis of greenery in the midst of the Chicago skyline.

 

 

 

Fourth of July in Evanston

We decided to avoid the traffic and stay in Evanston for the Fourth of July. Dani made her traditional berry and jello flag cake, I grilled some steaks, Linda made Julia Child’s sauteed pearl onions, and we watched the spectacular Evanston beach fireworks show from the balcony.

Julia Child’s Sauteed Pearl Onions

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.

Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.

Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet.

Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated.

 

The Girl and the Goat

The Girl and the Goat is the new restaurant by Stephanie Izard, winner of Top Chef. Barely open a year, it has already won a James Beard award, and is the hottest restaurant in Chicago. I reserved our table three months in advance.

I was a bit wary of going the day after Moto, and some of the menu items seemed a bit scary (oven roasted pig’s face). What a delightful surprise this restaurant turned out to be! We loved all the plates we shared. We tried all three fresh baked breads of the day. Each was served with two different accompaniments, such as Worchestshire butter. Our favorite dishes were:

  • Wood fired chicken with fried pickles and grilled naan.
  • Sauteed cauliflower with pickled peppers, parmesan cheese, mint leaves and pine nuts.
  • Goat belly confit with lobster and crab.

Service was really professional yet friendly, and the vibrant environment and wood smoke filled room is the perfect setting for such fun and tasty food. The Girl and the Goat is a new Chicago favorite.


Moto

Saturday night we made our annual visit to the molecular gastronomy weirdness that is Moto. We often use a limo service to get to Chicago, because the cost for a town car is about the same as a cab. But every once in a while they run out of town cars, and we get a stretch limo, as was the case last night. It was fun playing with the inscrutable controls and watching a movie on the way.

At Moto we had the 20-course grand tasting menu. It sounds like a lot, but most courses are only a couple of bites or sips, and it takes almost five hours, so you don’t leave feeling stuffed. We also had the matching wine pairing, 14 small samples of wines.

Moto was packed, and they turned the tables of those having the ten-course menu twice. I felt that the service wasn’t quite as fun and the food not quite as consistent as in the past. There were still some wonderful courses, but also a fair number of neat looking but not particularly awe inspiring dishes. The wines seemed better than usual, though, and all of them perfectly matched their courses.

I managed to photograph most of the courses, but forgot a few. Favorites: Pretzel soup, baseball snacks, most of the red meat courses, the banana split and the smores bomb. Big misses: Shrimp and grits, cookie crumbs.

Moto isn’t the sort of place I’d go more than once a year, but if you haven’t tried molecular gastronomy, it’s definitely worth the experience.

Hall and Oates at Ravinia

Here’s a trivia question for you:

What is the biggest selling musical duo of all time?

Awww, you peeked. Yup, it’s Hall and Oates. Don’t bother to try to guess who’s number two. (It’s The Pet Shop Boys.) Clearly, there are not a lot of musical duos.

When we were at Ravinia for Deep Purple last week, I thought it was sold out. Turns out, though that the lawn can hold a lot more people. I mean, a LOT more people:

Basically, Hall and Oates is mostly Hall (the blond with the personality, who sings almost every song). Of the eight piece band, the sax player and lead guitarist do most of the heavy lifting. They put on a good show, but were hampered by audio problems that kept the crowd from really getting into it until the end of their less than 90 minute set.

Before the show we talked our way into the Park View restaurant, although our reservations were really for the Mirabella buffet downstairs. Really impressive food for a seasonal restaurant staffed by college kids.

Leaving the concert during the second encore was a good move, as we rolled home on the Metra train as thousands of people gathered to wait for the next one.

Songwriters Showcase

Last night we attended the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Showcase, where 16 incredibly talented young songwriters show off the songs they’ve written during the past week’s workshop. Last year it was the highlight of the summer shows we saw, and it didn’t disappoint this year. Every song was a winner.

Tonight we attended Applause! Applause! where the best of those songs were presented to a larger audience, along with professional performances from the songbook of Charles Strouse, who was honored with an award. Strouse wrote Bye, Bye Birdie, Applause, Annie, and quite a few other musicals, as well as the theme song from All In The Family. At the end of the evening he received his award and entertained at the piano and told some hilarious stories; he’s quite the card for an 83 year old.

Earlier today Dani and I walked through the closed streets of Evanston, where there was an art festival, and then walked up to Central to buy some spices at The Spice House and some cheese and bread at the gourmet market. All together it was a five mile walk, and her ankle held up well, its first real outing since taking her cast off and starting physical therapy.

