A Quick Movie Suggestion

The other night I went into the living room after doing some reading for class. My roommates were catching up on Curb and Entourage on-demand and they were in between episodes. We have Time Warner Cable and if you're familiar with the provider, they promote their on-demand options in the on-demand menu. To my surprise, one of the films that popped up was one in which I had been very interested in when it was in theaters, but didn't have the opportunity to see.

The film is The Trip. It was a limited release film that was playing for a short time at The Angelica in Dallas, but I was unable to find the time to head up there to see it. It is somewhat of a dark comedy in which most of the humor derives from the interaction between the two main characters. Steve Coogen and Rob Brydon, two English actors, play themselves on a trip through northern England to eat at and review a series of fine dining establishments. Their relationship is one of almost forced friendship through work. Brydon is an enjoyable character who loves his life and makes a living with his talented impressions. Coogen is somewhat of a sad individual who finds his friend to be a bit unnerving, but can't help but seem to enjoy his company at times. Their companionship throughout the film is a classic "road trip" humor filled with disagreements and constant bickering. But this isn't your typical road trip comedy. Insight into each character's lives gives a very human characteristic to the film which in turn develops the characters and the somewhat darker side I spoke of earlier. I also particularly liked it because it revolved around food, and when you combine food and film, you've got me.

Please don't be turned off by it because it's an English film. It is a far cry from the zany British slapstick comedies and is actually incredibly funny. If you like comedies that aren't punching you in the face with one liners and crazy happenstances, but instead make the viewer actually listen and understand human interaction, then you'll find yourself laughing. I recommend you try to find The Trip on-demand or in Redbox or Netflix or whatever your form of "consumers are too lazy to go to the theater or a video rental store anymore" service of choice.

Best and Worst Eats and Drinks in Key West: Part 2

The wealth of cultures I spoke of in Part 1 of this subject extends from the cuisine to the architecture in the area. Victorian and New England styles dominate most of the residences in Key West. People taking these old houses and converting them into businesses is ubiquitous in the Keys. Great idea. One of these fine establishments is The Porch bar. The Porch bar is located in the Porter Mansion which dates back to 1838. The mansion is on Duval St. and we noticed it the first night we were there, but didn't venture in until halfway through our trip.

Spanish moss hangs from an abundance of banyan trees in the front yard that are accompanied by palms and other greenery of all sorts. The roosters who inhabit much of Key West are not absent in this front yard and give a very down-home feel to the place. As for the actual bar, it is situated in the rooms of the house that use to be the parlor and dining room. The motif is a kind of sci-fi modern. Prints of famous scenes from different sci-fi films adorn the walls and the flat screen was playing the new Alice in Wonderland. But don't let this turn you off. The place is full of natural light and the feeling of the old house is still present, if not somehow enhanced by the decorations. They serve only craft beers and fine wines. It is almost like a better lit Gingerman, if you're familiar with the establishment. I enjoyed one of my favorites, a Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout.

The place that got my vote for coolest atmosphere, however, was the Hogfish Bar and Grill. But this is also where my "worst" is found. We went a little off the beaten path to find this local favorite because Adam Richman, from Man Vs Food Nation, made a stop there on his Key West episode. My father was intrigued by their hogfish sandwich, so we went. If you are unaware, the hogfish is one of Key West's staples, along with conch and jumbo pinks (shrimp). It is a very odd looking fish but yields a very flaky, delicious white meat, a meat in which I wish I could have enjoyed...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

We took a seat in the open air restaurant and ordered a couple of the Key West micro brews, Sunset Ale. Like many of the restaurants we patronized in the Keys, this one had no idea of the concept that appetizers are supposed to come out before the meal, not with it. We ordered the fried green tomatoes and three orders of the lobster bisque. The bisque came out first.

Uncharacteristic of a bisque, this one was jam packed with clumps of lobster meat. I have to say, they must have stewed that bisque for two days. The lobster meat was more akin to lump crab meat. It was the most tender lobster I've ever eaten and elevated the bisque to a whole new level. Surprisingly the two best things I had on this trip were both soups. Next came our sandwiches, along with the untimely tomatoes. The tomatoes were some of the worst I've ever had. Way over battered. And the sandwich was even worse. A perfectly fried filet of hogfish sat in a Cuban role with a MOUND of onions, mushrooms, and Swiss cheese. TERRIBLE. First of all, very rarely do you mix cheese and fish, they just don't make very good music. Second, the abundance of other toppings completely killed the flavor of the fish. I gave it a few tries and eventually scraped everything off and ate the ruined filet.

Cool atmosphere, amazing bisque, but next time I'm there, I'm going with the whole fried hogfish if it's on the board.

As for the rest of the eats; we had lunch in Sloppy Joe's because we felt we had to, we had a rather enjoyable experience at Jack's Seafood Shack, and we sampled plenty of the pie in which the area is most famous for. Most of the rest of the food was very good and I would recommend any of the places I've talked about. The Grande on Duval St. makes a damn good Old Fashion but the food was mediocre. Speaking of Old Fashions, soon to come is my recollection of our final night bar crawl.

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Best and Worst Eats and Drinks in Key West: Part 1

Disclaimer: I've never been a huge picture taker, therefor I have never needed a nice camera. I don't have a nice camera so I use my phone. My sister has a nice camera, so some of these pictures are from my phone and some from her camera. This will explain the difference in quality of the pictures.

Anyways

Our family are very big travelers and are fortunate enough to be able to travel the world every year. Last year our big trip was St. John and the year before we took a 3 week tour through Tokyo, Southeast Asia, and Rome and there are always little trips to Las Vegas and New York and California thrown into the mix for various reasons. We love taking these trips because of the many things they afford, most paramount among them, the food.

