Month: January 2008

Quotable People: Installment Eight

After getting used to having a daily quote to look forward to, I bought another one of those page-a-day calendars. Instead of offering a female perspective, this calendar provides sentimental nuggets about friendship, some quite cheesy. Here are some only borderline-cheesy thoughts:

  • “Friendship isn’t a big thing – it’s a million little things.” – Anonymous

  • “A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • “When someone tells you the truth, lets you think for yourself, experience your own emotions, he is treating you as a true equal. As a friend.” – Whitney Otto

  • “True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable.” – Dave Tyson Gentry

  • “Friendship is like a bank account: you cannot continue to draw on it without making deposits.” – Anonymous

  • “I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.” – Robert Brault

Workshop West: “The Mighty Carlins”

The return of Workshop West from financial oblivion was much heralded in the media, and I am certain the title of their current series, “True Grit”, is as much a reference to the company’s resurrection as to the content of their productions.

Piqued by the choice of Mill Woods as the setting of The Mighty Carlins, I asked Mack to join me for a pay-what-you-can showing on Tuesday night. From the website:

“On the anniversary of his wife’s death, Leo Carlin and his two adult sons come together for their traditional night of drinking until they can’t stand, reminiscing until they can’t remember, and accusing each other of horrible things until they are bonded together as a family once again.”

Walking out of this play, Mack immediately commented on the amount of yelling that had taken place, while I was glad to be out of a space surging with testosterone – the three men were relentless in their display of aggression, one-upsmanship, and macho behavior. It was clear that Carlins is not for the faint of heart – between the language, the drinking, and continuous references to sex, this wasn’t a play for everyone. That said, such a framework couldn’t be avoided; this was the reality of relating to each other for these men. An undertone of blame and guilt was a subtext of the entire play – with Leo’s son Mike in particular questioning his father’s role in his wife’s death. The resolution, albeit tinged with a sad truth, was all too brief given the build-up towards the confrontation.

What small misgivings I had about the script were more than made up for by the stellar performances, however. Veteran John Wright as the snarky father was a presence and force to be reckoned with throughout: stalwart, stubborn and feisty. James Hamilton (who reminded me very much of Chris Fassbender in this role) was fantastically vulnerable and pathetically spineless, and displayed to a T all of the internalized mannerisms by the bullied, picked-on member of the family.

While set in Mill Woods, this could have taken place in any suburb in any major city, with the reference to the “hour long bus ride” and numerous drive-by shootings seeming more like a gimmick than anything else. And oh the drinking – Mack and I wondered how the men were able to avoid running to the bathroom after opening and “consuming” at least fifty cans of beer over the course of the show.

This was my first Workshop West show, so if The Mighty Carlins is any indication of the content they gravitate towards, its productions are a departure for my admittedly narrow theatre experiments. Of course, I will still keep my eye on their schedule, and at the very least, offer them the congratulations they deserve for giving up-and-coming playwrights a platform for expression.

“The Last Great Hamburger Stand”: Fatburger

Always ready to try the new restaurant on the block, Mack and I originally planned to visit Fatburger (1755 102 Street) on the weekend. However, deterred by a long line up and a movie showtime, we decided to save our burger stand experience for a less busy occasion.

So although it was out of the way on Tuesday, we made our way there after work. By 6, quite the line started to form – I’m sure this location will be fending off curious customers for a while yet. Upon entry, we ordered a Fat Deal and a Chicken Deal (combos including “skinny” fries and a drink), which were called out, and repeated, Starbucks-barista-style, to the employees stationed at the grill. We were then handed paper cups to fill with soda ourselves, and a number to display on our table so that our food could be delivered to us.

While waiting, I surveyed the decor: friendly and fun, with red-dressed booths, a checkered floor, jukebox, and flat-screen televisions, it was basically a “modernized” retro diner. The washrooms were exceptionally clean, very surprising for a fast-food establishment, with tile pictures of male celebrities on the wall in the women’s toilet and vice versa for the men.

A tray was brought to us a few minutes later. My chicken burger wasn’t bad, and the fries were reminiscent of Wendy’s, but with a combo price ($9.99) and quality comparable to Red Robin’s, I think I’d likely choose the latter, if not only for their bottomless baskets of “fat” fries. That said, we will be back at some point to at least try out their homemade onion rings (fresh made every morning, supposedly), and for Mack to garnish a future burger with a fried egg.

Give Fatburger a whirl, but in the end, it really is just a burger.

