If this is your first “Two weeks in the Skyway” post, you might like to start here.
Minnesota’s Got Talent: So, here’s a combination event I’m attending and public service announcement to anyone with a TV-worthy, tight, amazing 90 seconds of talent: America’s Got Talent auditions are taking place this Saturday and Sunday in the Skyway-connected Minneapolis Convention Center, from 8am to 7pm. They welcoming all comers. Seriously. I’ve been on the phone with them repeatedly and they keep stressing this. So, if you can dance, sing, be funny, juggle, walk on a rope, throw knives, escape from chains while hanging upside down or vividly mime any of the former, get your act together and get down there. They’re even doing “no-wait” auditions: basically a scheduled audition, so you don’t have to cool your heels out in the hallway waiting your turn. Contact me if you’d like one of these no-wait auditions, or just show up with a book and a whole lot of energy. Here’s more info.
AGT is also scouting talent in Minneapolis/St Paul this week. If you know of any variety shows, cabaret, arts, dance, open mics, karaoke or whatever, invite the scouts by contacting Sara at saraagtcasting@gmail.com or 661-619-7444.
Smartphone shopping: Yesterday’s first Skyway outings were visits to both AT&T (Baker Building) and T-Mobile (IDS) to talk phones (Blackberry Torch and Android Something-Amazing respectively) and plans. The pros and cons for these phones/plans have become so convoluted, minute and evenly weighed that I’ve become paralyzed with indecision. Except my current phone is on its death rattle, so I must make a decision. Sarah at AT&T is way cuter than Kyle at T-Mobile, so it may just come down to that.
Groceries at Target: After that descent into hopeless confusion, I did my weekly grocery run to Target. Here’s the problem with Target: they have pretty much all the essentials and sometimes even a variety of the essentials, but they seem incapable of keeping the shelves stocked from week to week. For example, last week they didn’t have onions. Onions! How do you call yourself a grocery and run out of onions? They go with everything! Also, they like to change brands every three months, just to mess with me. The minute I find a brand that I like, they replace it, usually with something inferior. So, I’m frequently reacting and adjusting to Dale the Inventory Dude when he impulsively decides that the pennies cheaper Dribbly’s Tasteless Ham Product might sell better than the Super Awesome Delicious Smoked Ham that I’ve been happily buying for six months.
Strongbow scarcity: After a matinee showing of “The Green Hornet” at Block E, I made the snap decision that the salmon tart waiting for me back at home would be nicely paired with eight Strongbows, so I stopped in at Haskell’s (where I’m the mayor on Foursquare by the way, no big deal), which is when the first “Oh f*ck” moment of the Skyway test happened. Haskell’s, unthinkably, unbelievably, criminally, sadistically, was out of Strongbow in 17-ounce cans. They did, however, have two six-packs of Strongbow in 12-ounce bottles, which totally suck because that means I have to get up from the couch more frequently. I snapped them up anyway, because I didn’t want to have to eat salmon tart with water like some kind of idiot. Haskell’s won’t get more Strongbow till Thursday. Hold me.
At 7:20pm yesterday I returned from a weekend in Madison, Wisconsin comprised mainly of drinking cheap wine to excess and occasionally picking up juggling props and throwing them around in creative ways. The otherwise unexceptional event of my return was enlivened by two things: the fire alarm in my building malfunctioning at an uncivil volume and the fact that it was the last time I would suffer Minnesota weather for two solid weeks without actually leaving Minnesota.
As part of a feature story that I’m writing, I have voluntarily confined myself to the downtown Minneapolis Skyway System as a combination goofball stunt and case study. Being that I have lived and worked in Skyway-connected bliss for nearly three years, I’ve had ample opportunity to engineer my life so that, if I really don’t feel like it, I don’t have to go outside – for anything.
For decades, the Skyway has been a convenience and curiosity, allowing shoppers and some lucky workers to pass their days while comfortably protected from our occasionally unenviable weather. But with the Skyway’s slow expansion and the addition of critical resources (namely a passable grocery inside Target), the Skyway has evolved in recent years into something approximating a proper neighborhood where, with the right timing and resourcefulness, all the usual errands can be accomplished and a reasonably rewarding life can be led. At least I think it has. And thus the confinement test.
Now it would be fairly easy, if somewhat tedious, to just hunker down for the entire two weeks, burning through my Netflix queue and ordering Luce twice a day, but that would completely miss the point. I have everyday stuff to accomplish. Errands to run, shopping to do, events to attend, social obligations to satisfy and, above all else, a practical life to lead. I’ll be using this blog to keep a (hopefully) short, daily journal, with accounts of what I did and, if it was unusually challenging, how I did it.
