The Last Few Trips

Highlights from the last few trips:

Palo Alto - Dinner with some great friends at The Cheesecake Factory where our burgers were not cooked in the proper manner resulting in a free meal and a $15 gift card for future use.

Irvine - An interview with a great accounting firm that ended 25 minutes before my flight was to leave. Luckily the John Wayne airport was very close to the office and I was at the airport, through security, and in my seat in 15 minutes.

McLean - Dinner at The Capital Grille Thursday night before my Friday interview. I had the bone-in Delmonico steak which was perfect. Also, the firm I interviewed with does not require receipts for expense reimbursement; instead they gave me an envelope of cash upon my departure which more than covered my expenses.

You and Me and the Bottle Makes Three

As I interview with various firms this season, I would like to share my experiences here, but I will be somewhat vague in identifying the firm. I will instead refer to each firm as DPME, an acronym formed by combining letters from a few firm names.

Thursday morning baby and I were kidnapped from our warm beds by the airport shuttle man at 4:30 in the morning. Of course baby woke up the second I got him out of his crib and stayed awake the entire ride up to the airport and the 1.5 hours we waited for our flight, which was fun. Luckily I got him to fall asleep as we took off, and he stayed sleeping for most of the flight. But as he is wont to do, baby pooed a big poo about an hour before landing. By then he had woken up and was playing in the area beneath the seat in front of me and between my ankles. My legs created a chimney, piping airborne poop particles which proceeded to perforate my proboscis and pervade the proximity. (The on-board movie was Mr. Popper's Penguins). I was then faced with the dilemma: Is it more of a bother to the two gentlemen next to me to let me out to change him, or to sit two feet from a fresh, steaming, reeking pile of poo? As I pondered that imponderable, the seat belt sign came back on. Decision made.

So Thursday was quite busy as I sherpa-ed baby through the shuttle/airport/airplane/airport/rental car shuttle/rental car along with my backpack, carry-on, baby's diaper bag, stroller, and car seat. At least I checked the car seat. While I managed to feed and change baby throughout the day, I didn't get a chance to eat anything until dinner that night. When I got to the dinner at The Cheesecake Factory with two professionals and three other candidates, they were eating appetizers. Now I know that when you're interviewing, the meals aren't about the food, but are about opportunities to get to know the professionals and ask questions and not make a fool of yourself and such, but it's The Cheesecake Factory - How can it not be about the food? So I sat there politely taking appropriately small portions of the appetizers and bread while holding back horrible urges to bend the menu into a funnel and down everything on the table in one breath.

I was lucky enough to have great family and friends in the area that were willing to watch baby during my dinner Thursday night and during my interview on Friday. Unfortunately I was late to the breakfast portion of my interview on Friday due, in equal parts, to the Ritz-Carlton's clock being 10 minutes slow (a ploy I'm sure so that hurried patrons are more likely to use bellhops or other guest assistance), VA traffic lights lasting forever, and getting stuck in the elevator at the office (and then getting off at the wrong DPME floor and being trapped in that awkward elevator room with the glass doors that you can't get through without a swipe card).

There were some great parts of the trip though:

- Since I had the baby with me, I didn't have time for the eternal debate as to whether I should go to bed early the night before the interview, or stay up and watch trashy shows on HBO.

- The bathtub at the Ritz-Carlton was huge and the bathrobe was soft and comfortable.

- I visited the Wegmans in Fairfax, VA and it was awesome. I know it's just a grocery store, but there's something wonderful in familiarity. For Mormons it's like traveling to a city/state you've never been to and walking into a church building on a Sunday. It's a small piece of home wherever you go. That's Wegmans.

- The closet light at the Ritz-Carlton turns on when you open the door. That's convenience. (Unlike the mini-bar which automatically bills you for items upon their removal from the electrical sensors underneath.)

- Seeing family Thursday night when I dropped off/picked up baby.

- Dinner Friday night with some dear friends at the Sweetwater Tavern.

So that was trip #1. I'm supposed to do a few more before this recruiting season is over and we haven't yet decided if baby will be joining me on any others.

Pizzeria Seven Twelve Review

Last night we finally made it to Pizzeria Seven Twelve in Orem for my wife's birthday dinner.

We started with an asparagus and egg plate ($7). It came with 8ish spears of asparagus well-seasoned and roasted with cheese and topped with an egg (sunny side up). I've seen egg and asparagus served together before, but I'd never had it. It was really good. My wife even enjoyed it and she'd been dissuading me from cooking it for weeks.

