Three Dog Kitchen

So, we’re off to Alaska!  We’ll be gone all week and I have no pre-written posts for you because a) we haven’t actually done much and b) I didn’t have much free time anyway.  Internet costs money on cruise ships, so you can bet I won’t be updating from there!  You’ll just have to wait until we get back.

Wednesday night we met with the second landscape guy (whom T likes; I like the first one) to go over his quote and such.  Boy, redoing your entire backyard is not cheap.  But, if we can get it done, it will look so nice.  Clean, polished, comfortable, and a place where we can relax outside and I will most likely complain out loud about the neighbor’s smoking.  I’m not fond of our neighbors. 

Anyway, after that meeting we had to decide on dinner.  Because T had been gone over the weekend on his 4-day trip, I spent all those meals cooking for myself.  I don’t think I ate out once while he was gone.  As such, I was kind of tired of eating at home and I wanted to go out.  Of course, due to his absence, T had a list of things to do before we headed on vacation.  I was trying to make a case for Souplantation, he was trying to push the envelope of tortilla soup (that would make 8 cups) we had in the pantry.  I had almost argued (internally) that we could eat at home since we’d be spending the next week, essentially, eating out and spending money.  But, I must have been pouty and T is too nice to me, so we ended up in the car headed to Souplantation.  On the way there, we passed Outback Steakhouse, for which I had a $25 giftcard (thanks, Melanie!)  It was closer, it would be cheaper, and that’s how we ended up there instead of Souplantation.

We ended up with a variety of dishes: seared tuna, french onion soup, a blue cheese side salad, and I ordered the Slow-Roasted Sirloin Medley.  Now, there is also a dish on the specials menu called Herb-Rubbed Slow Roasted Sirloin.  This dish comes on a crouton, with steamed vegetables, garlic mashed potatoes, and au jus dipping sauce.  However, I wanted the dish I had last time - the Sirloin Medley.  The Medley has sirloin on a crouton, but it has grape tomatoes, asparagus, spinach, and is topped with a garlicky-herb dressing.  It’s really good.  Now, why would a restaurant name two different dishes with such a similar name?  You might argue that they aren’t all that different, but if you want spinach and garlic sauce and not potatoes and au jus, it’s a huge difference.  So, we made sure the server wrote down the right one (Sirloin Medley) and he even checked with 3 people to make sure he was putting in the order for the correct dish.  What comes out?  Yup, the one with mashed potatoes.  He approached our table and before he even set it down I said, “That’s the wrong one.”  He took it back and came back with the same plate with tomatoes, asparagus, and the garlic dressing on top.  So, I had a combination of the two dishes, but without the spinach and with a lump of potatoes that neither of us ate.  To make up for this odd snafu, we got free ice cream with hot fudge sauce, which made us very full but it was good.  I think someone in the kitchen was confused because our receipt even said “Sirloin Medley” instead of “Herb Rubbed Sirloin”.

If you go to Outback and you want the good sirloin dish, make sure you order the one that says Medley (and it’s on the regular menu) and make sure your dish comes with grape tomatoes and a garlicky-herb dressing.  If it shows up with garlic mashed potatoes, it’s the wrong dish.

To Outback: Just because you add “Medley” to the end of one and “Herb-Rubbed” to the beginning of another dish title doesn’t mean your people will get it right.  I have no clear solution for you, as I’m not sure how I’d rename either dish, but perhaps you should have tested the dish names in-house for a while before releasing them to the public.  You know, like a quiz. 

“Bob, what’s on the Slow-Roasted Sirloin Medley?” 

“Uh, sirloin slices on a large crouton with, um, wait.  Is that the one with the mashed potatoes or the tomatoes and asparagus?  What’s the other one called?  Herb-Rubbed Slow-Roasted Sirloin?”

“Hmm… I see where you’re getting confused.  Perhaps we should work on this a little more.”

