Category: Books

Tidy Tidbits: A Book & Dining Out Options

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BOOK OF THE WEEK

All the Beauty in the World:  The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley

In a time of family illness and subsequent loss, Patrick Bringley found a job and solace in a place he first visited as a child with his mother.  Mired in grief over his older brother’s death and only 26, he began working as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum.  He loved the quiet, almost uninterrupted, stretches of time it provided, and he took in the art in a studied way.  

His book is both an account of the inner workings of the museum’s security force: the various gallery assignments and the rotations that happen in each workday, and a portrait of some of his fellow guards and the friendships he made.  He also provides detailed discussions of some of the paintings, sculptures, and objects he particularly likes or was struck by.  Some of these works are illustrated by delicate black and white sketches.  

Bringley was a museum guard for ten years.  During that time, the reader experiences his growing maturity, his marrying and becoming a father, and when he reaches the point he felt ready to leave the Met’s cloistered world.  

Having read this, I doubt I will ever view museum guards the same way, and I will appreciate the Metropolitan a bit differently on my next visit.  I would recommend this to art lovers in general, but particularly to anyone who already has some familiarity with this museum.  Thanks to my friend Gale for sharing it. (~JWFarrington)

EATING OUT—BRADENTON-SARASOTA FAVORITES

As I get ready to leave Florida, I thought I’d share a list of some of the restaurants the Chief Penguin (my favorite dining companion) and I have enjoyed over our years here.

BRADENTON & CORTEZ

Bonefish Grill—close by at 75th Street, a chain restaurant, but consistently very good!  We love the sinful Bang Bang Shrimp and I, their shrimp and scallop combo with two sides.

Chateau 13—in our opinion the best fine dining restaurant and the most sophisticated in the greater Sarasota-Bradenton area!  Small plates as well as full-size entrees.  I loved the stuffed piquillo peppers and the French salad.  Menu changes seasonally.

Cremesh—Over in restaurant row on Manatee by Publix and Staples, this Austro-German restaurant serves delicious hearty fare.  Think schnitzels, beef goulash over noodles or mashed potatoes, or a salmon picatta. Simple décor and friendly wait staff.

Cortez Kitchen—One of the first casual places we tried here.  It was the essence of funky with its mix of snowbirds, tourists, and regulars plus live music on the weekends.  The food was good, not superb; we liked the coconut shrimp and the mahi sandwich. Cindy with striped hair was our favorite regular waitress.  Now Cortez Kitchen has been taken over by the Swordfish Grill owners and gussied up.  

New tables and chairs, including some of those awful high tables, but an enlarged seating area and more protection from the elements.  The humorous signs are gone (“If you’re here to forget, please pay first” and “Time spent drinking beer is not deducted from your lifespan”), but we had lunch there recently and were delightfully surprised.  My mahi sandwich was truly excellent, the Caesar salad very good, and the C.P.’s Cuban sandwich a treat.  Worth visiting!

Clam Factory—a roadhouse on Cortez Road serving delectable fried fish, a mean meatloaf special, and, if you’re a fan, fried clams, of course!  Additional seating outside.

Mean Deans—The name is misleading. This is a casual place, but the food is better and more interesting than you might expect.  Good salads, lovely swordfish, and nightly specials.  Watch for New England or New Orleans weeks with an appealing mix of land and sea options. 

Modern Chop—Next to Blake Hospital this steak house also serves fish.  It’s a step up from Mean Deans in décor and ambiance and is good. 

Pesto—Sitting on Cortez Road almost at 86th St. West, this cozy Italian eatery serves generous portions of pasta and meats.  Outside seating on a pleasant evening can be a welcome change from inside.

Swordfish Grill—Since they covered their tiki deck, Swordfish is now more appealing in almost any weather.  Fish, of course, calamari, salads, and sandwiches; it’s an extensive menu.  Food is good, but in my opinion, not outstanding.  Go to be at water’s edge!

(TideTablesCortez.com)

Tide Tables—A family favorite of ours.  Their grouper and mahi sandwiches and baskets are wonderful with cole slaw or baked beans on the side.  Very fresh!  As a special treat, the homemade key lime pie is luscious! On the water so you can see boats and walk on the short dock.

Thai Palace—One of several restaurants on Cortez Road we like.  Small inside, but attractive, and one of their curries always satisfy my Thai yen.

ANNA MARIA & LONGBOAT KEY

Mar Vista—One of a handful of restaurants where you can enjoy a table on the sand.  Other options are inside tables or on the partially covered patio.  Fresh fish, great salads, and their trademark tater tots!

