Le Vent du Nord + the Pine Leaf Boys Review

       We had an opportunity to step out on Friday night to see a great double bill, put on by the Flynn and Lane series. Featuring two bands, playing very traditional music of their respective areas, but modernized for current times. We were allowed to participate in a lecture before hand about where this music came from, (France), and how it has changed over the years. I found the lecture really helpful in helping prepare us for the night of music we were about to see. And to have one of the founders of Vent du Nord also be there just enhanced the whole evening.

      The Pine Leaf boys took the stage first. From Louisiana, they are a traditional Cajun band. And even though the original music came from France and landed in Canada, it took a decidedly different turn when the Acadians were forced out of Canada and is not recognizable as original Canadian folk music anymore. As the lead singer told us, all Cajun music comprises of only three subjects, getting drunk, getting your heart broken and going to prison. And the absolute best Cajun music incorporates all three into one song. These guys were great, doing a wide variety of songs (well as wide as Cajun music gets, as they really only play two types of sounds, two steps and waltzes). Changing the tempos, singing mainly in French but every now and then in English, I really enjoyed these guys . For their last song they brought out the guys from Vent du Nord and all eight of them did a great rollicking "Whisky is my friend" song.

      After a short intermission. Le Vent du Nord came out. Now this is traditional French folk music by way of a little modernization. Absolutely great musicians, wonderful personalities, so much fun. If these groups appear in your neck of the woods, I would strongly encourage you to go see them . Yes, most of the evening will be sung in French but great music happens to be a universal language. The evening gets an A+ !!
   

Panera Bread Review

      For some reason, Seven Days, doesn't publish reviews for Panera Bread. I guess for the same reason they don't review McDonald's or Burger King. And while Panera is a chain like those others, I think the food is much better than your usual fast or casual food stop. So anyway here is my review.

      On this particular Saturday we were bored and decided to go to a wine tasting at our favorite wine store in the whole wide world, Dedalus, on the waterfront. Since we were going to be partaking of some rather yummy Austrian wines, we decided to go to Church Street for some lunch first. My first choice was the new taco place, but as we were walking through the mall we noticed Panera Bread. Having eaten at a couple of these in the past, we decided to try this instead.

      Panera is set up like most fast food joints, you order your food at a counter, picking from the menus posted overhead and then they bring your food to your table by locating you on a pager style beeper, (which wasn't working on this particular day, so the servers were having to shout while walking through the very large space). The problem with this is in the Burlington location, there is ALOT of traffic going through the same space as the line snakes through, and the lines can be HUGE. So this creates bottlenecks and confusion, in addition for people not familiar with the menu, (us for instance), you are walking past the bakery, looking up trying to read the menu, trying to find the correct line and trying not to bump into everyone coming and going . PHEW, alot of work involved in just getting your food.

     As you are looking for the correct line to lineup in, pay attention to the bakery you are walking by, it will come back to you in a bit. Fortunately, the place was packed so we had a bit of a wait in line. this gave us time to study the menu.When it was our turn to order, I went with the chipotle chicken panini and wifey went with the salmon Mediterranean salad. Now for my mistake, I was offered any item from the bakery for $.99 but since I had not paid attention to the bakery, I passed. My wife on the other hand spotted a strawberries and cream scone and got one of those . DUH, what a dunce I was, as the normal pricing for bakery items appears to be $2.99 AND on top of that the scone was DELICIOUS.

      Once you place your order, you now have the joy of finding a place to sit. It appears that Panera is a BIG hit with the downtown Burlington crowd. Of course, by offering free wi-fi you are guaranteed to have the laptop squatters taking up valuable table space for hours and hours at a time. I think after 45 minutes, Panera should be able to bring over a mini parking meter and if you don't constantly feed it quarters, out you go. ANYWAYS, we were lucky as we walked around the serving counter, boom a table magically opened up for us. As the wife sat down, I went off to look for the soda fountain, tucked wayyyy in the back, to get her soda. For some strange reason ,the lemonade is served behind the counter? Is lemonade really that much more expensive that you don't want to put it with the soda and coffee pots? So after delivering the soda, back up to the counter to get my now ready lemonade, weird way to do things.

       So how did all this taste once we finally got settled in and our food came to us? First, lets start with the scone. We ate this while we were waiting and it was delicious. Not at all dry and crumbly like a typical scone but rather soft and cake like with great flavors. In a REALLY quick manner our meals arrived;

      The food was very good,  my chicken sandwich was packed with meat and had the perfect amount of heat from the chipotle and smokiness from the bacon. As you can see wife's salad was HUGE, although I am not a big fan of cold salmon and to me it tasted a bit fishy. But the wife loved it and ate every drop. For $23.70, this place is a very good value for downtown Burlington. We left full and happy. And before I get nasty comments, I KNOW it's not local and I KNOW they truck in their food from all over the country and I KNOW they don't make everything fresh in house. But still, if you have to visit a fast/casual food place you could do ALOT worse.

On a scale of 1 to 5;

Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     3.5  Very good food. With a very good variety, providing you want sandwiches or salads.
Beer and Wine,    NO  No beer and wine so no rating.
Service,                 2.5   Counter service only and it will be assumed you have been here before.

Ambiance,             3.0   Nice space but CROWDED. Be prepared to fight for a table.
Price,                     4.0   Very reasonable for downtown Burlington.

Overall,                 3.25  I am not a very big fan of the whole fast/casual food chains, but I must say this is

one of the better ones out there. If your in a hurry or just want something quick, you could do MUCH worse than this one. 

Mama Mia Review

      This review could be a landmine. As fans of Mama Mia are rabid in there opinion of what makes this such a great musical. So I am writing this from a different point of view. The point of view of a person who hated the movie, (PLEASE, Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep singing, YUCK), and someone who has never particularly liked Abba. Truly, I bought these tickets as a surprise for my wife. She is a huge fan of the movie and actually likes Abba's music. And since she puts up with me 365 days of the year, I figured I could put up with Abba for one day.

