Category: Restaurants

Tidy Tidbits: Reading & Eating

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CONCERT NOTE

Kudos to the Ladies

Hensel, 1842 by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (Wikipedia)

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel was a talented and precocious composer and pianist.  But, she was female, and as sister to her talented brother Felix, she was relegated to the back of the room.  Their father declared that Felix would have the musical career and she would not.  In her day, some of her more than four hundred compositions were attributed to Felix. It is only recently that her work has been rediscovered.

We had the great pleasure recently of hearing a performance of Fanny Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D Minor by three very talented women, Carmit Zori, violin, Natalie Helm, cello, and Jean Schneider, piano.  Pianist Schneider got the biggest workout on this demanding piece.  It concluded the concert and was a fitting end to our set of Sarasota Music Festival concerts!

RECENT READING

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

This is Cleeton’s second novel related to Cuba, this time featuring Beatriz, one of the sisters in the sugar rich Perez family who fled Havana for Palm Beach after Castro took over their government.  Beatriz is determined to avenge her activist brother’s death in that revolution and very much wants to return to their Havana homestead.  On the periphery of Palm Beach society, restless and bored by the endless round of parties, Beatriz is easily importuned to get involved in espionage. 

Discouraged by what she sees as feeble efforts by the Americans on Cuba’s behalf and quickly becoming involved with highly regarded U.S. senator, Nick Preston, she never knows for sure whom she can trust and to what degree.  This novel about the Cold War and the Cuban crises of the early 60’s is absorbing, suspenseful and romantic.  The perfect beach read! (~JWFarrington)

Exposure by Helen Dunmore

Helen Dunmore was a British poet, novelist and author of children’s books.  A prolific writer, she died of cancer in 2017 at only 64. This novel is one of her last works.  Exposure is a look into London in 1960 during the Cold War when there were still secrets and spies. But it is not a conventional spy novel; rather Dunmore focuses on the details and minutiae of life for three individuals all impacted by the misplacement of a top-secret file.  

Giles Galloway, middle-aged, works for the Admiralty, as does Simon Callington, a younger married father of two children.  Simon’s wife Lily, who emigrated from Germany as a child, is a part-time schoolteacher. When Giles falls in his flat and calls Simon to retrieve the file and return it, but Simon doesn’t, life unravels for all of them.  Giles ends up in the hospital, Simon is arrested, and Lily leaves her job. What secrets they hold close, how they cope with dire straits, and how each puzzles out what should be exposed and what not, make for a multi-faceted novel—part love story, part human drama, part thriller.  (~JWFarrington)

CASUAL DINING

Metro Diner

A friend introduced me to Bradenton’s Metro Diner, one of several local locations for this chain.  The restaurant is airy and attractive with a mix of booths along the walls and tables in the middle of the space.  A large American flag (made of tile?) graces much of one side wall.  Specials of the day are on a blackboard at the rear and included a green tomato BLT, beef pot pie, and two soups of the day (loaded potato and their version of Manhattan clam chowder).  The menu is a mix of traditional diner fare (meatloaf, hot turkey sandwich) as well as fried chicken and waffles, salads, and variations on eggs Benedict for breakfast.   We sampled the beef pot pie and the white meat chicken salad sandwich with cole slaw (one of several choices of sides).  Both were very good.  Portions are generous to very large so go with an appetite.  Our waitress was friendly and helpful and took good care of us. 

Blue Marlin Seafood

Steamed clams

This deep blue cottage is cute inside with nautical notes that would be as right in Maine as they are here in Bradenton Beach.  Our dining partner knew the ropes and had requested a table in the front room—and we got the best one.  This room is quieter and a bit more open than the back room and bar.  For a livelier crowd and a more boisterous experience, there are also outdoor tables and live music.  

Thai snapper nugz

Everything we ordered was fresh and delicious and exceeded my modest expectations.  The house salad had a tasty Caesar-like dressing, and my steamed clams were luscious in a broth that included nubs of bacon and a dash of hot pepper along with the requisite garlic.  My companions ordered fish nuggets prepared Thai style, exquisite scallops on roasted Brussels sprouts, and the black grouper (fish of the day).  We ordered mostly small plates and small salads which are very reasonably priced; the fish entrees tend toward the mid-30’s. This was a great discovery and we’ll put it on our regular list!

Note: Text and photos ©JWFarrington except as noted.

