Recently in Dining Category
Speaking of banana pudding, I saw that Geer Street Garden offers it on their menu, and I bet it is good. I might give it a try when I go out with the guys tomorrow night.
In other news, we're making a big push to be moved into the "new" house by Saturday evening when Brooklynne's sisters arrive to kick off the summer season of fun. The project left to do are endless, but I find that having a deadline makes me more focused on the essential work. When beach week rolls around in a couple of weeks, I'll have more time to post some before and after shots.
Finally, long-time readers know I'm a wanna be stargazer, so I was glad to see the winning photos from the Earth and Sky photo contest presented by The World at Night. Here are a couple of my favorites.
I went to pick up my new wood supply on Saturday. The load looked good and there were some really nice pieces burried down below, including one enormuos piece that was probably at least 14-16 inches across. I need to get serious about using it. If only I could arrange for a few 30 hour days....
In other news, We ate dinner and watched the first 3/4 of the game with Kristy Kent and Jen Hagin last night. It's always so good to see those guys and it is great to watch the game with other UNC grads whose minds are warped in a similar manner to mine.
Saturday night Brooklynne and I went out on a date to the Rockwood Filling Station. It was good, not too expensive, and the atmosphere was lively.
Sunday morning it was good to be a church for the first time in about a month. In Sunday School we are starting a series on community building, which generated a promising level of discussion. In the service, Alan challenged us to a renewed commitment to studying the sciptures. I plan to take that one to heart. Our small group is also starting a study of the Apostles' Creed. Between these three themes, I think I'll have my head filled most of the time.
Anyway, I'm just ramblng until I get inspired to do some real blogging.
Eat at Joe's linked to an interesting article today about how food habits can affect how we relate to our partners. The most glaring incompatibilities between Brooklynne and I are that she likes "yams" and I like sweet potatoes. Sometimes I like plain vanilla ice cream and she always likes stuff in hers. I love the Rat, and she won't eat there without a suppressed cringe. I like collards and she doesn't. But for the most part, we are food compatible. Not only that, but some of our favorite, most relaxing nights are spent cooking together. I usually chop/prep, and she usually minds the food on the stove. Then we eat and talk about how to make it better, or what esle we could do with that recipe, or what we would like to try next.
I would love to hear about your food stories. Do you have any really good or bad food compatibility stories to share?
Also, you know that I love to look at Time Magazine's online photo essays. There are some really beautiful images and you can usually find a gallery about almost any current news item. Here are some interesting links that I may have posted before, but they relate to the food topic.
One more thing... while poking around for an image to put on this entry, I ran across this letter dated December 14, 2007. Does anyone know any thing about this?
This morning I was quite sad to see the news that Starlu will be closing its doors. From Starlu's website:
To our friends and guests,
The anatomy of goodbye is complicated by emotion. First, there is the news that you are going away; then the explanation and the questions about why; and lastly there is the departure and all its inherent finality.
It is with great sadness that I share with you all that December 22 will be our last day to serve you....
Brooklynne and I only made it out to Starlu once (it was expensive for us, even if it was certainly worth the price), but our experience was the best. Chef Sam came to our table personally to see to see that we were enjoying our meal and to chat briefly about the what we thought about it. He was friendly and down to earth and seemed to think our judgement was as valid as any of his peers, verifying what everyone else had already said about him.
While the food was exceptional, the location was not. Still, a restaurant's quality can be judged on factors that transcend its booths and lighting, or even its cusine, and Sam's business is a leading example of positive community engagement. Also from the Starlu website:
In conjunction with our melancholy, we'd like to share with you the joy of remembering our successes. In our 3+ years in business we:
- helped raise over $43,000 for charity through our Bottles of Change program,
- bought holiday gifts for children living under the auspices of Children's Home Society,
- raised awareness of dozens of great organizations doing wonderful work in Durham and beyond,
- received numerous accolades generated by our diners attesting to their appreciation of what we do,
- and had the pleasure of getting to know so many wonderful people.
Durham will miss Starlu and I can only hope that Sam finds a way to give it another shot sooner rather than later. If you have the chance to take a special evening between now and the 22nd, you should consider visiting this one-of-a-kind venue before it goes, and if Sam stops by your table, wish him the best.
If you want more info, here's the link.
It's once again time for reviews, and this time, you will get a food and movie combo.
FOOD:
Alivia's
Atmosphere: A+
Food: A
Service: B
Price: A ($6-12+)
In keeping with our plan to make Sunday brunch our weekly outing, Brooklynne and I have recently been to Alivia's in downtown Durham, across from Brightleaf. Since we get out of church at 10, and the place opens at 10, we were the first people through the door on Sunday morning. I thought that boded well for the speed of service, but the food took a really long time to come. Once it got there it was good. Brooke's stuffed french toast was excellent, Halleigh enjoyed a bowl of grits despite a unique hint of garlic, and my hamburger was average. I really liked the way they've styled the place, although it was quite cold inside and we wished we had opted for the patio seating. The coffee was very strong, but not burnt like starbuck's. Overall--a good experience.