When I’m bored, I mill around Chowhound. I’ve gotten pretty good at not reading posts with titles that I know will annoy me. I now ignore them. Sometimes I get tricked and read a post only to discover that it’s a stupid question (yes, there are stupid questions AND stupid answers in this world) or completely unrelated to the title. These days, Chowhound is most useful to me for providing insight on new restaurants in the area. Of course, I don’t trust chowhound praise outright. No, typically I’ll see a few restaurants named and I’ll read about them and try and get an idea if the reviews are balanced enough to believe. I don’t trust gushing at all. Especially if it’s accompanied by PRAISE in CAPITAL LETTERS. So, I make a mental note of these places and then if I see it pop up on a couple local blogs it triggers a “hmm..” moment. At that point, I probably write it down somewhere and tell T that I want to try it. Or Cami. And then a few months go by before we ever get to where it is we’re craving. So, I’m totally not a trendsetter when it comes to new restaurants. Except for places in Poway, I guess.

My actual point, however, was to say that I don’t actively try to annoy myself with Chowhound. I feel like I’ve been on that site long enough for the vast number of topics to actually start repeating themselves. What to make for V-Day. What to cook to impress a first date. What to do with leftover ham. What’s your favorite cheese. OMG - Greek yogurt rocks. How long do I roast a chicken. Where to eat during Comicon. No car in SD - what food is bearable. And on and on.

What I don’t understand is what people think the site is for. I see questions pop up that make me wonder if they think they’re having live conversations*. Like, there’s a chicken burning in the oven and the dinner party starts in half an hour - what should they do? If I had a dinner party in half an hour and my food was burning, my first instinct would not be to consult a message board for an answer (and then wait for said answer to eventually appear). I would turn on the vent hood, stick the food outside, and either run to Costo for a roast chicken or make a frantic call to Joey’s Smokin’ BBQ. But, I also plan my dinner parties very carefully, so the chances of this happening to me are small. Also, for small get togethers, I don’t tell people what I’m cooking. For all they know, I was planning on having take-out all along!

Or someone will pull out chicken, a pepper, cheese, and couscous and ask what they can make for dinner that night. In half an hour. Do you really think people are sitting at their computer, constantly hitting “refresh” to see what last-minute disasters they can solve?

My latest favorites, however, involve broken appliances. My oven sometimes bursts into flames - should I worry? My refrigerator is leaking water - what should I do? Weird noises, odd smells, random flames, and puddled liquids are not questions for a message board. That’s when you start calling repair people. Some problems don’t get better the longer you wait to fix them (actually, I don’t know of any problems that do that). The concept boggles my mind.

But, just so I don’t end this post on a grumpy note, I will tell you about a cookie from Trader Joe’s (I know, surprise, surprise!) that I bought and didn’t like that later grew on me to the point where I took the bin to work so I didn’t eat them all. In one sitting. They are like Nilla Wafers, if Nilla Wafers were made with butter and vanilla beans. They’re called Ultimate Vanilla Wafers. They come in the plastic tubs, like the chocolate chip cookies that are also addictive. The cookies are crisp-soft. Not as hard as Nilla Wafers, but not as soft as a chewy cookie. You can definitely taste the butter, but sometimes you can also feel the vanilla bean seeds (some people don’t like that). It’s kind of nice to know that you could use a more natural cookie in place of Nilla Wafers (remember making mini cheesecakes with the wafer as the bottom crust?), but I also take comfort know Nilla Wafer are always on grocery store shelves. For all I know, the vanilla thins are “seasonal” and will disappear once summer is over. All in all, it’s a good butter cookie, with just a hint of vanilla.

* Some message boards really are like real-time chatting. I know friends who frequent boards like this and they form their own little odd community. This comes in handy if, say, your car is stolen and you need hundreds of eyes keeping a lookout until it’s spotted, at which point they band together, block said stolen car in until police arrive, and help you get your car back. I’m just saying.

I still love our Handi-Vac.  It’s been almost six months and I still love it.  I think we’re also finally getting to the point where we might need to replace the batteries.  I think that’s pretty good for this little vacuum sealer!  I’ve been reading on Chowhound that a lot of people are having trouble with their Handi-Vac bags.  They say some bags aren’t sealing properly and they’re getting discouraged with the Handi-Vac and dismissing it as a cheap gadget.  The last time I bought bags was probably a few months ago, so I have no idea if the “new” boxes have quality issues.  However, I sealed up some filets and corn and cheese just last week and my bags are still holding their seals just fine.  I’m wondering if people are trying to fill the Handi-Vac bags too much and that’s why they aren’t sealing well?  When you seal meats, you have to be very careful not to get meat juices near the “valve” or in the latticed part of the plastic.  Obviously, the bag can’t hold a seal if there’s liquid between the layers of plastic.  With dry food, you can’t fill a quart bag as full as you could with a regular zip-top plastic bag.  You need clearance space so the bag can seal properly.  It’s kind of a disadvantage, since a quart-sized bag doesn’t really hold a quart of food due to the sealing area, but you’re getting more time before the food goes bad, so perhaps it’s just a trade off.  Anyway, without knowing exactly how other people are using their bags I can’t really evaluate if their bags are defective or they’re just using them wrong.

