arghblahskribbleoof

I am still one tired little bunny.
Okay now I have to drag myself to work.

vintage Gennie

I do believe we are long overdue for a review revue.

Recently Mr. Boyfriend and several friends and I went to Cutter's one of many waterfront restaurants in Seattle that does seafood and liquor to the max. It is a restaurant big on chic decor, gorgeous views and very perky servers (the kind named Kaitlin and they are very excited to serve you) but it kind of lacks a bit of substance. The meals were lovely enough but the food lacked a bit of heart.
Most of us started off with oysters even though it was a little early in the season. So of course they were small and didn't really have a strong flavor of the sea. Plus they weren't really all that cold. I like my oysters to be very very cold and very very fresh and it felt as if they had tossed them onto the ice at the last minute as an afterthought. Plus it came with this salsa-like mixture which kind of threw me. I wondered if it was supposed to be a cocktail sauce? I stuck with the lemon.

For dinner I had a seafood platter which had salmon, scallops, and tiger prawns on skewers marinated in a sort of sweet teryaki-like sauce. which I did enjoy, along with the smart-ass conversation. The food was quite nice and I spent a lot of time licking my fingers, even though I knew I shouldn't. (Miss Manners would have a lot to say about that) A few things struck me, one the acoustics were horrid and second they played music that was much too loud for a place like that. It was as if they took their musical cues from Red Robin. I think they need to rethink that a bit.

The real apex of the evening had to be dessert. The flourless volcano cake was sex on a plate. The kind of thing I enjoy. You pierce the cake with your fork and a fudgy river of chocolate begins to pour out. It doesn't stop there, you are faced with that along with ribbons of caramel and whipped cream.
This is the sort of thing you will need to share with a few people because it is so rich and sweet you may end up with diabetes and gout after the meal.
I highly suggest having coffee with this dessert. It takes the edge off a bit. I would definitely return for just the dessert alone.
The restaurant is a bit expensive, and there are better places for fish and a view, but it is a fun place to go with a fun group of people who can make snarky comments about older lecherous men and their intentions.

....

On Saturday evening Andrew and I went to Isabella Ristorante" I have read a number of reviews of the place and it is definitely hit or miss. Yet I was curious about the food and wanted to see for myself.
It follows the current downtown seattle trend of deep red walls and flowered embroidered chairs. They seated us quickly and the place wasn't too full.
It took awhile for our server to show up, but he quickly took our orders and came back with bread and olive oil. The service is a little off. They always make sure you have plenty of water and bread but you do wait quite a long time for your food. It is perfect if you want to have a leisurely meal where you wax poetical with someone, but if you are going to a show or a movie or be anywhere at a certain time I would suggest eating else where.
For our starters I had the asparagus and fresh mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto with a balsamic vinaigrette . It wasn't too vertical (I have thing about vertical food these days...which I will get into later) and Andrew had calamari with butter, tomatoes and basil. They do not scimp on the portions I give them that. Andrew said he could have just eaten his starter and been satisfied.
I loved many elements of my choice. The asparagus wasn't bitter or over-cooked (which is a fairly common mistake alot of people/restaurants make) The cheese was fantastic, but I felt the meat wasn't quite right. It was a little...rough. I expect prosciutto be to silky and paper thin. This was much more thick. It was like some sort of common bacon.
The vinaigrette did not disappoint. It was perfect with the asparagus.
For dinner I had the risotto with prawns and scallops. (I know some of you are wondering if I eat anything besides seafood...I do...dessert)
I wasn't impressed with the risotto. The seafood was perfectly cooked, yet I felt there not enough prawns. Which always makes me a bit disappointed.
the risotto itself wasn't terrific. It felt rushed but I did enjoy the tomato basil creme sauce. It is a combination I have yet to find poorly done.
Andrew had the chicken breast with prosciutto and cheese (essentially chicken cordon bleu) with sauteed mushrooms in a butter sauce.
He could barely finish it because he was so full, but he did enjoy the few bites he had.

Over all it was a nice meal, we enjoyed people-watching (at the table next to us, a couple were very...passionate and the man was old enough to be the girl's father. Almost as good as the opera for amusing sighs)
But again, the service lacks much.

....

Yesterday I went to Bumbershoot A fun art/music festival if there ever was one.
I saw a parade of brazilian dancers and puppets. I participated in some crazy ad hoc drumming group (which was exciting, even if my hands felt like veal after being tenderized) saw some kick-ass stand-up comics, ate a lot of food and saw REM to boot.

We caught the performance of a few of my favorite comedians. One being Todd Barry. I have seen him live before and this man always always does a fucking great show. He has a couple of comedy albums out and he is on Conan now and then. If you should ever get a chance to watch his act, jump on it. Fun stuff.

I also got to see Maria Bamford who has this tiny little girl's voice and she can do a million other voices and is probably one of the funniest things since three-legged dogs. Again she is definitely worth catching.

There was one comedian who was talking about whores, and feeling queer over Jude Law and generally being good funny stuff. Someone with two small children walked out and he was making fun of the person for bringing children to a comedy show.
I sorta had to laugh. They have this sign outside saying the material is R rated and may not be appropriate for minors.
What do they think is going to happen?

I caught some of Reggie Watts act, which was pretty spiffy as well.

Okay...food.
I started off with a salmon and cream cheese pirosky. These are always good. You can't go wrong. Andrew had the beef and cheese (surprise surprise) and we have yet to be disappointed by these.
I had a shikaberry which can be good, if the berries are in season. Basically (for those who are not familiar) It is several strawberries on a stick with chocolate.
I know, you are thinking, "GENIUSES". They can add whipped cream or do pineapple or bananas.
The berries were kinda small and iffy, but the chocolate always makes me happy.
I had some crabcakes later one.
Oy vey...awful, mooshy, sad.
Avoid that completely.
The elephant ears this year were different. They were crispier and there was less of the cinnamon sugar goodness.
Someone needs to have a chat with the folks about that.
elephant ears are large, slightly floppy, doughy and filled with soooooooooooo much cinnamon sugar goodness you go into shock.
I ended the evening with a funnel cake and lemonade.
Andrew impressed/horrified me when he ate a large handful of powdered sugar.
Yes folks, that is my boyfriend.

Okay so we saw Wilco and REM.
I kinda judge bands/singers by their ability to do onstage banter. Those who know how to do it well, tend to also have a good show. They are comfortable up there with their thing and it shines through.
I didn't dig Wilco so much (I admit I am not one of the die-hard fans) and the lack of banter kinda turned me off. Just saying, "okay...this is a song we like" does not cut it.
Plus the end of many of their songs were sort of a psychedelic trip-like thing and it kinda turned me off.
Andrew said, "it doesn't fit the qualities in what I like in a song. It wasn't melodic, energetic or clever."
You heard it hear first.

REM though...Oh gosh. That was big ol' fun. They played a lot of older pieces, some new things and Michael Stipe knows how to do the onstage banter. He doesn't stand up there for years like William Henry Harrison, but he knows how to do the witty comments and say nice things.
Professional my friend. Professional.
He ended his encore with "End of the World" He made Andrew very happy. People danced, pranced and had a good time.
At the front it was very very crowded and there were some drunk assholes doing their drunk asshole thing.
They should have stayed home.

A lot of pot too...goodness it smelled like Eugene.

...

I hope you had a fun time as well.
I am going to lay down and take a nap.

Let me introduce...

After a rousing game of scrabble I help a certain individual set up his very own livejournal.
I feel slightly silly.

I would like to introduce everyone to reenigne Be nice to him and don't ask him too many questions.