Category: Restaurants

Carolina Comments: Demonstrating, Reading, Eating

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POLITICAL PROTEST

Hands Off!

Hands Off in Raleigh (L. Lawrence)

It has been gratifying whether personally or vicariously to experience the fabulous turnout in the many Hands Off protests across the country and around the world.  Family members and friends of ours participated in Greensboro, Raleigh, Philadelphia, Indiana, and D.C.  

In Greensboro
Greensboro

These demonstrations send a powerful visual message of anger and outrage over the brutal dismantling of the U.S. government and cavalier disregard for the rule of law.  May that message be received!

RECENT READING: RESILIENCE IN WARTIME

Author Hunter

One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter

Over the past decade, I’ve read quite a few historical novels about World War II.  Spies, undercover librarians, and brave ordinary people are featured.  Most of these novels are set in France, Eastern Europe, or Britain.  One Good Thing takes place in Italy from 1940-1944, initially near Bologna and Florence and ultimately in Rome. 

Lili and Esti became good friends at university and remained so when Esti married Niko and had her son, Theo.  Life was relatively good until the imposition of Mussolini’s Racial Laws targeting Jews.  When Germany invaded Italy, life became more dangerous for Jewish Lili.  With her friends involved in the Resistance, Lili is persuaded to join their effort and take a bunch of refugee children to hide out in a convent in Florence.  For her, this begins several years of upheaval, multiple moves, and dangerous encounters despite carrying a fake ID.

This is a novel not only of resilience, what individuals will risk when their freedom and livelihood are in peril, but a depiction of close friendship and extreme loyalty. It is both compelling and thrilling.  You will be there with Lili in her struggle to survive and find a safe place for the future.  Hunter, part of a family of Holocaust survivors, is also the author of the bestseller, We Were the Lucky Ones, now adapted as a series on Hulu.  Recommended! (~JWFarrington)

EATING OUT

Sushi-Thai Cary

Interior of Sushi-Thai

This combination Japanese and Thai restaurant is a short distance away in a strip mall behind a gas station.  It was recommended by friends.  We walked there and sampled several dishes from the Thai portion of the menu.  

Our first course was crispy shrimps in a blanket followed by pad Thai with chicken and spicy basil with chicken.  We requested medium spicy and found that this was probably hot enough for both of us.  The entrée portions were generous, and we ended up taking some home.  We’ll be back to try the other half of the menu!

Academy Street Bistro

Regular readers know we walk downtown often.  A favorite stop late in the day or for an early dinner is the Academy Street Bistro.  Several weeks ago, on the spur of the moment, I suggested we stop for a glass of wine.  I had pinot grigio, the Chief Penguin had an Old Fashioned, and we shared a tasty plate of fried calamari with peppadews.  The perfect way to celebrate an early spring day!

We had heard that the soup of the day on weekends is lobster bisque.  Thus, we had a mission, get there on the right day to sample it.  Yesterday we sat outside and dined early on small bowls of lobster bisque followed by ahi tuna for the CP and a large Caesar salad for me. Everything was good.  The day was warm, and there were few other people outside, making it preferable to the noisy, bustling inside dining room.

Carolina Comments: Reading & Eating

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RECENT READING: ADVENTURE AND SUSPENSE

ADRIFT IN THE PACIFIC

The Baileys (theguardian.com)

Maurice and Maralyn:  An Extraordinary True Story of Shipwreck, Survival and Love by Sophie Elmhirst

Maurice Bailey was a quiet Englishman, a print setter, awkward, insecure, and uncomfortable around other people.  He lived alone, wanted to escape his dowdy village, and never expected to marry.  Nine years younger, Maralyn was confident and assertive.  Maurice substituted with a friend to attend a car rally with Maralyn, and to his surprise, she enjoyed his company.  They married and then started saving and planning to build a boat to take them far away from England, as far away as New Zealand.

Maurice and Maralyn, a small gem, is the story of their fateful voyage.  They loved their little boat, but a collision with a whale caused it to sink.  That left them adrift in the Pacific with just a raft and a dinghy and each other.  Maurice without Maralyn’s bolstering attitude would never have survived; Maralyn was purposeful, always with a goal, but she needed him also. Awaiting rescue and watching the few passing ships not see them, they managed to forage and eat and survive.  It was a lengthy endurance test for their marriage and their lives. Recommended for readers looking for harrowing and poignant adventure!

HOT THRILLER

Seeing Red by Sandra Brown

Author Brown (wikipedia.com)

Sandra Brown is an author I had not previously read until a friend loaned me one of her books.  She’s written numerous romantic thrillers, and Seeing Red is good escapism with a bit of steamy sex tossed in. 

Texas TV broadcaster Kerra Bailey is thrilled to have finally finagled an interview with retired Major Trapper.  A local hero for his role in successfully saving people from a horrendous warehouse blast, the major has avoided the press for many years.  When he is shot in his own home after the interview and Kerra must flee for her life, she becomes entangled with the major’s estranged son John.  