The Reynolds website has a coupon up for the Handi-Vac.  You fill out their little form and then you can print a coupon from your computer.  It’s only a 55-cent coupon, but you can use it for the bags, too.  And if you take it to Vons or Ralphs, they’ll double it.  I think that makes a box of bags practically 50% off.  I’ve also seen the Handi-Vac wand on sale at the grocery store for about $8.  I don’t know if that’s because the product is not selling well and they’re trying to move it or if it’s just becoming more mainstream so the price naturally settles downward.  I hope it doesn’t get discontinued, because I’d have to go stock up on bags before they’re all gone and where would I store them?

In other news, I’m off to Vegas for a short trip.  T has been there for his hockey tournament (they tied their first game!) and by the time I get there they’ll either be done with games or headed to the playoffs.  They won the championship (in their division) last year, so I guess anything’s possible! 

In this world, you come across many people who shun chain restaurants solely because they are chains.  I consider myself a little food snobby - I don’t enjoy eating bad meals when I know better ones are out there.  I also don’t think bad food is balanced by a nice view or fancy place settings.  Good food is good and if it’s a chain that makes it, hurrah for them!  Or, maybe huzzah for them!

The first time I went to a Renaissance Fair with T, which was odd and strange yet entertaining and enjoyable, we were eating lunch while the Big Parade with the Queen and Other Important Folk sauntered by.  I don’t know what the Oueen was saying to her loyal “subjects”, but whenever she stopped talking everyone else yelled “Huzzah!”  Eventually, we just yelled “Huzzah!” along with the rest, in between bites of the ginormous turkey leg, of course.  I think it’s an exclamation that should be brought back into today’s vernacular.  Huzzah!

I have spouted my annoyance with Chowhounds often here, and that is one site where you’ll find more snobs than anywhere else in the world.  Ironically, Chowhound also has a Chains board, but it’s often filled with snide “questions” like: “I’ve never heard of Jack in the Box… is there anything worth eating?” and “Being forced to eat at Cheesecake Factory - is there any menu item that won’t make me gag?”  Regarding JitB, I have to say that one of my favorite items is also one I find kind of disgusting - the “tacos”.  2 for 99-cents!  Mushy meat in a deep fried shell with (what I swear is) American cheese!  It’s like admitting that you sometimes prefer Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese to the “real” stuff (I do).  Granted, the last time I actually ate those tacos was a few years ago, but if I think about them, I get a little craving for them.  And The Cheesecake Factory?  Well, they have overpriced cheesecake and the menu is, like, 50 pages long, but it’s not like the food is awful.  The wait is awful and it’s loud, but there are dozens of things that are actually pretty good.  And you really can’t beat the portions.  Order anything and you’ll definitely have leftovers for lunch the next day.  I used to really enjoy their shrimp scampi, their salads, and most of their appetizers. 

Now, I’ve been known to pout if forced to eat somewhere that I don’t deem acceptable.  And I quickly point out every flaw I see - chlorinated water, cold bread rolls, stale chips, frozen pie that should not be frozen, too-chewy meat, etc.  I’m kind of a brat that way.  But I’ve never dismissed something just because it was a chain restaurant.  In fact, I used to hate the Olive Garden.  I was quite justified in this.  Every time I ate there I had pasta that was overcooked (and mushy), undercooked (and crunchy), or a dish that was oddly really cold in the middle.  But then I went for lunch at the request of a colleague and discovered that some of their new dishes were really good!  I had braised short ribs that were fantastic!  I also learned that if you ask for unbuttered bread sticks you get fresh ones because they have to bake them just for you.  And the unbuttered ones are just as good (c’mon, we’re not talking about the heavenly bread sticks from Pat & Oscar’s).  So, see?  My mind can be swayed, even by chains!  So, I get truly riled up by people who talk about chain restaurants like they’re all serving dog food and soggy lettuce, when I bet those exact people go home and eat frozen dinners but don’t admit it to anyone and are probably in self-denial. 

