teak

the 50th season of the playhouse in the park has begun, and of course we have season tickets again. the first show, sleuth, i cannot comment on because i am still digesting my thoughts about it. but i would like to comment on the couple we refer to as "the crabby people". for the last two seasons, this couple has sat stone-faced in the front row. they don't laugh, they rarely clap, and they never stand for the ovation except to leave. this would be fine, i suppose, if they weren't in two of the most conspicuous seats in the house. it must be a real downer for the actors to not be able to see much of the audience except these completely unresponsive visages. i just wonder why they come if they aren't engaged or enjoying the performance (assuming, of course, their crabbiness is indicative of displeasure).

anyway, dinner before the show. we tried to go to the rookwood, but we were curtly informed by the hostess they weren't taking walk-ins because they had a party of 100, blah, blah. so we went to teak. i've eaten at teak many times, and it's always ok, but for some reason it was exceptional saturday night. we were seated on the very charming patio.

i started off with the chicken coconut soup. the coconut broth was delectable and the chicken pieces were nice, big, and identifiable as breast. presentation was a plus because i loved the blue and white dishes, and my soup came with its own little lid.

next came the level 4 panang curry with beef and kaffir lime leaves. if this was level 4, i'm pretty sure level 10 would kill me - my nose was running and i drank at least 2 glasses of water. the dish itself was pretty delicious, although i ended up leaving most of the broccoli because the segments were too large to be bite size. in no way is this a complaint, but i had expected more of a lime flavor. i wish i had something more creative to say, but my curry experience is fairly limited so i can offer no additonal intelligent commentary other than i liked it. a lot.

my cocktail was the pom pom pear, a mix of pear sake and pomegranate. it looked pretty but was just ok, nothing special.

really the highlight of the meal was our waitress - a petit, militant, sassy, hilarious asian woman who told us she was a lawyer by day but we suspect she is actually a ninja.

cinema in the city

in case no one has picked up on this, i am quite obsessed with classic movies. therefore, i was ecstatic to be able to attend the final installment of mt. adams cinema in the city at the seasongood pavilion this past friday. one of my all time favorites, the philadelphia story, was being shown. this is NOT to be confused with philadelphia, that tom hanks AIDS movie. the philadelphia story stars katharine hepburn, cary grant, and jimmy stewart. it was released in 1940, when hollywood made movies that relied on dialogue and character development rather than special effects (transformers: revenge of the fallen, i'm talking to you). it's clever and wonderful.

but i digress. cinema in the city was honestly one of my favorite nights out in quite a while. even the weather cooperated. coolers are welcome, which we didn't realize until we got there. there were theater candies, popcorn, and delicious offerings from the rookwood for sale. the rookwood has replaced porkopolis in the old rookwood pottery space, thank god. they had burgers, kroeger and sons metts and brats, fresh lemonade with mint, and jeni's ice cream.

i had to try the burger. i ordered it loaded with everything (except grilled peppers) - white cheddar, mushrooms, grilled onions, and bacon. though a little small on patty size (maybe it was smaller for the venue?), it was packed with juicy flavor. i don't remember being particularly wowed by the bun, which is strange because the rookwood emphasizes their artisan breads. no matter. overall a quality burger experience (5/6).

dessert was jeni's bourbon butter pecan. i don't really care for bourbon, but if it tasted like this, i would drink it all the time. i decided to get it because the guy at the rookwood booth said it was the best. the ice cream was divine - smooth, creamy, bourbony. maybe could have used a few more pecans, but that's just me nitpicking. completely refreshing on a summer night.elisa and randy enjoyed the glow necklaces provided free by cincinnati bell. yeah, i enjoyed the glow necklaces, too.we all thoroughly enjoyed seeing a classic on the big screen.

guidos?

we had reservations to eat at guidos in mt adams friday night. or so we thought. we walked up and down st. gregory and could not find it. finally we called the number and realized we are idiots. it is actually tavern on the hill. i don't know if it used to be called guidos, or if it is the name of one of the sections of the bar, or if we just live in a fantasy world of mythical restaurants that somehow have the same phone number as real ones.

anyway, we finally settled in the hillside room, the "elegant dining" portion of the tavern. i don't have much to say about the whole experience except the service was very nice but very slow, i enjoyed my glass of zen of zin, and the uninspired lasagna was roughly the size of my head.

(head not pictured)

the hillside room gets a big "it's alright".

brian also wanted me to post a picture of his kickass parallel-parking. here it is, at no extra charge. (pay no mind to the disgusting dirtiness of my car)

my first burger blog

i have been attacking my burger research with gusto; three samples this weekend (i'm a little behind in my blogging). i hardly ever eat this much red meat.

mt. adams bar and grill

the first is the mt. adams bar and grill. we actually attempted to go to longworth's, but they are apparently under new management and the kitchen is closed for a few weeks. the broadcaster attracted my attention - a quarter pound topped with grilled onions, chopped green olives, and two slices of swiss cheese on grilled Jewish rye. i was sold at grilled jewish rye, but did order it sans onions. it was a little flat in height, not taste. the patty was juicy and the olives gave the sandwich a pleasant saltiness. it was flavorful without needing condiments or salt and pepper. i was surprised they did not ask how i wanted the burger cooked. i am a big fan of medium, more to the medium-well. it is easy to cross the line to well-done, but i definitely do not like bloody meat. the broadcaster was cooked with just a tinge of pink, and was very good. i enjoyed the burger 'paired' with a stella artois. overall, a 4.5. i almost gave a 5, but i had a number of cocktails by the time i ate the burger so i can't entirely vouch for my judgement.

other notable items: brian enjoyed his fried egg sandwich and we all had a laugh at the chicken 'buddies'.

wild mike's

for lunch at work saturday, we ordered wild mike's. the black and bleu burger arrived encased in styrofoam. they also did not ask how i wanted it prepared, and it was a bit dry. the beef itself had a good flavor. the bleu was fully fatty, gloppy bleu cheese dressing. crumbles would be preferred, even though they have a tendency to fall off the sandwich. price was under $5. overall, a 3. and sorry, no photo.

cheezburger cafe

brian recommended we try the cheezburger cafe at 12092 montgomery rd. vacationing in florida has taught us good food can be found in a strip mall, and this is definitely the case with the cheezburger cafe. they feature several amazing choices, including the queen city burger, which is 1/3 lb of beef topped with a german mett, chili and cheese. i ordered the california dreamin' burger as is with swiss, salsa, guacamole, lettuce and tomato. brian chowed down on the glutinous double cheeseburger topped with a fried egg and various condiments. the patties were small in diameter with a gratifying thickness, moist and tasty. i spoke with the cook and he said they get their beef from ron's meats on loveland-madeira, but i could not find a listing for it. my sandwich was pretty damn good. the salsa and guac were a perfect complement. my only complaint is the shredded lettuce and tomato slices. they were a bit anemic and tasteless. very disappointing given the yumminess of everything else.

also delectable fries. the whole check came to only $16.10. even if i would have ordered the root beer float, we still would have made it out of the cafe, stuffed, for under $20. one con, there were tvs at some of the tables that proved very distracting. overall, brian and i agreed on a heavenly 5.5.