Jump to content

Steve R.

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    623

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    16

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Steve R.

  1. Steve R.
    Agreed. Very accessible. We've been several times"¦ easy to visit.
  2. Steve R.
    It's generally an ok Museum, but it has its moments. In 2011-12, they did a dynamite Bearden program and some of their new artist series can be quite good. Very convenient location, right in the center of things & one can walk to all the known Harlem sites and restaurants (like Sylvia's, although I'm not recommending the place). Strivers Row (great block of beautiful houses) and the Schomburg are close by as well.
  3. Steve R.
    Notes from the 6 weeks we wound up spending: 1- we still love Bern's. Two dinners there with above average steaks, all the other stuff they give you (I like dinner salads, onion soup, loaded baked potatoes, etc) &, most importantly very good inexpensive wines. A couple of whites, a couple of reds"¦ details upon request. 2- E & E Stakeout Grill (yes, it's spelled that way) on Indian Rocks Rd. in Belleair Bluffs is described in one Tampa tourist mag. as "a seafood oriented steakhouse". That alone almost kept us from going, but as it is highly regarded by just about everyone, we went. And went two more times. Its a very reasonably priced place, serving better steaks than most (including a very good prime rib) in very nice rooms with very friendly service. And a limited wine list that includes some very good bottles with low mark up. Like a Jordan Cab. Sauv. for $60 (retail is usually in the $40s). 3- Eating at the bar at Salt Rock Grill became a habit for us. Nice social place with a wide variety of choices that'll allow you to spend as little or as much as you wish & eat well prepared fresh food. I don't think it deserves a reputation as a very good restaurant, as they tend to add too many ingredients to their mains (sauces, spicings, conflicting sides, etc). But, it'd be as crowded in Nassau County, Long Island as it is in Indian Shores & for much the same reason. If you keep it simple you eat well. We must've been there a dozen times over the six plus weeks. 4- Fish places that we liked (because they fried things cleanly, had fresh food & were friendly"¦ not because they were anything more than local fish shacks) included PJ's, Lola's, Crabby Bill's & The Pub. There were many more that we didn't try, but these met our need for both social lunches, informal dinners and even live music (PJ's & C.Bill's). I discovered "Chicago Oysters": large gulf oysters baked with parm. cheese and butter. Usually under $12/dozen. I learned to love grouper served many ways as well. 5- We'd been to Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City and its better than the one in Sand Key, which we went to this time. The food's close to the same - in my opinion, "good" - but not quite. But the room isn't the warren of decorated rooms in Ybor City (even though its a nice view of the water, with some nice outdoor seating). The salad's great, the apps. decent and the mains fresh, if overwrought. Keeping it simple works here as well. 6- Guppy's in Indian Rocks Beach is owned by the same folks as E&E and is a good choice for a nice medium priced dinner. We went two or three times and had good salads & fish. We preferred sitting at the bar for dinner. 7-Slyce, a pizza place on Gulf in Indian Rocks Beach, has (yes, this Brooklyn guy is going to say this) good pizza. A very friendly bar area to eat at (hey, we're consistent), very good salads, good wines by the glass and bottle and pizza I can live with. And, if needed, they deliver. If you're in Sarasota, we highly recommend the Ringling Museum, especially the circus memorabilia building. And, although I don't much like Dali, the museum in St. Pete is good & worth a visit. And, if you're a tennis player, I can recommend where to play, since we play pretty much every day and even joined Shipwatch Tennis Club while there.
  4. Steve R.
    It does not have a good rep. among those I know. We started going there when it opened, quite a # of years ago &, after 2-3 very mediocre meals at higher than acceptable prices, stopped. We haven't been back in years but haven't heard a good thing from anyone. Its a very nice looking room & their bar area looks very inviting, but we found the attitude pretty cold/indifferent and the food strangely ill-prepared. Sorry, but not surprised, to hear it hasn't gotten any better. Rumor has it that the ownership is just too hard to work for and no one decent stays.
