A couple weeks ago, we went to Spruce for Don's birthday. The dinner was very highly anticipated and I was expecting a pretty amazing dining experience. I guess it would be more accurate to say that I was expecting Spruce to completely blow my socks off - probably not a fair expectation to have going into a new restaurant.
We started off on the wrong foot. It took our server about 15 minutes to take our drink orders. I was thirsty and wanted a drink!! Plus there were a bunch of drinks on their menu that looked really good. I ordered a "Pharoah's Gold" which was amazingly tasty (complete with honey and a garnish of honeycomb). It isn't on their menu right now, so I can't tell you exactly what was in it, but I was impressed by how well-balanced all the flavors were.
For dinner, I started with the Foraged Nettle and Green Garlic Soup (with a soft poached egg). The soup was VERY green, which kind of makes sense. It was a much lighter soup and taste than I was expecting and I could hardly taste the garlic. When I took a bite with everything together, it tasted really good and balanced.
We also ordered the Charcuterie plate for the entire table. I am not normally a fan of foie gras, pate, or beef tongue, but I gave it a shot (tongue for the very first time ever). All of the selections were very tasty, in particular the tongue. I was impressed - this was more of what I was thinking Spruce would be like.
For the main entree, I got the Charred Berkshire Pork Tenderloin with Crispy Pork Belly and Shelling Beans. Once again, the taste did not jump out at me at first. After a few bites, though, I was vastly impressed by the tenderness of the meat. It was cooked absolutely to perfection. The crispy pork belly was also phenomenal. For each bite, I had to chew slowly and allow the flavors to blend together.
Dessert was also quite tasty - I had a chocolate and peanut butter brownie that I finished almost immediately after it was put in front of me (not because it was excessively small, it was excessively good).
As for wine and spirits, they had a fairly overwhelming wine list, but Don and the sommelier had a good discussion and they made some good choices. A couple people ordered rum after dinner and their selections were tasty.
Overall, I would say that Spruce was a very good spot for dinner. Everything felt well balanced - the flavors, the drinks, the ambiance, and the service. The prices on the entrees were quite reasonable. Nothing completely stood out to me as spectacular, but everything together was really good. This is a spot where you will be taking your time for dinner. It's a good spot both for couples and small groups.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Back To 5th Grade
On Friday last week, I decided to stop by my old elementary school - Franklin. My classes ended at about 12:15 on Friday and I had to stop by my landlord's house to drop off a rent check. My landlords live about three blocks away from Franklin.
I had heard a rumor from Yuriko that my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Moore, was retiring. Turns out that the rumor isn't true. Yuriko and I have been friends since high school but we were both at BIS (Burlingame Intermediate School) at the same time and both took Mrs. Moore's class a couple years apart. (Yuriko's daughter is now taking 5th grade from Mrs. Moore.)
I got to Mrs. Moore's classroom right around 1pm which was just after lunch. I've visited her at Franklin a few times over the years, but this is the first time that I saw her while she was teaching (that is, since I was a kid). Let me tell you, a fifth grade classroom of 32 kids is CHAOTIC! They're constantly fidgeting and getting stuff out of their desks and giggling. I could NOT be a fifth grade teacher.
Mrs. Moore introduced me to the class and then gave me a vocabulary test. It was great, the kids were all surprised that I had to take the test. They told me that I had to write in cursive. And then they asked me if the test was hard. I said that it was challenging, but that I thought I did ok. Once I was done, Mrs. Moore told the class that I was available if anyone needed help with their color wheels. (The color wheel was a project where the kids have to creatively show the progression of colors through the visible spectrum - red to red-orange to orange to yellow-orange and so on. The kids would pick some creative way to show the progression. For example, one kid had cut out an airplane on white paper. The airplane windows were a progression of the colors along the color wheel.)