Interior

Chicken Deal (with a massive cup of ketchup)

Random Notes

  • Prison Break is back on Monday! But perhaps they should have just held on to the remaining episodes until filming resumed…another (likely lengthy) hiatus won’t be easy to take.
  • I watched Juno last night, and really enjoyed it. I’m so proud of the fact that both Ellen Page and Michael Cera are Canadian, and happy that they are receiving recognition of their talents from the press. The always funny Allison Janney is also in the film, and is deadpan with one of her best lines to Juno as she begs for an epidural: “Doctors are sadists who like to play God and laugh at the lesser peoples’ pain.”
  • The restaurants of Original Fare are offering their own version of Restaurant Week called the “Festival of Forks”. Fixed menus go for either $25 or $35 – check it out!
  • I’m not sure why I’m mentioning this, because I don’t put any credence into their selections (like last year), but since it’s out there in the media: Where Edmonton‘s survey of Most Memorable Meals in 2007 is out. While I can’t dispute some of the categories due to a lack of first hand experience (I’ve never been to either Ric’s Grill or Von’s Steak House, for example), I can say that the only category I wholeheartedly agree with is Fine Dining (Hardware Grill).
  • In stark contrast to Andrea’s review last year, a Vue Weekly writer loved Phobulous. I still haven’t been there, so I can’t dispute either opinion, but the difference between the two experiences is an irreconcilable valley.
  • I tried a Skinny Latte this week, and it tasted like steamed milk with a flavour shot. I don’t buy espresso-based drinks that often, so when I do, it is an indulgence; the 90 calorie selling point doesn’t really matter to me in the end.

Strip Mall Elegance: Jack’s Grill

After New York, I thought it’d be best to avoid “fancy” restaurants for a while – not because I don’t enjoy being catered to necessarily, but because I feel I’ve enjoyed my share of fine dining for several months. When May suggested we try out Jack’s Grill (primarily because she had a gift certificate that would cover about half our meal costs), I agreed, but knew that if their hospitality matched their menu prices, my verdict of the restaurant would be influenced by my desire for anything but formal dining.

Located in a Lendrum strip mall (5842 111 Street), a rather unusual spot for a high-end eatery, it is easily missed due to an exterior that blends in with neighbouring merchants. Upon entry, I was greeted by a friendly hostess who immediately took my coat (I can’t seem to get away from mandatory coat checks) and seated me at a table alongside a wall of windows. Whoever designed the restaurant should be commended for not only the placement of glass, but also for the inclusion of a garden of sorts outside the window. With a parallel bank of trees decorated with twinkle lights, if led in blindfolded, diners would never guess that Jack’s Grill was situated in a strip mall to begin with.

May arrived soon after, and we took our time with the one page menu. We skipped over the appetizers directly to the entrees. May decided to try the Slow Braised Lamb Shank ($32), while the Chinook Salmon ($36) as described by the waiter sounded too good to pass up.

While we waited for our plates, May and I were both surprised at how busy the restaurant was over the course of the evening. Though never completely full, I didn’t think those with expensive tastes would wander out of the downtown core to feed their hunger for gourmet cuisine.

May’s lamb was perfectly prepared – tender off the bone. She didn’t like the accompanying braised cabbage or gremolata much, but finished it all the same. My salmon was good, but the butter sauce it came in was better (it’s pretty difficult to mess up pan fried fish, I find).

Service was decent throughout (including the server who refolded our napkins while we were away from the table), and our water glasses were never less than half full. Still, without a gift certificate in hand, I would be hard pressed to return to Jack’s Grill. There are better fine dining options in Edmonton (Hardware Grill, for example) that I would turn to first on occasions requiring a high standard of excellence.

Exterior

Dining room

The Cooking Chronicles: Eggnog Cookies

Birthdays provide another great excuse to try out new recipes. I bought a copy of Company’s Coming: Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen a few months ago (I love the dry mix ideas), and in it was an unusual recipe for Eggnog Cookies.

While I’m not a huge fan of eggnog, Mack is, and I decided a batch would be a good start for his (belated) birthday present. Being drop cookies, it was an easy batter to put together, though I had to omit the rum/brandy addition, as we didn’t have any on hand. The cookies turned out all right, mostly circular, and looked better with a drizzle of eggnog icing and colored sugar (a piping bag would have allowed for more consistent decoration, but I found a fork easier to use).

I can’t comment too much on the taste because of my bias, except to say that they had quite a strong nutmeg flavour to them. Mack seemed to like them enough, so as gifts go, I’d consider making them again for those who like eggnog.

Eggnog Cookies

Film: “Waitress”

I watched Waitress over the weekend, a quirky, independent film about Jenna, a small-town girl (played by Felicity‘s Keri Russell) with an exceptional pie-baking aptitude and dreams of leaving her husband.

There’s a lot to love about this movie – from Jenna’s creative pie names (e.g. “I don’t want Earl’s baby pie”) to the comedic supporting characters (Cheryl Hines and Adrienne Shelly are a riot) to the tender letters Jenna writes to her unborn child, Waitress pulls at the heartstrings all while offering hard truths and striking realities. Russell is a vision in this movie, somehow remaining grounded and believable in an off-beat world. This was my first screen encounter with Edmonton-born Nathan Fillion, and while I can see how he could fit the bill as a tempting escape for Jenna, I wasn’t as impressed with him as I thought I would be.