I would also like to take this opportunity to invite everyone who lives and/or works on the Skyway to leave comments with tips for their Skyway essentials, be it shopping, food, drink, entertainment, nail salon, whatever. And, for the feature article, I am in fact seeking out people who both live and work on the Skyway for short interviews. If you are, or know, one of these people, please get in touch.
Here are my self-imposed confinement rules:
• I can, for whatever screwball reason, open a window or stand next to an open door, but I cannot break the threshold.
• Though I was sorely tempted to do so, I did not race out before the test began and stockpile all the things I’m pretty sure that I can’t get on the Skyway. I generally get by on the relatively meager food selection available at Target on Nicollet Mall (and the farmers market in summer), but I supplement this once a month or so with a run to Rainbow for a little variety. However, in the interest of not contaminating the test environment, I’ve omitted this step.
• I can take advantage of everyday resources outside of the Skyway (the mail, pizza delivery), though without overt abuse – eg having Lunds deliver $200 of groceries.
• If a Skyway that I’m occupying spontaneously bursts into flame, I can go outside in order to save my life, but I must hold my breath and hop on one foot the entire time.
I have, in the past, gone somewhat disturbing amounts of time without stepping a toe outdoors during our less-than-balmy months, but this two week test will shatter my current record of nine days. It’s fair to say that I have an unusual affinity for the Skyway (check out my previous Skyway-love posts here, here and here), so it would be a stretch to claim that this test will be a personal hardship, though being that I’ve never stayed confined to the Skyway for so long, who knows?
I’m afraid that my participation in the arts and cultural activities has taken a rather profound dive in the past decade. Live theatre, music, museums… I just don’t seem to get out and do these things as often since the variety of on-demand and online entertainment readily available here in my home fiftupled (a word I invented that means “increased by a factor of fifty”). I’m not really ashamed by this turn of events, I’ve simply started expanding my mind in different ways, while in my ideal state – sitting in my underwear. Everyone wins.
However, I enthusiastically struggled into my jeans and put on a clean shirt when the Minnesota History Center invited me to tour their temporary exhibit, Chocolate. Honestly, there are few other exhibits that would get me into a museum faster these days. Perhaps a Natalie Portman retrospective, but that’s all I can think of.
Now if, like me, you took the time years ago to educate yourself about chocolate, then I’m afraid that this exhibit won’t add much to your knowledge base. It’s pretty high level, though in fairness any more depth would likely bore most visitors senseless. However, if the magical world of chocolate remains a mystery to you, or you have children, then it’s a worthwhile experience. The only way they could make it better, in fact, is if they gave away chocolate. It would have been really cool if they had little samples of chocolate to taste during various phases of production so people could appreciate the rather monumental task of producing chocolate. But I’m sure that chocolate, at some stages of refinement, is not particularly appetizing. Or safe to consume. So, we’ll let that missed opportunity slide.
One unlikely realization gleaned during our visit is that maybe, just maybe, chocolate can singlehandedly stop the decimation of rainforests. The cacao trees (pronounced kah-KAW! – the exclamation point and, ideally, a karate chop are required) need the protection of a forest canopy in order to thrive. No canopy, no chocolate – and, in my case, no more Mr. Nice Guy. Write your congressperson, because I am no fun at all when I’m crabby.
Another thing I learned is that wealthy Europeans used have a small sip of chocolate first thing in the morning in place of coffee, which was meant for the working class. According to the informative display, women often performed this daily ritual with at least one boob exposed. Ah, Europe.
The tragic absence of free samples is somewhat alleviated by the excellent chocolate for sale in the History Center’s basement gift shop. A variety of B.T. McElrath chocolate is on hand, but I strongly recommend you walk past that and approach the incredibly lucky person manning the fresh chocolate display case and make your purchases there.
Chocolate runs through January 2nd, 2011.
The Minnesota History Center
Tickets (allowing access to both Chocolate and the permanent exhibits)
$10 adults
$8 seniors (65+)
$8 college students (valid ID)
$5 children ages 6-17
Hours:
10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday;
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday;
12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday;
Closed Monday (open Monday holidays year round)
Some of you may have seen the vita.mn article I wrote earlier this year, Choose Your Own Adventure, about the feasibility of long term travel, career break round-the-world trips, living abroad and the like. Well, if you been thinking/plotting/dreaming about such an odyssey, I have good, enabling news for you.