Tidy Tidbits: Screen, Page & Plate

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SMALL SCREEN

Shetland (Amazon Prime & BritBox)

DI Perez and his colleagues (bbcstudios.com.au)

We recently watched Seasons 5 and 6 of this Scottish detective series and it’s excellent.  One of the best of its kind!  Each season consists of six episodes and there is only one case that’s ongoing across the entire season.  More than most, this is a character-driven series, and Douglas Henshall as DI Jimmy Perez is superb.  He’s a compassionate man who is determined to find out who is responsible for any murders.  He knows the island residents very well and thus proceeds with a mix of delicacy and diplomacy combined with the drive to see that justice is done.  As viewers, you become acquainted with his colleagues Tosh and Sandy as well as with his now college age stepdaughter, Cassie, and with Duncan, her biological father and Jimmy’s co-parent.  Duncan is a particularly interesting character.  He means well, but is often hapless and unfocused and there is frequently tension between him and Jimmy.  But they both love Cassie and want to protect her.  If you haven’t discovered this series yet, try it and see how quickly you are addicted!

The Resident (Amazon Prime)

Nic, Conrad & Devon (hollywoodreporter.com)

This medical series from Fox is the opposite of Shetland.   It’s brash and bold, gory, and in your face.  Subtlety is not in resident Conrad Hawkins’ vocabulary nor that of Randolph Bell, the egotistical chief of surgery.  Add in the arrogant, talented surgeon Mina Okafor, newbie intern Devon Pravesh, and capable nurse practitioner Nic Niven, and you’ve got a larger than life cast of characters at the fictional Chastain Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. The surgeries are full of blood and guts, the medical crises all too frequent, and the pace mind-bending.  I watch it on the treadmill and it keeps me treading past my allotted time.  

READING PLATFORMS

I read books in paper and on my Kindle Paperwhite .  I bought my first Kindle in 2009 before we went to Madagascar for three weeks.  Smart packing and minimum weight were key, and I knew I would need some reading material for that long a trip.  I still prefer reading on paper, but for titles I have no desire to keep forever, e-books are an advantage.  

I have a card for our local public library, but being acquisitive when it comes to books, I procrastinated a long time before getting it.  Not a good advertisement for a retired librarian!  Recently, I decided I should really investigate borrowing e-books instead of buying all of them.  Turns out it was easier to do than I anticipated.  

Our library’s selection of e-books is somewhat limited, but I made the maximum number of recommendations for purchase and put holds on a few titles.  In the library’s defense, some of my recommended titles they have in hardback.  I was both surprised and pleased when over the past few days, three of my holds were honored.  I have read one novel, returned the nonfiction book which I found preachy, and am in the middle of an excellent mystery.  Success!  What format do you prefer for your leisure reading?

ITALIAN MYSTERY

Shadows on the Lake by Giovanni Cocco and Amneris Magella

This is the first mystery by this Italian husband-wife team and it’s a perfect summer read.  Set in the Italian Lake District around Lake Como, it features Stefania Valenti, a divorced mother with an 11-year old daughter who’s also a detective.  When human remains are found near an old villa owned by a prominent family and adjacent to a construction site for a new tunnel, she must investigate.  Valenti is an intriguing character and the best developed one. She’s a chain smoker, and like many Italians, is always up for a coffee and a pastry.  Focused on her job, she occasionally runs late in picking up daughter Camilla, who is remarkably understanding.  Her two lieutenants, Lucchesi and Piras, are less well drawn and almost indistinguishable one from the other. How the investigation plays out and its links to WWII make for an engaging story, but not a suspenseful one. The authors spend almost as much time describing the beautiful scenery as they do on the mystery.  Given everything, I will likely read the next installment when it becomes available in English. (~JWFarrington)

DINING IN SARASOTA

Selva Grill

We walked past this Sarasota restaurant many times, but it took a date with a friend to get us inside. Although the season is over, the dining room was full on this Saturday night.  The cuisine is Peruvian and the menu includes a long list of ceviches as well as other small plates and some tasty-sounding entrees.  Entrée prices are higher than some other local restaurants, but there is so much choice, you don’t have to spend a lot.  Among the three of us, we ordered the Spanish Caesar salad (a stacked version with manchego instead of Parmesan), shrimp and corn soup, beef and spinach empanadas, salmon, and their fish and chips special.  Most everything was very good, and we look forward to a return visit for either a ceviche or the mouth-watering beef our table neighbors had.  

