Raindrops on Roses

A little departure from the Restaurant Odyssey, I give you Gila's Favorite Things Vol. 1:

Our neighbors. Aaron and I moved to Italian Village five years ago, and we often say that move was the second best decision we ever made (after marrying each other). The neighborhood deserves a blog post of its own, and someday you'll get to read all about it.

Pre-Cancer Crawl 2012

Beach vacations. I love the sound of the water, the enormity of the sky and sea, the solitude of losing myself in a book with my toes in the sand, the tropical drinks.

Myrtle Beach, October 2012. Coming this weekend: Destin, FL!

Vindaloo. You probably know that Aaron is the cook at our house, but this is one of the few meals that I make. It's a spicy Indian stew-like dish that (in my circles) is now also known as "Gwendaloo." I freaking love this stuff.

It may not look appetizing to you, but it's my most favorite meal.

This guy:

Pretty Nails

The name of this color is (for real)
"Call me Gwen-ever." Also note the new ring
which is currently serving as my wedding ring.

I got this idea from In Style magazine and
recently did it in shades of brown.

Musicals. If you recognize the title of this post, you get it. When I was growing up, my mom had soundtrack albums as well as sheet music of Broadway musicals. On our recent road trip, Mom and I listened to two channels on her satellite car radio: college football and the Broadway channel. My high school produced a musical every year and I was involved in those. Next weekend I'm traveling to Pennsylvania to see this year's offering, Les Misérables.

Our cats, Bella, Gato and our newest addition Clover 

(formerly known as Mr. Handsome until we found out he is really a she).

Bella's "in the bag" and Gato looks like
he wants in there, too.

After four weeks, Clover finally feels
comfortable enough to get on the couch.

That's it for this episode. Stay tuned!

The Gila

Stop #2 - Bar 23: Aaron says, "Never again."

Aaron wanted to write this post, so I've allowed him to be the guest blogger:

Our great restaurant odyssey continued when Gwen and I went to Bar 23 for dinner and drinks recently.  The day had all the makings of a great, maybe even epic evening.  We had both arranged our schedules to be able to leave the house on a beautiful Friday afternoon to walk down to enjoy a nice early dinner, have some cocktails, and see where the evening took us.  

Neither Gwen nor I have been to Bar 23 so it was a new experience for both of us.  While I personally haven't been able to confirm this, Gwen is somewhat certain that Bar 23 is one of the oldest tenants on the actual I-670 cap.  Friends have told us "I think it was once a men's fashion shop," or "wasn't there a nail salon there once?" or similar unclear recollections.  I suppose if I did some major research (or cared a bit more) I could figure this out, but suffice to say, Bar 23 has been there a while.  [Editor's note: while the 670 cap has been around since 2005, Bar 23 has been in existence since 2008.] It is a large space - a huge interior with bar and 5-6 flat screen TVs, crazy lights and cameras on the ceiling, and an enviable patio on the sidewalk.  My sense is this is a trendy place where lots of beautiful people hang out into the early hours to see or be seen.  When we arrived at 4:00 we were the first patrons of the day, having watched the bartender unlock the door as we approached.  As neither of us had eaten anything substantial yet we were anxious to get some food, but in service to our many readers we also ordered cocktails from the happy hour menu.  Gwen had a Mangotini and I had a Pomtini.  I can't tell you exactly what was in them but let's just say they were tropical fruity neon colored.  With booze.  Well chilled, they arrived quickly as we surveyed the menu.  

Pomtini and Mangotini

Obviously Bar 23 isn't a place known for its high cuisine but the menu wasn't horrible - an assortment of appetizers, a few entrees, and sandwiches were available.  Think bar food, I suppose.  We both ordered paninis - portabella/goat cheese for Gwen and the Italian for me - and we got an appetizer of pot stickers.  On a bed of shredded lettuce (right out of the bag I suspect) came the pot stickers, with a dark syrupy dipping sauce.  Since we ate them and I'm alive to write this review they'd classify as edible, but the freezer burn was the first hint that our dining experience wasn't going to be awesome.

With our second round of cocktails came the paninis.  I won't bore you knowledgeable readers with the makings of a great panini - essentially delicious ingredients between two thick, grill-marked slices of Italian bread, right? - but there was none of that here.  The sandwiches weren't so much grilled as maybe pan fried for like 30 seconds. The bread was soggy rather than crunchy, and the ingredients were certainly not fresh.  

Panini or "pa-no-no?" But I will say the garlic kettle chips were tasty.

This being said, both Gwen and I finished our meals completely since we were pretty hungry.  On our walk home we agreed that, had we been nourished earlier in the day, we probably wouldn't have finished our sandwiches.  Was it horrific? No.  But I'd have to be hungrier than I was that day, and all of their competition closed, to ever return.

Sorry, Bar 23.  We're sure you are good people, you probably do a great business selling fruity drinks and beers to beautiful people, and those beautiful people get inebriated enough to order some food that you provide.  Hell, Gwen and I have both spent many a dollar at your type of establishment in our years, and who knows, being beautiful people ourselves we'll do it again someday.  But probably not at your place.