All this to say, we had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory and it was lovely.  The only one left in San Diego is in San Marcos, which really isn’t that far from Poway, but it feels like it so we hardly go.  Well, actually, T had never been.  So, off we went to enjoy the complete meal of bread, soup or salad, pasta, iced tea, and spumoni.  For pretty much $10!  Now, I will never tout OSF as being a good Italian restaurant.  I only order one thing whenever I go there, anway, but it’s exactly what I expect and it fulfills my craving.  Spaghetti with mizithra cheese and meat sauce.  I love the brown butter and mizithra cheese, but the cheese is very salty so you need another sauce to balance it out.  T ordered the sampler with the meat sauce, mizithra cheese, clam sauce, and mushroom sauce.  Oh, the creamy pesto dressing is the best.  If you get salad instead of minestrone soup, get the creamy pesto dressing.  T seemed pretty happy with the food, so maybe we’ll be back.  I mean, if we want Italian food there are 2 good places close to home (one of which is within walking distance), but OSF never disappoints when you want some decent spaghetti at a good price.  Oh, they do give you a choice of vanilla ice cream or spumoni, but when do you ever get to eat spumoni?

I hope everyone has a nice weekend lined up.  We’ll be waiting for the fence guy to finish our end of the fence (we replaced the one running between us and the mean neighbors).  He was supposed to be done last Saturday, but apparently he greatly underestimated his schedule and still isn’t done, even though he also worked Sunday.  Our neighbors picked him (he did their back fence before and came in with a pretty low price) but I don’t really like him.  I wish we could have gotten our fence guy, the one who did our back fence and the front gate, but I’m sure our neighbors wouldn’t have wanted to go with someone who had a higher price.  It turns out he’s too busy anyway and isn’t taking new jobs right now, but I bet he would have finished when he said he would.  He and his brother did our entire back fence and front gate in 1 day.  The one we’re using now started Thursday and still isn’t done and at one point he had three other people working with him.  What the heck?  Good thing his price was low.

We’re also meeting with some landscape companies to get an idea of a) what to do with the back yard and b) how much it might cost us to do.  I have grand visions for more patio, a canopy tent, and a fire pit.  T wants a dedicated bbq area (not a built in bbq, though, that’s way too expensive) and thinks the fire pit should be kept away from the fence so as not to annoy any neighbors with fire pit smoke.  Whatever.  It’s not like they give any thought to whether or not we want to smell cigarette smoke coming in through the screen door that’s open because it’s hot and we aren’t ready to flip on the AC.  Bah.

Unless you live under a rock or never, ever go out to eat or stay away from internet chatter (in which case you probably wouldn’t even be reading this), you have heard of the new frozen yogurt craze.  It started with Pinkberry, the chain that offers a grand total of TWO flavors and charges you for the privelege of eating the new-fangled tart frozen yogurt.  And then charges you more if you want the non-plain flavor (in Pinkberry’s case, this is green tea).  In its wake, a slew of of chains followed and saturated the market, much like Starbucks when it was first discovered.  Granted, there are not frozen yogurt shops on every corner, but there are certainly a lot out there.

I remember frozen yogurt being marketed as a healthy alternative to ice cream.  Much like it is now trendy to use non-plastic grocery bags, you were hip if you pretended like the frozen yogurt was just as good as an ice cream sundae.  I didn’t like it.  If I wanted slightly tart frozen stuff… well, actually I didn’t.  I wanted ice cream.  Yogurt was for breakfast, in the sweet, flavored variety of Yoplait, Custard Style.  Then came TCBY, The Country’s Best Yogurt, with flavors that were sweet and much like soft serve ice cream rather than frozen yogurt.  I loved it, especially in a chocolate waffle cone.  Oh, yes, the waffle cones were flavored, not just dipped in chocolate.  Why hasn’t anyone brought that back?