Note: Text and header photo ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Savoring the Sarasota Scene

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MARVELOUS MUSIC

Sarasota has a rich and wide-ranging music scene, and some of the best musical performances all year occur during the Sarasota Music Festival, sponsored by the Sarasota Orchestra. This three-week series in June brings together music students, now called fellows, from conservatories across the country and pairs them with first class music professors and performers. 

Montrose Trio (montrosetrio.com)

 It’s a wonderful partnership that results in some great concerts.  This week at the Triple Crown concert, we had the pleasure of hearing three faculty as soloists along with the fellows, and they were all superb.  Ani Kavafian (Yale) on violin, Richard Svaboda (principal, Boston Symphony) on bassoon in a Vivaldi concerto, and Nathan Hughes (principal, Metropolitan Opera, and Juilliard) in Mozart’s oboe concerto.  But, the crowning piece in this very special concert was Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 2 as presented by the Montrose Trio.  It was mesmerizing and the hall was silent.  The moment the last note was played the audience was on its feet.  

DINING LOCALLY

Durham in Bradenton

Good friends introduced us to the Central Café in old Bradenton.  It’s spacious and airy with lots of tables and a bar at the back.  Its laidback casual feel reminded us of Foster’s Market and the Ninth Street Bakery in Durham, North Carolina.  Although it was our waitress’ first day on the job, she readily went back to the kitchen to get answers to our menu questions.  Among the four of us, we enjoyed the pork chop special, a super lunchtime sandwich, ribs, and the pork tostada.  Add in a glass of beer or wine or even a cocktail and you’re set.   

SAVOR SARASOTA

Each June restaurants in Sarasota offer specially-priced three course lunch and/or dinner menus. This year around 100 restaurants are participating with a lunch menus for $16 and dinner $32.  Earlier this week we dined at two participating restaurants.  At CasAntica, where we have eaten before, we did order their Savor menu and it was excellent!  Several choices for each course and slightly smaller portions which we appreciated.  Especially tasty were the chicken piccata and the veal piccata and a luscious almond cake for dessert!

Umbrellas 1296

This was our first time eating at Umbrellas, the space where Roast used to be, but totally re-imagined.   We loved the décor—-blue walls, comfy blue chairs and banquettes, and attractive pillows. One of the wait staff told us that they were an inclusive place and welcomed everyone of every persuasion, hence the name.  Likewise, the menu is a broad one ranging from salads and small plates to entrees and featuring tacos, fish, a burger, roasted brussels sprouts, and chicken Parmesan.  They too had a Savor Sarasota menu and a pre-theater Opera menu (also 3 courses). 

Instead of either of those, we opted to share a Caesar salad (plenty for the two of us) and sampled the tasty sprouts, very good crab cake, and the chicken parm.  The latter had a nicely spiced tomato sauce, but the chicken had obviously been prepared ahead of time so was a bit dry.  It came on a generous mound of spaghetti.  Paul, the ebullient owner, was touring around the tables and we had an amusing chat with him.

The vibe is lively to loud, but we were there early during happy hour.  Many evenings they also have live music so I wouldn’t go planning on a quiet tete a tete.  We will return to try some other dishes.

SUMMER READING UPDATE

While I published a list of titles I’d like to read this summer in my last blog, I often add in books not on my initial list. Here is one from the list and one I picked up at Hudson News in Grand Central Station. Thanks to those of you who’ve already sent me some of your suggestions—I have added a few titles to my ever growing lists!

Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl

Ruth Reichl was editor of Gourmet for ten years before Conde Nast stunned readers and staff by pulling the plug on the magazine.  Restaurant critic for the New York Times and author of several memoirs, Reichl was surprised, and a bit terrified, about being approached to become Gourmet’s editor. She had never run a large organization nor supervised a big staff, but she took on the challenge.  In so doing, she expanded the boundaries of its coverage and re-shaped the magazine at an exciting time in the culinary world.  Reichl is a breezy writer and great company for an afternoon. She shares her doubts and worries, her concerns about neglecting her son when she travels, and highlights some of the egos and outsize personaltiies she interacts with along the way.  A fun read for foodies! (~JWFarrington)

Into the Raging Sea  by Rachel Slade

If you’re looking for a book that will completely absorb you for about 24 hours, this is it.  Slade has written a dramatic account of the last voyage of the American freighter, El Faro, which went down near San Salvador in 2015 on its weekly run to Puerto Rico.  Not only is this the story of that voyage, but it’s also an informative history of the shipping industry, how commercial ships today are regulated or not, along with testimony from the ship’s owners (TOTE) about the company’s restructuring. 