One of the kids asked me for help and he seemed to be horribly behind. He had somehow failed to paint all 12 colors necessary for the project so we had to borrow colors from other kids. His project was a Cheerios box that would be pouring out cheerios of different colors. OK, not the most creative ever, but hell, who am I to criticize? I felt bad because the kid was either color blind or absolutely clueless. I asked him to put the colors in order and he was just guessing - blues next to reds next to greens and yellows. I did my best to help him out.
Around 1:50, the class left for recess and Mrs. Moore and I chatted a bit. I told her about my unemployed status and that I was taking classes at CSM. Upon hearing that I am free most days, she asked me if I wanted to come help out again this week. Apparently they were doing lessons on static electricity and circuits (yes, I know, two of my strong suits) and she needed a couple extra bodies to help out. I said that I'd be happy to.
I showed up yesterday for the static electricity lesson and a parent was there. We distributed balloons and tissue paper and pieces of wool and plastic spoons. I tied a bunch of balloon knots and ultimately had a pretty good time watching the kids rub balloons in their hair to see how many they could get to stay. One kid had three balloons suspended by her hair.
Today, they were working with circuits - series circuits and parallel circuits. There were four parents and me all there to help out. I had no idea what the heck I was doing. One of the parents I tried following the handouts (dittos?) to make a parallel circuit and it just didn't work. Eventually we figured it out. Let's just say it was a little damaging to the ego to see how easily the kids were able to do this.
Anyway, I had a group of six kids I was working with. They were paired up and I was there to help them do the project. They were pretty good kids - fun and were trying hard. I had Yuriko's daughter Kailey in my group, too. She was kind of quiet, but I think that was because she wasn't sure what they were supposed to be doing. Ultimately, everyone made both series circuits and parallel circuits. And then after that, we had them make electromagnets. All in all, I had a pretty good time. And I learned something, too!
I had heard a rumor from Yuriko that my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Moore, was retiring. Turns out that the rumor isn't true. Yuriko and I have been friends since high school but we were both at BIS (Burlingame Intermediate School) at the same time and both took Mrs. Moore's class a couple years apart. (Yuriko's daughter is now taking 5th grade from Mrs. Moore.)
I got to Mrs. Moore's classroom right around 1pm which was just after lunch. I've visited her at Franklin a few times over the years, but this is the first time that I saw her while she was teaching (that is, since I was a kid). Let me tell you, a fifth grade classroom of 32 kids is CHAOTIC! They're constantly fidgeting and getting stuff out of their desks and giggling. I could NOT be a fifth grade teacher.
Mrs. Moore introduced me to the class and then gave me a vocabulary test. It was great, the kids were all surprised that I had to take the test. They told me that I had to write in cursive. And then they asked me if the test was hard. I said that it was challenging, but that I thought I did ok. Once I was done, Mrs. Moore told the class that I was available if anyone needed help with their color wheels. (The color wheel was a project where the kids have to creatively show the progression of colors through the visible spectrum - red to red-orange to orange to yellow-orange and so on. The kids would pick some creative way to show the progression. For example, one kid had cut out an airplane on white paper. The airplane windows were a progression of the colors along the color wheel.)
One of the kids asked me for help and he seemed to be horribly behind. He had somehow failed to paint all 12 colors necessary for the project so we had to borrow colors from other kids. His project was a Cheerios box that would be pouring out cheerios of different colors. OK, not the most creative ever, but hell, who am I to criticize? I felt bad because the kid was either color blind or absolutely clueless. I asked him to put the colors in order and he was just guessing - blues next to reds next to greens and yellows. I did my best to help him out.
Around 1:50, the class left for recess and Mrs. Moore and I chatted a bit. I told her about my unemployed status and that I was taking classes at CSM. Upon hearing that I am free most days, she asked me if I wanted to come help out again this week. Apparently they were doing lessons on static electricity and circuits (yes, I know, two of my strong suits) and she needed a couple extra bodies to help out. I said that I'd be happy to.
