The Burgundy Room (and other things)

Pre-Easter dinner with the parents (I had school work to do on Sunday) took place at one of Dublin, Ohio's top end wine bars. Believe it or not, the small town has a plethora of restaurants that includes two wine bars because of the Memorial Golf Tournament that takes place their every year. The town has both the Wine Shoppe Bistro (which I did not visit this time, although their olive, cheese and wine selections are always divine) and the Burgundy Room (which I did visit).

The Burgundy Room has a location in Columbus' Short North, which is a trendy area with no shortage of yuppies and a rather vibrant late-night, weekend bar crowd, as well as a location in Dublin. The menu and wine list at both locations are similar if not identical.

The restaurant features American and Mediterranean-style tapas that can be matched with wines. The waiter James (or Jimmy, depending on whom you asked) was rather knowledgeable about the food and beverage, receptive to vegetarian inquiries and engaging to speak with during the course of the meal.

My vegetarian appetizer was vegetable spring rolls with a sweet and sour/ soy dipping sauce and soba noodles. The entree was portobella ravioli in alfredo sauce.

The cocktails and matched wines were tremendous. The most pleasurable wine was the Orin Swift the Prisoner, a California blend of zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, petit sirah and charbono. It featured ripe berry fruit with striking undercurrents of tobacco, pepper and plum, providing a perfect match to the earthy richness of the ravioli.

The pictures are below in the Picasa link.

Burgundy Room, Mischa and 40 West

There are also random assorted pictures of sweet little Mischa dog posing for the camera and a few shots of some mayhem at 40 West Lincoln, resident Otterbein party house. If you're in town, stop by and tell them I sent you.

Star of India

If you need vegetarian, few cuisines can compete with the Indian subcontinent. Star of India, which won the best ethnic food in Athens News' Best of...issue, has spicy vegetarian options to spare.

Afternoons feature a buffet with multiple vegetarian menu options. The chutneys are all flavorful. Nan, a soft puffy bread baked on the inside wall of a clay Tandoori oven, is available in many flavors. The vegetarian samosas are enormous and delicious. The paneer pakora and the vegetable pakora are both also great starters. The vegetable pakora and samosas are available as a combination appetizer platter.

My entree for the evening was a spicy chickpea curry with basmati rice. It was sneaky spicy and very good. There are eight or nine vegetarian and vegan options on the entree menu. The rice pudding was thin and more sweet than spicy. Star of India is BYOB.

Check out the pictures in the Picasa link below.

Star of India

Sucks and Rules

Sucks:

Going to the refrigerator before lunch and discovering your insulin is frozen.









Rules:

Akron/Family



"Meek Warriors"
featuring the
incomparable
Hamid Drake
(Young God Records)

When Satire Bites, Bite Back

With times more trying then ever, Americans need to find more outlets for relaxation. Leave it to our leaders to find a way to smile with pain and pitfalls surrounding their every move.

It only took $400+ billion and 60,000 casualties for the Washington Post to figure out that there was no connection between Hussein's Iraq and al-Qaeda. In other startling news, the Post also determined that the world is round, that the pope is Catholic and that Elmer Fudd will never catch that rascally rabbit.

America is planning to release the five Iranian diplomats it captured in Iraq according to a New York Sun report. The gentlemen will be sent back with specific instructions not to take over Iraq until after the United States abandons the country.

The military went on another of its strong recruiting efforts. Corey Andrew Powell, an openly gay man, was approached by the U.S. Army because of a resume he posted on Career Builder. After inquiring sarcastically about whether gays were allowed to serve in the military, Powell received back caustic e-mails that included remarks in the incendiary all caps format that read: " YOU ARE DEFINITELY UNQUALIFIED, NOW TAKE YOU GAY SELF SOMEPLACE ELSE WE DO NOT TOLERATE GAY PEOPLE LIKE YOU IN ANY PART OF THE MILITARY." and " YOU HEAD OF FTO THE GAY LAND OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO MORALS AND GET RID OF YOURSELF. PERSONALLY I THINK BEING GAY IS DISGUSTING AND IMMORAL." That was definitely not an Army Strong response.

In Somalia, European diplomats were investigating allegations of war crimes levied against participants in a battle between Somali and Ethiopian forces in the capital city of Mogadishu. President Bush plans to step in and lend assistance after he conquers Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, North Korea and Sudan. He also might take time to eat lunch before he jumps into the fray.

In the great United States Florida is beginning a policy to allow all felons but " convicted murderers, sexual predators and 'violent career criminals'” to vote in upcoming elections. The sex offenders, while they can't vote, help showcase Florida's commitment to rehabilitation for criminals in their fancy housing facilities for offenders under causeway bridges. At least the Bush White House will have somewhere safe and democratic to go in 2009.

On the other coast, the L.A. Times forecasts drought and Dust Bowl-like conditions in the Southwest because of global warming. This means that by 2050, Los Angeles will not only seem like the shittiest place on Earth; it actually will be the shittiest place on Earth. At least you'll be able to keep track of the change with the Christian Science Monitor's handy dandy Global Warming Web site.