In one of the DVD features, Russell indicates that she decided to sign on to the project when she read one of the voiceover lines that comes near the end of the movie. It’s wonderfully lovely, and though I can’t quite do the line justice in blog form, it’s still worth repeating here:

“Dear Baby, I hope someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight and that’s all they do. They don’t pull away. They don’t look at your face. They don’t try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms without an ounce of selfishness in it.”

Waitress is a sweet comedy perfect for that lazy Sunday afternoon.

The Best Pho in Town: Pagolac

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Pagolac, as I had been frequenting Doan’s to satify my pho craving. My last few trips to Doan’s have been disappointing, however – the beef stock seemed to have increased in salt content and did not appear to have been made from scratch (boullion cubes, anyone?).

I was hoping Pagolac hadn’t gone downhill in the time I had been away, and I am happy to report that they still offer the best pho in the city! My bowl didn’t have cilantro (boo), but other than that, I couldn’t complain about anything. Their servers always amaze me too – super efficient even in a packed house.

Inexpensive and consistent, Pagolac is still my recommentation for reliable, cheap eats.

Pho with medium sliced beef

Random Notes

  • Starbucks introduced their “Skinny Lattes” this week, made with skim milk and sugar free syrup. When Second Cup added the word “skinny” to their menu, I wasn’t impressed, and the same applies to Starbucks – what is wrong with ordering a custom latte the old fashioned way? Moreover, they have added a “How nutritious is your latte?” quiz onto their website’s front page. As if anyone ordering such a coffee is looking to boost their daily intake of vitamins with a hit of caffiene.
  • Christopher Thrall is leaving his cushy position as the resident restaurant critic at Vue Weekly. In his last piece, he cites both dinner at PiccoLino and brunch at Bacon as some of his best meals in the city, period. I’m now interested in trying both.
  • There’s an interesting read over at Zagat: a round-up of quotations from restauranteurs and chefs about what they want to see more – and less – of in 2008. To Roland Passot, who dislikes the trend of blogging from non-food professionals, I say – no restaurant will ever please every diner, but to shy away from the opinion of the “common man” demonstrates a lack of respect for the everyday customer and an unwillingness to hear criticism from anyone who he may judge to be an untrained gourmand. I have lost any interest I may have had in visiting his establishment.
  • I’ve been swept up in the fervor of the American primaries. It almost makes me want to run out and buy Season 7 of The West Wing in order to relive fictional election madness.
  • The program for this year’s International Week at the University of Alberta is up. Notably, Jeffrey Sachs, author of The End of Poverty, will be speaking on January 31st. See you there!
  • The amount of anticipation for Catalyst’s remount of Frankenstein next month is just incredible. Tickets are selling fast; get to Tix on the Square soon if you’re planning to catch what some have been calling the best locally-produced show ever.
  • It’s now the end of the first week of January, and there still hasn’t been any word from Teatro la Quindicina about their new season. I’m worried.

A Little Slice of Europe: Bistro Praha

A few friends and I met up at Bistro Praha (10168 100A Street) for a late afternoon dinner on Saturday. I hadn’t been back to the restaurant in some years, though I had been a frequent patron there in my late high school and early university days. The Rice Howard Way strip hosts a number of independent, ethnic eateries, including La Table de Renoir (French), Co Co Di (Lebanese), It’s All Greek to Me (what else but Greek), and the Eastern European fare of Bistro Praha.

Small but cozy, Bistro Praha always seems to have a few groups of regulars in addition to more curious diners. With a prominent bar and counter along one side and furniture that could have been pulled from an old family pub, the dining room is comfortable and feels familiar somehow. Lighting is dim, but conducive, it seems, to the camaraderie of more boisterous customers, but protective also of the intimate conversations taking place at the tables for two.

I wish I could provide more detail about the menu items, but truth be told, I’ve always ordered the same entree – the Wiener Schnitzel “Cordon Bleu” (a slice of veal, edam cheese and ham breaded then fried). Served with green and potato salads, the meal is consistently satisfying. I decided to order the full plate, though when it arrived, I realized that in the past, I had only asked for the half order – the schnitzel was huge! Still, I managed to eat every crispy and tasty bite – a microwaved portion of leftovers really wouldn’t have done the dish justice.

Stuffed, I wasn’t able to order dessert, but the rest of the girls did. Janice said Bistro Praha’s crepes were better than those served at The Creperie.

It was a nice meal overall – good food, attentive service, and not a bad place to catch up with friends. If you’re in the area, give Bistro Praha a try!

Restaurant interior

Wiener Schnitzel “Cordon Bleu”

Peach Crepe