dcandohio

We've been in Station 4 occasionally for a drink on the way to or from something, and have always found the experience to be pleasant, especially because we are still enjoying the novelty of having a really "nice" place in our immediate neighborhood. So, after enjoying Kathleen Turner in "Red Hot Patriot" at Arena Stage (if you are even moderately conservative you will probably want to avoid this show!!!!!) we went to Station 4 for food. I still love the space, the fact that the bar is comfortable, the staff tries really hard, the vibe is chill...but the pizza...well, let's just say, don't bother. The duck fat fries were fine (yeah, we were not exactly eating healthy), but that pizza was just plain awful. I want so badly for this place to hit its stride, and to become a reallly solid place for both neighbors and the Arena Stage crowd. I think it succeeds because it's there, while not much of anything else is (Z Burger next door isn't in the same category, and Sou'wester is just far enough away to be out of contention when we're on foot. However, it was crowded, so I guess enough people think they are doing some things right.

Yes, the gravy/mayo combo is authentic. To me, it is delicious when the gravy is good.

To all the people of New Orleans, including my elderly parents, who are "sheltering in" during hurricane Isaac. Once they lose power, and they will, folks are likely to be without for days. It will be hot and oppressively humid...and yet eveyone there is hunkered down and prepared to cope. My parents refused to leave...the aftermath of Katrina made them suspicious and afraid of giving up control...and now my 84 year old Dad says they will be fine without air conditioning. I am drinking to blunt the worry, and to toast their admirable resiliance.

Station 4 can be good. I think they are trying hard. I like the space, and the staff are earnest and polite.

http://stores.bluejacketdairy.com/-strse-7/Gretna-Grilling-Grillin'-halloumi/Detail.bok I've bought their products at our farmers market. I think you can order it directly from them.

I will try to be more angry in the future!

From my perspective, there are at least two reasons I can articulate why dress codes/dressing up is a challenge. 1. We don't always distinguish between eating and dining. There are ubiquitous, low-effort options for eating, ranging from pre-packaged sandwiches at gas stations to fast food to fast casual; and these options require very little in the way of manners or decorum. In fact, the fast food chains attract children with play areas and toy add-ons that teach little ones that playing (running amok) and eating are connected. A lot of people don't make much of a cognifive shift between the "eating" mode and the "dining" mode. If your normal world view is that you can drop in on Fast McCasual and Fake Neighborhood-vibe chain and Olive Garden wearing gym shorts, then it may be difficult to see that a different restaurant might require a different mode of dress. If you simply view every restaurant only as a place to get food, then the only difference is price and menu choices, not what you wear or how others may be dressed. 2. In general I just think manners are getting worse. At the core, manners are just ways of acting that make life easier and more pleasant for everyone. Waiting your turn, using an indoor voice, trying not to block aisles...these are just things we should do because the world is a nicer place when we do. But truly, I see a real degradation in manners. This "me, first" attitude is getting more and more prevalent. People just don't seem to care about how their actions affect others across situations. People just don't care so much about manners (and KT - I am a southern girl and having good manners was just about as important as religion when I was growing up!). So if you don't care, you don't worry about how failing to follow a dress code affects others, or the restaurant itself. The onus is on the restaurant to enforce, which is awkward, because once someone has crossed the threshold of a restaurant, the options for rectifying the situation are generally pretty bad. I like that there are so many casual or business casual places to have a delicious and wonderful "dining" experience. I am most often dressed casually. I like to have a lot of options. I also like the "dressed up" places where putting on something fancier is part of the theater of the experience. And I like to plan for that and to be around others who want that same experience. So, frankly, I am a little bit sad when I go to a more "dressed-up" place and there's a table of folks in gym shorts using their outdoor voices. To me, it's not only bad manners, but it's like going to a play and having a character out of costume.

Dear Hillvalley, re: Cream of Basil soup (without cream) Can you provide a recipe/method? I have a lot of basil and soup sounds marvelous! Thanks!

After walking by this place dozens of times we finally ate in last night. Very sexy decor, but tables are so close together there's no privacy. Expensive, bland wine list. Yummy seaweed salad, with lots of shredded daikon and carrot with a creamy dressing on the side. Plenty for two to share. The eggplant/paneer skewers showed off the paneer more than the eggplant. Would have preferred larger pieces of eggplant and less paneer, but not everyone may agree. The winner for me was a plate of three korean tacos of short ribs. Yes, this dish has become a cliche, but this version was quite nice, with flavorful grilled meat and just topping to add some juice and crunch. +1 had a roll of three kinds of tuna. I did not taste, but she loved it. We ended with the sashimi pizza. I expected more crunch on the base, maybe like a fried wonton, but it was a rather doughy "crust" which detracted from the very good fish on top. Service was competent, including a visit from a manager who seemed to be actually managing, something I don't always see. All in all, I would definitely return here for a light dinner since it is an easy transit for us on the green line or the 74 bus. Bonus: Also dining here last night were Janet Napolitano and Kathleen Sibelius, making for excellent geeky celebrity watching.