Interior seating (Whitney’s)

Whitney’s—Who would have thought a gas station would have a second life as a casual seafood restaurant!  Seasonal fare, a bit more elaborate preparations than the usual (fish with rice entrée, for example) and very tasty!  No reservations, so go early, especially during the season.

Shore—A date night, special occasion place just down the road from Whitney’s.  A big place with lots of seating, some open air, and often a bit noisy.  Food options are varied and with some creative twists.

SARASOTA

Beso—One of Sarasota’s newest eateries offering a wide range of tapas.  It’s in the Mark complex and looks to have a lively bar scene as well as dining.  We’ve eaten here twice and enjoyed the shrimps in olive oil, patatas brava, and other small plates.

Duval’s—A longtime favorite on Main Street.  Duval’s serves lunch and dinner and their fish is some of the freshest around.  Décor is traditional to slightly dated, wait staff is friendly and competent, and we’ve enjoyed many good meals here. Wide choice of sandwiches and salads for lunch and entrée portions at dinner.

481 Gourmet (OpenTable.com)

481 Gourmet—Located in the Rosemary District, 481 is a fine dining venue with both indoor and outdoor seating.  Their menu includes pasta, scallops, shrimp scampi, duck, lamb, and of course, beef. 

The Rosemary and Thyme—A slightly pricier restaurant, The Rosemary shares a patio with 481.  Menu options run the gamut from some intriguing appetizers like escargots and a Chimichurri kebab to halibut, grouper, and steak frites entrees.

Pho Cali—Also on Main Street, Pho Cali is the essence of straightforward Vietnamese cooking.  Extremely casual serving super noodle dishes and stir fries.  Very popular at lunch time.  I occasionally crave my favorite, chicken with broccoli stir fry with rice, to which I add a trace of hot pepper.

El Melvin Cocina Mexicana—Hankering for a good margarita and some guacamole and chips, this place is perfect for lunch at a sidewalk table.  Follow that with enchiladas, a quesadilla, or even some tamales and you’ll soon be satisfied.  

Note: Header photo of courtesy of Toast.

Tidy Tidbits: Read, Watch, Get Ready!

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BOOK OF THE WEEK

While You Were Out:  An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence by Meg Kissinger

Author Kissinger (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Meg Kissinger, a noted journalist who spent several decades covering mental illness issues, bares her soul and that of her family in While You Were Out, a candid and raw account of her family’s travails.  Children of the 60’s, she and her seven siblings lived with alcoholic parents and a mother who was also subject to depression.  Life in their household was chaotic yet punctuated by moments of fun and levity.  Problems were never discussed and no one’s behavior or issues was ever really questioned. 

When several of Kissinger’s siblings had their own mental health problems, treatments were tried, but nothing much changed, and there was no chance to query or understand the what and the why.  Even after a self-inflicted death, no talk or therapy was undertaken.  

This can be a hard book to read at points.  To her great credit, Kissinger presents each of her siblings as a multi-dimensional individual with pluses and good traits as well as shortcomings.  It is a tribute to her own strength of character that Kissinger navigated through this thicket of surrounding illness to create the successful life and journalism career she has.  Highly recommended! (~JWFarrington)

MY LATEST VIEWING

POLITICS OF FARMING AND BIG AGRICULTURE

Circles of Power (PBS Passport)

Journalist Lansel (Liberation)

Circles of Power, a recent French series (2022), is sometimes more like a documentary than a drama series.  Claire Lansel is an investigative journalist for Quotidienne, a daily newspaper.  When a class of school children visits a grain silo in the north of France, several of them become overwhelmed and collapse.  Thus begins a focus on what caused their sickness.  Small independent farmers, a large agricultural cooperative, the minister of agriculture, union leaders, and a rabble-rousing group of young environmentalists are all players in this many-threaded story.  I wondered if it were based on real incidents, but couldn’t find an answer to that.

This is a drama of painstaking research and difficult interviews with affected individuals, many afraid to speak out. Add in mothers with sick babies and the human side plays out against the politics of likely corporate greed.  The pace is measured with lots of scenes of Claire driving through the countryside, but it kept my interest as I rooted for the “good guys” to prevail.  

NEW ADVENTURES AHEAD

(Zazzle from Pinterest.com)

Next month, the Chief Penguin and I will begin a new adventure.  We will move to a retirement community in North Carolina.  We didn’t anticipate making this kind of move this soon, but the right opportunity presented itself and we accepted.  

Now, we’re deep into downsizing: identifying which furniture pieces will work and in which rooms; going through decades of scrapbooks and memorabilia deciding what can go, what to digitize, and what to just toss; winnowing down and culling kitchen equipment (how many fry pans does one need?); reviewing cherished fine china and glassware to either pass on to family or give up; and making umpteen lists about what to take in the car, which vendors need to be notified, and so on.  Some of it is a process of reducing “clutter,” although one would never call these “precious” items clutter! 