For those of you interested in our social scene - we left Bar 23 around 5:30 pm, full but disappointed.  Not the formula typically needed for an epic evening.  But please remember we live where we do.  Home - beer - sun - porch - neighbors - music - stereo - dancing - bed at 2:00 am.  Epic.


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Stay tuned - I promise there will be more to come very soon!

The Gila

Restaurant Odyssey Stop #1 - Sushi Rock

True confession time: Part of the reason Aaron and I took so long to get started on our pilgrimage is that we knew we had to start out at Sushi Rock, and we weren't really looking forward to it. We'd never been there, but we hadn't heard great things about it. However, it's remained open for almost two years in a prime location that has previously struggled to keep restaurants so last week we decided to get it over with.

The Short North location of Sushi Rock is actually their third; there are two in the Cleveland area. They have a pretty good happy hour with $4 martinis, $4 maki rolls and reduced prices on other drinks and small plates. Now, you should know that the happy hour menu is only available in the bar or lounge area, and there is no happy hour on Wednesdays because that's "Tsunami Night," with half-price sushi. We were there on a Monday and we preferred lounge seating so we indulged in some happy hour specials. However, we were not able to sit in the "VIP" section (apparently you can apply to become a VIP and then I guess you get to sit in that section of the lounge?). They also have some nice patio seating, and although we sat indoors, the doors were open to the patio which was really lovely on this late summer evening.

Oddly enough, they serve not only sushi, but also steaks (apparently the name Sushi Rock is meant to signify "surf and turf"). We're saving our steak meal for Hyde Park across the street so we stuck mostly with seafood and sushi-type dishes.

Not a great pic of the menu, but there you have it

We started off with calamari in a light tempura batter and a sweet and spicy sauce. Aaron is pretty picky about calamari but he declared it a winner, and I agree. We also got a spicy tuna roll which, while "better than grocery store sushi" (per Aaron), had a weird texture. The tuna was minced or ground or something. Also, the soy sauce on the tables is the low-sodium version. I don't mind that, but I think it's odd that they don't have both options. I read a review early on that someone requested "real" soy sauce and was told that they had none.

Thunder Roll (top), Golden Dragon Roll, Parmesan Truffle Fries

The true sushi/sashimi menu isn't very extensive and we opted to get "Big Rolls." Aaron had the Thunder Roll - soft shell crab, cayenne pepper, tuna and avocado with a sweet chili glaze. It wasn't horrible, and he ate it all, but the chewiness of the crab was annoying. I chose the Golden Dragon - tempura shrimp, spicy tuna, salmon, crab, avocado, masago and mango. I was hoping for a nice sweet and spicy combo, and it had that, but to a lesser degree than I was hoping. Still ... not bad. And just to mix things up we ordered some Parmesan Truffle Fries - a tasty treat.

The verdict: better than we expected, and we would not automatically nix it, but with so many fantastic places to dine in Columbus, Sushi Rock won't be at the top of our list.

Short North Restaurant Odyssey

Aaron and I live in an area of Columbus called the Short North (and within that, we live in Italian Village, but I digress). The Short North is located just barely north of downtown Columbus, and is known for its art galleries, shops and restaurants. For several months now, we have been discussing a new adventure. We've decided that we're going to eat at every restaurant in the Short North. We have no time constraints, so this could take 3 months, or a year, or infinity (highly doubtful). We're tentatively calling it the Short North Restaurant Odyssey, but we're open to suggestions.

Photo from www.shortnorth.org

Recently we sat at a favorite bar (the R Bar, not on our journey) and detailed the list of restaurants and the Rules. This was done on cocktail napkins, because you know that's how all great ideas are conceived.

The Rules:

1. Boundaries are Goodale Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the north. We are concentrating only on establishments with a High Street address, or that are visible from High Street. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the geography, this is about a one mile stretch. We will begin at Goodale on the east side of High and go north, cross the street at Fifth Avenue and head south.
2. The food must constitute a "meal." For our purposes, ice cream counts (yay, Jeni's!); a bag of chips does not (sorry, Mike's Grill-that-has-no-grill).
3. No take out. Dine-in only.
4. We must hit every restaurant in order, and we cannot repeat. This means that if friends are meeting at Surly Girl, but Surly Girl isn't next on our list, we can't go. But maybe we can convince said friends to go to the next place on the list. We probably won't get any takers if that's White Castle (because, yes, we have to eat at White Castle), but if it's The Rossi we might.
5. We ARE allowed to eat at restaurants that are off-site. Aaron breathed a sigh of relief that Buffalo Wild Wings is not located in the Short North so he can still get his weekly fix, and I can still go to Chipotle for lunch every Monday.
6. We cannot order the same food. This is already an unwritten rule for us in general.
7. For every restaurant on the list, we must each go to the gym three times, or do some type of exercise activity. This doesn't mean that we have to fit in those three times before we can go to another restaurant, but by the time we get to Hyde Park for a juicy steak (our last stop) we'll have to have exercised 162 times, based on our current count of 54 restaurants. That's right, FIFTY-FOUR.
8. We must walk to each restaurant. Said walking does not count toward the exercise activities in #7 above.