My wife ordered the pecorino, red onion, nicoise tapenade, walnuts, and mozzarella pizza ($15). It was one of the more exotic-sounding pizzas on the menu, and was very tasty. The flavors worked well together and the crunchy texture of the walnut did not distract from the experience as I feared it might.

I ordered the speck, soppressata, garlic, tomato sauce, and mozzarella pizza ($13). It was a more traditional choice and did not disappoint when it came to the flavors of the toppings. I love the thin crust that P 712 has created; the middle of the pizza is like a thick flour tortilla. The outer rim of the crust can get a bit crunchy and was burned in a few spots, but that's what happens when you cook in a brick oven and not a conveyor belt.

My only criticism of P 712 is that the toppings on the speck pizza were a little lacking in quantity. I understand that one doesn't pile up the toppings on a thin crust pizza, but I was definitely left wanting more. More speck, more soppressata, more sauce, and more cheese. It was as though the toppings were applied with a paint brush - just an even thin layer of each. Enough of each topping to whet my appetite, but not enough to satisfy it. I'd also prefer a pizza with more topping space and less crust space, which is to say that for the size of the pizza (radius = 1), the toppings were probably .75-.8 and the crust was probably .25-.2, where I prefer a smaller crust (.1-.15).

All in all we really enjoyed P 712 and will most likely return. My wife was a little hesitant to try it out, knowing that it's owned and managed by the same team that runs Communal, but we're glad we did. Pizzeria Seven Twelve definitely executes the sustainable farming/local ingredients idea much better than Communal. The food is great and reasonably priced. We paid about the same for two pizzas at P 712 as we did for one (larger) pizza in NYC at Capizzi, Lombardi's, or Grimaldi's.

Spicy Face

I guess this post could be titled: "Confessions of a Bad Cook," but the food turned out to be really tasty.

So we're back home and I'm back to preparing nightly dinners. We've been doing this Bountiful Baskets thing, which is awesome. Normally I wouldn't be into it because it's so MormonMommyScrapbookingOrganicMakeYouOwnLaundryDetergentGreenSmoothie-esque, but it appeals to my sense of frugality. Basically for $15 you get a ton of random fresh produce each Saturday morning. The catch is that you have to go pick it up and you never know what you're going to get.

So last Saturday we got a ton of crazy stuff, including Anaheim and jalapeño peppers. The wife and I aren't crazy about spicy things, but are somewhat adventurous and are usually willing to try new stuff. So for dinner I stuffed the Anaheims with a sausage/jalapeño/cream cheese/garlic/onion mix and used another jalapeño in a tomatillo soup. The preparation of these meals required me to cut up two jalapeño peppers, which I had never done before.

I've always heard that when you cut peppers you should avoid touching your face or eyes before washing your hands, but I always thought that advice was similar in importance to peeling onions underwater so that you don't cry. I peel and cut onions all of the time and I never cry. So naturally I can ignore the advice about preparing peppers. Right?

Wrong. I must have run my hands through my hair/face/eyes/lips/inner ear because within 20 minutes of finishing cutting the peppers, everything above my neck exploded in pain. I tried washing my hands, the knife, the cutting board, my head and neck, and nothing soothed me. I took off the clothes I was wearing and put on new ones. I opened all the windows and doors in the apartment. No relief.

The pain lasted 30-45 minutes and then subsided. Since then I have not been able to put in my contact lenses without being bombarded by searing eye pain. I cut the peppers on Monday and yesterday (Wednesday) I was blinded by pain for the first 20 minutes I had my contacts in. I even put in new contacts - no difference. The venom is in my eyeballs.

But it may have been well worth it because the stuffed Anaheim peppers and tomatillo soup were both really good.

The Last Cheesesteak

Yesterday morning we went to Campo's Deli on Market for a last cheesesteak before flying back to Utah last night. I got one with onions, peppers, and mushrooms and finally added the whiz instead of provolone. It was awesome. The whiz adds a juicy, greasy, and flavorful component that really adds to the sandwich.

We also got ice cream at the Franklin Fountain - a way cool olde ice cream shoppe with employees dressed like olde tyme soda jerks. The ice cream was a bit overpriced, but very good. If you dine in, the ice cream comes in real glasses and bowls and they don't even use plastic straws. It's quite the experience.

Both places only take cash - but there are plenty of ATMs around, so make sure you've got a great bank like Ally or USAA that reimburses random ATM charges.

Reading Terminal Market Cheesesteaks - Carmen's v. By George

We dined at the market again today for lunch and thought it would be cool to order some cheesesteaks from two different places and compare them. So we did.

By George - Referred to me by the dude at DiNic's that made my tasty Roast Pork sandwich on Wednesday. He said the By George cheesesteak is the best in the market.