During our walk we revisited some of the fallen trees from last week’s storm, which have now been cut up and cleared. It’s not hard to figure out why this large branch—that I photographed previously—broke off:

Painting

Last night an impressive storm blew through Evanston, knocking out our power five times. This morning 48 buildings on the Northwestern campus were still without power, according to an email sent to Dani. Fortunately, Dani’s German class was unaffected.

The storm left a gorgeous morning in its wake, and I took advantage of it to walk up to Expo Paint on Green Bay near Central Avenue, a mile or so to the north.

Along the way I was surprised to see how many large tree limbs were down, on lawns, the sidewalk, and in the roads. The storm must have been a lot stronger to the north. City crews were already clearing away the bits and pieces, and the park was full of day camp kids enjoying a truly beautiful day.

My mission at Expo Paint was to buy some paint to match the ugly green color that’s coating the walls of the condo bedroom. This is necessary because one of Dani’s roommates used double stick tape on the walls, and it’s removed large chunks of the textured surface. I dropped off a chunk at Expo and went over to the market to get some fresh baked bread while I waited. In a few minutes they called me and said my paint was ready.

I guess they scanned the paint chip I took them, because the match is almost exact. Let me tell you that lugging a gallon of paint for a mile is not fun! Now the trick is to get the paint on so that it matches the original texture. My first attempt with a brush failed, so I went back to Ace Hardware for a roller.

For lunch Dani and I went to Cafe 527. It’s a new Asian place that had the nerve to open next door to the popular Joy Yee’s Noodle Shop. The plan seems to be working, as 527 was packed. The Korean BBQ taco I had was delicious, filled with bulgogi beef, kimchee, rice and cilantro, and served on seaweed rather than a tortilla. The miso shrimp salad was also tasty, although the shrimp was the least interesting part. The crunchy lettuce and cabbage mixture was enhanced by green peppers, scallions, and edamame. It went well with a miso based honey mustard dressing.

My other home improvement project was accomplished a lot quicker than the paint touchups. I ordered a wallpaper mural for the bare spot over the sink. It took about a minute to install, and really makes the kitchen look nice.

The rain is teasing us this afternoon, looking threatening, but then barely sprinkling. For dinner I’m fixing hamburgers unless it’s pouring, in which case they will turn into meatloaf.

Basil Chicken, Sweet Potato Casserole, Brussels Sprouts

Basil Chicken

I thought I had memorialized Linda’s Basil Chicken recipe on this blog, but apparently not, so here’s my version:

Ingredients

  • Boneless chicken breasts
  • Onion
  • Lemon
  • Basil leaves
  • White Wine
  • Milk
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper or Poultry Seasoning

Directions

Pound the chicken breasts. Sauté the onions in oil, add chicken breasts and sauté until brown. Remove breasts, place basil leaves on them. Deglaze the pan, add white wine, lemon juice and a dash of milk, and reduce. Pour over breasts and basil.

To accompany it, I made a…

Sweet Potato Casserole

This turns out fluffy enough that it’s almost a souffle with a topping:

Ingredients

  • 4 cups sweet potato
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • Five spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • Five spice

Directions

Boil chunked potatoes and mash. Add sugar, beaten eggs, vanilla extract and five spice. Some recipes add milk or butter but I didn’t. Mix and place in baking dish.

For topping, mix brown sugar, flour, butter and pecans. Layer on top of sweet potatoes.

May be refrigerated until time for dinner.

Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, or until brown.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar

Ingredients

  • Brussels Sprouts
  • Olive Oil
  • Balsamic Vinegar
  • Salt and Pepper

Cut brussels sprouts in half, toss ingredients together.

Roast at 375°F, cut side down, 15 minutes, flip, roast ten minutes more.

Cleaning House

In other news, today I had Dial-a-Maid come for four hours and unearth the condo. The sink is now white again.

Lock & Lock Korma

One of my missions this year in Evanston is to make lots of one-serving meals for Dani’s freezer. I ran errands to Ace Hardware and Whole Foods, returning with about 50 pounds of stuff in the poor shopping basket cart. After restocking the fridge I set out to make Lamb Korma with Moroccan basmati raisin rice, sweet potatoes and Caesar salad.

I boxed the leftover rice and korma into some nifty containers I got on Amazon. They’re called Lock & Lock (not a great name, I know) and are very durable, microwave and freezer safe, and they have a gasket that seals them completely with locks on all four sides. I bought them because of the good reviews on Amazon, without completely understanding what they were, but they’ve worked out perfectly. The ones I got are fairly small, about 3x5x2 inches, so just right for one entree serving. Five down, about a zillion to go.

Father’s Day at The Stained Glass

Dani and I spent a pleasant day in Evanston before the start of summer session at Northwestern. We walked up to Al’s Deli for lunch. Al’s is an interesting place, because it sounds very American, but is, in fact, French. They make wonderful soups, and sandwiches on  baguettes or croissants.