I showed up yesterday for the static electricity lesson and a parent was there. We distributed balloons and tissue paper and pieces of wool and plastic spoons. I tied a bunch of balloon knots and ultimately had a pretty good time watching the kids rub balloons in their hair to see how many they could get to stay. One kid had three balloons suspended by her hair.
Today, they were working with circuits - series circuits and parallel circuits. There were four parents and me all there to help out. I had no idea what the heck I was doing. One of the parents I tried following the handouts (dittos?) to make a parallel circuit and it just didn't work. Eventually we figured it out. Let's just say it was a little damaging to the ego to see how easily the kids were able to do this.
Anyway, I had a group of six kids I was working with. They were paired up and I was there to help them do the project. They were pretty good kids - fun and were trying hard. I had Yuriko's daughter Kailey in my group, too. She was kind of quiet, but I think that was because she wasn't sure what they were supposed to be doing. Ultimately, everyone made both series circuits and parallel circuits. And then after that, we had them make electromagnets. All in all, I had a pretty good time. And I learned something, too!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Nothing Tastes More Like Summer Than a Root Beer Float
Rather than heading back home after my accounting class yesterday, I decided that I would find myself a new lunch spot on the peninsula and would progressively make my way down to Palo Alto by the time my soccer game started.
I stumbled on a mom and pop place called The Pantry that does breakfast all day and then sandwiches and dinner, too. I decided to get a tuna melt and a root beer float. The sandwich could have been a lot better - it was tuna, celery, American cheese, and a little bit of soy sauce residue I think. Not the tuna melt I was hoping for. And a few hours later, I regretted it even more.
Even the root beer float also left a lot to be desired. It was a paper cup with a bunch of root beer and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I know what you're thinking, "thanks for the description of a root beer float, genius." But it was a little bit disappointing to look at.
But the taste was just like summer. I was instantly transported to our family vacation locale in Graeagle (pronounced Gray Eagle) that's coming up next month.
Anyway, I'll keep this brief. Don't go to The Pantry in San Mateo. Do go get a root beer float sometime soon!
I stumbled on a mom and pop place called The Pantry that does breakfast all day and then sandwiches and dinner, too. I decided to get a tuna melt and a root beer float. The sandwich could have been a lot better - it was tuna, celery, American cheese, and a little bit of soy sauce residue I think. Not the tuna melt I was hoping for. And a few hours later, I regretted it even more.
Even the root beer float also left a lot to be desired. It was a paper cup with a bunch of root beer and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I know what you're thinking, "thanks for the description of a root beer float, genius." But it was a little bit disappointing to look at.
But the taste was just like summer. I was instantly transported to our family vacation locale in Graeagle (pronounced Gray Eagle) that's coming up next month.
Anyway, I'll keep this brief. Don't go to The Pantry in San Mateo. Do go get a root beer float sometime soon!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Sick on a Saturday
I guess it could be worse. But still, whether you're working or not, it's no fun being sick on a Saturday. It does mean that I get to watch the Giants play game #5 of the season and I also watched an amazing third round of the Master's (golf).
I know, I know, golf? Amazing? Rarely do those two words end up in the same sentence. I don't watch too much golf on TV, but as someone who plays golf (poorly) and as a Tiger Woods fan, I can definitely appreciate golf on TV. And today was pretty exciting. In a 30-minute stretch, Phil Mickelson went from being 7 under par to 12 under. He went eagle-eagle-birdie. Meanwhile, a bunch of other golfers were getting hot, too. It actually made the last few holes of coverage anti-climactic. For those of you who don't follow golf, that sort of run is rare. It would be like a baseball team scoring 8 runs in an inning.
