Category: Restaurants

Tidy Tidbits: The Local Scene

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This was a fun week filled with theater, opera, dinners out and in, and long conversations with old and new friends.

SMALL SCREEN

After war in early 20th century Morocco, I’ve taken up a Kiwi crime series.  The Brokenwood Mysteries (available on Acorn) are set on the North Island in a very small fictional town of the same name.  Detective Mike Shepherd is new to the area and has two junior colleagues, Kristin Sims and D.C. Breen.   Often turning up to provide background information and assistance is Jared Morehu, a young Maori man who doubles as a handyman.

Murder is on the docket whether it be drowning in a wine vat, dying on a golf course, collapsing on stage, or cast adrift on the sea.  With four ex-wives and a bit of the city around the edges, Shepherd is passionate about country music and always has a cassette tape or two to pop in when he hops into his car.  These episodes are long, an hour and a half each, but I’m caught up in the experience of life and death in this beautiful somewhat rural area.

NOT TO BE MISSED

Rhinoceros at the Asolo Theater.  Ionesco’s absurdist play, first presented in 1959, has a simple plot line, but raises challenging questions for our time.  How does one remain an individual and true to one’s values when everyone around you is joining the herd?  Creatively staged and wonderfully acted, this production is both humorous and thought-provoking.  We had the added pleasure of seeing this with good friends from Philadelphia.

As a graduate student, the Chief Penguin was a volunteer usher in Boston for five nights when the Metropolitan Opera came to town.  He credits that performance of Bellini’s Norma, starring Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne, with sparking his love of opera.  Earlier this week, we were at the Sarasota Opera’s production of Norma, and it was wonderful!  The singing is not quite the level of those divas, but it was very good, especially Joanna Parisi as Norma.  The staging was also nicely done.  There are more performances of both Norma and Rhinoceros.

 

PRE-THEATER DINING

Two of our favorites for pre-performance dining are Muse at the Ringling and Louie’s Modern in downtown Sarasota.  Muse is consistently very good for both lunch and dinner, and we’ve recently enjoyed both.  The quesadilla is a frequent choice of the C.P., and I’m partial to their salads, particularly the green salad topped with grilled chicken and their Caesar.  In the evening, entrees include trout, salmon, and short ribs plus they have crab cakes, always good, as an appetizer.  Service is pleasant and efficient almost to the point of briskness. But they do want to be sure you make it in time for your play!

It’s “the season” as they say, so Louie’s is again offering their Modern Theater Menu (3 courses) for $30.  It’s a good deal!  The portions are a nice size and for each course there is a choice among three options.  We’ve eaten this menu twice recently and the North Palm salad with grapefruit is a light starter, while the salmon with couscous and the chicken breast are both excellent.  The chicken is accompanied by a silky mascarpone polenta and root vegetables.  Dessert offerings include a warm chocolate cake and polenta cake with berries, both of which we’ve sampled.  Muse and Louie’s are both part of the Tableseide group so there can be a bit of overlap between the menus—one example being the delicious and attractively presented burrata with heirloom tomatoes on a coral Himalayan salt block.  

WHAT I’M READING

Ann Veronica by H.G. Wells. Watch for more about this 1909 novel about a modern young woman in a future blog.

 

 

 

Notes:  Brokenwood image from all3mediainternational.com, principals in Norma from mysuncoast.com, and burrata photo from sarasotafoodies.com.  Header photo ©JWFarrington.

Tidy Tidbits: Food for Body & Soul

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RESTAURANTS.  I’m passionate about food and love dining at casual places, fancy restaurants, and even at home.  Here are my takes on several local restaurants, two new ones, one repeat.

