stay in the shallow end

It’s always comforting when the flight attendant asks for a volunteer from row three or forward to move back to row nine or beyond to help “balance the plane”.

It’s several thousand pounds of metal flying through the air at hundreds of miles per hour! How the hell is my 155 pound ass moving twenty feet back going to make a bit of difference?

This week brings the discovery of a new restaurant that is everything I love about food…

Monday: Dinner at Timberwood Grill: Timberwood Grill is way up 29 across from the new Target shopping center. We’ve driven by it several times going to and from DC or the airport, but we never thought to go until now. That was a poor decision on our part. This place is totally Mr. Pibb + Red Vines. I had the Jerk Pork Loin and lpk had the Shrimp Diablo. I asked for Asparagus instead of the basmati rice with my Pork Loin. When our entrees came out, I had a generous helping of crispy green beans and asparagus on either side of six thick pork medallions covered in peach chutney. I took one bite of the pork, and decided to save it for last. After finishing off the green beans and asparagus, I found myself delicately slicing of miniscule pieces of pork for each bite, because I didn’t want the flavor to end. The dry rub on the pork would have been enough, but the peach chutney on top really sealed the deal. It was so delicious, that I’ve thought about it every day since then. The Shrimp Diablo, garlic sauteed shrimp on angel hair with marinara was also very good, but the menu called it a “spicy marinara”, and we both agreed that was a stretch. It’s also reasonably priced, you can spend anywhere from $7 to $20 on your dinner, so it’s great for groups. Dear Timberwood Grill: Please open a location closer to me. Like next door. Love, Anoop.

Tuesday: Lunch at Take It Away: Blah blah blah. No, wait! I changed it up, this time I got the German Salami instead of Corned Beef. I’m crazy! It was alright, but I’ll be going back to the Corned Beef next time.

Thursday: Snack at Orbit: Chicken wings are an excellent complement to a few $2 Magic Hat #9s at Orbit. Unfortunately, after the first time I ordered their wings extra crispy, they’ve never come out extra crispy again. They were still saucy and delicious, so I’m not complaining.

Friday: Lunch at China King Buffet: Oh how the mighty have fallen. I used to always look forward to going to Asian Buffet for lunch, but something got lost in the transition to China King Buffet. Most of the items on the buffet are the same, but something is different enough to where I just don’t enjoy going anymore. China King Buffet is now dead to me.

Friday: Dinner at Continental Divide: Continental Divide twice in one week! Be still my beating heart. Continuing with my adventurous ordering, I passed over the Santa Fe Enchilada once again, and got the Carne Asada special. The description said thinly sliced flank steak marinated with onions, peppers, garlic, and jalapenos, so I was expecting to see a big pile of beef, onions, peppers, garlic, and jalapenos. I was disappointed when it came out, and it was just the beef, but I quickly became undisappointed (it’s my word, damnit), when I tasted it. Exceptionally tender for flank steak, and definitely well marinated. Another thing I should mention about Continental Divide, is that I always ask for vegetables instead of their rice and beans. Their vegetables are absolutely incredible, and I’ve tried to recreate them at home, but have been unable to succeed.

Saturday: Dinner at Cafe Saint-Ex in DC: While waiting for doors to open for Tilly and the Wall at the Black Cat in DC, we had dinner at Saint-Ex down the street. This place was super pricey, so I stuck with the $9 burger, made with locally grown organic Virginia beef. I have to admit, it was a damn fine burger and it came with tasty sweet potato fries. I’d like to go back if I’m ever in the mood for a nice meal in DC.

Sunday: Lunch at Papa Razzi in DC: Yes, it’s a chain, but it’s a small one, and it’s too damn delicious to not mention it. We stumbled into this restaurant in Georgetown like two years ago, and it was so damn good, we find ourselves going back every time we go to DC. I wasn’t craving anything with a particular robust flavor (which is odd for me), so I just ordered the Chicken Parmesan. Even though it’s only a breaded chicken breast covered in marinara, they still manage to make it pack a punch. It was also enormous. Oh, I forgot, we ordered the fried cheese appetizer, but unlike your typical cheese sticks, these are slices of fresh whole milk mozzarella rolled in bread crumbs and then pan fried. They are crispy and chewy and cheesy all at once. Papa Razzi is probably my second favorite Italian restaurant ever. (Incidentally, first is Mamma Zu in Richmond, oddly enough).