      So you can imagine my surprise when I realized I really LIKED this musical. First the energy of a live production exceeds that of the movie by a thousand fold. Second , what really surprised me was the humor. The play was MUCH funnier than the movie. So if the Broadway production of Mama Mia comes to your town, I wholeheartedly encourage you to go see it. You will like it AND your wife will really appreciate it. Go and have fun.

      I give Mama Mia an A and declare it a great Broadway production.

Pistou Review

      On a brutally cold night, we decided to walk from Church Street down Main street to try a newcomer on the Burlington dining scene, Pistou. Opened by a young couple, Pistou serves French/American creative food. The space is dimly lit, and inviting, with a semi-opened Kitchen, ( you can see the chefs but not really the preparations). Perusing online, I noticed they have a very small menu that changes almost daily. I like that idea, as it means you are always getting the chef's freshest ingredients. Little did we know that, that very small menu shrinks even smaller on Sunday evenings, (we went before the Mama Mia show), down to 3 appetizer and 3 mains for a set price on $28.00 for one of each.This makes the Bluebird's 3 course Sunday evening meal for $30 a bit of a bargain, though you have NO choice in your courses, nor on this particular Sunday were they listing on their website what the courses were.

      Anyways, back to Pistou. We were seated immediately, DUH, as we were the only people there. In fact, the entire time we were there, 5:30 to 7:30, only one other couple came in. I think Sunday evening service may not last long. I will have to say, service was really lacking on this particular evening. Not in efficiency, our server was VERY efficient, but not a genuine note of friendliness was to be had. This is the type of server, who when he asks you how your food is, has already turned and headed back to the bar before you can answer. And considering how friendly I had heard the young owners were with previous reviewers, neither of them came over to the table to say Hi or ask what we thought of the food, again we were the only two in the place for over an hour.

      By now I am sure you are all dying to know how the food was. And here we hit almost all the marks. Food, preparation and presentation are all excellent. An amuse bouche of parsnip puree soup served in a shot glass was excellent, (Wife says best part of the meal and she wished it was offered as a bowl). Why don't more places start you off with an Amuse, this puts the diner in a great frame of mind, to get something from the kitchen as a prelude to the meal.  We started with a beet salad for the wife and a scallop and shrimp appetizer for me. Both had great flavors, the seafood was done perfectly and the burrata cheese that came with the salad was smooth and creamy. For our entrees, we both went with the seafood stew.  Again presentation and flavors were great. It came with a grilled piece of bread covered in a soft potato puree. The big problem with this dish was the amount of potato. Between the multi colored offerings in the stew (red, purple and regular) and the puree on the bread, this dish was 65% potato. I would of really liked more seafood and less starch.

      For dessert, the pain perdu, with chocolate ice cream and homemade peanut brittle. This was the one big clunker of the meal, the bread was DRY and flavorless, the ice cream cold and flavorless, the peanut brittle was GREAT. All in all, not a bad meal but once again closing in on $100 for two, is there no reasonably priced restaurants in Burlington serving great fresh food???

On a scale of 1 to 5;

Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     3.50  Very nice food , though a bit too heavy on the starches and not heavy enough on the proteins. Dessert was a total miss.
Beer and Wine,    3.0  Nice beer and wine selections, list is small and expensive.
Service,                 3.0  Is there some kind of class where servers are taught efficient but aloof. Come on people, be a bit friendly, it will help your tip tremendously.

Ambiance,             3.5  Nice space but the location seems to be a death knell for local places.
Price,                     3.0  VERY pricey, but the excellence in taste and presentation almost make up for it. Definitely a special occasion place.

Overall                  3.20 I really, really wanted to like this place. It's everything I can hope for in a Burlington area restaurant, locally produced food, innovative preparations, comfortable and stylish interior. BUT something just didn't set me on fire. Maybe it was the indifferent service, the extremely high pricing, or the lack of selection, but I just wasn't blown away. Maybe we will give them another chance at a later date and report back.

L'Amante Review

      For the dear wife's birthday and the fact I had been away to sunny, warm Florida for a business trip, I decided to go all out and take her to L'Amante. Despite it being around the Burlington scene for a while and despite many friends saying we must go and despite all the great reviews , we had never been to L'Amante. The room is elegant without being stuffy. And service was first rate. The menu looked very enticing but what won us over was the 3 course tasting menu. The particular night was the food of Veneto, (The Venice region). A three course dinner with three wines paired by the chef. We both decided to partake.

      The first thing you should know about L'amantes is it makes no pretense about being anything but a special occasion type of place. Anniversaries, Birthdays, all should be celebrated here. If you are going to come her on a regular basis, you better have deep pockets. Our meal was $58.00 each for a 3 course meal with wine, add dessert and tip and taxes and we were pushing $175.00. Was it worth it? Read on.

      First up some great bread served with hummus and a chicken liver pate. Man was that pate ever good, that sure woke up the taste buds. Our first course was white anchovies served over roasted red peppers with capers. And served with this a 2012 Pieropan Soave Classico. Wow talk about a grand opening, tons of different flavors with salty, and sweet, paired perfectly with a nice crisp white. This chef really knows how to pair wines , (as he should by being one the few Master Sommeliers in the world).

      For round two the chef served us white polenta , served over a wild mushroom ragu. WOW is all I can say this was by far the star of the evening. The flavors in the mushrooms (and I don't really care for mushrooms), were incredible and paired with the white polenta, that had been crisped up into a cake form, was divine. Pair this with a 2003 Nicolas Testal and you have a match made in heaven.

      The third course is where things faltered a bit. It was the course I was most excited about, grilled boar sausage, and quail with radicchio trevisano. The sausage was superb, incredible flavors and both the wife and I wished there was more of it. The quail was good but definitely overcooked, to the point of the meat being a bit dry. And the radicchio was a total failure, WAY over charded, so all you could taste was burnt leaves. This left a flavor in your mouth that overpowered the boar and quail. All you could taste was burnt. For the price we were paying this left a bit of a bad taste in our mouth (literally HA).