DINING FIND

Element in downtown Sarasota is part of Duval’s group of restaurants and is their upscale dining spot.  We went for dinner on a Saturday night and it was moderately full when we arrived.  The space is elegant and contemporary in the way that Louie’s Modern is, and the menu, like Louie’s, pushes the Sarasota envelope beyond the traditional.  There are lots of good restaurants in our region, but most of them skew toward standard fare; therefore, it’s refreshing that Element offers creative cuisine in the form of small plates and sharing plates as well as full size entrees.  And if you are a serious carnivore, there are a number of sizes of filets, strip steaks and pork chops, as well as the option to pre-order a whole suckling pig.  Talk about sharing!

Robert, our waiter, was pleasant and knowledgeable and provided good service.  Another staff member, the new assistant manager from DC, stopped by the table see how we were enjoying our food—a plus for service.  Overall the food was very good!  The bread was warm and came with two flavored butters, and the charred radicchio was excellent as was the caprese salad with homemade burrata and lovely wedges of heirloom tomatoes.  We followed these dishes with the swordfish, crab meat, and potato cake which was very tasty and the pork agnolotti.  The pasta was chewy (it shouldn’t have been), but the tomato sauce was nicely thick with chunks of pork.

The Chief Penguin liked the look of his Old Fashioned as soon as he saw the single large ice cube, and I enjoyed my glass of Chardonnay, a generous pour fitting the price.  On the house, we sampled the apple cake which was lovely.  We were shown to a table in a side area all by ourselves, but overall, we enjoyed a very nice meal and will return.

NEW ITALIAN ON CORTEZ ROAD  

We dined with friends at Eat Organico in one of the little strip malls in Bradenton (the one with Thai Palace) and thought the food was very good.  Several of us sampled their veal preparations—with mushrooms, the piccata, and saltimbocca.  This is real veal—paper thin and tasty!  The house salad had a slightly tangy Thousand Island-like dressing, and there was also a Caesar salad.  Others in our group enjoyed penne with salmon and zucchini and penne Bolognese.  Most entrees came with a choice of penne or spaghetti with tomato sauce.  The sauce was good, but not stellar.  Portions are modest size, but fine for us.

It was a Friday night and other tables were occupied, but not all.  Service was slow and a bit ragged as it took a very long time to get our salads, let alone the glasses of wine we’d ordered.  I’ll chalk this up to it being a new place that hasn’t yet worked out all the kinks.  Will definitely give them a second go!

RETURN VISIT

It’s been awhile since we last ate at The Coolinary in Sarasota and decided it was time to go back.  The Chief Penguin had praise for their Old Fashioned and I tried a Chardonnay I hadn’t had before.  The signature dishes here are Hungarian.  The C.P. sampled the slightly spicy sausage which was excellent, and I had their chicken in paprika sauce with homemade spaetzle— lovely comfort food.  We began with an order of the cauliflower fritters with blue cheese dipping sauce and a tray of toasted nuts and blistered shishito peppers, the peppers a favorite of ours. The owner stopped by the table several times, and we were treated to a taste of sweet wine with the Dobos torte we’d ordered.  We remembered why we like this restaurant and vowed that even though it’s on the second floor, we should frequent it more often.

 

READING:  LATE IN LIFE ROMANCE? 

Author George Eliot, in real life, Marian Evans, was George Lewes’ common-law wife for twenty-five years.  After Lewes’ death, at the age of 60, she married Johnnie Cross, a young man of 40.  In order to avoid calling attention to themselves, they left London to honeymoon in Venice.  

The Honeymoon, a novel by Dinitia Smith, is a recounting of that fateful honeymoon, but even more Marian’s reflecting on her life from childhood to young womanhood to old age.  The novel is thoroughly researched, and the reader learns about all the prominent men Marian was acquainted with (philosopher Herbert Spencer and publisher John Chapman, just two examples), as well as those with whom she was intimate—either by choice or seduction.  It’s an engrossing portrait of a woman who, not beautiful, but very accomplished and literate, craved love and attention.