Lunch at the bar yesterday wasn't compelling. The bartender, Greg, was delightful. Very helpful and funny. Olympic soccer on the big screen above us was quite entertaining. The food was generally not memorable. Broccolini was not overcooked, but kind of overwhelmed by the sauce and cheese. "Greens," which I thought might have been served hot (collards or kale) was actually just a salad of mixed greens. It was fine, but nothing special. The crispy lamb was delicious, but there was quite a lot of really fatty parts, yielding a small serving for $12 or $13. The Americano pizza with added sausage for $18 was undercooked. The center was damp and gummy. Definitely a letdown. Add two beers and two draft proseccos, and the lunch was over $70 before tax and tip. It seems like a fun place and the employees we spoke with were genuinely enthusiastic and eager to please. Just not excited about the food.

The report... The bar was jackhammer loud at 7:00 pm, making the restaurant loud even though it was not half full. Things quieted a bit when the bar crowd thinned. Nice space. The penny floor is unique, big windows create an airy feel, the theme art does not cross the line to kitch. Service was well-intentioned but awkward. Immediately upon seating us the server breathlessly recited a script about the nature of the small-plate experience (thanks, we have not been living under a rock the past decade) and the restaurant's commitment to fresh and local, ending by gushing about all the house made beverage concoctions and then without pausing for breath inquired, "sowhatcanIbringyoutodrinkfromourdeliciousbeveragemenu"? Hello! We haven't had five second to even look at the menu. The runner attempted to refill water glasses in the middle of the wine service, causing the server to almost miss the glass. There were grabs to remove half-full plates, which we were still enjoying. But the manager came over twice to see how we were doing, and he was jollly and sincere. We started with one of "the jars" which was advertised as corn, smoked salmon and goat cheese. I did not detect any salmon. No biggie. The corn was sweet and crisp and the goat cheese was a tasty binder. The jar presentation, while cute, is functionally stupid. The goat cheese was on top of the corn, and it needed to be mixed for proper spreading enjoyment, but the jar was too full for easy mixing. Either use a bigger jar or mix it before presenting. This was served with raisin toast (tasty) and some sort of cracker/crisp, some of which were slightly burned. Blistered shishito peppers were served with a dip, possibly mayo based. Simple, nicely charred, easy to polish off a bunch of these without guilt. The kale salad was the big winner for us. The kale was cooked to a pefect just tender state, shredded, and mixed with dried blueberries, dried currants and chopped hazelnuts. The dressing was a tart lemon base with garlic. The whole affair was topped with parmesean cheese. Delicious. The manager said it was the most popular dish on the menu. If you think you don't like kale, try this. We then had trout served on some greens and beans. This was very nice, too. The trout was simply seasoned and seared. The greens and beans were light but garlicky and made the dish very interesting and filling. I would return, happily, especially to try more of the menu. The heat yesterday depressed my appetite. I really wanted to try the crab risotto and crab soup, but I just couldn't eat very much. So if you're in that area, definitely give Lincoln a try. There's a lot to like here, with room for improvement.

Just had a Lebanese rosé at Oyamel. Very light for a hot day.

Thanks! I will report back.

Headed here tomorrow, in the spirit of trying something new (to us) and attempting to stay close to the metro due to the heat. Any recent experiences?

If you can get to Yellow Springs, which is closer to Dayton, do make a reservation for The Winds Cafe, and you can stop at Young's Jersey Dairy for ice cream. Also, for a retail adventure just north of Cincinnati, go to Jungle Jim's. Google it. Theme park meets ethnic market meets fabulous wine selection...no description will do it justice. Pack a cooler and your patience...especially on a weekend....it gets crazy busy. We drive from Columbus twice a year to stock up.

Do I get no props for the word "melon?" Ha Ha. Just ate a bunch of Indiana melon today. YUM.

tomato sorbet/ice cream with melon?

Apricot ice cream? Sorbet? Peach ice cream? Sorbet?

Apricots.

Sweet potatoes?

It was only a matter of time... http://eater.com/archives/2012/07/23/national-same-sex-kiss-day-planned-to-protest-chick-fil-as-anti-gay-stance.php

Birra Paradiso? Pizza Paradiso? Good beer lists, though the pizza there may not live up to pizza she had in Italy.

This has been an interesting conversation. As a gay person I won't ever spend money at CFA, and I am not a legal scholar so I can't argue the merits of the Boston decision adequately. But in my opinion, there's a difference between disallowing a business to exist because of its actions (such as discriminating against certain people for employment) and disallowing it because of the opinions of its leaders. Actions are, well, actionable. Opinions? Slippery slope, for me. I am sure that I buy things every day from businesses whose leaders are so ideologically different from me that I would stop buying if I knew. When I do know, I do stop buying. But you don't always know, because not all business leaders share their personal values on social issues with their stakeholders. However, it's getting easier and easier to track donations, so people don't have to actually voice their views...you just have to follow the money. If the CFA leaders allow their personal views to seep in to the daily operations of their restaurants, though, it's only a matter of time before some self-righteous server refuses to sell a chicken sandwich to a same-sex couple holding hands in the restaurant, especially (one hopes!) in a state where gay marriage is legal, citing "the company's" oposition to gay marriage. At that point, when the leadership's viewpoints become the justification for discrimination, it will be interesting to see how the personal views of the leaders affect the success of the lawsuits that are sure to occur.

Granville Moore's, which may be less hectic on a weeknight.

Sadly, so sadly...YES. But I'm headed back in two weeks.