Big automotive business is struggling in Detroit, which has prompted billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian to bid for the Chrysler portion of the German Daimler Chrysler. Reports indicate he is paying one-eighth what the German company paid for the automaker. I don't know how you say "I'll take that disaster off your hands while you slink away into the sunset" in German, but I'm sure Kerkorian's translators have that covered.

Baseball season brings the story of Creighton pitcher Pat Venditte, an ambidextrous pitcher who gets batters out throwing right handed and left handed. Chances remain that Venditte could strike out Reds outfielder Adam Dunn right handed, left handed or merely by kicking the ball in the general direction of home plate. In Cincinnati, the town is in need of better pitching after the Wild Thing Vaughn performance of Mayor Mark Mallory.

Desecrating all that is sacred is part of the music business. However, let me be the first to say that the plan for Oasis, the Killers, the Kaiser Chiefs, the Fratellis and Razorlight to record a tribute version of the Beatles' magnum opus " Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is a bad idea. Oasis already tried being the Beatles once...and failed. Let poor John and George rest. What's next, Carrie Underwood and Clay Aiken re-recording "Billie Holiday Sings"?

New Stupid Features

There is an insane amount of ridiculous search parameters entered into the YouTube bar and the News Wire bar on the right of the page. Consider them thrill rides to enjoy when my prose gets boring.

News You Can Lose

Tony LaRussa probably wishes the police had left him in jail after getting swept by the Mets in his season opening series. You probably wish I had been put in jail after break, but unlike LaRussa, even the Man (or the Mets) can't keep me down.

The superstar story of the last week has been the 15 sailors taken hostage by Iran. Recently, they were released. Iran realized if they were going to torture and kill anybody's military, these choices would be limited to the United States and France based upon evidence that both countries are full of people who are easy to hate.

The news behind the news points to mounting evidence that the U.S. is waging soldier-for-hire war with Iran while they also might be responsible for the British sailors being captured in Iran. If you are going to lose, you might as well lose big, and a war with Shi'ite Islam might be the next great step. I guess the quickest way out of Iraq might be straight through Iran.

In order to make sure the entire Middle East burns to the ground so that it can be built again from scratch, the U.S. is planning to arm Saudi Arabia and other "allies" against the newly-minted Axis of Evil opponent Iran. Israel is fighting this move. My suggestion would be move the Western Wall to China and move back after Bush is finished with his master plan.

On the domestic front, Barack Obama is rolling in the Benjamins since he has raised $25 million in campaign funds. My suggestion would be to spend it on ads to air during "American Idol" and then announce run away favorite Sanjaya as your Vice Presidential candidate before Hildo and Eddie the Ambulance Chaser get any ideas.

Murder and mayhem return to HBO next week when the Sopranos return to New Jersey. The show will wrap up. Afterward, the big question will not be what loose ends weren't wrapped up but where will any actors from New Jersey whose names end in a vowel ever find work again?

Media matters include the best news coming out of Indonesia. Playboy editor Erwin Arnada was cleared of indecency charges today. At least one can be confident that they can buy smut over the counter before the death squad executes them.

Of course, the favorite media darling is the story of freed journalist/blogger/anarchist/activist/independent media icon Josh Wolf. Wolf was imprisoned for over seven months for refusing to turn over footage of a G8 summit protest in San Francisco. His status is a hot potato topic that courts and journalists are all too happy to avoid defining. The future of media will either be a Constitutionally protected mass media collective or a Constitutionally protected all-inclusive collective of information. Stay tuned.

Billionaire Howard Zell bought the Tribune Company. Finally, somebody with billions of dollars can buy my team, spend money on them and lead them to glory in a way that a "gum company and a media conglomerate" (according to Mr. Downey) could not.

In real sports, former wide receiver Darryl Stingley died early this morning in Evanston, Illinois. The 55-year old was paralyzed by a devastating hit in a pre-season football game by Jack Tatum. This event was credited with changing the way football is played, although it certainly had no impact on the Cleveland Browns actually winning Super Bowls before or after the fact.

Billy Donovan put the Gator chomp on Kentucky today when he announced he is staying at Florida as head basketball coach. As long as he doesn't start coaching football, baseball, cricket, rugby or hockey, I'm sure Ohio State will have a shot at winning a championship in something over the next few years.

Barry Bonds is still hitting home runs. This is good for my fantasy team, but bad for everything else baseball related.

Finally, check out the Onion's article on David Ortiz and Jackie Robinson. Hilarious! He doesn't get it like Griffey.

The arts and odds and ends bring up the rear. Keith Richards is adamant that he did not snort his father. Dad will qualify as the only powder Richards didn't put up his beak.

Finally, I guarantee that if you get arrested for drunk driving, you do not A). want to be a municipal official, B). be in a bikini, and C). be a man.

All Good Things

Since it was the end of my trip to Chicago, I decided to go all out for the last evening. So I bought a Saleen S7 and outraced the cops speeding down Lake Shore Drive sipping on Cristal out of Cartier crystal flutes and throwing gang signs in my rear view at the suckers eating my dust.