That’s it! I went ahead and tossed Sunday on here to keep the DC meals together. This week I’ll be splitting my time between C’Ville and New York City, so expect more deliciousness next week!

Why am I so bad at this?

• Sunday: Lunch at Amigos (on 5th): Typical Amigos experience. I have found that the Pollo Loco is actually pretty good. I just need to remember to order it more frequently.

• Sunday: Dinner at Continental Divide: Mexican for lunch was a poor choice when we found out that we were going to Continental Divide for dinner. I heart Continental Divide. It is by far my favorite restaurant in Charlottesville. We started out with the Red Hot Blues appetizer, which is Garden of Eatin’ Red Hot Blues smothered in white cheddar and goat cheese. For those of you not familiar with Red Hot Blues, they are blue corn chips dusted with chili powder. They are absolutely incredible. I deviated from my standard order of the Santa Fe enchilada to order the nightly special, Red Snapper Fish Tacos. This is easily one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life, because the tacos were incredible. The tortillas were filled with huge chunks of grilled fish, shredded cabbage, jack cheese, and a tangy vinaigrette dressing. Absolutely delicious! Continental Divide, will you marry me?

• Tuesday: Lunch at College Inn: I’ve only been the College Inn a couple of times in all my time in Charlottesville. The menu is a really odd selection of American, Greek, and Italian foods. I took a risk and ordered the Gyro. It’s a risk, because I’m picky about my Gyro. Nine out of ten restaurants that serve Gyro get it from Kronos. You’ve all seen the poster in a greasy diner’s window with the obviously Greek lady about to bite into a huge Gyro wrap. That’s Kronos’ promotional material. The most ironic part of the poster is at the bottom it says something like, “When you’re ready for something different,” or something like that. In any case, the Gyro wasn’t that bad at College Inn, and after drowning it in Texas Pete’s, I ended up enjoying the meal quite a bit. The price is definitely right, so I’ll go back soon.

• Tuesday: Dinner at Lime Leaf: As I’ve said many times before, Lime Leaf is by far my favorite Thai restaurant in Charlottesville. I wasn’t quite feeling a full curry and rice dinner, so I had the Beef Salad. It was superb. Very limey, tender beef, fresh vegetables, and when I asked for as hot as they could make it, it was enough to make me sweat. If you haven’t been to Lime Leaf yet, go now.

• Wednesday: Lunch at Lee’s Grill: Lee’s Grill is another little restaurant on the Corner with one of the most random menus you’ll ever see. Philly steaks, mongolian beef, and their trademarked JUMPBO BURGERS. I had the mongolian beef, and it was really tasty, but dear god was it oily. I nearly slipped into a coma after that meal. Overall, though, it’s another bargain on the corner, and it’s really hard to mess up tossing a bunch of meat and vegetables onto a hot griddle.

• Thursday: Lunch at Take It Away: As always, fresh and tasty. I had the usual, Corned Beef on Onion Rye with Mustard and House Dressing on the side.

• Friday: Lunch at Lee’s Grill: We came back to Lee’s Grill on Friday, and this time I had the pepper steak. It tasted just like the mongolian beef, except this time with green peppers tossed into the mix. Very tasty, but too damn oily.

• Friday: Dinner at Three Notch’d Grill: lpk and I were bored and restless. We decided we would go eat in either Scottsville and Crozet as a little adventure. After flipping a coin Crozet one, so we headed out there. I’d read about Three Notch’d Grill, so we decided to give it a shot. I ordered the sausage, beef, and mushroom lasagna and lpk ordered the mahi mahi. The lasagna was pretty good, but the mahi mahi was boring. It was pretty pricey, so overall the dining experience was disappointing. The service was sloooooow, and that just made it even worse. Luckily Dairy Queen was only a hop, skip, and jump away to save the night with a Snickers Blizzard.