We look forward to living in an urban area where we will be able to walk to stores, restaurants, parks, and the public library.  And a first-class bakery!  We will have family nearby, and, as long as we can, we will travel both here and abroad.  And yes, I plan to continue Jots & Jaunts (www.jauntingjean.com) with regular posts once we get settled.  I’m not signing off yet!

Note: Header photo of ibises on the hunt ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Tidy Tidbits: Page, Screen, & Plate

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RECENT READING: WIVES IN THE 1960’S

Absolution by Alice McDermott

Author McDermott (Macmillan.com)

Set in Saigon in 1963, Absolution focuses on the lives of several wives of Navy officers.  Tricia, just 23, has only been married a short time to lawyer Peter on loan to navy intelligence.  She is taken up by the somewhat older, more sophisticated Charlene, mother of three.  Charlene is forceful, attractive, and domineering and has gathered around her a small group of women to do her bidding.  While society views their primary functions as motherhood and being a good helpmate to their husbands, Charlene has ideas about how to do good and raise money to help the local population.  Employing the talents of a local native seamstress and acquiring a bunch of newly released Barbie dolls, Charlene involves Tricia and others in her charity schemes.  

These events are re-lived sixty years later through the eyes of now senior citizen Tricia and Rainey, Charlene’s daughter (a child at the time). They have reconnected through letters.

I think what McDermott tries to do in portraying a little known aspect of American servicemen’s wives in Vietnam is laudable, but I found this novel hard to like.  Charlene is an unsympathetic character, and Tricia is too easily led until the packed punch of the culminating event. The details of 1960’s life were familiar and convincing, but I expected something more from the renewed connection between Tricia and Rainey, some better reason for retrospectively sharing their memories of that time.  Why did Rainey become significant to Tricia?  For me, it wasn’t clear.

The novel has received significant praise; I give it a qualified recommendation.

VIEWING DELIGHTS 

NEW YORK HIGH SOCIETY

The Gilded Age Season 2 ($ Amazon Prime et al)

Gladys Russell with her parents (TVInsider.com)

Julian Fellowes is masterful!  Creator of Downton Abbey, screenwriter for Gosford Park and The Chaperone among others, his latest drama, The Gilded Age, is both fun and insightful.  Set in 1882 in New York, it follows young Marian Brooks’ entrance into high society with its battles between old money (Mrs. Astor and the van Rhijns) and new (Bertha and George Russell).  Marian is a niece of the van Rhijns, and she and her Aunts Agnes and Ada live across the street from the Russell family.  

A young woman’s goal then was to conduct herself discreetly and find a promising rich man to marry.  Marian breaks with convention by teaching watercolors at a school and is good friends with Peggy Scott, Aunt Agnes’ Black secretary.  Add in Peggy’s parents, and her work as a journalist, and one gets a view of a Black middle class on the rise.  Historic events such as the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge and steelworkers threatening action add richness. They also document the social changes afoot.  

I thought this season was even better than the first one, and I loved the fashions.  The hats are something else! There are 8 episodes, and a third season is planned.   Highly recommended! 

COURAGEOUS FIGHTER PILOTS

Masters of the Air (Apple TV+)

B-17 bomber (AVweb.com)

This is not my usual fare, but the Chief Penguin and I are watching it together on our big TV.  Produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg among others, Masters of the Air, a World War II series is getting rave reviews for its technical effects.  This account of the perilous missions carried out by the American pilots and crews of the 100th Bomb Group is harrowing, finger-biting, and compelling.  Risking daytime raids over Nazi Germany, the ten men in each plane never know whether they will get shot down, lose an engine and limp back, or need to bail out of a flaming plane into enemy territory.  Some missions were successful, and bombs were dropped on the correct target; others failed and some, but not all the men, returned to base still alive. 

Two majors known as Buck and Buckley, very different in style and temperament, are the lead characters.  With them and their men, one feels the physical and the emotional challenges they face in carrying out these missions.  

Based on a book of the same name, the series has nine episodes and is being released weekly.  Three episodes are currently available.  Recommended for WWII fans!

DINING NOTE

Duval’s on Main Street in downtown Sarasota reliably delivers fresh fish and nicely prepared meals.  We had lunch here earlier this week with graduate school friends visiting from Michigan.  Service is friendly and efficient and the food very good.  Our group enjoyed superior clam chowder, a twisted ahi tuna sandwich, salads, and a shrimp po’ boy.  