Actually, that last sentence is a complete fabrication. When I walk past automotive dealers that sell $555,000 automobiles, however, the insane lottery fantasies I have start going off. On the way to dinner, I walked past a car dealer that was selling a Mercedes SLK McLaren alongside Bentlies (if that is in fact the plural of Bently) and Ferraris. It was an interesting lot to stumble across on the way to dinner.

My lovely dinner companions Krysta and Nikki met me at Dudley Nieto's new regional Mexican joint Xel-Ha. Nieto was the original chef at Adobo Grill back when they were a good restaurant with atrocious service (as opposed to now being a bad restaurant with atrocious service). The menu features half traditional Mexican dishes with a twist and half Yucatan specific regional dishes. There was one vegetarian selection in both the Pan-Mexican and Yucatan appetizers and entrees.

The drinks were ridiculously good. There was a surprisingly tangy red wine apperatif that is in the photographs. There were numerous variations of margaritas also captured in digital form.

The food was interesting if not spectacular. The regional cuisine is always markedly different from the cookie cutter Mexican food available at Chipotle. Huilacoche and black bean quesadillas were interesting foils to one another, with the earthy notes in the huilacoche being contrasted by a faint smokiness in the beans. The main dish consisted of a number of vegetables like squash and eggplant served aside a stuffed mild chili pepper.

The food was very good, but the best suggestion in this price range would probably be Frontera Grill, Topolobampo's cafe restaurant.

The rest of the pictures are of the crew running around to Danny's in Bucktown later that night. I also witnessed some Irish-themed marathon before I left. Check the pictures below.

End of the Trip

There is also a small chance I start reviewing music and going back to my previous bitter political sarcasm soon. Stay tuned...out.

Mass Media, Descartes and Cleo

These are some odds and ends posts of media pictures in Chicago. In other posts I featured the Sun Times and Ebony and Jet magazines. This has WGN, the Tribune Building, NBC and a stunning Jack Brickhouse statue.

Breakfast was at the philosophically themed Descartes coffee, which had numerous vegan bakery items as well as a wide range of coffee and tea drinks.

Lunch was at a nondescript bar Cleos that had March Madness on. I ate stuffed mushrooms and a veggie burger with two cheeses, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and lettuce while Ohio State put away Memphis.

Pictures are featured in the Picasa link below.

Descartes Media

Vermilion and 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

Vermilion has been on my to do list for some time now. Consider it checked off. Vermilion is an Indian/Latin fusion restaurant. They offer tapas and degustations of seven courses. This dinner was a measly two tapas with an entree.

Vermilion has luscious drinks like a tamarind margarita and a coconut cream saffron drink with dried coconut and rum that was a perfect foil to the spicy fare. The dinner started with an amuse bouche that was a spicy gazpacho accompanied by a tapioca cracker served on a plate with a character written in chili powder.

This was followed by a plate of artichoke pakoras served with a mild brown mustard and a sweet, spicy red sauce. The other plate was a manchego and Indian lentil/ vegetable empanada. The entree was asparagus wrapped in phyllo served on a red and green tomato curry with okra and spicy starch support beams.

The menu featured almost half vegetarian half not vegetarian options, and the staff was helpful in pointing out the best vegetarian items. The menu does change frequently, but the Indian part of the fusion keeps the options very veggie friendly.

Vermillion et al

The virtual barrage of bars followed.

Swirl Wine Bar featured a number of conservative wine choices and small nosh plates.

Goose Island Wrigleyville was stop number two. They have the same Goose beers on tap as my previous post on Goose Clybourn.

Casey Moran's featured sports on television, loud classic rock music, weird psychedelic patterns on screens and a bustling crowd of people with a fairly vanilla beverage list.

Then of course came the beer-from-everywhere-including-a-pile-of-Belgian options Hopleaf that has most anything you'd think of by the bottle or on draft. They have pages of Belgian beers on a menu plus a pile of tap handles. Some of my old pictures might be more telling for Hopleaf. It is part of a different trip to Chicago where I visited these same clowns.

Field Museum pics and Rock Bottom

This is an afternoon spent in the Field Museum, which is Chicago's Natural History Museum. I saw the animals, plants, dinosaurs, Mendel exhibit, evolution exhibit and the Ancient Americas exhibit. The Egyptian display is also outstanding, but the last three in the list of things I did see are limited time displays. The video clips were great on the enormous screens. That day I ate breakfast at Starbucks, which was bogus, and lunch at Rock Bottom, which is always fair.















Rock Bottom is a chain that employs local brew masters to craft beers at the brew pubs. Chicago is one location that brews tremendous beer. The food is not nearly as good as the beer. The Brewery pretzel was good, as was the Portobello Fontina sandwich sans mayo . That came with onion rings that had no onions in them, which was moderately disheartening. The beer was excellent in staving off frustration from the oversight.

The Line Drive Light is always a pleasant quaff. The gold, the brown, the red and the wheat are all typical in style and soundly made. The Terminal Stout is a mouthful of tobacco and molasses. The seasonal beers are the showstoppers. They had an Irish Stout, a Belgian strong ale and the Fire Chief Irish Red. There is also typically a cask ale. The place gets crowded, but it opens up considerably when they open the rooftop beer garden.

Check out the pictures in the link below.

Museum