I saw a local deal on Rue La La for a 6 course tasting for 2 at The Brahmin, a new restaurant in Back Bay that opened in August. It was tough to ignore that price so I decided to make the purchase and check it out.
It's in a pretty good location not far from the Orange Line's Back Bay Station. It's a pretty spacious place with a main room, a second function room to the right and a downstairs area which we didn't see. They even had some tables still set up outside for the few fair weather days we have remaining.
As I said, the deal allowed us to choose 6 different items from the dinner menu. We chose the Greens Salad, Seasonal Tomatoes & Baby Mozzarella, Tater Tots w/ a trio of sauces (truffled ketchup, garlic aioli, and grainy honey mustard), Meatballs, Grilled Chicken Skewers and Truffled Mac & Cheese.
The Greens Salad was the only sub-par course. Also, the Sidecar I ordered was horrendous. The rest of our drinks were tasty, though.
Never one to miss an opportunity to brag to my friends I made sure to check in on Foursquare. A tip popped up that "the best guacamole in town" was located right next door at a Mexican restaurant called Zocalo. Needless to say, there was no way my girlfriend was going to miss that. So after we finished our 6 courses we walked exactly one restaurant over and sat down for some tortilla chips and guac. (If you have never eaten dinner and then immediately gone to another restaurant for more food (not dessert) then let me tell you that it is very confusing for your stomach and brain to make sense of what is happening.)
The place looked busy but it was much smaller than The Brahmin so that wasn't really the case. Still it was cozy enough that we could look over towards the bar and see they had their own guacamole station where an employee literally just makes guac all day. Old school style too: in a mortar with a pestle. It was very cool to watch.
It was served in our own mortar and I enjoyed it thoroughly. My girlfriend liked it but wouldn't go so far as to label it "the best in town". Definitely worth a visit for the experience if nothing else.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The End of an Era
The 2011 Red Sox season is over and so is the franchise’s renaissance of the past 7 years.
2004 changed everything. 2007 emphasized that fact. But 2011 has brought us back to the world of the cursed. The 2003s, 1986s and 1978s that we all believed were behind us have returned.
Of course we were confident. Money and championships will do that to you. But, once again, we learned that money doesn’t equal championships. Best Team Ever? 100 wins? Try worst collapse in baseball history. No team has ever had a 9 game lead in September and not made the playoffs. Until now.
Maybe this is what needed to happen. To start over. To hit refresh. This will clear out all the pink hats. This will clear out all the Fenway Commemorative Bricks. We needed to get back to basics. We needed to get back to baseball. Hey Theo, batter up.
2004 changed everything. 2007 emphasized that fact. But 2011 has brought us back to the world of the cursed. The 2003s, 1986s and 1978s that we all believed were behind us have returned.
Of course we were confident. Money and championships will do that to you. But, once again, we learned that money doesn’t equal championships. Best Team Ever? 100 wins? Try worst collapse in baseball history. No team has ever had a 9 game lead in September and not made the playoffs. Until now.
Maybe this is what needed to happen. To start over. To hit refresh. This will clear out all the pink hats. This will clear out all the Fenway Commemorative Bricks. We needed to get back to basics. We needed to get back to baseball. Hey Theo, batter up.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Amazon Kindle Fire
It's hard to believe that there have been no serious competitors to the iPad in the nearly 18 months since it was introduced. Today we may have the first as Amazon unveiled the Kindle Fire.
"How," you ask, "can a tablet with only 8 gigs of memory, barely 10,000 available apps, and no camera or microphone be considered competition?" Two words: Amazon and $199.
Amazon is a known and trusted brand. People will give them an opportunity just because it's them. But Amazon has even one upped that by wrapping the entire Kindle Fire around their services. Books, movies, music, cloud storage - all easily accessible through your Amazon account.
$199 is a great price; nay, a fantastic price. It's less than half the price of an iPad. Everyone knows Apple makes great products and that they are priced with that quality in mind. But this... this is a game changer. This is where families take their first foray into the tablet market; this is where it becomes more than just an item to show off; this is where the tablet becomes the next Walkman.
"How," you ask, "can a tablet with only 8 gigs of memory, barely 10,000 available apps, and no camera or microphone be considered competition?" Two words: Amazon and $199.
Amazon is a known and trusted brand. People will give them an opportunity just because it's them. But Amazon has even one upped that by wrapping the entire Kindle Fire around their services. Books, movies, music, cloud storage - all easily accessible through your Amazon account.