January Jots: Reading & Viewing

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BOOKS: LITERARY & MYSTERIOUS

Dayswork by Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel

(Boston Globe)

Dayswork is unlike any other novel I’ve read, and I loved it.  Written in a style that consists of two-to-three-line paragraphs followed by bursts of conversation and quotes from other writers, it’s quirky, fun, thoughtful, and literary, all at once.  

A woman academic stuck at home during the pandemic is researching Herman Melville’s life, work, and marriage.  Simultaneously, her husband is also around, referred to occasionally, and at one point, quarantining in their basement.  

In the process of her work, we learn about Melville’s writing struggles after the success of Moby Dick, his intense friendship with neighbor Nathaniel Hawthorne, his possible abuse of his wife Lizzie, and his neglect of their children.  Interspersed are quotes and notations from modern critics like Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Hardwick, or contemporaries like Emily Dickinson, along with comments about the work of other Melville biographers including one known initially only as the Biographer.  His identity is finally revealed at the end.  

Like going on a scavenger hunt with many clues, one stray comment about an event or a person inevitably leads to additional information about that action or person.  Overall the novel is a treasure trove of strands that come together to form a more rounded portrayal of Melville, the author and the man, while she reflects on the tumultuous marriage of Lowell and Hardwick as well as her own marriage choices.

The authors, Bachelder and Habel, are respectively a novelist and a poet, and married to each other.  This is their first joint work.  Highly recommended for fans of Melville and what constitutes a creative life! (~JWFarrington)

The Maid by Nita Prose

(Amazon.com)

A bestseller in more than forty countries and optioned to become a movie, The Maid starts out as simple story of the daily life of a lowly mostly invisible hotel worker.  Molly lives alone, doesn’t have friends, and still misses her deceased grandmother who raised her.  At first, I didn’t like this book. I thought it was dully written, and I was exasperated by Molly’s complete lack of awareness of the situations in which she was putting herself.  Yes, she is different and appears to be on the autism spectrum, which might be some justification for the slow pace. Then it picks up and becomes gripping.  One wonders how Molly, all alone, will cope with being accused of crimes she mostly didn’t commit.   

Prose is a book editor in Canada whose second novel, The Mystery Guest, also featuring Molly, was published late last year.  The other readers in my book group also found The Maid slow going, but we had a good discussion about Molly’s character and whether her later actions are believable.  A light read that might be good for an afternoon.

MOVIE–FRAGILE FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

May December (Netflix)

Gracie & Joe (People)

Borrowing from a legal case in the 1990’s of a teacher (Mary Kay Letourneau) who had sex with her 13-year-old student, May December focuses on a similar couple and their children 25 years later.  Husband Joe, who initially comes across as an overgrown kid, is thirty-six.  Wife Gracie, now in her 50’s, is needy, overbearing, and seemingly so naïve.  Their twins are getting ready for high school graduation and leaving home for college. They live in an elegant house in Savannah with a pool under construction in the backyard.  Who made or inherited the money for what appears to be a very comfortable lifestyle is never made clear.

Elizabeth Berry, a well-known actress, visits them as research for playing Gracie in a new film.  Elizabeth questions Joe and Gracie and the kids and interviews their friends and Gracie’s first husband.  She insinuates herself into their lives and both causes and exposes cracks and fissures in what first presented as a placid surface.  

More is revealed about Joe and Gracie’s past, and the viewer and Elizabeth are left to wonder what is true and what is not.  Who is credible?  Who is the predator?  Or as Gracie blurted out at one point, “Who is in charge?”  Is this a case of delayed acceptance of one’s personal responsibility?  

Without revealing too much, there’s an early scene at Joe’s teenage workplace, where the viewer gets a foretaste of the danger that lies ahead.  Later, we see Joe begin to emerge from his cocoon as he shares a poignant moment with his son on the roof.  

Discomfiting, unfathomable, and yet strangely absorbing, it is powerful stuff.  Not a film for everyone, but one that will stay with me.  Julianne Moore as Gracie and Nathalie Portman as Elizabeth are superb as Elizabeth mirrors Gracie’s gestures and intonation.  (~JWFarrington)

TV–PALATE CLEANSER

All Creatures Great and Small, Season 4 (PBS Masterpiece)

Carmody (uk.finance.yahoo.com)

This season of All Creatures is both more serious than previous ones and simultaneously stickier with syrup.  World War II is present and being called up is looming for James.  Siegfried hires a sort of office manager, an attractive woman he met on the dance floor, and James presses for some additional help with Tristan away serving his country.  They take on vet student Richard Carmody, a knowledgeable nerd who is socially inept.  

Meanwhile, Helen and Mrs. Hall cope with changing circumstances that are both welcome and challenging.  The scenes with Mrs. Pomphrey are always fun, and in most episodes, things come out right in the end.  Enjoyable!

Note: Header image of January sky ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)