      For dessert, we had a great chocolate cake with an incredible espresso cream on top. A great way to end the meal. So pretty much an excellent meal with one miscue, forgivable but NOT when you are paying $175.00 for two. At this price point every portion of the meal better be perfect.

Food,                      4.00  Excellent food , but for one miscue. Did it ruin the evening , of course not but for this price it shouldn't of happened.
Beer and Wine,     3.75  Incredible selection, very expensive
Service,                  3.50 Service was very professional, just not very warm.

Ambiance,             4.5   Beautiful ding room and charming bar, possibly the best in Burlington..
Price,                     3.0  VERY pricey, but the excellence in taste and presentation make up for it. Definitely a special occasion place. And slight miscues need to be taken care of.

Overall                  3.75  A really beautiful room, innovative and tasty food. A great wine list but some small miscues and that huge cloud , the price, makes this a once a year or so place to eat.

The WIndjammer Review

      For our office Christmas party, we went to the Windjammer. Arguably, one of the longest lasting restaurants in the Burlington area. The Windjammer has long been known for its salad bar and beef offerings. And as I quickly noticed a giant menu (unfortunately, you all know what I think of giant menus).

      As you are led to your table, you quickly notice how HUGE this place is, then you notice how many people are also dining on this Wednesday, (2 weeks before Xmas), night. Between the size of the menu and the amount of people, you just know the kitchen is going to be crazy and crazy isn't always good . We sit down and are given our menus and it is huge, they have just about every type of seafood or cut of beef you can imagine. The wine list is also quite large, if rather pedestrian, with alot of "grocery store" wines on it. BUT I will give the kudos for the beer offerings. lots of local brews and some of the harder to get ones. I finally got to try the Trapp Family lager and it was really good.

      Now, I must tell you about another personal quibble, I hate salad bars. Please don't write me angry letters, its a personal thing but even with every sneeze guard in place, I just don't think their sanitary.Who knows where the 300 people in front of you hands have been? Anyways, the Windjammer is famous for theirs and I am sure that's not gonna change anytime soon, and as it comes with your meal , we all trudged off to the salad bar to indulge. The offerings are substantial but not really innovative and again I am not a fan. So for my entree, I went with ;

Chicken Rotolo- tenderized 8 oz. chicken breast with housemade VT chevre boursin, baby spinach & lump crab meat, pita encrusted and rolled, finished with sweet pepper Arrosto $22.99

        I went with this because it sounded different from their usual meat and rather plain seafood items. Looking back now that was a mistake, if a restaurant is known for something, that is what you should probably order. The biggest problem with this meal and from what I could see around the table is everything was overcooked. I think because of the large volume of orders they do in a night, everything goes under an extremely hot salamander and cooks it to within an inch of its life. Now in their defense, no one at the table had steak, (weird, huh), so I can not comment on overdone steaks, just seafood and chicken. For dessert we shared three things across the table, and they were so memorable I can not remember even one of them. Something chocolate, something berry , none really bad, none really great. And THAT in a nutshell is my memory of the Windjammer. Nothing great, nothing really bad, just unmemorable food, prepared hundreds of times a night.

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     3.0  Not bad, not great, reliable in a box restaurant kind of way.
Beer and Wine,    3.5  Nice beer and wine selections, wine list is huge but rather boring.
Service,                 3.0  Rushed and not very informative but friendly just the same, like everything else not memorable.

Ambiance,             2.5  Huge and loud come to mind.
Price,                     3.0  Pricey, but not overly so. Portion tend to be very large

Overall                  3.00 If you love the box restaurants at Taft's Corner , you will love the Windjammer. BUT come here instead so the money stays local. Nothing really great but then again nothing really bad, dependable seems to be the correct word. And sometimes dependable works just fine.

Sweetwaters Review

      Given my unbelievable skills at organization, we found ourselves with tickets to consecutive nights at the Flynn. Looking for a quick but rather inexpensive bite to eat, we settled on Sweetwaters.Located in a former bank building, Sweetwaters is a very impressive space, the main bar area has 20 ft high ceilings with a large mural at the back of the room. Lots of little nooks and crannies abound for those looking for a darker more romantic space. Also available are tables right on Church Street, (covered and heated, this time of the year).

      Sweetwaters seems to go through many up and down cycles, sometimes we have had really good food, sometimes really bad. Since we couldn't remember the last time we went, we decide to give it a try. You won't find innovative gastro pub food here, (see Bluebird review), but you also won't find $30+ entrees either. We started with drinks, (shocking I know), and they do have some creative drinks here. Wife started with a mix of Stella's beer and Woodchuck cider called a snakebite, ( a better one was a mix of woodchuck cider and blueberry beer called a Chuck Berry, HA). And I went with a new brew from Long trail to help the hurricane victims called Irene. Both were very good, with the wife's tasting alot like an apple beer, you decide if that is good or not,

     For supper we went rather simple, wife with a chicken and pear salad and me with the Bleu burger. The burger was HUGE and came with blue cheese and bacon on it, along with a very large helping of hand cut fries. The wife's salad was well done, crisp lettuces and nicely grilled chicken, though she wasn't a big fan of the poached pears that came with it. All in all a very satisfying meal with no big breakthroughs but also no big disappointments. And sometimes that is all you can ask for. I do have to comment on the service a bit, we ate at the bar, which is our usual and we got very spotty service. When the bartender was there, she was very friendly but she would disappear for large chunks of time. Seems the soda machine was broken and nobody else there could fix it?

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                 Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,   Based on selection and pricing

Service,              Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     3.5  Dependable and tasty classics.
Beer and Wine,    3.0  OK beer and wine selections, like the food, nothing really unusual.
Service,                 3.5  Great when she was there, not really her fault the soda machine broke, more of a management problem.

Ambiance,             4.0  Nice, old building with lots of areas for dining or socializing.
Price,                     3.5  Consistent with the food, fairly reasonable for downtown.