Anyway, the golf coverage did give me this commercial for the Bernard Harris Summer Science Program. The program itself seems really well-intentioned and hopefully it is successful. I just think that the writers of the ad should have been more careful in their word choice. About 7 seconds in, the sentence is, "Fortunately, we already have lots of bright, curious kids right here." Now on paper, it reads pretty straight-forward. On the ad, it sounds like the narrator is saying, "Fortunately, we already have lots of bi-curious kids right here." Sure, it might just be me and my dirty mind, but it was enough for me to look up when the ad was on, thinking, "did I just hear that right?"
Turns out I didn't.
Oh well, back to the baseball game. Giants and Braves tied: 1-1.
I know, I know, golf? Amazing? Rarely do those two words end up in the same sentence. I don't watch too much golf on TV, but as someone who plays golf (poorly) and as a Tiger Woods fan, I can definitely appreciate golf on TV. And today was pretty exciting. In a 30-minute stretch, Phil Mickelson went from being 7 under par to 12 under. He went eagle-eagle-birdie. Meanwhile, a bunch of other golfers were getting hot, too. It actually made the last few holes of coverage anti-climactic. For those of you who don't follow golf, that sort of run is rare. It would be like a baseball team scoring 8 runs in an inning.
Anyway, the golf coverage did give me this commercial for the Bernard Harris Summer Science Program. The program itself seems really well-intentioned and hopefully it is successful. I just think that the writers of the ad should have been more careful in their word choice. About 7 seconds in, the sentence is, "Fortunately, we already have lots of bright, curious kids right here." Now on paper, it reads pretty straight-forward. On the ad, it sounds like the narrator is saying, "Fortunately, we already have lots of bi-curious kids right here." Sure, it might just be me and my dirty mind, but it was enough for me to look up when the ad was on, thinking, "did I just hear that right?"
Turns out I didn't.
Oh well, back to the baseball game. Giants and Braves tied: 1-1.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Movie Review - Green Zone
As you read below, Green Zone was the first of two movies that I watched last Tuesday afternoon while we theatre-hopped.
Green Zone is yet another movie about the United States continuing conflict in the Middle East and is specifically about the search for Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. It is a pretty intense look at the interaction between the military and the Iraqi people and between the different branches of government/military.
This is a difficult movie to review for a couple reasons. First, I just saw The Hurt Locker a few weeks ago and it was amazingly realistic... that is, not that I've been to Iraq/Afghanistan, but it didn't have any of the over-the-top Hollywood vehicles that plague so many movies. The Hurt Locker just felt clean to me.
Green Zone had a bunch of that going at the start, but then toward the end it became a caricature of itself toward the end. It's like some film producer said, we have to make this MORE dramatic and MORE extraordinary and in doing so, made the movie much weaker than it could have been.
The other reason why this is a difficult movie for me to review is due to my politics and all the stuff I have read about the War in Iraq. I cannot objectively tell if this movie was liberal, right on, or what. What I do know is that most of what was shown in the movie follows from what I read in two books, "Iraq Confidential" by Scott Ritter and "Chain of Command" by Seymour Hersh. Scott Ritter is an ex-Marine who headed up the UN Inspection Teams in Iraq in the search for WMDs. All the evidence that he provided to Clinton and Bush pointed to the fact that no WMDs existed and that the intelligence saying that they did was incorrect. Both Ritter and Hersh explored the relationship between the White House and the CIA, specifically that Bush insisted on looking at the raw intelligence data without allowing for the CIA to utilize experts to analyze the intelligence reports. Many of the Bush policies were based on inaccurate intelligence because of the lack of analysis.
As I re-consider the movie, I don't like that the end of the movie and its over-dramatization took away from the accurate information it was showing earlier in the film. All in all, I thought that the movie was done well. I really liked Matt Damon and the role he played. It just didn't need to be so over-wrought.
Green Zone is yet another movie about the United States continuing conflict in the Middle East and is specifically about the search for Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. It is a pretty intense look at the interaction between the military and the Iraqi people and between the different branches of government/military.