John Trapper is now a private detective. He left his job working for the Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms bureau under duress after he asked too many seemingly crazy questions about that earlier blast.  Together Kerra and John become targets, while he remains obsessed with solving the old mystery of who set the blast.  Traps and lies and secrets abound as it’s unclear who can be trusted.  The plot details are not always convincing, but I still found this mostly fast paced novel a good read!

DINING OUT: JAPANESE FUSION

Zest Sushi & Small Plates

Zest interior looking out

As a treat to ourselves, we headed downtown for lunch at Zest, a relatively new restaurant on Chatham Street.  It’s on a corner in an expansive space with lots of glass and a very open feeling.  The menu is huge, and everyone should be able to find something to order, whether a lover of sushi or just curious to explore new tastes.  There are sushi rolls galore, both classic and specialty ones, along with seafood in various forms (bowls, towers, chilled), lots of oyster preparations, entrees from shaking beef to green coconut curry, and lunchtime bento boxes.

The service was friendly and very welcoming.  The Chief Penguin ordered fried calamari (we love fried calamari, and every restaurant seems to add its own twist), and theirs had a bit of heat from the Japanese spice blend, togarshi.  He followed that with Screaming “o”, a sushi roll with spicy tuna, seared tuna, and tempura shrimp.  I sampled the shrimp tempura Bento box. 

Bento box at Zest

 The box was lovely and delicious; everything was very fresh, and I got to try tidbits of spring roll, California roll, and pork dumplings along with the shrimp and a ginger salad. 

With the many menu choices, you could eat here for weeks before sampling everything!  There are also daily specials such as Two for Tuesday (specialty rolls) and Sake Sundays.  We will be back.

TEASER

Watch for more next week on a new exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Art.

Detail, Sometimes the King is a Woman, Amy Sherald

Note: Unattributed photos including header photo, Blazing March Sunrise, ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Carolina Comments: Potpourri

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MUSICIAL INTERLUDE

Chamber Music Raleigh

The Chief Penguin and I are new to the Chamber Music Raleigh series.  It’s held in an intimate auditorium in the North Carolina Museum of Art on Sunday afternoons.  To date, the performers have included a cello quartet (yes, 4 cellos!), a trio of female string players, and most recently, the Italian pianist Alessandro Marangoni. 

Pianist Marangoni (prestomusic.com)

Marangoni’s playing was a delight as he entertained us with a handful of pieces by Gioachino Rossini.  Most of these were unfamiliar but light, and in one case even quirky, with the pianist vocalizing the sounds of a parakeet (Les raisins: A ma petite perruche) while navigating the keys.  Marangoni was the first to record many of Rossini’s works on disc. 

For us, and for the friends with us, the highlight of the concert, however, was his rendition of several pieces by Chopin, including a nocturne, a ballade, and a polonaise.  These showcased both Chopin’s virtuosity and Marangoni’s talent.  

RECENT READING: EXPERIENCING BOTH SEXES

Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space between Us by Jennifer Finney Boylan

Boylan & Jodi Picoult (mysteryandsuspense.com)

I have read and followed Jennifer Finney Boylan since the publication in 2003 of her groundbreaking book on transitioning entitled, She’s Not There.  For years, Boylan was a columnist for the New York Times; more recently, she co-authored an excellent novel with Jodi Picoult.  That is Mad Honey released in 2022.  

Her new book, the cleverly titled Cleavage, is a series of reflections on both parts of her life, before transition as a boy and man, and later as her current female self.  Boylan relates anecdotes about incidents with her father, her mother’s loving acceptance of her as Jennifer not Jim, and a series of adolescent friendships with guys Jim hung out with and some she knew later as a woman.  

She also riffs on how she was treated differently as a female, as for example, no longer being seen as an authority figure in the classroom. Unusual as it might seem, Boylan and her wife Deedie remain happily married to each other.  They have two adult children, and Boylan recounts her angst and mixed feelings when their younger son came out to them and transitioned to female.  

Boylan was a professor at Colby College for 25 years and then became a writer-in-residence at Barnard.  She has given many lectures over the years, both in and out of the classroom, so quotes from literature and philosophy are numerous.  She has also written several other personal works (none of which I’ve read), and some material here feels cobbled together and occasionally like it doesn’t quite fit its chapter’s theme.  

Overall, however, Boylan writes with warmth, wit, wisdom, and graphic candor coupled with an overarching love for her family and friends.  She states that when she transitioned 25 years ago, she was mostly greeted with acceptance and felt comfortable.  Would that the national mood today were the same!  Recommended for readers wanting to know more about living in two genders.  (~JWFarrington)

LOCAL FARE

Dinner at Saap

I have written before about Saap, Cary’s Laotian restaurant, but it’s worth mentioning again.  Located on Walker Street behind the Cary Downtown Park, it offers a flavorful menu of both familiar and new Asian cuisine.  The space is bright with large windows and a hardwood floor, and you can dine here at lunch or dinner.  