After TCBY became “just a fad”, frozen yogurt went back to being something I avoided unless it was in a fruit smoothie.  There was a shop in San Luis Obispo that we would go to, and they had nice non-sour frozen yogurt, but I suspect we went more because they would fill the bottom of the cone with crushed Butterfingers.

Now, we enjoy Golden Spoon, my favorite being the peanut butter cup flavor.  Again, the frozen yogurt itself isn’t what attracts me.  The best part about Golden Spoon is that you can order a Mini size - the perfect amount of dessert for under $2.  On the other end of the spectrum, we discovered Yogurt World down on Convoy Street.  I guess they’re a Pinkberry follower, but they have a dozen flavors and you get to serve yourself.  Some are good, some are not.  Oddly enough, I like the plain tart yogurt and sometimes the tart peach.  The vanilla custard (not tart) is rich and creamy.  When they have banana yogurt, that’s practically the best flavor ever.

All this to say: a new yogurt shop opened up in Poway.  It’s called A Whole Lotta Yogurt (WLY) and it’s behind the Starbucks on Poway Road (12222 Poway Road, Suite 3).  When I heard about it, I said they either need to be different, like Yogurt World, or better than Golden Spoon or they won’t make it.  When we saw a coupon in the Clipper magazine, we figured that would be a good time to check it out.  So, after spending a weekend stuck at home waiting for the fence guy to finish (he’s still not done - he was supposed to be done Saturday, he worked Sunday and there’s still more to go - bah!) I was itching to get out of the house.  We hopped over to Mr. Hummos for the kefta plate and an appetizer combo (the baba ganoush is fantastic) and then walked to the new yogurt place.

It’s sold by the ounce and they currently have 6 flavors (I think it’s 6).  The owner said that the store was designed and built by the same company that did Yogurt World.  Two tart flavors (Yogurt World wins on the plain tart, but WLY had a nice tart mango), the necessary chocolate and vanilla, and then others.  I tried the pistachio, but I wasn’t in the mood.  It wasn’t bad, just not the kind of pistachio I was hoping for.  Maybe I was expecting a gelato-style flavor?  The peanut butter flavor was really good.  Combined with the chocolate it could give Golden Spoon competition on the peanut butter cup.  T and I actually got the same flavors, except I added some tart mango to my cup.  Now, here’s why we’ll definitely go back: they have the soft mochi balls as a topping for your frozen yogurt.  They have oodles of other toppings (no fruit jelly-things), but the mochi balls are what we love at Yogurt World.

I was pretty happy as we walked back to the car.  I think I may still frequent Golden Spoon to get my Mini peanut butter cup, but I’m really happy we can get a frozen yogurt fix closer to home and not have to drive down to Convoy Street or Mira Mesa (where the new, still crowded Yogurt World opened).  I hope word gets out and they get popular (but not too popular!) because I want to be able to go back.

So, to A Whole Lotta Yogurt: Thank you for opening, thank you for having the mochi balls, and please consider doing a good banana flavor.

Any time some noteable beer place opens up, someone takes notice.  T discovered Phileas Fogg while driving home one night after his hockey game, right on Poway Road in the funny strip mall that has a constant rotation of places.  Phileas Fogg is where Sipz used to be, and the bistro that came after it but didn’t last long.  Java Kai used to be in that strip, too.  I suppose it’s not really a convenient location; it’s more along the way to your final destination.  Kind of like Primm when you’re driving to Las Vegas - you’re so close to Vegas that you don’t really want to stop, even though Primm has all those outlet stores and the huge roller coaster.  And on your way out of Vegas, you just want to keep going and get home.

We did stop at Phileas Fogg once for beers, on our way to Jimmy’Z for some Poway Fun Bowl bar karaoke and people watching.  They had quite a crowd on a Friday night and the boys seemed impressed with the beer list.  The food menu looked pretty good, too.

Last weekend, we pointedly drove over (the whole 4 minutes it took) for lunch.  I’m going to preface this by saying it was Saturday afternoon, the place has only been open a month or so, and I guess their typical Saturdays have been very, very empty.  I only saw one server on duty, but half the seats at the bar were taken, a few bar tables, the lounge-y couches at the front, two outside tables, and 3-4 dining table all had patrons.  I repeat, all this for one server.  Because they haven’t been open long enough to settle into the swing of things, I’m willing to overlook this.  However, I think it would have been nice if they had someone on reserve duty who could have come in to help.  We had noticeable waits between drink refills and beer re-orders, not to mention the food wait.