Carmen's - When President Obama came to the market last fall, he ordered two cheesesteaks from Carmen's. If it's good enough for him - I should give it a shot.

We ordered a cheesesteak with onions and provolone from each location. By George takes credit card and the total came to $9.25. Carmen's only takes cash and the total was $8.15.

By George - This cheesesteak was significantly bigger than Carmen's. The roll was harder and had seeds. The steak itself was tougher than Carmen's and took longer to chew, but may have been more flavorful.

Carmen's - Though the cheesesteak was smaller than By George, it was very good. The steak was very juicy and the roll soaked up a lot of juice. The cheesesteak was easier to eat than By George and both my wife and I finished this sandwich first.

I don't know that we can declare either sandwich the winner. They were both excellent and the wife was impressed with them both. Tomorrow we'll try another at Campo's. This time we'll do it with the whiz.

Today's Food

This morning we had brunch at Sabrina's in Philadelphia. I had the blue cheese and bacon frittata and the wife had the stuffed french toast. Both dishes were excellent. We had originally planned on heading back to the Reading Terminal Market this afternoon for a late lunch of cheesesteaks (we had planned on comparing Carmen's with By George), but decided instead to visit Bobby's Burger Palace up by UPenn.

I ordered the Bobby Blue Burger with onion rings and my wife ordered the Crunch Salad with sweet potato fries. My burger was excellent - just enough crumbled blue cheese for the taste to come through without overpowering the other flavors. The onion rings and sweet potato fries were also quite tasty. My wife's salad however was pretty pathetic. We had a conversation like this:

Me: Hey, how's your salad?

Wife: Eh, it's OK. Pretty forgettable.

M: Well, that's why they don't call it Bobby's Salad Palace.

W: True, though you'd think Iron Chef Bobby Flay could put together a decent salad.

M: Touche.

My one gripe about BBP (other than the lame salad), was the service. We went around 4:00 PM so there were only about 12 people in the restaurant and it took a really long time for us to get our food. Once our food came, our sweet potato fries took another 10 minutes. A guy next to us waited even longer for his meal - and then even longer for his fries. If it was that slow on a late Thursday afternoon, I don't want to see it on a Friday night or weekday lunch. And it's not like the employees were busy - they were just standing around talking.

Mountain West Burrito Review Backlash

So a few days ago I went to Mountain West Burrito and wrote a review about my experience on my blog. I thought it was a pretty fair review and in the end I mentioned that I prefer a Beto's burrito to one at Mountain West Burrito.

Well the next day I was surprised to see that Mountain West Burrito posted a link to my review on its Facebook page. It's impressive that a restaurant will post a link to a review that doesn't completely gush about how amazing it is and how its food is the best thing since sliced bread. I think that says a lot for MWB and the people that run it.

Well evidently MWB has a very loyal fan base, because as soon as my review was posted, I read some interesting comments on my blog and below the posting on the MWB Facebook page. That's cool - I have nothing against people voicing their opinions. The comments made my wife a little mad (she's very protective of my opinions), but she knows that she can't be objective until she's tried the food. So as soon as we get back to town, we'll be heading back to Mountain West Burrito for another round.

We'll also finally get around to trying Pizzeria 712, to see if it really is better than Pizza Hut...

Bone Daddy's BBQ Review

Today we had lunch at Bone Daddy's BBQ in Midland before heading to the quaint MBS airport to fly to Philadelphia. The restaurant was pretty highly rated on Trip Advisor and we'd heard good things from my wife's brother, so we figured we'd give it a shot.

The wife ordered the pulled pork sandwich and I got the beef brisket sandwich. Both sandwiches were well under $10 and came with a huge pile of meat and a side dish. My brisket was piled so high that I had to eat 5-6 slabs off the top with a fork before I could fit the sandwich in my mouth. The brisket was fork tender and smothered with some of the best BBQ sauce I've ever tasted. The sauce had a rich smoky flavor and had the perfect amount of spice. I've tried a lot of BBQ in my day, but the beef brisket at Bone Daddy's is by far the best I've ever had. I ordered the onion rings as my side and it came with 7-8 large battered and fried rings. I tried the wife's pork sandwich and it was also very good. I'm not a coleslaw lover, but my wife said the blue cheese coleslaw that topped her sandwich was very good.

The restaurant has a 1940's-1950's fighter pilot theme and has lots of interesting pictures and memorabilia on the walls.

This plaque was above the urinal in the men's room

The service was a little lacking, but we were there around 2:30, so they weren't in the high gear of the lunch rush, so that may have explained it. Our two meals and soft drinks ran us around $20-25 which is amazing for the amount and quality of the food we got. Next time we are/If we're ever in Midland again, we'll stop at Bone Daddy's at least once.

