Restaurants I'm Diggin'...But Don't Tell the Anarcho Police

I almost forgot that I said I would post about this. Birthday dinner was lovely. 1618 West Seafood Grille was a very satisfying fine dining experience, despite the pretensions inherent to that biz, i.e. repulsive attempts to de-anglicize words by adding an 'e'. 'Fine dining' in general isn't my style, because it's so damn expensive (average entree here = $24) and because I can generally do as well or better with my own ingenuity in the kitchen, but I didn't have to pay for this one. They have an impressive wine list, and the loosely Latin-themed flounder entrée was delicious. It came with a dirty rice-stuffed poblano pepper that was...well, hot damn. Also, I have never had better calamari in my life. You can check them out here. The menu has changed who-knows-how-many times since their last website update, but I generally take that as a good sign.

While I am confessing my bourgeois sins for the week, I may as well also admit to really enjoying brunch at Lucky 32 on Sunday. I'm not sure how we ended up deciding to go somewhere so fancy, because it's really uncharacteristic of us, but there we went and boy was it good. Good enough to make it relatively easy to ignore the racket and stench of monied white Greensboroans and simply enjoy the food. The service was fantastic--our waitress was a real person who simultaneously brought her self and her best manners to the table. Particularly noteworthy items were the Sweet Onion Basil Quiche, the fried grit cake with gravy, and the absolutely sexy fruit salad. Figs, as you might guess, always get points with me. 

I wonder what they've got in their dumpsters at the end of the night. Let me know if you want to go on an adventure to find out.

Extemporaneous Falafel

Mmmm. Greek yogurt with pecans and honey. Black tea with milk and more honey. Perusing the blog I am wicked addicted to, Design*Sponge. The author's job is on my top ten list of things I might have loved to do with my life--right up there with documentary photography--if it hadn't been for this pesky desire to serve people. I sound bitter, but that's far from the truth. Teaching is where it's at...until it's not anymore, of course.

Soon I'll post links to a blog space that David and I are launching sometime later this month, which will document the first Ex.Tempo Series event. Here is the invitation we made:

Only a few of the people we initially invited made it this time, but I think it will take a few times before people realize that it really is a thing, and that it really is lots of fun. It seems that David has a new admirer, too, who wants to play more regularly.

I made fantastic falafel burgers for everyone. I have no idea if I'm doing it right, but it sure does taste good. I just mash up chick peas, a little flour, tons of garlic, tons of chopped parsley, and salt and pepper, then moosh them into patties and bread them with a mixture of flour and spices. Then I shallow-fry them in about 1/2" of peanut oil. The oil gets very dark and starts smoking, and I have to switch it out halfway through. My tzatziki doesn't follow any particular recipe, either. Nevertheless, them shits is good.

The next day, I made food again for the We Rock Collective guys, at which point I started hearing them call me 'Ms. Cooper.' Aurgh. Anyway, dinner was great: homemade tortillas with raw veggie salad tossed in lime blackberry vinaigrette and yogurt (collaborative effort on the sauce) with parsley and mint. I love food, and I love having people around me to feed, and I love having time to do it. I need to remember how happy it makes me to feed people as I navigate the career world--this could be a serious consideration, part of a healthy depression-avoidance plan. Of course, some day I may have little choice in the matter. If anything happens to dad, I might have to figure out what to do with the restaurant. I have thought about turning it into a happy, hormone-free pig sort of barbecue place, but somehow I think that the clientele would run screaming.

Today's pass-alongs:
- Check out these gorgeous spiders (and gorgeous everything) at the Montague Projects Blog.
- And remember, ladies, that if you're not having enough fun, you can always find some priests and do this... (c/o Chicks and Bikes)