• Saturday: Lunch at Christian’s Pizza: We attended a birthday party for our three year old friend, and they had 11 pizzas of all varieties from Christian’s brought in. It was like a Christian’s Pizza Buffet, which is one of my fantasies. I had three slices and promptly exploded, traumatizing several young toddlers.

Almost caught up! I’m looking for a few restaurant recommendations: in particular, tasty places with outside seating that aren’t on the corner or the downtown mall. Let me know!

My review of HoudahSpot as seen on MacZOT.com

Now I can FINALLY make complex Spotlight queries without having to look up the syntax!

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Search easily in Tiger, Mac OS X, with HoudahSpot

I wear my iPod when I walk to the bus stop each morning. Today, I get there, and I know the other person standing at the bus stop, and she has her iPod in as well. We just nod at each other, basically saying, “I acknowledge you are there and that I know you. If I had something worthwhile to say, I’d take my earphones off and tell you, but I don’t.” We then stood there for 10 minutes listening to our iPods not paying attention to each other. At the next bus stop, somebody else I know gets on the bus. He’s wearing an iPod also, and the same thing happens. We nod at each other, he takes a seat near me, and we don’t interact past that.

Is anti-social behavior socially acceptable if it’s mutual? I’m really bad at reading people, so perhaps it wasn’t mutual. In any case, thank you Santa Jobs for saving me from pointless idle chatter!

Just for you Scott…

• Tuesday: Lunch at Cafe Europa: I’ve been to Cafe Europa three times since I started last week in food. Three times I’ve chosen the Majorca sandwich. Three times it has been super awesome.

• Wednesday: Lunch at Take it Away: Just like in episodes #3 and #6 , I got corned beef on onion rye with mustard. Today I added sprouts. As usual, delicious in its simplicity.

• Wednesday: Dinner at Biltmore Grill: Biltmore wins this week’s best meal award. I ordered the Jambalaya, and there’s two things you need to know about it: 1) It really has nothing to do with jambalaya and 2) it is ridiculously tasty. If it were properly named, it would be called Spicy Cajun Marinara with Sausage and Shrimp on Penne Pasta. It was spicy enough to where I didn’t feel compelled to douse it in Tabasco. I loved it. We went to Arch’s afterwards (and it was crack-like as usual), and somewhere between the Biltmore, Arch’s, and the car, I misplaced my leftovers. I cried all the way home.

• Thursday: Lunch at Mellow Mushroom: I ordered the house calzone and added jalapenos. Their calzones are basically their pizza with extra crust. Since their crust is delicious, this is a good thing.

• Thursday: Appetizer at South Street: This South Street Thursday, we noticed that they’d changed up their dining menu a bit. Unfortunately, the change was for the worse. Their pork chop was one of my top five pork chops of all time, and now it’s gone. We noticed a new crab salad on the appetizer menu, so we decided to give it a shot. It sucked. It tasted like someone mixed bad cole slaw with some synthetic crab stick.

• Friday: Lunch at Cafe Europa: I didn’t object when my friends suggested Cafe Europa even though I’d just been there Tuesday, as it would be an opportunity to try something else. I went with the Chicken Pita and it was delicious. The marinated chicken breast was similar to what is used in the Majorca, and is just as spicy. Add red pepper sauce, tomatoes, and onions to that, and you get tasty.

• Saturday: Lunch at Ghenghis Khan (in Richmond): Ghenghis Khan is an all you can eat Mongolian Grill in Richmond. You fill a bowl with some noodles, veggies, meat, and mix up some of their sauces, and they grill it on a really, really hot disc of metal. Then deliciousness ensues. Michael and I were on a mini road trip to the Apple Store and Costco, and I dragged him here as I’ve been missing it from when I used to work in Richmond. It was just as satisfying as I recall it being. If you’re in Richmond for lunch, definitely make it out to Ghenghis Khan.

Well, that’s it. Enjoy!