Cafe Zinc Review

This evening the wife and I dined with her brother and his wife at Cafe Zinc in Midland, Michigan. The Cafe Zinc is located in The H Hotel and is the #1 rated Midland restaurant on Tripadvisor.com. Between drinks (non-alcoholic), a soup or salad, entrees, and dessert, a meal at Cafe Zinc will run you $45-50 a person.

I ordered the H Salad and Steak Frites and my wife had the French Onion Soup and Bolognese. My steak was cooked to a perfect medium and served with an herb butter. The fries were good and the dish also came with a side of peas with bacon and onion. My salad was very fresh and the herb-lemon dressing was just the right amount of lemony. The wife enjoyed her soup and her ragout was very tasty (she let me try it), though a little spicy for my taste. I am a wimp when it comes to spice though.

The wait staff was very attentive and our food arrived very quickly. The ambiance was nice, though the restaurant was a bit noisy. We ordered fruit tarts and creme brulee for dessert and thoroughly enjoyed them.

So if you're ever in Midland, Michigan and you are looking for a nice place to have a semi-expensive dinner, try Cafe Zinc.

Mountain West Burrito Review

Today I had lunch at Mountain West Burrito. It's a relatively new Mexican place in a gas station off State Street on the ProvOrem hill. It's one of those sustainable ingredients, Kangen water, free range places that prides itself in really fresh food, and then charges you extra for it.

I had the giant steak chimichanga ($14) and got a plain cheese quesadilla ($3) for baby. The food was really good and very fresh. I was super impressed with the speedy service. By the time I had ordered, filled my drink, and sat down, my meal arrived at my table. I usually don't order a chimichanga at a restaurant because I'm often wary of the freshness of the oil used to fry it. One look around Mountain West Burrito made me pretty confident that the oil was relatively fresh. The restaurant is very clean - especially for being in a gas station.

All this having been said, I still prefer Beto's to Mountain West for two reasons:

Value - At Beto's, a huge breakfast burrito and large quesadilla will set me back $5 instead of $17. Beto's doesn't take AMEX though, and Mountain West does.

Taste - The food at Mountain West tasted really fresh, but it lacked an indescribable quality that I enjoy in Mexican food. Is it possible that ingredients can be too fresh? Maybe it's something about week-old bacon, thrice-fried potatoes, or eggs and ham of questionable origin that makes Beto's burritos more tasty. I don't know exactly what it is, but the Mountain West burritos just didn't taste as good as burritos from Beto's.

I will admit though, that I'm not feeling the sickly aftershocks of a Beto's meal now, 3 hours after Mountain West. Usually a Beto's meal will leave me feeling slightly ill, but maybe that's the cost of perfection. I guess it's a choice between eating well and feeling well.

Communal Review

Last night we had dinner at Communal with some friends. We'd been to Communal before and weren't overly impressed with it, but we figured we'd give it another chance.

Our reservation was for 8:00 PM but our table was still occupied when we arrived at 8:05. We were eventually seated at 8:40 with a few apologies from the wait staff. We ordered our (overpriced) meal by 8:50 and the food came to the table at 9:30. I ordered the tri-tip and mashed potatoes and the wife ordered the pork chop and cauliflower custard. The food was good, not great, and the portions were kind of small. Our total for dinner was $68.

I have a love/hate relationship with Communal. I like the idea of a non-chain local restaurant that uses sustainable ingredients and whatever, but don't feel like Communal executes that idea very well. The wait staff is kind of unfriendly and the whole atmosphere is a little pretentious. The food is pretty expensive for what you get and the menu is very small (16 items).

Cleaning Checks

We manage the apartment complex that we live in and occasionally are asked by the management to do cleaning checks and check-outs. Today was check-outs. Since the wife is at work today, I got to do check-outs, which takes practically all day.

It's interesting that some people will really do their best to clean their place, while others won't lift a finger. This was my first time doing check-outs, so I may have been too harsh or lenient, I'm not really sure.

I put baby down for his afternoon nap and took the baby monitor with me to check a few apartments. Does that make me a bad dad? I locked the door when I left, and I assumed the baby monitor would reach to the other apartments in our complex. When I came back he was still breathing. No harm done.

Now that people have moved out of their apartments, there is room for my brother to move in. So he'll be leaving us tomorrow and moving next door... which makes tonight our last supper. We're going all out. He gets to pick anything and we'll eat it or go get it.

Treats

Wife came home early from work today so that proud mothers and fathers of graduating students could park in her parking spot. Upon returning home she got busy in the kitchen making marshmallow cereal treats. This is not a completely uncommon occurrence. When I noticed that they were done, I helped myself to one. Big mistake.