Minneapolis, among many cities nationwide, is holding a Meet Plan Go! event on Tuesday September 14th at Honey Lounge in Northeast Minneapolis. This is an opportunity for seasoned escape artists and first-time travelers alike to get together and talk about the logistics, money, employment ramifications and all the other minutia involved with career-break long-term travel.
Your host, multi-career-breaker Kirk Horsted, will be joined by both me and financial planner Ross Levin as we share our experiences and answer questions about career-breaking and long term travel.
The event is free. You can avail yourself of the drink specials ($3 tap beer; $5 wine), order food and there’ll be a few eye-popping giveaways like free trips to Peru, Cambodia (dibs) and France.
Read more about the Meet Plan Go event here or, if I’ve already sold you on the idea, reserve your spot here.
It’s MONDO Jugglefest time again! And this year’s festival, by any measure, is going to be pretty exceptional. For starters, holding it in April instead of February means we (hopefully) won’t have to face the minus 20 degree temperatures that usually punctuate MONDO weekends. Also, this year’s MONDO Spectacular, our wildly popular Saturday night public show, has four, count ‘em, four juggling and unicycling stars being flown in from international locales!
As always, the festival is being held at Concordia College’s monstrous Gangelhoff Center, just off Hamlin Avenue in St Paul. This massive field house, with the always exciting bouncy rubber floor that weaponizes virtually every dropped club, is where all the workshops, demonstrations, prop vending and games will occur.
Some 650 jugglers, unicyclists and others attended last year. Few things in life slacken the jaw like a field house teeming with people deftly throwing and catching (and dropping and bending overing and picking upping) thousands of objects simultaneously, while a mind-bending army of unicyclists wizz around, yoyoists yo and poi spinners, uh, do whatever. I’m telling ya, this caliber of full blown over-stimulation entertainment can usually only be achieved with highly illicit drugs. (Kids: don’t do drugs.)
If you don’t juggle (or unicycle or yo-yo), this is the place to learn. Formal and informal coaching persists throughout the festival. I can teach anyone between the ages of six and 75 to juggle in less than 30 minutes. That’s right, in thirty minutes you can be just a little bit more like me and who doesn’t want that?
The deets: 21st Annual MONDO Jugglefest
Gym passes, good for all three days, are $10 at the door. All attendees will be required to sign a waiver before admittance to the festival.
Tickets for the Spectacular (7pm, Saturday April 17th) are $12 for adults, $10 for children under 12.
Festival Hours:
Friday April 16th: 5:00pm – Midnight
Saturday April 17th: 9:00am to 2:00am (Note: the Gym will be closed during the Spectacular show, roughly from 5pm until the end of the show around 10pm)
Sunday April 18th: 10:00am to 5:00pm
Also, in case you were on the fence about the cool-factor of being seen at a juggling/unicycling festival, check this amazing awesomeness out:
It’s been a while since I went on a Slackerology rant, but car-free living has been on my mind again recently and instead of just speaking in confident, but speculative terms, I decided to crunch a bunch of numbers to support my argument.
When you ask someone why they don’t consider a car-free lifestyle, the primary reply is that the convenience and time-saving of traveling by car, versus public transport, is simply too valuable to give up. Well, to those people clinging to that belief, I’m about to blow your tutti-frutti little minds.
Let’s assume, as someone dependent on public transport, you ride the bus/train an average of four times a day, namely to and from work and then round-trip on one other outing (or two round-trip outings on Saturdays/Sundays). Let’s say that each time you take public transport, you spend an average of five minutes waiting at the stop. (Yes, I know that at 11pm on a Sunday you may occasionally wait 25 minutes, but all those times you wait zero to three minutes at 5pm on a Wednesday will even things out).
So:
4 trips a day X five minutes of waiting X 365 days = 121.66 hours per year that you ‘waste’ standing around, waiting for public transport.
Now, as for the extra time spent in transit on buses/trains versus your car, depending on the route, time of day, traffic and whatever walking you need to do to-from the stop/station, yes the journey on public transport will probably take more time than if you just hopped into your car. But exactly how much more time?
The walking time to/from public transport versus your car is basically a wash, because you would likely also have a long walk from the office/shop/movie theater/etc to wherever your car is parked, not to mention all the time you burn driving around trying to find a parking spot.