 

 

SAXY TIME  

One of the pluses of the Sarasota-Bradenton area is the number of concerts presented at local churches.  Many of them have regular music series.  This week we were at a concert by the Washington Saxophone Quartet at First United Methodist Church.  I didn’t know there was this kind of group, but I like the sax and thought it would be fun.  WSaxQ is celebrating its 41st year and, if people know it, but don’t know they do, it’s because the quartet provides the theme and interlude music for NPR’s All Things Considered.  They play music from all eras and deliberately work not to sound like saxophones!

The members of the quartet have each played in one of the US military bands for part of their career.   Among them was a soprano sax, straight with no bell and shaped more like a clarinet; an alto sax of a beautiful copper color; a tenor sax with a prominent bell; and lastly, a seriously big baritone sax.  The concert included music by Bach, Gabrieli, Ravel, Leonard Bernstein, and Duke Ellington among others.  Tenor sax player Rich Kleinfeldt  provided chatty and informative commentary about the pieces and the group.  It was a most enjoyable afternoon.

Note:  Eat Organico photo from TripAdvisor.com; Evans and tenor sax images from Wikipedia.

End of the Year Tidbits

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As December comes to a close, I’d like to be optimistic that 2018 will be a more civilized year.  This year has been challenging on the national level and reading the daily newspaper an exercise in anger, frustration, and discouragement.  Just perhaps, things will get better in the new year, and we can again be proud of our country and not cringe when we travel abroad.

On a happier note, for us personally, it’s been a year filled with the joy of watching our granddaughters thrive while appreciating our son and daughter-in-law as wonderful parents; of savoring the adventures of international travel; of enjoying the stimulation of the local arts and culture scene; of loving being a part of a warm and caring island community; and of being thankful for continued good health!  Here’s to a healthy, happy 2018 for all!

RECENT READING

SPEAKING OF POLITICS

I read a good review of Nicolas Montemarano’s new novel, The Senator’s Children, so when I saw it in Three Lives & Co., I snapped it up.  And read it immediately and quickly.  It’s inspired by John Edwards’ failed presidential campaign and his trials and tribulations.  But it’s told from the perspective of the children, primarily Senator David Christie’s older daughter Betsy (in her mid-30’s during much of the action) and his younger daughter, Avery, product of an affair, and whom he doesn’t really know and who’s now a college student. There’s a little bit of son Nick who dies in an accident.  It’s heartbreakingly beautiful, and you feel for all the members of this damaged family.

PAEAN TO THE WEST VILLAGE

Manhattan, When I Was Young by Mary Cantwell was published in 1995.  It’s a memoir of her life in the city as a college graduate, then wife and mother, and magazine journalist in the 50’s and 60’s.  The book is divided in sections labeled with her address at each point.  Most of her abodes were in the West Village and, for me, her descriptions of these streets and their noted buildings were remarkably familiar and enjoyable.  This is also a coming of age story.   Cantwell lacked self confidence and spent much time questioning herself and her purpose.  She married young, but was not always willing to share her thoughts or herself with her husband, and she wasn’t even sure initially about her job and whether she liked it or not.  Much of what she reveals is painful and raw, but articulately put forth.

VIEWING

I’m aware that The Crown is not a documentary and there have been quibbles about some of what is presented, but I’m finding the second season fascinating and wonderfully entertaining.  Seeing events that I recall somewhat from my youth (Suez Canal crisis, e.g.) played out in detail is re-visiting the personalities of history.  I’m especially fond of Tommy Lascelles who gets called back in from retirement to deal with tricky crises and found Queen Elizabeth’s interactions with Jackie Kennedy believable, even though I don’t think the actress who plays Mrs. Kennedy is completely convincing.

A Place to Call Home.  I was concerned that this Australian series (on Acorn) was verging on soap opera-ish, but Season 5, while looking that way in the early episodes, redeems itself and presents a cast of complex characters and some high drama in the late 1950’ and early 60’s.  Racial prejudice against the aborigines, silence around homosexuality, and the lingering scars of the Second World War are all here.  One of the best episodes, “The Anatomy of His Passing,” is about Douglas Goddard and is so very sensitively done—and highlights how medical times were and were not changing.