$199 is a great price; nay, a fantastic price. It's less than half the price of an iPad. Everyone knows Apple makes great products and that they are priced with that quality in mind. But this... this is a game changer. This is where families take their first foray into the tablet market; this is where it becomes more than just an item to show off; this is where the tablet becomes the next Walkman.
Book Review: Name of the Wind
by: Patrick Rothfuss
My girlfriend recommended this book to me and I knew it must be good because she’s not a huge fan of the fantasy genre. In a word, this book is breathless. The whole story is of wonder and amazement. It involves magic and demons and a dragon. But it is also human. There is love, death, learning.
The story surrounds a man named Kvothe. He is telling the story of his life and we are there to witness. How he was born into a traveling troupe, learned magic from a visitor, dealt with the death of his family, survived day to day as a street urchin, eventually joined the University, fell in love with a girl, slayed a dragon and uttered the name of the wind. But wait, there’s more.
Name of the Wind is the first of an expected trilogy known as The Kingkiller Chronicle. The second book was published earlier this year and the final one does not currently have a release date.
My girlfriend recommended this book to me and I knew it must be good because she’s not a huge fan of the fantasy genre. In a word, this book is breathless. The whole story is of wonder and amazement. It involves magic and demons and a dragon. But it is also human. There is love, death, learning.
The story surrounds a man named Kvothe. He is telling the story of his life and we are there to witness. How he was born into a traveling troupe, learned magic from a visitor, dealt with the death of his family, survived day to day as a street urchin, eventually joined the University, fell in love with a girl, slayed a dragon and uttered the name of the wind. But wait, there’s more.
Name of the Wind is the first of an expected trilogy known as The Kingkiller Chronicle. The second book was published earlier this year and the final one does not currently have a release date.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Movie Review: 30 Minutes or Less
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson
McBride plays a slacker who needs some money. He and his cohort Swardson devise a plan to kidnap a pizza boy (Eisenberg) and strap a bomb to him. They tell Eisenberg if he robs a bank for them they will disarm the bomb and let him go. Eisenberg enlists the help of his childhood friend Ansari to assist in the heist. With the stakes so high a violent ending is almost inevitable.
The plot is ridiculous but humorous. However, it becomes downright depressing if you are unable to block out the fact that this really happened to someone and it didn’t end well.
The 4 leads all have their funny moments but McBride takes the cake. The movie has laughs but never really gets beyond the “OK” to “Average” range.
3 out of 5
McBride plays a slacker who needs some money. He and his cohort Swardson devise a plan to kidnap a pizza boy (Eisenberg) and strap a bomb to him. They tell Eisenberg if he robs a bank for them they will disarm the bomb and let him go. Eisenberg enlists the help of his childhood friend Ansari to assist in the heist. With the stakes so high a violent ending is almost inevitable.
The plot is ridiculous but humorous. However, it becomes downright depressing if you are unable to block out the fact that this really happened to someone and it didn’t end well.
The 4 leads all have their funny moments but McBride takes the cake. The movie has laughs but never really gets beyond the “OK” to “Average” range.
3 out of 5
Patriots’ Defense – New Look, Same Results
The Patriots are 2-1 in this young season and that’s nothing to turn your nose up at. But the defensive side of the ball – the one that was getting all the press during the lockout-shortened offseason and preseason – has been stinking up the joint. Bill Belichick, for the first time in his football life, switched to a 4-3 defensive front. He brought in proven veterans who profiled as solid pass rushers. All of this with the hope of changing the “bend but don’t break” defense of the past few seasons. Mission accomplished. Now they bend AND break.
Let’s take a look at the stats from the first 3 games of the season.
Miami – 24 pts, 488 yds allowed
San Diego – 21 pts, 470 yds allowed
Buffalo – 34 pts, 448 yds allowed
These aren’t even top flight teams! Can you imagine what the Packers or Saints would do?
(And let’s not place too much blame on Tom Brady for the loss to the Bills. Yes, he had 4 interceptions – matching his total from all of last year – but he also had 4 touchdown passes. It would have been a Buffalo blowout if not for Brady. Once again, the defense proved to be the deciding factor.)
But where exactly is the weakness? The defensive line: where Albert Haynesworth only has 2 tackles? The linebacking corps: with Brandon Spikes missing some time? Or the secondary: without veterans James Sanders and Brandon Meriweather flying around?
It’s still early in the season and the hope in New England is that everyone is still growing into the new 4-3 alignment.
*Belichick is a Hall of Fame coach but the 4-3 isn’t his specialty. He must draw up new schemes and see what works and what should be scrapped.
*Many new players that were brought in must learn the playbook, terminology and The Patriot Way. And that includes on offense too (see: Ochocinco, Chad).