  5. Steve R.
    Arghhh! Don't get me started about that merger. Ginny worked for New Line as an indie company, then bought by Turner then by T-W. Lots of stock options went down the drain when aol came in and it all tanked. All we got was "free" aol (which, in reality cost us much).
  6. Steve R.
    Years ago, I played in a benefit game where my team was "coached" by Dean Meminger, the other team by Tiny Archibald & ref'ed by Dick Barnett. If I had hair, I'd be exactly 6 feet tall... as it is in the real world, I'm a shade under. Tiny & I were the same height. Didn't check to see if he had on high heel sneakers though.
  7. Steve R.
    We'll be staying in Albuquerque for a couple of nights in April, before driving to a wedding in Chinle (on the Navajo reservation, on the edge of Canyon de Chelly). Last time we were in Abq. was quite a few years ago & we stayed in Old Town at Casa de Suenos. Updated info. on where to eat a couple of local dinners and even where to stay (Bottger Mansion B&B?) would be appreciated.
  8. Steve R.
    Well, after eating at Black Pearl (& liking it, as I've already posted), I was thinking that I'd like to know more of the backstory on the place. So, I did a little looking & found out that, after 20+ years, the owners sold it this past June & it's now run by others. I'm not sure about the chefs. Now it's my turn... Joe H, when you return in April, please let me know if it's the same place/food you remember fondly. I'm curious.
  9. Steve R.
    I hesitate to post this, as we haven't been in more than a few years & it's not really one of the top places in Venice. But we love it & we've sent others who've wound up loving it as well. So, here goes: La Zucca. lazucca.it Seems like a good choice.
  10. Steve R.
    Indian Shores; Clearwater Beach We've been here for only 10 days out of a 6 week stay, so I intend to wait a bit before reviewing most of where we're eating. We've been to Salt Rock Grill twice already, and I suspect we'll be there several more times, as we hardly cook & we're almost directly across the street. It's definitely a very good mid-range place, the kind that would easily be at home in any big shore town or even Long Island. I mean that in a good way. Comfortable, friendly, large sprawling, with seaside, inside room & even bar area seating, and a solid menu of seafood, fish & good meat. More about it later on. The reason for this post, however, was last night's meal at The Black Pearl. Thank you Joe H. A classic, quiet, table clothed room with proper service, the food was excellent & we had a great time. I did think that the wine list could use some more choices, but it was good enough for us & we got a mid-$50s bottle of Joel Gott Zin that worked with everything. Since very nice salads come with all entrees (& they were very nice, with fresh greens, pine nuts & pieces of Gorgonzola (mild), in a warm poppy seed dressing), we split one starter, an excellent Duck Liver Pate w/fennel pollen jam(?) & a fruity red sauce on the side, served w/lavash. I had the duckling entree, as good a LI duck dish as any I've had (& I've had a lot of ducks). Expertly done thick slices of breast and an entire leg/thigh piece, served with crisp asparagus stalks, some bread pudding stuffing and a small grain rice w/saffron(?). Ginny had their nightly special of Lobster Risotto, which also came with asparagus & a 6oz. Lobster tail atop. Very rich, very nicely done. We ended with good strawberry shortcake w/lemon curd (her) & very good, creamy black licorice ice cream (me). Totally satisfying meal. With tax and over tip, a little under $250. Not inexpensive but, for the setting, the location & especially the food, perfectly fine. Joe H is correct... this is a destination place in the area.
  11. Steve R.
    Joe H: We'll be in Indian Shores for 5 weeks and Salt Rock Grill will be right down the street from our condo so I expect we'll eat there a bit. We'll also be in Tampa with some friends for a couple of nights and will be going to Berns. Several days in Sarasota is in there as well"¦ hopefully Rieux will have a good experience or two to share before we get there. However -- any addendum to any of the above posts? We're going to have time to check out all of your mentioned places and I just wanted to be sure there's nothing to suggest otherwise. Thanks"¦ much appreciated.