Evidently she wasn't making them for me. She's taking them to work tomorrow. She was appalled that I didn't ask before taking one. Now the question is: Whose is the burden? Do I have the burden to ask her, or does she have the burden to warn me?

She says, "What? I'm supposed to tell you as I'm making them that they are not for you?"

Yes. Obviously.

Baby's 1st Beto's

Brother and I took baby to Beto's today. If you are unfamiliar with Beto's, I pity your sad existence. Beto's is home to some of the best Mexican food in ProvOrem. Brother and I each had a breakfast burrito and baby had a quesadilla. It was awesome.

Confessions of a Bad Dad - The Pencil

Forgive me Blogger, for I have sinned. It's been 2 days since my last confession.

My baby just ate a pencil. Five minutes ago I looked over at him and he had a pen in his mouth (or what I thought was a pen). I just grabbed it, and it's a light blue pencil. But not just any pencil - it's a "Blue Water Soluble Pencil." So when I say that my baby ate a pencil, he actually ate it. That is to say that his saliva dissolved the "lead" of this writing device, and it's now a hollow tube. There is light blue pencil "lead" swirling down his esophagus into his stomach.

Go me.

I wonder how that will turn (come) out.

Diapers in the Cereal

We usually have an empty grocery bag hanging on the doorknob where we place dirty diapers. Then I take the bag out to the dumpster each day. Sometimes when we finish a box of cereal, we'll fill the empty cereal box with diapers and other odd pieces of garbage and put it by the door so that I take it to the dumpster.

The other day the wife went to the cupboard for a box of cereal and pulled out a box filled with nasty diapers and random garbage. I wonder how long that had been there.

Confessions of a Bad Dad - Indian Food

Forgive me Blogger, for I have sinned. It's been 11 days since my last confession.

Tonight we went out with some friends for Indian food (Gandhi, not Squanto). The wife and I love Indian food, so we thought maybe baby would love it too. He really enjoyed my chicken saag and wife's lamb coconut kurma. We ordered ours mild, as neither of us have a high tolerance for spicy foods.

My friend ordered the lamb vindaloo, and he ordered it hot. He didn't finish it all, so I thought I'd try it. I did; it was very hot. So I gave baby a big spoonful of it. He didn't react at first, but after a few seconds he made a weird face and started screaming. I fed him some rice and water to help make the burning go away. Then more vindaloo.

Magleby's Review

Tonight we went to Magleby's in Provo for dinner. In the past we've really enjoyed Magleby's, but tonight was not impressive. We didn't get there until 8:30 or so and we were seated right away, but it took 25-30 minutes for our food to arrive once we ordered. That's a long time in a nearly empty restaurant. Furthermore, my bacon cheeseburger was medium well instead of medium and disappointingly small.

We used to love Magleby's when it was located in the Riverwoods. They had a great menu and the food always came promptly and tasted great. The menu at the new location in the Marriott Courtyard is much smaller and lacks a few of Doc's signature dishes.

Before going to the restaurant we tried to look up some information on their website (www.maglebys.com), but had trouble navigating it. It's horrible. Not only are there 10+ obvious typos on the main page, but there are a number of dead links and missing information. We couldn't even find a phone number for the Provo location. The text of the site refers to a "Locations Page" that unfortunately does not exist.

I looked up the web designer in charge of the site, and probably would have emailed him had his contact information been readily available, but it wasn't. I could either follow him on Twitter or be his friend on Facebook, neither of which I was interested in. I understand how a web guy can make grammatical errors. I have been known to make a few in my day. But this guy is in charge of the company's entire online presence. Talk about first impressions.

I know Magleby's prides itself in its local Provo recipes and homemade dishes, but the website doesn't need to look like it was written by a someone with a Utah high school education...

Foods to Eat

I realized today that I blogged about Saturday's lunch, but none of our meals since. I apologize profusely.

Saturday night we had dinner at Pike Place Chowder in Pacific Place. We got the chowder sampler and captain's platter. It was great, though we both felt a little ill after dinner.

Sunday we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island and hat lunch at Nola's cafe. The food was excellent. Wife had the pecan caramel french toast and I had an open-faced crab melt.

Sunday night we walked over a few blocks to Wild Ginger. Wife had some beef curry dish and I had the mandarin chicken. We both enjoyed the meal (which is saying something because wife doesn't generally like Asian food). We got some cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory for dessert.

Tonight we're going to Pink Door. Tomorrow we're having lunch at the Space Needle and dinner at the Crab Pot.