The Old Grainery
Atmosphere: A+
Food: A-
Service: A-
Price: A- ($8-12+)
The week before, we went out to The Old Grainery at Ferrington Village. Obviously, the atmosphere had a different angle from Alivia's, but it was still a very nice place. The food was slow here too, and it was not as good as Alivia's in general, but it gets bonus points for the country biscuits handed out like tortilla chips at a Mexican place. My eggs benedict was decidedly average, and Brooke's salmon was much too strong for our taste.
Torrero's
Atmosphere: A+
Food: A
Service: A
Price: A ($5-14)
Torrero's at Brightleaf repeatedly proves itself to be the best Mexican Restaurant in the Triangle. Brooklynne's best friend from college, Hailey, is in town this week and Tuesday we took her to our favorite south of the border eatery this side of Pepe's. Everything was great. I do feel the obligation to report that my enchiladas were not the best I've had there, but I can give them a mulligan every once in a while. Brooklynne got the burrito, which was easily enough to feed all three of us.
MOVIES:
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: B+
The movie was solidly entertaining, just like all the others, but I did not think this one stood out as being particularly good among the group. I would rank the first 5 movies in this order: 1, 3, 4, 5, 2. Brooklynne has told me that I'm not allowed to judge the storyline until I've read the books, but I'm holding out for the last movie, because who wants to ruin a good movie by reading the book first?
Other grades:
Bridge to Terabithia: B
The Librarian: D+
Open Season: B
The Prestige: A (watching and reviewing for the second time)
40 Year Old Virgin: D
The Good Shepherd: B
Brooklynne and I have decided we're going to splurge on going out to eat once a week (usually we go out more than once) and we've been trying to enjoy Sunday brunch at a new place each week. We were also busy this weekend, so we ended up getting chinese on Friday night. So I've got some more Durham reviews to share.
Rainbow Chinese
Food: A-
Atmosphere: C-
The food was typical chinese fare--good but nothing special. I had always passed this place on Main Street for years and never went inside, but it had been around so long, I was looking forward to eating there and having a good Durham experience. We thought it was more of a come in and sit down type place, but instead, Rainbow definitely caters to the takeout crowd. You order at the counter and there are no drinks except bottles of cokes in a 7-11-style cooler. I do have to add points for the authenticity though. The Lady and the child who were taking orders were speaking chinese, there was the traditional tank of carp on the counter, and the TV in the dining room was playing what Brooklynne described as the "Chinese Braveheart" with subtitles--not in English as you might expect--but in characters!
Recommendation: Eat here when you want basic chinese takeout, but don't go on a date.
Parker and Otis
Food: A
Atmosphere: A-
Parker and Otis is the new gormet grocery/cafe that took the place of Fowlers by Brightleaf on Duke Street. Right now the place is having a "soft opening" where they do a lowkey opening and get customer feedback before their much-celebrated grand openning. Well, they don't need to change much. The food is great and the prices are pretty cheap. My omlet sandwich was 5.99 and prepared to better-than-average standards. Parker and Otis also carry a neat inventory of microbrews including one called, Brooklyn Pennant Ale 55. Now that's a fun one!
Recommendation: Great place for a Sunday brunch, and it will be even better in the fall when it feels better sitting outside on one of their large decks.
***By the way, I'm not reviewing it here because it has been a while since I've gone, but Pops, next door to Parker and Otis, is perhaps the best dinner place in Durham (15-25.00).***
More reviews to come....
Brooklynne finished her first year of teaching yesterday and we wanted to whoop it up doing something fun and crazy, but we didn't know what exactly. So we drove into the District just hoping to stumble onto something great. But after driving randomly through several shady neighborhoods, we decided to drive back out of the city and continue our quest in the countryside. In the end, we found ourselves up to our elbows in some of the best Maryland steamed crabs I've ever had in my mouth! 
I'm not sure what the difference is, but we ordered a dozen (but somehow got several extra) medium males. This was more than enough to make us sick by the end of the night and we went to bed still licking the Old Bay-like spices from the corners of our mouths. It was heaven and a special memory that I doubt either of us will soon forget. Could this be the beginning of an end-of-school tradition? We can only hope! Now, I can't let this tasty dish escape me so the challenge becomes finding instructions to do it ourselves. Any ideas? Also, click the "continue reading" link to see my own walk-through for gutting a steamed crab.
Tonight, Miles and I went to the City Corner Cafe in Old Town Manassas. For our first review, I rated it in five categories: price, selection, atmosphere, food and drink, and service....