Overall                  3.5  Nothing jumps out at me as being really sensational but then again nothing jumps out as being really bad. And sometimes this is exactly what you need before a show or a concert. Just good dependable food and drinks.  



A tale of two reviews

      My organizational skills were called into question, when I realized I had bought tickets for two events at the Flynn on consecutive week nights. WHOOPS. Fortunately, the dear wife got the nights off and I just decided to go without sleep for a couple nights. These type of event reviews (concerts, plays, musicals), always seemed silly to me. Your read about them in your local paper the day after the event and basically the reviewer is saying NAH NAH I went and you didn't. But in these days of cyberspace technology, hopefully the review you read from Burlington, may reach you before the event comes to your town, and help you make a informed decision. Or if not, NAH NAH I went and you didn't .

      The first event was a Broadway musical called "In the Heights". The winner of the 2008 Tony for Best Musical, this is a tale too often playing out in real life. A former Irish ghetto has been recolonized by a Latino community, consisting of generations of people from the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico, and their little barrio is now threatened by real estate developers, yuppies and hipsters, moving in and driving up rents and driving out the people that made this community thrive. Tell me you haven't heard this story in every major and not so major city in the U.S.

      What makes this musical so enjoyable is not just that the story is topical and current, but that the music and dancing is so vibrant. A mix of Salsa, Latino, hip hop and rap, the music carries the story along from beginning to end. And the choreography and costuming is incredible. The only problem we encountered, and this is not the first time this has happened at the Flynn, is the music drowned out the lyrics in several place. The band was a live band and was a great Latin orchestra. But in a musical that depends so much on the song lyrics to keep you informed, missing those lyrics takes away from the experience. As I said, this is something we have run into before at the Flynn and you would think that with their years of experience they could get the sound mix just perfect.

      I really though this was an incredible musical and highly recommend it to you if the touring company is coming to your town, A+, appropriate for all ages.

      On our 2nd night out we had tickets to see Lucinda Williams. Arguably, one of the greatest living singer songwriters around.  I have loved her music for years and years and got to see her once at the Ottawa Blues Festival , along with 10,000 other fans, so I was looking forward to seeing her in the intimate confines of the Flynn. A rather sparse crowd turned out but you could tell from the start we were all great fans. Her backing group also turned out to be the warm up. Buick 6 started the night about 15-20 minutes late and played a totally instrumental set of mainly alternative versions of Lucinda Williams songs. Not a bad warm-up but I would of liked to hear some of their own music.

      After a short intermission, Lucinda came out. The first thing you notice is she seems to need some help. There is a person around her after every song, handing her a drink, helping her with her guitar, etc. The second thing you see is a small music stand next to her mike, with all her songs and lyrics on it. Very strange and a bit disturbing as there seems to be no explanation for it on the Internet. But the the music starts, and all is forgotten. She has a voice like no other and with this back up band really is exploring her rock/grunge side. And she certainly give you your moneys worth. She played an incredible 22 song set, with songs both familiar (to fans) like Drunken Angel  and Change the locks, to covers, Allman Brother's Cross to Bear and an incredible version of Dylan's Trying to get to heaven, to brand new stuff not even recorded yet. A real experience for hard core Lucinda fans.

       For those of you not real hardcore fans, this may be a hard set to sit through. Lucinda has never been about happy, happy, joy, joy. Alot of songs are dark, her main subjects being lost love, unrequited love or abusive love. But for those of you who love original, American music, do yourself a favor and go see Lucinda when she comes to your town. For me this was one of the best concert experiences ever. Another A+ night at the Flynn. Oh and the sound problems of the previous night, not in existence tonight, the sound was incredible.

Douzo Japanese Steakhouse Review

      After our first choice fell through, (who knew Bobcat Cafe was so popular), we decided to have a meal at this new Japanese/Thai/Steakhouse restaurant. Located near Tafts corner, where the old Orchid restaurant used to be. The first thing you notice when walking in is how big the place is. Then you notice there is nobody around, that's because instead of stopping at the bar or what should be the hostess station, you need to walk all the way into the first dining room. Cavernous doesn't even begin to describe the place and this is a problem as I will point out later.

      Once you walk in, someone will guide you to a table. We were taken into yet another room, and this one was very nice, great decor, sushi bar, giant live tree, bubbling fountains and deep purple walls, This is a really nice spot and feels good too, as there are more people in here, so it feels like the restaurant isn't empty. We were handed two menus, one for drinks and one for supper. Beer and wine choices are limited, as is normal for most Asian restaurants, though I did see some unusual wine choices, must be for the steakhouse offerings. One of the specialties here is martinis, lots and lots of martinis. We ordered drinks, beers for the guys, one Thai and one Chinese and martinis for the ladies, (HA, if you read this blog you saw that one coming). Monkey Business for the wife and Lemon Drop for Chris, and hence the funniest line of the evening from the dear wife, "Do you want a picture of my monkey business before I drink" HAHAHA!!!

      The drinks were quite good, though the Lemon drop was very strong, and at $9.00 each, they should be. The beers OK, the Thai beer, Singhai, better than my Chinese beer which was merely cold, but then again you really don't want a beer too flavorful as this will fight with the flavors of the food.  We started our meal with two sushi rolls, the shrimp tempura and the spicy tuna;

      Both were good, though I thought the tuna was the better of the two, not too spicy but very fresh with a great flavored sauce. The shrimp was OK but I found it to be a bit tough and lacking in shrimp, (plus I am not crazy about asparagus in my rolls). A quick word about the menus, first they are huge, with MANY options, ranging from exotic to steak and chicken (cooked on a hibachi at your table, though I didn't see one in use). But the menus are the plastic laminated style with pictures of the food that you usually see in really inexpensive Chinese joints, NOT what you'd expect from such a high end place (and it IS high end, as we will soon see). Plus my plastic laminated menu was really sticky.