T really had his heart set on the Tikka Masala, an item that is on the menu and has been since they opened.  However, you can’t have Tikka Masala because, even though it’s on the menu, it’s not being served.  I can understand being out of a certain item from time to time (though I was still upset that they ran out of curry sauce), but to have indefinite plans for serving a printed menu item?  I would think you could either make sure you’ve got your lineup ready before opening, take it off the menu until you’re ready (you could make it into a “daily special”), or at least put a note over the item on the menu itself so people know not to get hungry over it.  T ended up with the Phileas Cheesesteak, which was good and standard for a non-Philly-style sandwich, but we have been spoiled with good cheesesteaks that make our standards quite high. 

I ordered the fish and chips as it seemed like a good item to test the menu.  I actually wanted to specifically compare curry sauces, as the best one I’ve had so far has been at Dublin’s Irish Pub in Mammoth, CA.  Alas, Phileas was out of curry sauce.  I also suspect my crispy fish suffered from the aforementioned short-staffing.  It was still hot when I got it, but the bottom layer had gotten all soggy and didn’t want to stay on the fish.  The fish was good (1 large piece among semi-crisp but well-seasoned fries), but I found myself longing for the fish and chips from Patrick’s, the Irish pub in Poway.  There, you get smaller pieces (but not much smaller), but still a substantial amount of food and the lemon mayo sauce that comes with it is amazingly addictive.  I would actually order the dish just to get that lemon mayo.  It’s better on fries than anything.

We didn’t get dessert at Phileas, but the dessert menu has chocolate lava cake, cheesecake, ice cream, and one other item (maybe bread pudding?)  I’d love to see sticky toffee pudding on the menu, as we had a really decadent one in London and Phileas Fogg is trying to incorporate that comfy British food.

They have also started a beer club, where you mark off 50 beers from around the world and get a polo shirt when you’re done.  It reminds me of Spike’s in SLO, where I punched out 2 beers from their list of 40.  I’m not a huge beer drinker.  At Spike’s, though, you got to engrave a small plaque label when you finished.  The beer list at Phileas Fogg is pretty good and varied though, with some Heineken and Foster’s thrown into the mix.

I think Phileas Fogg has a good idea behind it and I hope they are successful enough to stick around.  They’re a nice choice for a beer stop, but I’m going to give them more time to work out the serving logistics before making a decision on their food status.

Summary:  Go for beer or a glass of wine (they have a nice wine selection) and maybe some appetizers, but give them time before testing it out as a dinner stop.  Also, let me know if you hear of sticky toffee pudding rumors.

We love new restaurants.  I mean, we love finding new (or even just new-to-us) restaurants.  Sometimes they aren’t very good and we don’t ever go back, but sometimes they’re surprisingly tasty and we try to fit them into our rotation when we can.  If we discover we haven’t visited one in a while, it’s probably because the restaurant was more on the pricey side.  It’s hard to find good cheap eats close to home.

We recently tried the new Hawaiian place on Poway Road, by CVS and Big Lots, and we were sadly disappointed.  The short ribs had hardly any meat, the macaroni salad was weak, and the bbq beef was thin and underflavored.  The kahlua pork was okay and the bbq chicken was moist and tender, but it was all very blah.  The spam musubi was just a failure.  Too much rice (that was too dry), too tough nori, and the spam was very thin and almost crunchy.

Another “new” restaurant we’ve had an eye on is Capri Blu.  We got a flyer in the mail months and months ago, but then the coupons expired and we filled our dining-out nights elsewhere.  Then, in a moment of serendipity, T mentioned that we should start marking down new restaurants on our calendar, almost scheduling them so we would make a point to actually eat there.  And then another Capri Blu coupon came in the Clipper magazine.  So we went.