This is a difficult movie to review for a couple reasons. First, I just saw The Hurt Locker a few weeks ago and it was amazingly realistic... that is, not that I've been to Iraq/Afghanistan, but it didn't have any of the over-the-top Hollywood vehicles that plague so many movies. The Hurt Locker just felt clean to me.
Green Zone had a bunch of that going at the start, but then toward the end it became a caricature of itself toward the end. It's like some film producer said, we have to make this MORE dramatic and MORE extraordinary and in doing so, made the movie much weaker than it could have been.
The other reason why this is a difficult movie for me to review is due to my politics and all the stuff I have read about the War in Iraq. I cannot objectively tell if this movie was liberal, right on, or what. What I do know is that most of what was shown in the movie follows from what I read in two books, "Iraq Confidential" by Scott Ritter and "Chain of Command" by Seymour Hersh. Scott Ritter is an ex-Marine who headed up the UN Inspection Teams in Iraq in the search for WMDs. All the evidence that he provided to Clinton and Bush pointed to the fact that no WMDs existed and that the intelligence saying that they did was incorrect. Both Ritter and Hersh explored the relationship between the White House and the CIA, specifically that Bush insisted on looking at the raw intelligence data without allowing for the CIA to utilize experts to analyze the intelligence reports. Many of the Bush policies were based on inaccurate intelligence because of the lack of analysis.
As I re-consider the movie, I don't like that the end of the movie and its over-dramatization took away from the accurate information it was showing earlier in the film. All in all, I thought that the movie was done well. I really liked Matt Damon and the role he played. It just didn't need to be so over-wrought.
Links - And a New Trick!
I am going to try a new trick today on the blog. I don't like that all my links navigate you away from the blog. You shouldn't have to go back and forth like that. I think I've found some HTML code that will help. I think I have it opening a new tab, but it's an improvement, right? If you have any suggestions, please let me know!
There have been some absolutely fanfuckingtastic things on the internet the last couple of weeks and I would be remiss if I didn't make them available to all of you!
You know that Taylor Swift song, "You Belong To Me?" (which isn't to be mistaken for Pat Benatar's "We Belong"). Well, what if Taylor Swift were the front woman for a heavy metal band? In my opinion, it makes the song better. MUCH better.
Have you ever played a game called Robot Unicorn Attack? If you're a fan of Erasure, you should play with the sound as high as it can go. (It's an easy game to play and you don't have to download anything to your computer.)
I've been kind of on a Mitch Hedberg kick recently.
And then one of Shing's friends from high school introduced us to Mike Birbiglia.
Actually, now that I take a step back, I've been on a pretty big stand up comedian kick recently. Here is the Death Star Canteen sketch by Eddie Izzard.
And finally, for the most disturbing thing out there right now, what would you say if I told you that there was a junior high school that performed Scarface for their school play? Wait, you don't believe me? Well say hello to my little friend!
UPDATE: Oh no! I totally bought it! Here's more info on the Scarface School Play: LA Times Article.
There have been some absolutely fanfuckingtastic things on the internet the last couple of weeks and I would be remiss if I didn't make them available to all of you!
You know that Taylor Swift song, "You Belong To Me?" (which isn't to be mistaken for Pat Benatar's "We Belong"). Well, what if Taylor Swift were the front woman for a heavy metal band? In my opinion, it makes the song better. MUCH better.
Have you ever played a game called Robot Unicorn Attack? If you're a fan of Erasure, you should play with the sound as high as it can go. (It's an easy game to play and you don't have to download anything to your computer.)
I've been kind of on a Mitch Hedberg kick recently.
And then one of Shing's friends from high school introduced us to Mike Birbiglia.
Actually, now that I take a step back, I've been on a pretty big stand up comedian kick recently. Here is the Death Star Canteen sketch by Eddie Izzard.
And finally, for the most disturbing thing out there right now, what would you say if I told you that there was a junior high school that performed Scarface for their school play? Wait, you don't believe me? Well say hello to my little friend!
