Had another outstanding lunch at Brio this week. Mike chose the penne fra diavolo with chicken and green onions, and I had the mushroom ravioli with brown butter from the lunch specials. Mine was served with little squares of butternut squash that could have been icky-icky (most squash just thuds in my mouth), but instead it was pleasantly light and sweet. Sage and Gargonzola sprinkled over the whole thing and - mmmm. Plus a wildberry lemonade (with mixed berries on a spear and a mint leaf) and a bread basket with sourdough and baked cheese flatbread. Mmmm again.
Oh, and we each had their enormous chopped salads that I'd love to duplicate at home, but it's all about the vinaigrette, isn't it? Not too sweet, not too oily, not too thick, and I haven't mastered that. Okay, I haven't even tried. Maybe I'm a salad dressing master, with two bestselling cookbooks in me, and we'll just never know.
Because people are curious about these things, the two dishes plus salads plus lemonade for me and cola for Mike came to $38 after tax, before tip. Service was terrific, but conversations about tipping start unwinnable wars, so I'll leave that amount out.
By the way, does anyone else write notes on the receipt if the service is really good? I like to do a little "Thank you for a lovely meal and excellent service!" Then I underline "excellent" and maybe decorate it with a few smileys or stars. And sometimes I sign it. I know the money's the thing, but someday someone's going to be having the crappiest day and they're going to see that and feel good that their hard work is genuinely appreciated.
(And then they won't take out their bad attitude on the customers. And then I won't have to listen to people "explain" to me that I wouldn't complain about bad service if I understood what (name anyone in the service profession) has to deal with. Ha. Good to know there's a selfish angle at work here.)
Similary, two gems from WoW'ing this weekend:
1. People were fussing in Alterac Valley. If you play, you know why. It was getting very serious and heated, so I typed something like, "I'm just here for the camaraderie!" Which led to someone spazzing out on the channel as follows: "Wow." "Not even close." "Get a dictionary." Luckily the other 38 Horde players had my back. Also, we all have the internet and M-W.com. (The guy actually fought us all for awhile on it. What did he expect? Comroddery? That sounds illegal.)
2. Someone was fussing over AH prices. If you play, you know why. The discussion evolved in such a way that the guy started putting down teachers as people who "just sit there all day and rake in the money." When I said this wasn't true in my direct experience (things read in the paper and so forth aside, going just by the folks I know), the guy said, "Actually, (my name), it really is true. My sister's a teacher."
Whether it's true or not (and I'm pretty sure no "100% of all teachers are ______" statement is ever true) , does the guy not even realize what he's doing? That he's explaining what it's like to be a teacher to a bunch of teachers, and correcting them based upon his sister being a teacher? A teacher overseas, to boot?
My point being that... um... Hm. People still aren't perfect. Just in case you were checking the status of that.
Anyway! That price, $38, seems like a great deal for delicious food in a beautiful building, but perhaps I've been in Vegas too long and have no sense of reasonable dining out costs. We paid more to eat at Sammy's Woodfired Pizza earlier this summer, a good yet lesser experience, but admittedly we got two appetizers (and two armfuls of to-go boxes).
Speaking of Sammy's, it's an odd place. It looks like a 24/7 gaming/sports bar from the outside. We have these places on just about every corner of the main drags here. All night slots, big screen TVs, and a short menu that's more like Applebee's than a diner. Most belong to chains: Putters, Village Pub, etc. I've only ever stuck my head in one once, so I don't know if they're depressing or fun or what. (Some have lunch buffets and "Kids Eat Free!" nights, so perhaps they're not too seedy?) I just think "sports" and "smoking" and "bar" and the whole building is auto-blocked on my radar.
So this is what our local Sammy's looks like. Then you go in, and there are large TVs showing sports, but the decor is like a nice family restaurant, but demure. No crazy road signs. No bright colours. But, keeping the name in mind, you're still thinking "paper-napkin Italian joint."
The menu tells a different tale. There are burgers, sure, but they're made with Kobe beef. The pizza offerings are similar to California Pizza Kitchen (but without the sense of cheerfulness). We started with a deliciously seasoned, soft yogurt/cheese (lebni) with flatbread that could've been a meal itself. Mike got some satay sticks and a beef noodle dish. "Different," he said, but good.
But Mediterranean cheese, noodles, and satay? In a pizza place? Called Sammy's?
No complaints about the food or service at all; it's just not what you expect from the name or the look.
I can't remember which pizza I had, but it was clearly prepared carefully. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but obviously it wasn't that memorable. I'm not sitting here looking forward to when we can drive across the street to the strip mall next to Wal-Mart and go again.
Whereas, for perhaps less money, definitely more selection, and a thousand times more ambiance (Brio really wins for a "restive" interior), we can go a few miles down the road and hang out in pretty (if trendy) Town Square, eat at CPK or Brio, drink a Godiva chocolixir or a Lollicup, walk around the scenic bridge, and see a movie.
The only flaw in this plan is if the movie is The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. But that's a post for another day.
(Oh, I can't resist! Remember their polite British son from The Mummy 2? He grows up to be John Wayne, if John Wayne greatly admired Hayden Christenson. Also, I never thought I'd see Brendan Fraser play an unlikable character. Especially when it's the winsome Rick O'Connell that he's played twice before. And! What a waste of the terra cotta army concept. I love those terra cotta soldiers. Saw some at the World's Fair in Knoxville when I was 12. The swirl of bad logic, unspun connection, and tell-don't-show throughout this action movie was an insult. Four out of 10 stars, and that's just because of brand loyalty.)
(It's not right that the best moment in the film was when Mike whispered to me that the Eye of Shangri-La looks like a Bloomin' Onion. I love those laughs that have you shaking in the dark.)
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