  12. Steve R.
    In downtown Sarasota, we liked Louie's Modern, but its a NY'ish type of place that a lot of locals find somewhat cold in decor/approach. On Longboat Key, Maison Blanche is pretty good as well"¦. but that'd be a pretty long drive & its not that much of a destination. We're actually flying in tomorrow, but then driving south to the St. Pete beach area. If you find anything, please post, since we'll be stopping in Sarasota a couple of times in the next month or two.
  13. Steve R.
    I find it interesting that we're in total agreement about this whole issue but then diverge so much on the Dylan illustration you provide. It's not just about knocking off the excesses and sticking to the song's melody, it's about being able to feel what the lyricist intended thru the song. I listen to Dylan's "Full Moon"¦" & just don't. Both the instrumentation (too sing song-y) and the voice (too flat affected) put distance between me and the emotional impact of the lyrics. Sinatra generally draws me in to the scenario and Dylan can do so too, but not here. eta: Joni is in deep shit and I hope she's able to pull herself out of it. Her illness is often viewed as a delusional disorder, sometimes treatable with anti-psychotics like risperidone. From what I've heard, she refuses to deal with that possibility and continues in real agony.
  14. Steve R.
    Louro.
  15. Steve R.
    nice shot"¦ good form.
  16. Steve R.
    Thanks for this. Both were/are needed. I think it's time to buy a turntable that has a USB connection directly into my Mac so that I can transfer music from some of my hundreds of records. Maybe.
  17. Steve R.
    Good points. To put it to the test, I went back and looked at Bumgarner's year (since he's probably the leading pitcher story of the year) & you're correct. Assuming that he's not an exception, during the regular season he pitched 33 games with 28 decisions (18-10). This included pitching at least once against every other NL team & 15 times in his division (only once against SD, while either 4 or 5 times each against Ariz., LAD & Col"¦ not anything to be concerned about since, overall, these things are never perfect). That's as good an overall exposure as anyone &, as you say, puts him as much into play as an MVP as anyone else. (Gee, I hope this post was more coherent)
  18. Steve R.
    I gotta admit, that's an interesting take on it. But, I'd still have trouble voting for a pitcher (again, I'm somewhat open, but"¦). Put it this way -- even if Nadal won every set 6-0, if he only played 1/6th of the tournaments, I'd have trouble with him being ranked #1. He might be your favorite player, but that doesn't mean he'd be consistently better than others if he had to do it more often. Especially if there was no control for who he met in each. A pitcher might have ten times as much influence over anyone else in every game he plays during the season but, playing only 27 games also limits who his skill is tested against. A batter who plays over 160 games probably bats against every great pitcher in the league and fields against every great hitter. Just some more random thoughts.
  19. Steve R.
    Really? I just can't bring myself to do that. They just sit and look back at me, unplayed for years. I don't have a turntable hooked up either.
  20. Steve R.
    I was going to put my 2 cents in by agreeing with Tweaked's comment, but you basically seconded her point before I got there by referencing The Grateful Dead. Other examples might be Neil Young or Van Morrison. Whatever. Bart is correct that Dylan doesn't just change a song by, for example, taking it from a folk song to a rock number & he describes some of the other changes very well. But I think (probably unlike Bart) that some of those changes aren't positives or indicative of genius, but self indulgent crap ("hey, what do you really think Steve? Don't beat around the bush"). Yes, I can believe that some of the changes are to relieve the boredom of repetition over a very long career"¦ nice for him, but not necessarily for the song or the audience. Bart says: "The changing the cadence/accents/chords/lyrics is not really shock value to shock the audience. It's more to surprise you with awesomeness and show you a different presentation of the song". But, for me, the changes (like Bart's very well described stretched out first word approach) are often weak attempts at further creativity and not "awesome" at all. In fact, the playfulness or differentness or jazziness or whateverness Dylan's going for much of the time he does these things wind up (IN MY OPINION) detracting from the songs' lyrics' punch and manage to convey less of the impact of the words, imagery & poetry of the original to the audience. I would suggest that when the "Mr. Tambourine Man" that Bart states was "delivered as it was written" was heard, folks wound up feeling (& being moved) more than those who got to hear Dylan play with the accents, intonations, etc. In short, "cool painting, that Mona Lisa"¦ could we see it all in red or maybe with the head as 90% of the canvas?" or (for us food board folk) "this meatball dish would be really cool if one meatball was giant sized and was surrounded by little meatballs made with bright red beet coloring and maybe giving everyone chopsticks to eat them with" might be fun when stoned or bored but they're far from displaying artistic genius & probably further from satisfying an audience that has one shot at seeing the artist's work.