RESTAURANT FIND  

Paola’s is around the corner from where we stayed on the Upper East Side.  It was so good that we had dinner there twice!  Standouts are the pasta dishes.  The agnolotti with veal and spinach in a veal reduction with black truffles was outstanding.  Equally good was the trofie offering we shared on our second visit.  This twisted pasta shape is served with green beans and chunks of potato in pesto.  A classy dining room with white glove service.  Definitely a keeper!

Note:  All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Down Under: Dining in Wellington

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MEALS IN WELLINGTON  We found Wellington to be a great food city. There are more restaurants here per capita than in New York, a fact cited to us several times.  With our short visit, we only scratched the surface of good eating.

Artisan. The weather was so miserable our first evening that we opted to eat in the hotel dining room called Artisan. We were pleasantly surprised at how good the food was. We started with some mixed olives and two breads with a flight of four olive oils. The olives were lovely, the olive oils good, but the so-called artisanal bread disappointing. Our next courses were superb; both my smoked cheddar soufflé with cherry tomatoes and spinach and the Chief Penguin’s smoked salmon. We like small plates rather than large entrees and often order these smaller, usually lighter, dishes. My soufflé wasn’t light, but it was exquisite!

Ombra. The concierge in our hotel has been most helpful and enthusiastically recommended several restaurants. We’ve been taking him up on them and today’s lunch was at a casual Italian bistro. We ordered the gorganzola picante with walnuts and honey, gnocchi with cheese and lamb ragu, and fritto misto. Everything was delicious, but especially the gnocchi. To top it off we had three chocolate truffles: coconut, lemongrass and hazelnut.  

 

Whitebait. Dinner here was by far the best meal we’ve had in New Zealand. It’s on the waterfront and the dining room is simple with bare wood tables and high back fabric-covered chairs in muted shades of gray, blue, and aqua. Yvette and Josephine gave us friendly service and everything we ordered was not only beautifully presented, but superb. This is sophisticated dining. We started with anchovy toasts and smoked eel mini tacos (for the C.P. who likes eel) followed by snapper filet on slices of preserved Meyer lemon topped with celeriac for me and for him, lemon sole topped with a mix of peas and beans (very green), and a seasonal citrus salad with fennel, pistachios, and bits of green olive. The salad was reminiscent of a similar salad served at Ports of Italy in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, but more elegant, although I’d leave out the olives. The chefs here are fond of salty tastes.  

 

Chow. Our hosts at Te Papa tooks us to this Chinese place for lunch, which was perfect for our group of five. We ordered seven or eight dishes which were all small platters with five or six pieces including fish cakes, sesame crusted seared tuna, two kinds of dumplings, and chicken satay. Everything was tasty, but could have been spicier for this twosome.

 

Noble Rot Wine Bar.  For our last evening, we dined at Noble Rot, a very happening place recommended again by the hotel concierge.  He adopted us and seemed to eagerly wait our reporting back after each meal.  The front bar and high tables were fully occupied when we arrived, but fortunately for us shorties and oldsters, there were tables  of normal height in the side room.  Most were empty at first, but by the time we left all but one was taken.

With our wine (they have an extensive list of wines by the glass), we started with some chorizo and pecorino cheese with black truffle and accompaniments and then moved on to a couple entrees.  The Chief Penguin had the chicken with parsnips and mushrooms which had been done sous vide and was marvelously tender and lovely.  I had the fish of the day which was a local white fish served with capers and some roasted cauliflower and a bit of sauce on the side.  Also lovely.  Being chocoholics (at least I am), we had a dark chocolate truffle each.

 

Note:  All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).  Header photo is gnocchi with lamb ragu and Parmesan.