In short, a franchise that has proven to be one of the best of the past decade has earned some level of respect. Leeway should be given while they go through the growing pains of the early season schedule. Remember, without the normal amount of offseason workouts and training camps everyone is learning on the fly, including the rest of the NFL. If there is any team who will be able to figure it out and succeed, it will be the Patriots.
Let’s take a look at the stats from the first 3 games of the season.
Miami – 24 pts, 488 yds allowed
San Diego – 21 pts, 470 yds allowed
Buffalo – 34 pts, 448 yds allowed
These aren’t even top flight teams! Can you imagine what the Packers or Saints would do?
(And let’s not place too much blame on Tom Brady for the loss to the Bills. Yes, he had 4 interceptions – matching his total from all of last year – but he also had 4 touchdown passes. It would have been a Buffalo blowout if not for Brady. Once again, the defense proved to be the deciding factor.)
But where exactly is the weakness? The defensive line: where Albert Haynesworth only has 2 tackles? The linebacking corps: with Brandon Spikes missing some time? Or the secondary: without veterans James Sanders and Brandon Meriweather flying around?
It’s still early in the season and the hope in New England is that everyone is still growing into the new 4-3 alignment.
*Belichick is a Hall of Fame coach but the 4-3 isn’t his specialty. He must draw up new schemes and see what works and what should be scrapped.
*Many new players that were brought in must learn the playbook, terminology and The Patriot Way. And that includes on offense too (see: Ochocinco, Chad).
In short, a franchise that has proven to be one of the best of the past decade has earned some level of respect. Leeway should be given while they go through the growing pains of the early season schedule. Remember, without the normal amount of offseason workouts and training camps everyone is learning on the fly, including the rest of the NFL. If there is any team who will be able to figure it out and succeed, it will be the Patriots.
Monday, September 26, 2011
A Very She & Him Christmas
It's a match made in Heaven the North Pole. Indie pop duo She & Him are releasing a Christmas album later this year. As anyone who has heard this band (or has seen Elf) knows, Zooey Deschanel has the perfect voice for holiday tunes. Stereogum has the tracklist and album cover posted here. It appears to be mostly standard fare but I'm looking forward to hearing M. Ward's arrangements.
Beside the point, are they really releasing a Christmas album on October 24? I'm not going to digress into a rant about the over-commercialization of Christmas; rather, the obvious synergistic quality of announcing this album while Zooey's new show New Girl is bringing in 10 million viewers a week.
Plus, she's adorable.
Beside the point, are they really releasing a Christmas album on October 24? I'm not going to digress into a rant about the over-commercialization of Christmas; rather, the obvious synergistic quality of announcing this album while Zooey's new show New Girl is bringing in 10 million viewers a week.
Plus, she's adorable.
Going, going, g---
With only 3 games left to the season the Red Sox are somehow still leading the race for the AL Wild Card by 1 game. However, I am currently watching Josh Beckett load the bases in the 5th, while refreshing the score of the Rays/Yankees game and seeing Tampa Bay up by 2. The month of September has really done a number on everyone involved. Suddenly, Terry Francona is on the hot seat; Theo Epstein is no longer the boy genius; Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia & Jacoby Ellsbury have stopped garnering heavy MVP consideration; and Boston fans are being mocked in the media. Bill Plaschke of the LA Times wrote a great piece on how the rest of the country is viewing this epic collapse.
I'm with Curt Schilling on this one. I don't want to see the Sox in the playoffs. Why extend this doomed season any longer? Finish with an embarrassing flourish of ineptitude and make some wholesale changes in the offseason.
I'm with Curt Schilling on this one. I don't want to see the Sox in the playoffs. Why extend this doomed season any longer? Finish with an embarrassing flourish of ineptitude and make some wholesale changes in the offseason.
Introduction
I love social media. I love how new it is, how fresh it is and how it is always changing. I love how it takes the old way of doing things and flips it on its head.
What do I want to do with this blog? I have Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LiveJournal, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Goodreads, Listal and an old MySpace page. Yet even with all of that I don't feel like I have a public platform for my real thoughts, ideas and comments. I get the most play out of Twitter but I want the ability to ruminate on things without a character limit. For that reason, The Public Frog has come into existence.
What do I want to do with this blog? I have Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LiveJournal, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Goodreads, Listal and an old MySpace page. Yet even with all of that I don't feel like I have a public platform for my real thoughts, ideas and comments. I get the most play out of Twitter but I want the ability to ruminate on things without a character limit. For that reason, The Public Frog has come into existence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)