What makes this such a compelling read is that Slade spent time with family members of the 33 individuals on the ship, all of whom were lost.  She also presents the crew members’ actual words from the many hours of conversation transcribed from the ship’s “black box.”  There is an intimacy to her account that makes it both painful and poignant.  With references to Jacksonville, Florida, home to many of these mariners; Maine where some received their training; and Philadelphia where Sun Ship was based; this book should appeal to a wider audience beyond those attracted to the sea.  Slade is a journalist and writer based in Boston. (~JWFarrington)

Note: Text and Umbrellas photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Manhattan Finale: Frick & More

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FASCINATING FRICK
We made two visits to the Frick Collection and highly recommend two current exhibits. Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed. On our first visit, we discovered that Wednesday afternoons beginning at 2:00 pm, it’s pay what you wish, and the museum was packed. We took a brief tour around some of the Moroni exhibit and decided to return the next day in the morning.
Giovanni Battista Moroni is a lesser known Renaissance painter noted for his portraits of mostly wealthy and high-placed individuals. This is the first major exhibit of his work in the U.S. These people of means have great facial expressions, and he made wonderful use of shades of red and pink in their clothing with very finely detailed jewelry and ornamentation. There is one portrait of a tailor.

Elective Affinities: Edmund de Waal at the Frick Collection.
 Mr de Waal is a ceramist whose favorite medium is porcelain, but he is also attracted to working with steel and gold for his art. A longtime lover of the Frick, he has created a series of small sculptures in vitrines that are placed in front of specific paintings. Some of the works are white porcelain while others incorporate several shapes and thicknesses of black or gray steel. There is a short film showing the artist in his London studio and talking about what he’s trying to achieve in terms of light and form. I found it instructive to see the film before touring his work in the galleries. This exhibit runs into November, the first one closes soon.

What made our visit even more interesting was that a breakfast for press had just ended and I chatted very briefly with two of these individuals about the exhibit. It turns out we were present on opening day for de Waal. For those who don’t know it, you might want to check out his fascinating memoir cum history entitled, The Hare with Amber Eyes. I found it fascinating.

CLASSY DINER
 We had lunch at Three Guys on Madison, and we quickly decided it was the most pleasant, brightest and cleanest diner we’d eaten at. It’s a welcoming space with a mix of booths and tables and can easily accommodate groups. Several families with small children were in evidence and it’s obviously family friendly. Their menu is extensive with lots of breakfast fare, but also plenty of sandwiches, salads, and burgers.

We opted for a Reuben with fries and the tuna salad platter which came with a mound of cole slaw and some sliced tomatoes and cucumber and a hard boiled egg. The platter was a large portion (I didn’t finish it), but very good. The diner is located across the street from Met Breuer so would be a good destination after visiting their exhibits.

FABULOUS THEATER

We were able to squeeze in seeing Kiss Me Kate and are so glad we did.  What a fun, lively, energetic, performance it was!  Even with the understudy playing the lead role of Fred Graham/Petruchio, it was superb. Growing up, I was exposed to the LP record version of a much earlier performance which my folks had seen on Broadway in the 1940’s.  They played this record often, and consequently, I was familiar with the songs and knew most of the words.  The level of fitness and acrobatic skill required for the dancing, especially by Lois Lane and Bill Calhoun, was awe-inspiring.  There was some additional stage business and asides which made this a more contemporary “Kate.”  The song, “Tom, Dick or Harry” will never again be the same.  (~JWFarrington)

PRE-THEATER DINING

Nocello on W. 55, a block from the Roundabout Theatre, was an ideal place for an early dinner.  It appeared to have a regular clientele, even one family group, and not just tourists.  We had the nicest corner table on the lower level and were especially pleased with the fried artichokes and the chicken cutlet encrusted with Parmesan in a bit of lemon white wine broth.  

Artichokes

The Caesar salad was an acceptable rendition and the veal saltimbocca provided a slightly different variation on that classic.  The Chief Penguin sampled the nocello liqueur (made from walnuts and hazelnuts) and it was lovely, deeply smooth with a hint of sweetness.  The small plate of mini biscotti was just right.   We will remember this restaurant for another pre-theater meal.

Note: All contents and photos ©JWFarrington.