      For our entrees we went all over the place. Mike went with spicy salmon, Chris with sweet and sour shrimp and scallop, wife with sea bass and tamarind sauce and I went with spicy duck and scallop. Mike had the only two chili pepper dish of the bunch. Everything was quite good, though the sauce on wife's bass was WAY too sweet, (my sauce, while a bit spicy, was quite sweet also). So unfortunately for her, she didn't touch her rice, and as we all know white Thai rice has to be dunked in a sauce to be good. That said it wasn't that the fish wasn't cooked properly, just the sauce didn't agree with her. And that can be a problem when faced with so many choices, it's very difficult to pick the winners and the losers on a menu this size. My food was good, though I thought the duck was rather skimpy for the pricing, more bones than duck. The scallops were good though.

      Douzo seems to be a tale of two restaurants. On the one hand it wants to be a high end Asian restaurant ,ala San Sai. and it does do several things correct. The martini menu is large and fun, sushi is fresh and well prepared, and the menu is large and diverse. On the other hand, the space is overwhelmingly large and can feel empty, service can be cloying, too many people constantly asking if everything is alright and finally some of the items (menus, chopsticks, glassware) make it feel like your in a fast food Chinese spot. I guess for me what it always comes down to, is it better than Tiny Thai. I would say yes, by a tiny margin (HA), the variety is much better, the food about the same or maybe just a bit less and you can order alcohol, though at a price. BUT and this is a HUGE BUT, is it worth more than two times the cost and this is a BIG NO.

      If I am going to pay twice as much for something, then it needs to be twice as good. And while Douzo was quite good, it certainly wasn't twice as good as Tiny Thai. Plus the ambiance is more warehouse than homey.

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     3.5   For the most part the food was excellent, sushi was fresh. Alot of the sauces are very sweet.
Beer and Wine,    3.   Limited beer and wine selections,lots of martinis. Some unusual wine selections (for the steakhouse side I guess).
Service,                 3    Can service be too good? We seemed to have someone at the table all the time.

Ambiance,             3    This is a tough one,where we sat was nice but the other room not so much.
Price,                     3    Very pricey, is it too pricey? That is up to you but I felt it was.

Overall                  3.1  I like that you can get Sushi, Thai, Chinese, Japanese and steak selections all in one place. Also that you can get a drink, without having to remember to bring your own. But the problem here is maybe the menu is too ambitious, the space is way too large and the pricing much too high. If we have a crowd where everyone wants something different, maybe we will be back. Otherwise, I'll stick to Tiny Thai. Still my champion for Thai food.  

Wooden Spoon Bistro Review

      Due to my lovely wife's weird rotating shift, there is one weekend every month she has to work Friday and Saturday nights and gets Sunday and Monday nights off instead, YUCK. We like to try new places on the weekend but many restaurants are not open on Sundays, so our choices are usually limited. It was with great excitement I noticed a new Bistro/Bar that had just opened was indeed serving on this particular Sunday night. The Wooden Spoon Bistro is not easy to find, tucked away on Williston road, right in front of Higher Ground and in the same building as Quiznos.

      This is a cute little place with seating at tables for about 30 and a nice large bar holding maybe 15 more. The interior is rather sparse, but local art on the walls helps a bit. When we arrived the place was empty, (Sunday night at 5PM ), except for two other customers at the bar. We chose to sit at the bar and the bartender/server could not of been more friendly as were the customers, one of whom turned out to be the on duty server eating her supper. The wine and beer list is adequate, with some well though out and unusual selections on it, wife started with a Four Vines Zinfandel, yummy and I went with the Long Trail Double Bag, also very yummy.

      We were a bit disappointed to learn that two of the appetizers we had read about, (and were going to order), from a previous reviewer and from the menu online were now gone, the shrimp corn dog and the authentic Caesar salad with anchovies, not to mention the rum and coke chicken wings. This will be a theme that I will touch upon later. So back to the menu and we decided to try the risotto balls and the smoked salmon rangoons. WOW , is really all I can say. Both were sensational, crispy fried, with no discernible grease on either, this is a chef who really knows his fryer well. The rangoons were crisp with a smooth tasty cream cheese and salmon filling ( OK, I would of like a bit more salmon please) , accompanied by a great apricot dipping sauce.The risotto balls had a cracking outer skin, with a soft rice filled interior, PERFECT, and served with these incredible bacon strips, (quick idea chef, add the bacon INSIDE the balls, YUMMMY). Both appetizers came with some dressed greens, which were perfect for cutting through the fried foods. These were certainly two of the best appetizers we have had, they hit all the taste buds. Oh, and I can not forget to mention the fresh bread with MAPLE butter that came before the appetizers, YUM!!! You can just see the cute green colander it came in, in the first pic. Nice touch;

      After that start, the entree was bound to be a let down right? WRONG, we decided to split one of the nights specials, a blackened catfish served with asparagus and roasted potatoes. Again WOW,  perfectly seasoned catfish, juicy, a bit spicy, such an easy fish to over cook but this one was perfect. The asparagus, (which I don't eat), was undercooked, as American chefs seem to want to do. The trend for several years now has been to just barely blanche them and serve them "al dente". Unfortunately for my wife, she likes her veggies well done. There is hope, I just read an article on Italian chefs going back to their mothers and grandmothers roots and cooking vegetables long and slow to get a completely different flavor profile from them. Here's hoping US chefs adopt this, at least in some dishes. Finally the potatoes, I am not a huge fan of fingerling potatoes. I find them starchy and bland, and this chef seems to like to use them alot, ala the original chef at Monty's.  These were OK, but definitely underseasoned, a shot of the Cajun spice would of done them a world of good.  Here's a pic of our entree;

      The best compliment we can give this dish is about half way through my wife turned to me and said,"I wish I didn't have to share this with you" AMEN. Back to my one original quibble, this is a chef who likes to mix up his menu OFTEN. So what you see on the website certainly will NOT be what you find when you get there. I was initially disappointed, but I got over it quick and so should you. Don't even look at the website, just go and you will be very happy. I do have a business idea, I could start a social network site where Vermont restaurants could send me their daily specials and menu changes and I would post them for a very small fee. Any takers, contact me.This turned out to be a great find. Super friendly service and great food. We will certainly be back. Do yourself a favor and go find them tonight. Lastly, on the way home that evening we were treated to a beautiful sunset over Lake Champlain. Enjoy;

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     4.5  Totally inspired and ridiculously good.
Beer and Wine,    3.5  Nice beer and wine selections, list is small but well thought out.
Service,                 5    We had a great time with our bartender/server, BUT she only works Sundays, so your mileage may vary.