First up: Sushi Rock. We'll be reviewing each experience here, and sometimes Aaron will be the guest blogger. I hope that even if you're not a Columbus-ite you'll follow us in this most excellent journey.


The Gila

Another First

When you lose a parent (or any close family member or friend), the year after their death is full of Firsts. First Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthday... and each one brings emotions that you may not expect. Today, nearly a year after my dad died, I'm experiencing a First that completely snuck up on me.

First College Football Saturday.

My dad was a sports fan. He liked golf and tennis and college basketball, and while he didn't watch a ton of major league baseball, he was glued to the Little League World Series every year. One of the sports that he and I shared a love of was college football. My mom and brother are also college football fans, but living in western Pennsylvania in the 70's and 80's we had a choice to make: Pitt or Penn State. My dad and I were Penn State fans.

Every year I look forward to the beginning of football season. I love football Saturdays and I have no problem planting myself in front of the TV all day and evening to watch any game. This year I haven't felt as excited. I know that a lot of this feeling has to do with the off-field issues at Penn State. I won't go into all that here except to say that I hate what went on and I'm angry with those responsible and I'm fine with the sanctions. But I'm still a fan.

What I finally realized this morning while watching Gameday on ESPN is that a bigger part of my not-so-enthusiastic attitude is an absence that has nothing to do with who is coaching or playing. This year, I can't call my dad after a big play. I won't hear his voice on the phone saying "what's going on with our team?" Who knew that something as (truly) insignificant as football would stir up all these feelings? Not me.

So I think that today, while I'll definitely have the games playing on TV, I'll also keep myself busy with other things.

Hope you're watching, Dad.


Gwen

Love Means Nothing ... and Everything

Let's get one thing clear: I am not an athlete. I'm a sports fan, but not a participant. The closest I've come to that is playing tennis. Over the weekend I watched a lot of Wimbledon and it made me remember how much I loved to play.


As a kid I went to church camp a couple times and took tennis lessons while there.

www.lutherlyn.com

Camp Lutherlyn - where I learned to play tennis; I later worked there in the office

In high school I used to go to Ewing Park and play tennis with friends or with my brother. If I didn't have a playing partner I'd go to the high school and hit balls against the wall. Tennis was also something that my dad and I shared and we played until his heart condition didn't allow it.

www.ecboro.com

No idea who this dude is, but that is one of the Ewing Park courts.

When I went to Wittenberg we had a certain amount of phys ed credits that we had to take. One of mine was, yep, tennis.

wikipedia.org

"Wittenberg, dear Wittenberg..."

In my adult years I have great memories of traveling to Cincinnati to watch the ATP Championship (now called the Western & Southern Open) and playing hooky from church on Sunday to watch the Wimbledon men's finals. In 1997 I took lessons again for a summer.

blog.roopevintage.com

I haven't played in a long time, and I miss it. My knees aren't very happy when I try to play, but maybe someday...



The Gila

Two Storms and a 911 Call

You might think being cooped up in the house would be totally boring. Not so, my friends. Here's what happened over the weekend.

Friday we got hit with a terrible storm - 80-something mph winds, thunder, lightning, the works. Here are some pictures of trees lost at our friends' and neighbors' houses (thankfully no one was hurt and no major property damage was done):

Saturday, our neighbor Christin came over for a visit and some ice cream. So nice to catch up and indulge in some Homemade Brand Coconut Almond Chip (for me) and Mint Chocolate Chip (for her).

One of my most favorite flavors!

That night, Aaron went over to Jen & Jason's house a couple blocks away. Around 10:30 I heard a bang. I thought it might be fireworks but then I heard it again. (It didn't help that I was watching Ghost Whisperer at the time.) I couldn't tell where it was coming from but I knew it was our house. I called Aaron and he ran home to find some girl beating on the front of our house with our mailbox that she had ripped off the brick wall (this apparently after using her shoe didn't get her anywhere). She kept insisting that it was her house. The cops arrived and they took her away to figure out where her real home is. She was - at a minimum - drunk, and more than likely high on something. Scary situation which turned out OK. THANK YOU, Columbus Police Department, for responding so quickly!

No, the mailbox isn't normally on the ground

Sunday was much less eventful. Aaron went on a long bike ride and I continued healing. We got another strong storm in the evening, and while it doesn't seem to have caused as much damage as Friday's storm, it did knock out power for even more people. There are over 100,000 homes in the area without power, most since Friday night, and they may be that way for another week. Sending out good thoughts to all those who are still suffering the effects of the storm.

Random thought: I'm watching a lot of Netflix and on the main screen it shows "Suggestions for You." In what universe is Fatal Attraction similar to Sleepless in Seattle?

Until next time,

The Gila