UPDATE: Oh no! I totally bought it! Here's more info on the Scarface School Play: LA Times Article.
Movie Review - Hot Tub Time Machine
Yeah yeah yeah - I know. (mumble...somesortofapologyfornotpostingmorefrequently...mumble)
Last week, Jerrica and I decided to go catch two movies on a Tuesday afternoon in Emeryville. Not that it was illegal, but maybe we paid to go see Green Zone and then after Green Zone went to see this fantastic movie called Hot Tub Time Machine. Interesting note, the theater was not posting the titles of the movies playing in each individual theatre - I had to be resourceful to figure out where HTTM was playing. Luckily the kiosks where you could buy tickets without going to the ticket window list the theatre number before you have to purchase the ticket.
Anyway...
I'll say more about Green Zone later. It was a decent movie, but intense. What we really needed after it was a light, mindless, and funny film. And Hot Tub Time Machine was PERFECT!!
Loosely, the story revolves around three friends who have fallen out of touch (John Cusack, Rob Corddry, and Craig Robinson) and John Cusack's nephew. They get together to re-live old times in a small ski town only to find themselves sucked into 1986 via a hot tub time machine. Then they have to figure out how to get back without changing the future... too much.
If you think you've seen a movie like this before, you probably have. One of the main differences, though, is that this movie is so tongue-in-cheek and self-aware, that it's hard not to be thoroughly entertained by it. The best example of all the liberties they take with logic and physics was one point where something ridiculous is proposed and the response is "oh... that makes sense" as if to justify what the writer's wrote.
When you go see this (skipping this movie is not an option), keep an eye out for the homage to Back to the Future. Crispin Glover (George McFly in BTTF) has a decently sized role in the movie as well. Too bad they couldn't get Huey Lewis and The News to do a song for them. The music and all the 80s references, though, are SPECTACULAR and remind us how bad of a decade it actually was, but in an endearing way.
My recommendation, go see this movie after you've had a long day and just want to blow off some steam and laugh for 90 minutes. Hell, bring some beer with you into the theatre, too.
Last week, Jerrica and I decided to go catch two movies on a Tuesday afternoon in Emeryville. Not that it was illegal, but maybe we paid to go see Green Zone and then after Green Zone went to see this fantastic movie called Hot Tub Time Machine. Interesting note, the theater was not posting the titles of the movies playing in each individual theatre - I had to be resourceful to figure out where HTTM was playing. Luckily the kiosks where you could buy tickets without going to the ticket window list the theatre number before you have to purchase the ticket.
Anyway...
I'll say more about Green Zone later. It was a decent movie, but intense. What we really needed after it was a light, mindless, and funny film. And Hot Tub Time Machine was PERFECT!!
Loosely, the story revolves around three friends who have fallen out of touch (John Cusack, Rob Corddry, and Craig Robinson) and John Cusack's nephew. They get together to re-live old times in a small ski town only to find themselves sucked into 1986 via a hot tub time machine. Then they have to figure out how to get back without changing the future... too much.
If you think you've seen a movie like this before, you probably have. One of the main differences, though, is that this movie is so tongue-in-cheek and self-aware, that it's hard not to be thoroughly entertained by it. The best example of all the liberties they take with logic and physics was one point where something ridiculous is proposed and the response is "oh... that makes sense" as if to justify what the writer's wrote.
When you go see this (skipping this movie is not an option), keep an eye out for the homage to Back to the Future. Crispin Glover (George McFly in BTTF) has a decently sized role in the movie as well. Too bad they couldn't get Huey Lewis and The News to do a song for them. The music and all the 80s references, though, are SPECTACULAR and remind us how bad of a decade it actually was, but in an endearing way.
My recommendation, go see this movie after you've had a long day and just want to blow off some steam and laugh for 90 minutes. Hell, bring some beer with you into the theatre, too.
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