Ambiance,             3.5  It's a bar with alot of hard surfaces, the local artwork on the wall is a start.
Price,                     3.5  A bit pricey but the excellence in taste and presentation make up for it.

Overall                  4.0  This is an incredible new place for Burlington. My only two hopes are, that the chef doesn't burn himself out working the long hours he's working, and it doesn't get too popular, so we can't just drop in whenever we want. Until those things happen, we will be regulars.  

RiRa Irish Pub Review

     After the history walk we were starving. You would think we would visit one of the many, many, new places we haven't been to yet. But wife's go to place in downtown Burlington is Ri Ra's. And since we haven't done a full review yet, here we go.

      First of all, many people do not realize that Ri Ra's is a chain. With twelve locations up and down the East Coast, (plus one in Vegas). What most of you may also not realize is I usually HATE these type of chain restaurants (Chilli's. Longhorn, Olive Garden, etc.) YUCK, pre-packaged frozen food, trucked in from all over, YUCK, YUCK, YUCK, the absolute total opposite of the whole Localvore movement which I love. Not to mention the "fake atmosphere" trucked in by corporate planners to make you feel like your in the southwest, or a saloon or in Ri Ra's case, a pub in Ireland. And yet despite all this, I really do like Ri-Ra's.
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      First the atmosphere, they really have done a good job of giving us what we Americans think of as the ideal Irish pub. Beautiful bar, lots of TVs playing sports, some quiet areas in the back, and a nice fireplace to curl up near on those cold winter nights. In addition, it has some of the best beer choices in Burlington, (Yes, I know it doesn't come close to Farmhouse Tap but still), wife loves their hard cider on tap and I always have a Black and Tan. This visit they had a pear cider, which was OK but didn't have a real strong pear flavor. Bro-in-Law went with a Guinness stout (even heartier that regular Guinness YUM).

      After getting our drinks, we all ordered. Ri-ra burgers for Chris and I, a nice burger with an Irish rasher, (bacon), Swiss cheese, and onion rings, YUM. Mike went with the Publican Reuben and wife went with cottage pie (shepherd's pie for the rest of you). No pictures, and YES I did have the camera handy but c'mon it hamburgers and Shepherd's pie, you've seen pictures of them a million times, nothing earth shattering in their presentation. Mike and wife loved their meals, Chris and my hamburgers were OK but too well done and dry . We had asked for medium and they came out much closer to well done. A hazard of the pre-packed burgers I assume. Cottage pie and the reuben were both very good and as always the beers were tasty and cold. All in all a very satisfying but not inspired meal.

On a scale of 1 to 5; Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity. Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing Service,             Speaks for itself Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing  Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had. Food,                     3.    Not totally inspired but consistently good. Beer and Wine,    3.    Nice beer and cider selections, wine is not a highlight Service,                 3.5  Always efficient, not always super friendly Ambiance,             4     Looks like an authentic version, of an Americans idea of an Irish bar Price,                     3     Average food but average pricing also. In downtown this counts as inexpensive. Overall                  3.3  This is a pretty consistent place downtown. Casual, but the food is Ok. Don't go in expecting gourmet fare and you will be very happy. And be sure to order my favorite, Black and Tan.

Historic Downtown Burlington Walking Tour

      As regular readers of this post know, (OK, all three of you), I love history. So when we spotted a walking tour of our own local city, we jumped at it. We also recruited Sis and Bro-in Law to come along (Mike may love history even more them me !!). Saturday, 9/17, turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL fall day here in Vermont. Perfect for walking. The walk was sponsored by the Burlington Preservation Society and I knew we were in for a good time when our tour guide turned out to be Britta. She is the same tour guide we had last year for the Historic Waterfront Tour. A few pics from our walk;

      Burlington is a fascinating city and it's history well worth learning about. We had a great time hearing about some of the buildings and individuals that made this city into what it is today. And on top of it , the money goes to Preservation Burlington, a non-profit, helping preserve unique Burlington architecture. Look them up, and if you are in town when they are doing a tour, I highly recommend you take a walk with them. Just a few more pics;

BFM's Forever

      OK, I believe the phrase is BFF, but in this case we aren't talking about best friends but rather the Burlington Farmers Market. Here in Vermont, we are very lucky to never be far from a farmers market, no matter which town you live in. But the granddaddy and probably the biggest of them all is the Burlington Farmers Market. This is a great combination of fresh produce, ready to eat foods and of all things, Arts and Crafts. With such a great variety of things to see and taste and smell, one can easily spend hours wandering the booths.

Garden if front of City Hall and a few booths from the market;

      Fresh produce and prepared foods are the highlight of any market. And you will be hard pressed to find greater diversity than the Burlington market. Just a quick walk around and we found ready to eat food from Tibet, Africa (Samosaman YUM), Jamaica, Nepal, Morocco, China and food items like Barbecue, desserts, brownies and homemade root beer,  numerous baked goods, breads and lots more. In the produce department, every kind of fruit and vegetable you can imagine, fresh eggs, incredible cheeses, Vermont wines, organic meats, poultry and lots of fresh cut flowers.