While some bus routes are sadistically slower than driving a car, others, privy to priority lanes for example, are just the same or faster. And, it’s safe to assume, trains will always be faster as they happily zoom under, over or through inching traffic. Being that this interval is kind of impossible to quantify, I’m just going to pull what I feel is a fairly generous number out of the air and say a (average!) journey on public transport will take seven minutes longer than if you were in a car.
4 trips a day X seven additional in-transit minutes X 365 days = 170.33 additional hours per year that you might spend in transit while on public transport than if you were in a car.
Combining the waiting-for-public-transport hours and additional in-transit hours, you could potentially lose 292 hours of your life per year if you relied solely on public transport.
There’s no denying that’s a lot of toe-tapping, non-thrilling time. That said, you car drivers will want to put down any delicate or spillable items you may be holding before I continue.
Now, let’s look at how many hours per year you work in order to raise the money necessary to keep your car on the road. First, let’s break down an annual car expense sheet (I’m doing both low and high end expense breakdowns, since everyone has different circumstances and expenses depending on city, daily driving distances, age, lifestyle, etc):
• Car loan payments = $4,200-6,000 per year ($350-500 X 12 months)
• Gas = $780-1,560 ($15-30 per week X 52 weeks per year)
• Insurance = $900-1,600 per year
• License tabs = $50-120 per year
• Maintenance = $300-500 per year (an estimated lump sum for oil changes, car washes, windshield wipers, one or two minor part(s) failures, etc)
• Parking = $200-2,400 per year (the startling high end is for people who pay to park in garages/lots both at home and at work, plus supplementary night/weekend parking at meters, lots, etc)
Low and high end totals come to $6,430 and $12,180 per year. Since very few people live at either of those extremes, I’m going to use the midpoint of $9,305 from here forward.
In order to bring home the $9,305 per year you need to keep your car on the road, you actually need to earn $11,631.25 pre-tax (which is 25% for those earning $33,950-82,250 per year) income. So, at a pay rate of $22 (average US hourly wage for 2009), it will take you 528.69 hours (13.22 weeks!) of work to earn enough money to keep your car physically and legally running.
And if you don’t have a car loan, or don’t spend that much money on parking or whatever, keep in mind that I haven’t factored in all the money you could potentially cough up paying for collision repairs, moving violations or parking tickets and, in some places, toll roads.
So, 528.69 hours of work minus the 292 hours you’d potentially spend whiling away on public transport, equals 236.69 surplus hours of free time you’d enjoy each year by not owning a car. That’s 5.92 theoretical 40-hour weeks of work that you wouldn’t have to perform.
Now think about your drastically reduced carbon footprint.
Now think about how many books you could be reading or TV shows you could be watching on your iPod while sitting on public transport.
Now think about what you could accomplish if you worked 5.92 fewer weeks per year.
Or think about the lavish vacation in Thailand you could take and/or how many bottles of really good wine you could buy with $8,305 (I knocked off the roughly the $1,000 you’d pay per year for a transit pass, which, I haven’t forgotten, will require 45.5 hours of work to pay for, so you only end up with 191 spare hours, or 4.78 fewer work weeks per year).
Anyone who’s every spoken to me for more than seven minutes knows that I reap the same warm, comforting feelings from the Minneapolis Skyway system as most people would experience on a quiet, tropical beach. Moving into a Skyway-connected building instantly transformed my outlook on Minnesota winters – in that winter was no longer my problem.
As such, I hatched this tribute video. [If you can't see the video, click here]
I had a lot of help making this video. Foremost thanks goes to Kaeti Hinck, who probably spent more time working on this thing than I did, and whose directing, editing and creative input significantly affected its overall awesomeness. Thanks also goes to actors Rachel Hunsinger and Jill Wigert.
As I soldier bravely forward into my third year of car-free living in Minneapolis, I’m marking the occasion with two earth-shattering pieces of information:
2) I’m giving away a slightly used Solio hybrid solar charger (a $49.95 value). Just leave a comment below for a chance to win.
First things first, this weekend’s Go Green Expo is for “Everyone interested in learning about environmentally friendly goods & services for use in modern everyday living.” Friday is the business-to-business stuff, but Saturday gets decidedly more interesting for normal folk wanting to learn more about green living and business. You can peruse the entire schedule here, but some of the more notable attractions include the latest in energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly products, a rock climbing wall and Segway tours. (What? You’ve never been on a Segway? Well, I rode one all over Paris, no big deal.)
