Recent Comments
Re: “Heaven Can't Wait: Three Belcourt Shows Only of Heaven's Gate Director's Cut”
I thought the whole thing was thrilling - the parts that were small and intimate were TERRIBLE on a big screen (tiny dialogue on a big screen is deadly), but the parts meant to be epic were, well, epic. I can see how it wasn't really primed to be a big hit -- some of the scenes went on so long I thought I was watching "Mobius Strip: The Movie" -- but gosh, if you stick with it, you get so much great stuff -- the way the immigrants circling the assassins mimics the waltz at Harvard, the brilliant sequence with the fiddle-playing roller-skater. The shot of the whores close to the end. Gosh, so much that was so great. Thanks, Belcourt!
Re: “Rosebud Bistro Closing; Chef Anita Hartel Retiring (Maybe) and You're Invited to a Big Party”
I was an ENORMOUS Mambu fan (and her Sasso before it; I used to live on Woodland and remember a very special ice storm when my parents and I walked down the hill and had an extraordinary meal. I actually thought Rosebud was a good re-boot, though; I had a great meal there a couple of weeks ago. Sorry it didn't work out.
Re: “Three decades after its public stoning, Heaven's Gate, killer of studios and careers, stands as one magnificent beast”
I have long loved this movie - and been a passionate defender of it - and can't wait to see it big...at long last. I'll be there Monday night.
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Nashville-Area CSAs”
I was a Bugtussle Farm CSAer for years, loved it, loved them. Then switched to share a full share of Delvin Farms for a year or two. I got pretty good with not wasting - not going to the grocery the day BEFORE pick-up is critical ...and now my life isn't CSA-friendly, so I'm not doing it this year. But I will say...the smaller the organization, the better...in my opinion. I knew those Bugtussle people - Eric and Cher - and I knew they grew every single thing. I liked the quality of Delvin, but I never got the sense that I knew the people who were growing my food; it was just people in a truck and a clipboard with my name on it. And that mattered to me. I liked knowing the names of the people growing the food. But Delvin Farms does deliver some show-worthy vegetables, make no mistake.
Re: “Open Thread Asks: What Nashville Specialties Do You Miss?”
I second pogo's mention of the World's End chicken cordon bleu. It was actually kind of terrible - a perfectly round slice of cheap deli ham over a fried chicken breast, slathered in Velveeta - yes, it was Velveeta. I worked there, I saw them melting it. But it was an absolutely perfect example of the mythical "liquor mop," whether before or after excessive imbibing.
Pasta YaYa, yes - at the time I didn't eat seafood and it was one of the few things at 12th I could eat. At one point, even Shoney's tried to mimic it. I almost drove my car off of Gallatin Road when I saw their marquee that said "Try our new Pasta YaYa!" At the time, I was at Cafe OneTwoThree and the Shoney's president bigwig was a regular...so it wasn't hard figuring out where he got the idea.
There was some crazy-ass-named thing at Iguana that I miss, some chicken endhilada thing that was also stuffed with golden raisins. It was all the right things, savory, sweet, hot, cold, all at the same time.
The "International Omelet" from the now-demolished IHOP by Vandy. It doesn;t show up on their menus anymore. But it was the greatest 3am food I ever had.
I also miss the weird by-the-pound lasagne from Country Life.
Re: “The Road, Episode 28: Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet”
There's one in Madison as well and I confess I have been known to go for the little stir-fry deal they do, since you can customize it and just have plain, un-MSG-sauced stir-fried meat and vegetables. They aren't making any money off of me, since I can eat like ten plates of that. The completely authentic and traditional chocolate fountain freaks me out, as usual.
Re: “The Weekly Open Thread: Give Us Your Top 5 Restaurants”
I'm missing a few and I can't count Catbird Seat since I've only been once and it'd be a different experience now since the menu changes so much but: City House, Gabby's, Marché (over Margot by a mile), Kien Giang, and strangely, La Plaza up in Goodlettsville (it's Mexican, but not slop and plop...pineapple burritos!).
A few that might have made the list but didn't because I haven't been in quite a while: Germantown Cafe, Watermark, Hot Diggity Dogs.
By the way, I was in Columbia on a camping trip two weeks ago and had the best sushi I've ever had in Tennessee at Fujiyama. Order the Love Boat!