      We had company coming for supper otherwise I could have spent several hours exploring. We had a quick bite to eat at Orsini BBQue, (try the Porky, half a serving of homemade mac and cheese , half incredible pulled pork DOUBLE YUM !!) And of course, a big shout out to Samosaman with a full offering of samosas and chicken curry and rice.  Next time we visit, we will bring the in-laws (Bro and Sis) and eat our way through the market, offering reviews on all the food. Just a quick thought, if you are planning on coming down to the farmers market to get bargains, think again. From what a couple of vendors told us it is VERY expensive to have a booth here, maybe the most expensive in the state (Thanks Burlington). So prices will be higher than your local mega-mart grocery store. But the trade off is, nothing will ever be fresher, the corn we saw was picked that morning, the eggs we bought laid the night before, the cheeses (Boucher Farms INCREDIBLE blue) fresh from the farm. For us it worth the extra money to A) get absolute farm fresh produce and B) to give money directly to the farmers who are working so hard to supply us with quality ingredients.

      So what did we come home with? Lets see, three different Boucher Farm cheeses, fresh eggs (Eric's I believe?) blueberries (Willow farm), Moroccan Delight Deserts, Stuffed breads (sorry can't remember the booth). These breads were great by the way, mine was a bread roll stuffed with blue cheese and pears YUMMMMM.  Some just picked organic arugula, and of course the BBque we ate while there. I am sure I forgot something, as the bags were quite full. A perfect way to spend a few hours in the sunshine of Vermont.

      Here are a few more pictures;

      A great time was had by all and an activity I suggest everyone participate in. Just think ahead, bring a cooler with some ice (or cooler packs, we did neither, of course, BUT I did remember the camera YEA) and after wandering around the markets, stop for a lunch at one of Burlington's many fine restaurants. We recommend Church and Main, Ri Ra's , Daily Planet and we are soon to try the New El Gato and we still haven't made it to Farmhouse Tap. What's missing? Well off the top of me head, fresh seafood, ( I know the ocean is a ways away but someone should drive to one of the big fish markets and bring back whatever is fresh for the Farmers market), pies, cakes, cookies , whoopee pies, I saw none of these and a HUGE miss is Ice Cream, the PERFECT summer treat and not a bite to eat. If anyone takes me up on these missing offerings, just send me an email and I will gladly let you know where to send the commission checks.  As far as activities go, I rate this one an A.

Bevo

      UPDATE: We went back to Bevo's in Mid-December, to celebrate Kris getting hired full-time. we started with the two happy hour appetizers of wings and nachos and all of us decided to go with the special of the night , which was a full prime-rib dinner, including salad, potatoes and vegetables for the incredible price of $15.95. The meat was perfectly done, a huge portion and extremely tender. Combine this with mashed potato's, Au jou and veggies and needless to say we waddled out, stuffed to the gills. Unfortunately, a mere three days later, I read Bevo's has decided to shut down its restaurant side and stick to catering. They will be sadly missed but please everyone try and visit your local establishments. I know the chain restaurants at Tafts corners are convenient but lets try to keep our money local and support local business people. Wooden Spoon comes to mind as do many others. Keep it Local folks and you won't be sorry !! For now R.I.P Bevos.


      Saturday was another scorcher of a day, so a quick, where do you want to eat, I don't care where do you want to eat, etc., took us to Bevo's. Unlike the quick review of Tiny Thai and its great take out food, this will be a full blown review. But first a couple of quick confessions, once again blogger brain freeze caused me to forget my camera (It is NOT old age I tell you , it more getting used to carrying a camera around everywhere you go). This is especially unfortunate here, as food presentation is one of Bevo's strengths. I am going to throw an inexpensive digital camera in the car, so I have one when needed, I promise. I know, I know, I could join the masses and upgrade to a smart phone that actually has a good camera built in, but that would be too easy, and I just do not want to be connected all the time that bad, my old 12 lb. cell works great. Second, this is our 3rd visit to Bevo's since they opened, it is becoming our go to place, when nobody can make a decision on where to eat. Everybody needs a place like this, a spot you can go to at the last minute, when you find the freezer empty or you just don't feel like cooking. We have two, Tiny Thai (see previous review) and now Bevo's. Bevo takes the place of our former favorite restaurant in Vermont, Bistro Sauce, which sadly left us last year.

        Sauce (as we cool kids called it) was known for its incredibly diverse food, a great wine list (Emily the owner, always had new wines for us to try) and most of all for its wonderful employees. By a strange coincidence, one of its best employees, Ryan, our favorite bartender, followed us to Bevos (OK maybe he started working here before our first visit, still a cool coincidence). So for those of you who always turn to the back of the Harry Potter novels to see who dies (Yes there are actually Harry Potter books not just movies), you sort of know the direction this review is going. BUT like the Russian judges at the Olympics I am going to be totally impartial and concentrate on reviewing this particular visit only.

      On the way in, the first sign of a good night, the little specials board by the road listed pork sliders and fish tacos as tonight's specials YUMMY. We arrived about 5:15 (OK what is up with eating so dam early?? I might as well start wearing my Bermuda shorts up around my waist along with knee high black socks and sandals). But in this case I had an ulterior plan. Bevo's is one of the few places that has happy hour EVERY day, so if you eat there on weekends you still get a Happy Hour YEA. Oh and what a Happy Hour it is (actually 3:30 to  6 so a really looonnngggg happy hour). Happy hour specials include Tortilla Flat nachos (more on those later) , chicken wings, which are nicely glazed, sticky and a bit spicy, around 10 to an order, either one for $4.00 and PBR draft for $2.00 (what is it with Pabst Blue Ribbon all of a sudden, this is the beer we drank when we were 17 when we couldn't afford real beer, $3.00 or so a case if I remember right). So as you can see, for a ten spot, you can have a nice feed and go home happy and full. Now for my first quibble, the happy hour specials have not changed since opening, OK I admit, you can't really remove the wings and nachos , their great but maybe add a rotating 3rd special that changes by night? and REALLY, PBR, I know its cheap but can we add another real beer, I would happily pay more, maybe a $3 special and maybe a red wine and white wine special, we went to a great bar in Seattle that had a different wine by the glass every happy hour OH and a drink special wouldn't hurt business, either $4 martini, or mojitos. C'mon guys its great but spice it up a bit , keep us guessing.