There’ll also be interactive seminars featuring leaders in the green industry, local politics, and community organizations. The Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders are reportedly leading some sort of cheer for the Vikings Planet Purple initiative for sustainable business practices and renewable energy, then hanging out to sign autographs and pose for photos. Also, Ms Minnesota will be singing “It’s Not Easy Being Green”, with backing vocals by RT Rybak, Woody Harrelson and Lady Gaga. No really, Ms Minnesota will be there.
You can bring your old cell phones and chargers for recycling, and take part in educational sessions on green jobs, sustainable and fair trade design, green building, clean air and greening your business.
You can even bus your green selves to the event on Sunday for free with the Go Greener Pass (valid only on Sunday, November 8, 2009 from 9:00am – 6:00pm only).
Oh and full disclosure about that Solio hybrid solar charger, if you click the link, you’ll see that it was given to me for a product review with no return packaging or instructions for how/where to send it. That was two years ago. So, I’m giving it away!!! Just leave a comment below before 5pm CT on Friday November 6th and I’ll choose the winner in a random drawing. You must live in the Minneapolis/St Paul area or be willing to spring for shipping.
WHEN:
Friday, November 6th • 10am – 5pm
Business-to-Business Expo
Saturday, November 7th • 10am – 6pm & Sunday, November 8th • 10am – 5pm
Business-to-Business & Business-to-Consumer Expo
WHERE:
Minneapolis Convention Center
1301 Second Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403
(612) 335-6000 www.minneapolisconventioncenter.com
TICKETS:
The full weekend pass is $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors (with proper ID). Children 12 and under get in free. Tickets provide access to the entire exhibitor floor, all panel & speakers discussions and can be purchased in advance at www.gogreenexpo.com or the day of at the ticket counter.
Starter:
Crayfish cake with remoulade and daikon micro green salad
Entrée:
Smoked and braised lamb shank with white beans, chorizo, cassoulet and roasted fire tomato sauce
Dessert:
Bailey’s chocolate shake with chocolate chip cookies and berries
Maybe it was the knowledge that I was eating the last of my Restaurant Week meals -nine in six days – a protracted, rapid series of (mostly) fantastic meal experiences that, until now, I haven’t enjoyed anywhere outside of Tuscany. Maybe it was that I had just choked down that god-awful pad thai at Comsos. Maybe it was simply that Sanctuary makes exceptional food. Whatever the case, our dinner Friday night blew our respective doors off.
I know I’ve already awarded five “Oh Gods” out of five to othermeals that had barely perceptible downsides, but, no disrespect to those deserving venues, when the bar gets raised such as it was at Sanctuary, you’re forced to think back and wonder if perhaps you had been a bit to hasty awarding a perfect score previously and maybe you should have allowed for a short period of contemplation before writing those reviews. Or at least waited until total sobriety. Well, the past is the past, and the present is now and the future is when alien archeologists uncover this blog post and wonder about this so-called ‘God’ that I keep referring to.
Flouting the implicit spirit of Restaurant Week, Sanctuary had only one fixed priced menu to choose from. This lack of variety probably caused some people to take pause (i.e. me, though I was coerced into going anyway), but then those people would have been tragically screwing themselves out of an outstanding dinner.
The crayfish cake was, in two words, kick ass. After exactly four chews, my companion said “This is what Sea Change should have done.” (Burn!) It was meaty and held together well without being soggy and there was a pleasing little hint of spice at the end. The remoulade was just a little to mayo-y for me, though pretty much everything with mayo in it is too mayo-y for me. My companion assured me that it was superior. We both ended up eating this cake as if it were the last crayfish on earth –one sliver at a time, savoring every morsel, desperately trying to commit every facet of it to our permanent memory banks.
The lamb shank was the largest either of us had ever seen. Seemingly slow cooked in something wonderful for about 12 hours, the oozing, juicy meat shredded right off the bone, without so much as a single sawing motion from a knife. This raised the question of how they were able to transfer this exceptionally delicate shank from the pan to the plate without it completely falling apart due to the force of gravity. The chorizo was a nice touch, but there wasn’t much of it and, compared to the religion-changing taste of the lamb, it really only played a minor role. I’m not a huge fan of beans, but the white beans almost completely took on the flavor of the roasted fire tomato sauce, virtually erasing my usual texture qualms.
The Bailey’s chocolate shake was as rich and yummy as one would expect of anything with the word ‘Bailey’s’ affixed to it, with the added advantage of the chocolate chip cookies and berries that tasted equally incredible, whether eaten on their own (me) or liberally dipped into the shake (companion).
When asked for final thoughts on the entire meal, my companion responded with an emphatic “F*ckin’ A”. Truer words have rarely been said.