  21. Steve R.
    Well stated. Yes, V-la-R's market was great and we spent our time there every Tues during the month we were in residence (only two blocks away). And yes, Patricia Wells has her Provence cooking classes there"¦ we rented an apartment from good friends of hers, but sadly didn't get to meet her. We're hooked on Beaumes de Venice (almost had some last night at one of our favorite local restaurants, but opted for Dashe's Dessert Zin instead) & spent a bit of time touring thru Gigondas country, even finding one domaine that distributes to Bklyn. No one wants to see me in Speedos"¦ not even me.
  22. Steve R.
    Don't know how I missed Waitman's original post here but thank you both for these great write ups. Although we spent a month in Provence this past May-June, we were at the northern edge in Vaison-la-Romaine and spent much of our time in that area. However, we did get down to Avignon, Aix & Marseille for day trips & explored the surrounding areas of each a little (too little). A day trip to the market in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue was much as described above, but it was early in our trip and we stupidly didn't buy non-food items, thinking we had all the time in the world to return or get comparable stuff elsewhere. Didn't turn out that way. For those planning to go to the region, I'll put in my recommendation for Vaison-la-Romaine, as it's both a great base (with one of the best cheese shops, Lou Camesteou - Mme. Josiane Deal presiding, as well as a very nice Tues. market of its own, great Roman ruins and a picturesque "old town" area) & a good location to not only travel to other parts of Provence, but very close to Nyons (well worth a visit) and points north. It's also close to Seguret (a beautiful hill town), Sablet (with its own small brocade market) & Gigondas/C-du-Pape. Just sayin'.
  23. Steve R.
    Well, you still have Baltimore.
  24. Steve R.
    Yes, they do. But I also saw it with Marianne Plunkett in the lead &, in my opinion, it was still very good. I think I saw it without Mandy P. as well. At any rate, apropos of absolutely nothing other than I have this information, you may (or may not) like to know that it was a one act off Bdway and the 2nd act was written to take it to Bdway. Lots of folk bridled at the addition, as it is somewhat disconnected from the 1st act, but I liked it. Of course, I'm a sucker for a good laser show. Better than elongating the 1st act's premise to make it a 2 act play I guess. One more thing: a re-make hit the stage here in NYC several years ago and I thought that they did a good job with that as well. No stars in it -- at least that I recognized.
  25. Steve R.
    Glad to hear it. Let's not have any trash talking about this show, since my wife was a Stage Manager on it. As for my name, well it's a long and complicated story. You see, way back, over 60 years ago, my parents named me Stephen but I liked being called Steve better. So, that's the name I use. Got it so far? The R. is my last name initial followed by a period. I use this on mouthfulsfood.com, egullet and I used to do so on CH as well. But then they changed the board, abandoning that state of the art software that we all found so endearing, and a temporary quirk in their site dropped my period. So, as confusing as it is, my CH name is now Steve R -- with no period. Life can be so complicated (& confusing). By the way, it's even more of a mystery why I'm on this board, since I'm in N.Y. (well, trendy Brooklyn to be exact). But, Don seems to be okay with it so...
×
×
  • Create New...