Capri Blu is in 4S Ranch, a new community that’s not quite Rancho Bernardo, not quite Carmel Valley, but somewhere in between.  We saw it when we took our Barbeques Galore “cooking” class, which also reminded us that we had wanted to eat there.  I’d describe it as a contemporary Italian place.  It’s not as simple as Filippi’s, nor as mainstream as Macaroni Grill, but it’s not as old-school as The Godfather.  The appetizer list includes dishes like ahi, stuffed eggplant, carpaccio, and calamari.  They have salumi and cheese platters with reasonable prices, although I don’t know how the portions are.  Pasta dishes are $14-16 and entrees hover around $20.  It’s not a cheap place, but it’s not too expensive either.  Sundays and Mondays are half-price wine nights, which makes their wine list extremely reasonable.

We ended up with the ravioli of the day (in the best pesto cream sauce I’ve ever had) , orechiette with sweet sausage, and a split spinach salad.  It was all really good.  The dishes were flavored simply and looked like something you could easily throw together at home, but it was all done very well.  We also enjoyed a creamy panna cotta for dessert, one of my new favorite desserts.

We signed up for their VIP card, which tracks how much you spend and then you get $15 off once you spend $100 total.  I don’t know how often we’ll go back, but it’s a good option to have that’s fairly close by.  Of course, Domenic’s is even closer, but they have a more traditional menu.  I guess it all depends on what kind of Italian-food mood we’re in on a Sunday night.

It had been a long time since we last went to Anthology, down in Little Italy (actually, I take that back, we were there for T’s company holiday party).  I signed up to be on their mailing list, to keep an eye on performers coming through.  So, when I saw that a Bjorkestra was going to be there, I sent the e-mail to T, more as a joke than anything else.

See, I’m not a fan of Bjork.  I used to be able to listen to her music, but then I watched Dancer in the Dark and I was just completely put off.  The movie was weird and depressing and the music and singing just didn’t help matters.  Then I saw her at that awards show dressed as a swan.  So, all the weirdness and the Scandinavian wailing got to me and I haven’t been able to enjoy her music since.  T, however, truly enjoys Bjork, so he truly was interested in the idea of a Bjorkestra.  Because I love him and like the food at Anthology, I was willing to go along.

It seems a few things have changed at Anthology since our last purchased visit.  Tickets are now purchased directly through their website and confirmation also serves as your dinner reservations.  Before, I think you bought tickets through Ticketmaster and then had to separately call the restaurant to make dinner reservations.  Also, they used to have a fixed price menu option (that wasn’t much of a deal) that would secure you a table on the main floor, as opposed to the seats around the main floor (which were still awesome seats).  I also think tickets have gotten cheaper, which is nice, but I noticed the house band now has a cover.  It’s only $5, but before they had no cover.  Conversely, the food/drink minimum per person has been lowered to $15.  Side note: all you need is, like, one drink or food item and you’re covered.  That’s how not-cheap it is.

Speaking of which, I could swear the menu has gone up in price.  Maybe it’s the dishes being offered right now (the menu will change in the summer), but I don’t remember all the entrees being around $35.  What we also learned on this recent visit, though, is that you can sit in the dining area but order off the bar menu.  The bar menu has a burger, ahi sliders, and a few other small dishes, but it’s at least $10 cheaper than the dining room menu.  So there’s one option.

All in all, it’s still a very fun night out.  It’s just not a cheap one.  The food is still exceptional and it’s still pretty small servings.  It’s a place that makes you take the time to slowly chew your food and savor the flavors, because it you just plow through it you’ll have an empty plate and still be hungry.  You know, because of that whole 20-minutes-for-your-brain-to-tell-you-you’re-full thing?

We had a crispy shortrib pocket as an appetizer, which is one “pocket”, but filled with tasty braised beef that goes so nicely with the deep fried wrapper.  We also had a zucchini fennel muffin (which I liked and T didn’t) and foccacia.  They only give you one at a time, but no one’s ever looked at me funny when I ask for another one later.  T had the salmon and I ordered the sea bass, both of which were moist and tender and served with the crispy, crispy skin side up.  They do fish dishes better than most restaurants I know.  We also had the banana french toast for dessert, which was good, but not spectacular.  I liked their mini cupcakes better.  I didn’t see the final bill, but I’m guessing it was considerably more than the $38 I paid for the ticket portion of our night.