Oh wait, there was one quibble people should know about when eating at Sanctuary, particularly in cold weather: the temperature in the front quarter of the restaurant temporarily, but instantly, dropped about 15 degrees every time anyone opened the door. And it was only in the 40s Friday night. Anyone unlucky enough to be seated near the door in the dead of winter had better be able to work a knife and fork while wearing their choppers.
I’m awarding this dinner the most resounding five “Oh Gods” out of five of Restaurant Week.
Starter:
Lobster Bisque – Chive Crème Fraîche, Red Pepper Croutons
Entrée:
Cosmos Pad Thai with Chicken – Rice Noodles, Peanuts, Cilantro, Fresh Lime
Going from the best meal of the week to the worst in a mere 16 hours was not a pleasant experience. The physical and emotional trauma was so severe that I’m now seeking treatment from both a chiropractor and a hug therapist.
I’ll start with what was done right. Like the dinner I’d had Sunday night, soon after arrival we were presented with an amuse-bouche of a single shrimp and penne with a dribble of a balsamic reduction. Thoughtful, cute and tasty.
While considering the Restaurant Week menu, our table of four mused out loud if we could perhaps substitute a second starter in place of our entrées. Cosmos’ starters were all winners. My lobster bisque, despite the curious absence of tangible lobster, was thick, warm and spicy. Pretty much exactly what you’d like on a cold rainy day in October. Even better was the grilled quesadilla duck confit, with cilantro, mango salsa and poblano aioli. Duck confit seems to be everywhere lately and I’m not complaining. A few weeks earlier I’d had what might have been an almost identical duck quesadilla downstairs at Bradstreet Crafthouse Resaurant (Same kitchen? Anyone?). Both were commendably non-greasy and the mango and aioli were subtle, yet effective touches. However, the spiced basil shrimp with ginger garlic sauce was the hit of the table. The colors and textures were pleasing, the spice was perfect and the sauce was both distinctly Asian, but again, a perfect core-warming flavor for a cold and damp day.
Which brings us to the end of the good parts. Cue the funeral dirge.
Having had both a great brunch and dinner here on previous occasions, I was more than a little disappointed at the unanimously underwhelming lunch entrées. My pad thai was almost distressingly unexciting. I’ve had better at, and I’m not kidding here, Noodles and Company. Though, my mouth was still slightly ablaze from the spice in the bisque, the noodles seemed virtually tasteless on their own. The veg had been spiced up, but there was so little of it on the plate that mouthfuls of noodle were blah more often than not. (To be fair, one companion had gotten the veggie pad thai and reported that hers was very spicy, though hers strangely didn’t have any peanuts). Finally, the chicken, matching the rest of the plate, was plain and forgettable.
The seared walleye with wheat berries, dried cranberries and goat cheese, with a champagne vinaigrette was the meager highlight. The small-portioned walleye was pan-fried and pleasingly salty. The wheat berries were light and healthy and the cheese was a paradoxical mouth-humper, tasting like a show-bred combination of brie, goat and blue cheeses. It was like an oral defibrillator, comparatively shocking to the taste buds compared to everything else on the entrée plates.
Finally, the “601 Club”, a towering Dagwood Bumstead-sized sandwich with smoked turkey, smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, mustard and mayonnaise on brioche, was declared to be “a perfectly adequate rendition of a club sandwich,” but far short of living up to the Cosmos repute for galloping excellence. Indeed, my companion confided that, while it was just fine, she probably would never order it again.
All of this disillusionment was underscored by a one-man, singing and dancing cabaret of terrible service. Our server, a native French speaker, had plainly decided to preserve his home country’s cultural fondness for bored dispositions, lackadaisical work ethics and aptitude for ignoring patrons for ridiculous periods of time. The interval between receiving our menus and actually getting the opportunity to order went on a little too long, but that paled in comparison to the marathon wait for him to collect our dishes, then again to bring our bill, and finally the futile wait for him to process the bill. After an intolerable amount of time (one person in our party had already left so as to not miss a conference call), we reluctantly collected our credit cards and ponied up the exact amount of cash just so we could get on with our lives. By the time we got out of there, we’d been sitting for nearly two hours – for a two course lunch. In a half-empty restaurant. Bloody ridiculous.
Once again, the showcasing, out-reaching spirit of Restaurant Week appears to have been completely disregard in favor of reluctant acquiescence, which, not surprisingly, led to inconsistent and lackluster food.
2) I’m giving away a slightly used 
