The stars aligned tonight and the wife and I went to dinner together. Just the two of us. On the way to the restaurant I joked with her that it felt like when the HB was young and we'd joke on way to dinner that it was nice to eat while not worrying about picking up cheerios.
We'd never been to this restaurant (an Italian place in the San Fernando Valley), but we "won" a gift certificate to it at a charity auction (probably through the the HB's school). Traffic was amazingly light for a Saturday night and we were way early for our reservation. Fortunately, they had an empty table for us.
She ordered the soup and pumpkin filled tortellini (I'm with ya, it's a fall, not a spring, meal). I had the crab cakes and the seafood risotto with squid ink. The waiter specifically asked me if I was OK with the ink, and I said yes. Generally, the service was excellent.
The appetizers were huge. Having them with some wine and a basket of bread would have been enough. Then came the main courses. The torellini was pretty bland. My risotto had so much squid ink in it that it came out looking like a bowl of steaming (it was hot) shit. At least it tasted good. We paid what remained of our bill and hustled out.
The wife's been totally beat from dealing with all of her shit with her mom. So, after getting home (and confirming that the NZS2 was staying at a friend's), we went upstairs for a quickie. We came down to watch a movie and she was asleep in about 7 minutes. I'm not going to be too far behind her.
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Sunday, November 16, 2008
LA's Burning...Again
As I'm sure you've read by now, the LA area has more fires. Lots more. When I got my paper this morning the ground was covered with a film of ash and the air smelled like cigarettes. The sun's now filtered orange through a thick sky.
What makes these fires worse than the ones last month is that they are in populated areas, as opposed to remote canyons. They've been burning everything from over-the-top expensive houses south of Santa Barbara, to middle class housing tracks in Orange County to mobile home parks in north LA. It's bad.
Fortunately, the winds have died down so the firefighters should have the chanced to get a handle on them today. But, it's still going to be hot and windy. They've got a battle on their hands.
With this as a backdrop, the wife and went to the dinner at Spago last night. We rode with my parents, so we were able to chat with them about their 50th anniversary, which is next August and do some planning for it.
At the party, we saw some of my dad's cousins from Philly (very east coast snobby). When I worked for my uncle one summer, I used to stay at one of the cousins' house on some weekends (he had daughters about my age), so it was great to see him and his second wife (the first died several years ago).
The food was great. We had crab cakes (even my wife had some--only the 3rd time I've seen seafood cross her lips), tuna tartar and fancy pizza as appetizers (with some scotch from the open bar). I had butternut squash soup and bass in an awesome sauce. She had a layered beet/cheese and short ribs on polenta. I was sad when I had to poop this morning.
What makes these fires worse than the ones last month is that they are in populated areas, as opposed to remote canyons. They've been burning everything from over-the-top expensive houses south of Santa Barbara, to middle class housing tracks in Orange County to mobile home parks in north LA. It's bad.
Fortunately, the winds have died down so the firefighters should have the chanced to get a handle on them today. But, it's still going to be hot and windy. They've got a battle on their hands.
With this as a backdrop, the wife and went to the dinner at Spago last night. We rode with my parents, so we were able to chat with them about their 50th anniversary, which is next August and do some planning for it.
At the party, we saw some of my dad's cousins from Philly (very east coast snobby). When I worked for my uncle one summer, I used to stay at one of the cousins' house on some weekends (he had daughters about my age), so it was great to see him and his second wife (the first died several years ago).
The food was great. We had crab cakes (even my wife had some--only the 3rd time I've seen seafood cross her lips), tuna tartar and fancy pizza as appetizers (with some scotch from the open bar). I had butternut squash soup and bass in an awesome sauce. She had a layered beet/cheese and short ribs on polenta. I was sad when I had to poop this morning.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Death and the Past
It's probably of very little interest outside of Southern California (shit, outside of Anaheim), but Carl Karcher, the eponymous founder of the Carl's Jr. fast food chain died. Like all of us, Karcher was a complicated man. He was a vicious homophobe and anti-choice, but he also gave generously to homeless and educational causes.
He sticks in my mind for a couple of reasons. First, I would not buy food at CJ's until after he was forced out of the business. I couldn't fathom giving money to a guy with his political views, despite how much I LOVED their fries and onion rings. Second, it was in a CJ's parking lot that Lynn kicked me to the curb when we were in high school.
So, if you live near a Carl's Jr., Green/Red Burrito or Hardees, go grab something in memory of the old man. He built a huge business out of less than $400. And that's nothing to sneeze at.
He sticks in my mind for a couple of reasons. First, I would not buy food at CJ's until after he was forced out of the business. I couldn't fathom giving money to a guy with his political views, despite how much I LOVED their fries and onion rings. Second, it was in a CJ's parking lot that Lynn kicked me to the curb when we were in high school.
So, if you live near a Carl's Jr., Green/Red Burrito or Hardees, go grab something in memory of the old man. He built a huge business out of less than $400. And that's nothing to sneeze at.
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