Spring rolls (carolinas.eater.com)

This week the Chief Penguin and I started our dinner with an order of their delicious crispy spring rolls followed by pad lao, a noodle dish with tiger shrimp, for him and the red chicken curry with jasmine rice for me.  My curry was excellent with just the right amount of heat.  The portion was generous, and I brought some home for the next day’s lunch.  We dined on the early side and the noise level was minimal; as it filled up, it became what many would consider too lively.  Highly recommended!

Note: Header photo detail of Sunflower No. 3 by Jeff Dale ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Carolina Moments: January Diversions

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January is a winter month, and very much so this year for much of the U.S. We cocoon more, spend more time reading and watching TV, and only venture out when the weather moderates. Here you’ll find a thoughtful novel, a comforting drama series, good food in Cary, and reflections on a noted chef.

NOVEL OF THE WEEK

Mothers and Sons by Adam Haslett

Author Haslett (hatchettebookgroup.com)

Prize-winning fiction writer, Adam Haslett is the author of short stories and several novels.  I found his 2016 novel, Imagine Me Gone about depression within a family, compelling and sensitive.  His latest novel, Mothers and Sons, might simplistically be dubbed a novel about gay love.  But it is so much more than that.  It’s a novel of feelings, nuanced relationships, estrangement, violence, and secrets.  

Peter Fischer is a 40ish immigration lawyer in New York, dedicated to his work almost to the point of obsession.  He deals with individuals traumatized by the violence or abuse they experienced in their home country, who seek to stay legally in the U.S.  Peter has little social life outside the job and tepid relationships with his work colleagues.  He is estranged from his mother Ann and seldom in contact with his sister Liz.

Ann was an Episcopal minister who left her husband, Peter’s father, for another woman.  Together she and Clare founded and built a retreat center for women in rural Vermont.  In dealing with the case of Vasel, a young gay man from Albania, Peter finds himself reliving and agonizing anew over his adolescent friendship with his classmate Jared.  Haunted by his reflections, he at last visits his mother to explore their mutual past.

This is a deliberate novel with perhaps too many immigration cases leading up to Peter’s focus on Vasel.  Vasel’s elusiveness and withholding of details push Peter to review his own relationships and actions of twenty years ago.  Meanwhile, his mother misses her son but is examining her own love for Clare, while trying to shove aside her attraction to another community member.  The events of twenty years ago don’t really feature in her memory until Peter comes to visit.  

This novel probes its characters’ innermost feelings. They are complex individuals whose vulnerability and weaknesses the author shares. Chapters occasionally alternate between present day and Peter’s memories of his teenage years.  Recommended for fans of literary fiction!  (~JWFarrington)

COMFORT VIEWING

All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 (PBS Masterpiece)

Helen, Jimmy, & James (parade.com)

If you’re looking for something soothing and somewhat sentimental, Season 5 Of All Creatures Great and Small may be just right.  It takes place in a somewhat simpler time, albeit marked by James’ and Tristan’s war service and the anguished worry and waiting of their family back home. 

Quirky veterinary intern Richard Carmody provides additional color while security warden Mr. Bosworth’s gruff and exacting exterior masks a soft center.  Baby Jimmy ‘s cuteness appeals to everyone, and Helen and Mrs. Hall capably maintain the household and keep Siegried and everyone on an even keel.  It’s a heartwarming series with moments of poignance and levity.  Recommended!

ABROAD AT HOME: LUNCH IN CARY

Pro’s Epicurean Market & Cafe

Colorful olives

The weather on Saturday had warmed up enough that we walked downtown, by the park, and farther on to try Pro’s Epicurean. It’s a brightly lit, attractive restaurant that also functions as a market for wines, vinegars and their dishes.  The cuisine is a mix of French and Italian with charcuterie and cheeses, crepes, salads, pastas, meat and seafood entrees, and a host of specialty sandwiches.  The staff were friendly and very welcoming.  

Between us, we sampled the olive medley, the country pate, and a best-to-be-hungry sausage, peppers, onion, and melted mozzarella Raphael sandwich.  The sandwiches can be had on a baguette, seeded rye, or a soft roll; the Raphael would have been easier to eat had it been on a roll.   Wines, beer, mixed and soft drinks, and creative mocktails are also on the menu.  In warmer weather, you can eat out on their patio.  Recommended!

REMEMBERING CHEF CHARLES PHAN

The Chief Penguin and I enjoyed many delicious Vietnamese meals at Charles Phan’s Slanted Door restaurant in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Some of my favorite dishes were the imperial spring rolls, his signature shaking beef cubes, and cellophane noodles with crabmeat.  He was a pioneer who gave Vietnamese cuisine new prominence on the food scene.

We also got to know Charles a bit as he created and oversaw the first dining venues at the then newly open California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.  Over the years, he opened satellite locations of Slanted Door along with developing other restaurant concepts.  Covid closed the Slanted Door in San Francisco, but other locations exist in Napa and elsewhere.  Sadly, Charles Phan died of a heart attack at 62 this past week.  We have fond memories of his cooking.

Note: Header photo of January sunrise and olive medley ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)