On the way back, we picked up Dani’s German class notes and restocked at CVS. In the evening we swapped some books at Market Fresh Books and then had dinner at our favorite Evanston restaurant, The Stained Glass, where we were served by our favorite waiter, the extremely knowledgeable wine instructor, Scot Morton.

 

Deep Purple at the Ravinia Festival

Ravinia is an outdoor music festival founded in 1904. It’s a few miles North of Evanston.

Dani and I went to see Deep Purple with the Ravinia Festival Orchestra and opening band Ernie and the Automatics.

Dinner at the upstairs restaurant was quite pleasant. It’s amazing to have to kick start a fine dining restaurant every summer.

It was an unexpected treat that two members of Ernie and the Automatics were the guitarist and drummer from Boston, who played a Boston medley.

Deep Purple was excellent– very talented guitarist and keyboard player– and it was fun to hear them with an orchestra.

Owl City

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.

Bull and Bear

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

2001 Ch. Carbonnieux (Steve)
corked

1949 Liger-Belair Charmes-Chambertin (Steve)
Earth, complex, bacon fat, campfire smoke, iron, mushroom, citrus, forest floor, dried fruits, vanilla, dessert room at Berns (bananas foster and barrel), slightly faded, 96

1949 Ponelle Corton Clos de Roi (Ron)
Cherries, rose petals, soy sauce, meat, mint, sawdust, fruity, smoke, fresh, 98

1955 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve (Steve)
Young, peppers, fruity, leather, 95

1965 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon California Mountain (Steve)
Dusty, wax, musty, black pepper, 88

1962 Château Gruaud Larose (Steve)
Leather, worchestshire sauce, soy, complex but unusual, (low fill) 90

1966 Chateau La Mission Haut Brion (Steve)
Lead pencil, peppers, tobacco, 95

2000 Ch. Pavie (Ron)
Parker 100
Meaty, vanilla, chewy, lanolin, very tannic, candy, a huge wine, drinkable in 2044, 96

1983 Ch. Suideraut (Ron)
Peach, citrus, dried orange peel, 90

1982 Bodegas Toro Albala Montilla-Moriles Don PX Gran Reserva (Steve)
Syrup, chocolate, raisins, 92

Cocina 214

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.

Nine 18

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.

Cuvée Wine & Bistro

Linda thought it would be a nice weekend outing to drive up to Ocala, about 90 minutes north, so we picked up Martin on our way and went to Cuvée Wine & Bistro. The place has an interesting business plan, which combines two different concepts: a restaurant, and self-service wine dispensers.

It occupies part of a former bank building, but has been redecorated in a pleasant, trendy way. High booth backs keep the noise level down, although the old farts next to us were quite rowdy. Each dining room is surrounded by rows of wine dispensers, some refrigerated for the whites, others not, for reds. There are well over 100 selections, available in 1, 2.5 or 5 ounce pours. As with other such places, you load a card with money, and then it’s debited as you use the machines.

We arrived at 6:30 and things were fairly quite, but the restaurant soon filled up, although I don’t think they turned any tables twice. What’s interesting about the success of the place is that it doesn’t seem to be driven by all the wine dispensers that surround the dining rooms. We saw few other patrons wandering around to try different wines with each course. Instead, most either let the waiter bring them a glass of something, or ordered a bottle for the table. Still, being surrounded by all those glowing bottles probably boosts wine sales. I couldn’t see the bar from where we sat, so I don’t know how much tasting traffic originated there.

The food was mostly very good. A cheese sampler plate offered a nice variety, and my clam appetizer was delicious. Salads were fine, and the steaks Linda and Martin had were good quality. I liked my eggplant napoleon, too.

The wines are more fairly priced than at the other self-serve wine place I’ve been to, The Wine Room in Winter Park. Many selections are just $2 for a taste. There are also more expensive selections, including Opus 1 ($15 per ounce) and Joseph Phelps Insignia, at an absurd $23 per ounce. Unfortunately, of four high end wines we tried (Tapestry, a Nuits St. Georges, a Pommard, and Dominus) all were spoiled by having been open a long, long time. As evidenced by the strong geranium smell, the dispensing system can’t keep them good forever. Our waiter cheerfully credited us for the wines we complained about, but they should have been removed, rather than left for the next sucker. None of the lower priced selections had this problem, and we tried many. Best QPR (quality to price ratio) was the Bell Petite Sirah.

Cuvée certainly has a better atmosphere than The Wine Room, and it was fun to try small tastes of many different wines with our food. We all agreed we would return.