As for Bjorkestra, they were entertaining and good.  I liked their singer very much - she was cute and had a nice voice.  I imagine it’s hard to sing Bjork songs if you’re not Bjork, but she did a good job.  The problem is, I enjoyed the band very much but T actually likes Bjork’s music as it is so he wasn’t as enamored by their composition fiddling.  So, Bjorkestra: good for people who don’t like Bjork, not so much for actual fans.  Go figure!

As for Anthology, we picked up some free tickets to a Wednesday show later in the month (upper level general admission only).  I need to look up the band to see if we really want to go.  Now that I know you can order off the bar menu, I think this would be a more inexpensive way to go.  Of course, their drink prices are still quite high.

There are times when we are traveling so much I feel like weekdays are only for unpacking, laundry, and repacking.  Don’t get me wrong, I love our trips and knowing we’re about to embark on a mini-adventure.  But then we have a couple of weekends at home, weekends where sometimes we spend the whole day at home in pajamas, and it is relaxing and refreshing to just sit still for a while.  I’m sure the dogs enjoy us being home, too.

Of course, the best weekends at home are the ones we also spend with friends.  The more we “grow up”, the crazier all our schedules get, so it’s nice when everyone’s at home and free to play.   This weekend we hiked a mountain, ate pub grub, splurged on Korean bbq, and played Rock Band.  Actually, that was all just one day, since Sunday ended up being a stay-at-home day.  Although, we did end up with filled in gopher holes, a mowed lawn, and a vacuumed house.  And a washed husky!

It had been so long since we went hiking that I was really looking forward to huffing and puffing my way up Iron Mountain.  There are no better snacks than the ones you enjoy at the top of a mountain, enjoying the view and a well-deserved rest.  Originally, we were going to take Sadie since she’s the most social dog in the household and we’d be hiking with a group of people and other dogs.  After some consideration, though, we decided to take Lexi because she was bouncing off the walls and we figured she had the most energy to actually make it through the hike.  Well, I don’t know if the other two would have fared any better, but Lexi did not make it through the entire hike.  She made it to the top (3 miles) okay, slowing down a tiny bit but certainly making it over the rocky steps easier than I did.  After a rest at the top, some water and some treats (shared with the other Eskie on our hike), it seemed like the walk down would be a breeze.  But poor Lexi got so tired that she would just stop in the shade and sit (and pee).  At one point, I carried her down, but then she got heavy so I put her back down.  She made it to the porta-potties, so close to the end you could see the trailhead and cars, sat down in a small patch of grass/weeds, and pretty much planted her feet.  She was done.  T carried her back to the car, a furry tired lump in his arms.  I guess we’re all a little out of shape.

We found out the next day, as we were rubbing her tummy, that she ended up with a doggy blister on her front paw!  Poor puppy!  No wonder she’s been acting so sad!  I gave her extra treats and fed the dogs a nice dinner to make up for it.  Maybe this means we need to take the dogs on more walks and short hikes to get them acclimated.  Either that or just leave them at home when we do hike somewhere.  Our dogs just have such an easy life they aren’t used to the hard work of climbing up mountains!

Maybe instead of a doggy treat, Lexi would have been happier if we had taken her to Buga with us for some tasty meat.  We always have such a great meal there and it’s a lot of fun when you’re there with friends.  We’ve gone often enough, too, that I think we’ve figured out how much food to order so we’re all just full enough.  We had a group of 6, so we ordered 4 plates of meat, some lettuce and bean paste, and an order of mandoo.  I think we would have been okay without the mandoo, but fried dumplings are so hard to resist!  Mmm…  I’m happy just thinking about that meal.

T and I are no video game buffs.  The only game system in the house is my little Nintendo DS Lite.  But we sure enjoy playing when we visit our friends!  Now, if the person who has Rock Band is busy with other plans, don’t you think it makes sense to just go buy the game for yourself?  Well, lucky for us, our friend Jeff thinks so, so we enjoyed a few hours drumming, singing, and guitar “strumming” thanks to his new purchase.  Rock Band is pretty fun, especially when played with people who don’t really care if you’re not all that great.

It was a good weekend.  We had lots of fun, ate really well, the dogs are clean and happy, and I’m almost refreshed enough to look forward to Monday.  Almost.  My mom always tells me we have too much fun and I guess that’s true.  I hope we always have too much fun!