        Now lets see somewhere about a few thousand words ago , there was a review going on. So in we walk and order drinks and nachos, (We have priorities of course). Dos Equis on tap for me and a Vodka and Lemonade for the wife. And now my second quibble, Bevo strives to be a neighborhood bar that serves eclectic, fun food, the very definition of a Gastropub, but you can't have the gastro without the pub. And the wine and beer selections are quite thin. Lets start with wine, the actual selections are fun and varied, no grocery store wine here (WHAT No Yellowtail YEA), but with only 5 or 6 offerings in each of red and white and most of these from Europe (Spain is well represented at Bevo's) your choices are limited. My suggestion (for what its worth ) is to at least double up and fill in some categories that are missing, maybe 10-12 white offerings and 12-15 red. Not all wines have to be by the glass either, save some for bottles only. But while the wine offering is small, but unusual and varied, the same can not be said for the beer, sigh, please we live in a state that has some INCREDIBLE micro brews, I know you have a tap for Switchback and that's great, but truly isn't it now a law that if you have a bar in the Burlington area you MUST have a tap of Switchback? And I think I saw Long Trail up there also. How about a tap devoted to an ever changing selection of Hill Farmstead's range of incredible beers, maybe another one that can rotate through a who's who's of Vermont, Trapp Family, Magic Hat, (I know, I know its a NY company still made here though) Otter Creek, Harpoon,Trout River, Rock Art, you get the idea. And maybe a tap for an ever changing regional beer, I vote for Dogfish Head out of Delaware or maybe Brooklyn Brewery or Ommegang out of New York.  I'd love to walk in and ask Ryan, What's new and he could say, we just got this incredible keg from (fill in the blank).
      Oh yea review, ADHD anyone? The drinks came , beer was nice and cold, vodka and lemonade wasn't a personal favorite of the wife, taste was off, too much vodka, not enough lemonade maybe (WHAT too much alcohol, preposterous). And shortly after, our plate of nachos. Now these aren't your ordinary mess of ingredient nachos, nope rather three simple but tasty ingredients, chips (DUH No kidding), cheese (lots and lots) and special sauce.  Not sure how they make the sauce buts its very smooth, no chunks, a little spicy , a little smoky and just plain good. A quick refill of the ole beer glass and a lesson from Ryan on how to make a proper mojitos (NOW this is a drink, served in a pint glass no less ). We are ready for more, a quick reading reveals lots of specials and we choose most of them, the before mentioned pork sliders, no slaw please. I know pulled pork and cole slaw are natural together but I really don't like mayo. For the wife, another special, lemon and thyme marinated lobster over a salad of slivered pea shoots and radishes. Summer on a plate, (really a picture would do a thousand words and I wouldn't have to write so much, again sorry). And for us to share a bowl of the special cucumber and yogurt soup. For those of you that know me, you all know i am not big on vegetables, but this was delicious. Served chilled and loaded with slivers of candied almonds, it was refreshing and tasty all at the same time. A perfect soup for a 90 degree day. Both of the entrees arrive, a bit on the small side but they were starters after all. Karen and I will do this often, make a whole meal of starters. The salad as you already know was incredible, visually and tastily (is that a word, it is now), a perfect summer salad. My sliders (two in a serving) ,were great. The bread (a homemade roll) was  a bit dry (would of been better with the added slaw I'm sure) but the barbecued pork and the extra sauce, OH the extra sauce, a chipotle and cream concoction that added layers and layers of flavor, were incredible.

      Satisfied with an incredible meal, we decided to share a simple dessert. And what could be more simple than vanilla ice cream with fresh Mazza berries, (Mazza's is our local super big farm stand) . Just picked raspberries and blueberries with ice cream and a bit of whipped cream, a perfect ending.

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.

Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing 

Price,                 And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     4  Slider rolls were dry but the rest of the meal was excellent

Beer and Wine,    3.5 What is there, is great but we need more choices
Service,                 5 The staff here is great, period.

Ambiance,             4 Confession, we have only ever ate at the bar, its a small space overall but a very nice vibe. Lots of unused space upstairs right now but as Bevo's gets more popular things could get hopping.

Price,                     3.5 This is not a "cheap" place to eat, sliders were $8.95, salad I believe was about the same price and these are small plates. But combine one or two menu items with the happy hour menu and you can go home very happy and some green still in your wallet.

Overall;                4 One of our new favorite restaurants in Vermont. Great staff, imaginative food and a great atmosphere. Will we be back, HELL YES, Should you visit, HELL YES. Do yourself a favor and stop in, you won't be sorry.

Pizza and Game Night

         Saturday was an absolute beautiful day. A prefect day to have a nice cold beer, eat some yummy pizza and demolish the women on game night . Oh Well ,as Meatloaf once said, two out of three ain't bad. First the beer, Mike and I love flavorful beers, no watery, tasteless stuff for us. So we take turns buying new beers to try. As it was the in-laws (brother and sister) turn to host game night , this was Mike's choice;

And what a great choice it was. Flavorful but not heavy.  For the women a summer tini was in order. So on to my world famous blue tini (OK maybe not World famous but it should be)

For those so inclined the recipe is;

2 Parts Malibu Coconut Rum
1 Part Blue Curacao
2 Parts Pineapple Juice

       Supper was a pizza from;

Ramunto's Brick Oven Pizza

        First the name , its a bit deceiving as I do not believe the have an actual brick oven , but rather a conventional pizza oven.  But the location in convenient to game night and the pizza is good. We decided on a meat lovers and a large house salad.

Pizza was great, lots of toppings, not greasy and the salad was good, but a bit small. All in all an easy Saturday night meal that went great with the beer. My ratings for;


Ramunto's Brick Oven Pizza
On a scale of 1 to 5;

Food,       4.5 great pizza but skimpy on the salad.

Wine,        No rating we had beer at home

Service,     5 They told us 15 minutes it was 15 minutes
Ambiance  No rating we ate at home but quarters here are tight if you want to eat in

Price,        3 Expensive for pizza and salad but quality was very good.(Plus we has a coupon)

Total Score 4.16, Probably our favorite pizza place.