September 2006 Archives
Not much excitement on that front just yet. I've been staying close to home (as in the hotel) so far this trip. Ordered pizza from "Pizza Chicago" on Sunday night. It was OK. I like thick-crust pizza, but this crust tasted more like Pizza Hut pan pizza than it did a quality local chain. Still, it was OK, no hard feelings. The stuffed mushroom appetizer was excellent, so that helped balance things out.
I'm so not a NFL fan, but the game in Da Dome was a moving experience, even for a cynic like me. Usually I'll find a sports bar to go to for dinner on a Monday, since they'll have MNF on, but since I was on the west coast, I was able to see the game and still have time to go out for dinner. I just needed to be back by 10pm so I could watch "Shark." When the Saints actually started playing well, though, I got involved in the game and just ate leftover pizza.
When I'm staying at a Residence Inn like this week, I have the option of actually cooking. I exercised that option last night, cooking up chicken breasts and diced roma tomatoes in red wine, served over angel hair pasta, and some sourdough bread. I picked up a Yellowtail Cab-Merlot blend and kicked back for all my tuesday night shows...excellent combination!
...was relatively simple, since we pigged out at T. L. Starke's on Friday night. I picked up some thick-cut pork chops, sprinkled a little lemon-pepper on them, then grilled them up. I put bbq sauce on two of them (for wife and Kev), and I put a pesto grilling paste on mine.
To go with the pork chops I made "Pasta with Olives," one of my regular side dishes. Chop up a big jar of pitted green olives and saute them in some olive oil. Add in some heavy cream and toss with cooked pasta.
For a veggie, we had white corn-on-the-cob. Bread was crunchy Binder's French Bread, wine was a bottle of rose'.
Dessert was petit-fours from Zuppardo's. They had 10 dozen on the bakery counter, and Kev loves them, so I picked up a dozen box.
Puccino's is an Italian coffee shop with two locations in Metairie: one on Veterans and Kent (which is just past Transcontinental) and the other on 17th Street, across from Morning Call and near Lakeside Mall. We went to the location on Veterans yesterday for breakfast.
Puccino's bills itself as a coffee shop, but it's got a full-service kitchen, as is evidenced by their extensive breakfast menu. You order food and/or drink at the counter and pick up your food at the kitchen window when your number is called. Wife ordered their French Toast, while I had the "Classic American Breakfast," which is 3 eggs (any style), bacon or sausage, grits or hash browns, and toast. In addition to food from the kitchen, Puccino's offers a good selection of coffee cake, danish, rolls, and bagels.
The place wasn't all that crowded, so service was pretty quick. I had a large dark roast coffee and Mrs. YatPundit had fresh-squeezed orange juice. Puccino's uses one of those machines where you literally toss whole oranges in the top and it produces juice. We hadn't sat down more than a couple of minutes when they called our number.
Wife's French Toast was pretty good, four slices of wheat toast dipped in a thick, eggy batter, fried up, sprinkled with confectioner's sugar, sliced diagonally in halves, and served with two strips of bacon. That's just how she eats it, so no further additions or changes were needed.
I ordered my eggs over easy and they came back over medium. This isn't a deal-breaker for me; I don't mind them a bit overdone, so long as they're not hard. I ordered sausage and grits for a traditional Southern breakfast. The grits were a good consistency, not runny, and the toast was done just right and lightly buttered.
Of course, a nice atmosphere and good company go a long way in marginalizing any gripes one might have with a meal, and this breakfast was no exception. The tab came to just under $20, and I tipped a couple of bucks on top of that.
What separates a place like Puccino's from a full-service restaurant are the little things. Ordering at the counter, picking up at the window, getting your own silverware, butter, syrup, etc., are all reminders that the beverages are their main product. It's a good compromise, however. The atmosphere is most definitely a step above your average diner, and CC's/Starbucks don't cook a hot meal.
The bottom line: If you're looking for a good, tasty breakfast and you don't mind if you're not waited on at the table, Give Puccino's a whirl. If you need to work a bit, both locations have free Wi-Fi Internet access, so bring your laptop.
curbside, take-away from Outback Steakhouse requires good wine to be a successful stay-in-and-watch-TV meal. I ran to a store around the corner from here and picked up two bottles. For dinner, Mia's Playground Zinfandel, 2003. For dessert, Covey Run Late Harvest Riesling, 2004.
The red is OK. Mia's Playground is an adequate Zin, but the earth didn't move.
The Riesling, on the other hand, was very tasty. Sweet and fruity, peaches and apples with a crisp finish.
[note: I'm combining dining observations with a general update of the week so far. I can't post to or read LiveJournal from inside this location (one of those business decision things, to keep people "productive"), so this will hit my LJ from here.]
This week has been so busy that there hasn't been a lot of time for culinary delights. I flew in Sunday, and asked the desk clerk for a menu for a local pizza place that delivers. They gave me "Pizza K," which wasn't too bad. On Monday, I took the teen to California Pizza Kitchen at the little mall on 17th Street near 75/85. CPK was OK--it might not be the greatest thing in the world, but it's consistent.
Yesterday, I took him out again, to Rocky Mountain Pizza, on 10th Street near GA Tech. We went to this place last time I was here in Atlanta. We ordered the "strizatta," an appetizer that is a thin pizza crust with a white sauce and some spices, then rolled into small rolls and sliced into bite-size pieces. Not bad at all. They do specialty pizzas, and this time I had their "Cajun" pizza. (Yeah, I know, that's breaking my rule about "cajun," but what the heck). It was a chicken-andouille pizza and wasn't half bad. The Guinness was cold and poured properly, so it was just fine. What's more important is that the teen enjoyed it as well!
Not that most of you need any convincing that this is a good idea, but it's nice to see others agree:
Pubs 'healthier' after smoke banThe vast majority of bar staff in Scotland believe their workplaces are healthier since the introduction of the smoking ban, according to a new survey.
The Cancer Research UK poll of 545 workers revealed that three quarters thought the legislation would improve their health in the long term.
And I found that I'm more willing to go to a couple of places up in suburban Boston when I'm up that way now that their bar sections are mandatory no-smoking. It looks like I'm not alone:
Pub trade 'not hit' by smoke banA quarter of Scots are likely to visit pubs more often now public places are smoke-free, according to a survey.
The Cancer Research UK poll also found that 10% of the 1,000 over-18s surveyed were less likely to visit a pub since the ban came in three months ago.
The charity said the net result indicated the smoking ban would not lead to losses for the pub trade.
Since our T.L. Starke's restaurants will be opening non-smoking, this is good-news data.