Key West made its fortune as a shipwreck town. The Keys were a popular spot for ships to stop on their way to wherever from all over. The shallow reefs would cause many of these ships to crash and would then be salvaged by wrecking crews. I recommend the 1942 film Reap the Wild Wind, starring John Wayne, to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. But the point I'm trying to make is that Key West is riddled with all kinds of culinary influences from across the globe with a strong emphasis on their fresh seafood. Here are a couple of the best and worst gastro highlights of the trip.

Let me start by saying that our timing was perfect. First and foremost we narrowly missed this years maiden of wind and rain so elegantly named Irene, but we also arrived on a Saturday which held two implications. The first being that this particular weekend was Key West Lobster Fest. Yup. One of Key West's many weekend celebrations, this one in particular celebrates the fresh bounty of the decadent crustacean that Key West has been blessed with. Let me also take this time to inform those who are unaware of Duval St. about its existence. Like many other great Southern cities, Key West has a main drag filled with all sorts of debauchery. The most popular of these is Bourbon St. in New Orleans, there is Beall St. in Memphis, and Austin has 6th St. Key West has Duval St., a long stretch of open air bars, cigar shops, t-shirt stops, and hotels. And on this particular night, it felt like I was back at Mardi Gras, well, not really as wild, but pretty crowded.

We were staying at the Westin right down the street from Duval. We wandered around for a short while until we fund this. A juicy, little bit chewy as to be expected, grilled lobster tail, Cajun potatoes, corn on the cob, and a sinfully delightful citrus butter for dipping purposes. This was the best street food I've ever eaten, next to a lamb kabob I had in Aix en Provence, France. The irony of eating what would normally be a $40 meal dressed up on anything other than this paper plate, in the middle of Duval St., with a beer in a plastic cup, was amusing. This was the first time I've ever eaten lobster standing up, and it was one of the best I've had.

The second implication of arriving on a Saturday was that the next day was Sunday. Pretty crazy, I know. But on this particular Sunday we ventured down to the pool for a relaxing first full day in the sun. When lunch time approached we walked about 13 steps over to the poolside bar, which just so happened to be attached to the indoor hotel restaurant, which just so happens to serve a Sunday only brunch. We were mindfully unaware of this weekly phenomenon and just as I was getting ready to order a beer and some conch fritters (a Key West staple, they refer to themselves as the Conch Republic, which I always thought was the Bahamas but alas, I'm getting off topic) we were informed of this brunch. So naturally I changed my beverage from a beer to a mimosa (in my opinion the only beverage option when brunching) and set off on my journey. From the outside it looked like your typical hotel breakfast buffet, but appearances can be deceiving.

Sliced duck breast with sesame noodles, tuna tartar, seared tuna, sushi, scallop ceviche, meats and cheeses, smoked fish spread, caprese salad, crab claws, lobster potstickers, truffled gnochi wantons, seafood piallia, seaweed salad, gravlax, ginger garlic ribs and that is just about half of it. This is the list of the items I feasted on and doesn't include the normal assortment of breakfast fare and what was on the carving boards. Once I was finished with the savory, I moved to the sweet. I take a great deal of pride in saying that I tried most of the desserts, all of which were very enjoyable.

My parents favorite criticism of me is that I tend to find anything that impresses me to be the greatest thing ever. I can honestly say that out of all the country club Easter/Father's day/Mother's day/4th of July brunches and buffets as well as the countless hotel breakfast buffets, this is, far and away, the greatest buffet experience I have had. The selection was unlike any I've seen, and the execution was just as impressive.

This hotel restaurant really knows what they are doing because the second greatest meal I had while in Key West was this buffet, the greatest was a dinner we had there on our second to last night.

These two pictures don't do the food justice, especially because like many of the pictures I took of food, I didn't remember to take the picture until after I had already eaten some of it. We started with an appetizer of which was forgettable, but then, the soup course. French onion soup with rosemary roasted onions, garlic infused croutons (brioche I think), and a Gruyere crust. I know the picture looks like it didn't agree with me and came out the way it went in, but that was certainly not the case. Sorry mom and dad, but this was the greatest onion soup I've ever had. The broth wasn't too salty, the croutons stayed crispy in the middle and the Gruyere was a much better option than the usual Swiss. A symphony of flavors and textures.

For my entree I chose the herb roasted chicken. By this time I was sick of eating seafood, so chicken was a welcoming beacon on the menu. An herb roasted chicken breast, with the wing still intact, sat atop a celery root puree with a shallot and roasted tomato pan jus and haricot verts. The chicken was perfectly cooked with the right herbs, the celery root puree (has been my preference over plain mashed potatoes for awhile now) was silky smooth and the pan jus had a flavor that I can only express as divine. The crunchy shallots and verts gave a stark contrasting texture to the rest of the dish to round it out as a culinary achievement worthy of the greatest chefs. Ok, maybe I'm giving too much praise to a simple chicken dish, but given the fact that I had been eating seafood for every meal over the last 8 days made this simple dish that much more successful. At any rate it was damn good.

Notice how the title to this post is Best and Worst...there weren't too many "worsts", but still more to come.

Back To School

Greeting and Salutations

Back from Key West and school has begun. I wanted to throw this quick post up just to say a few things.

The first week of school I usually like to focus completely on that, so the promised posts about our Key West trip will be coming soon but probably not for another couple days. Also, I watched the movie The Trip on-demand last night and thoroughly enjoyed it, so be expecting something about that as well.

What to expect:

I'll be breaking the trip down into probably 3 different posts in order to keep them somewhat readable lengthwise.
The 3 will most likely be our fishing trip and other excursions, our final night bar and restaurant crawl, and some of the best and worst eating adventures.

So I apologize for my tardiness but some interesting posts and pictures will be up shortly.

One More Thing

In honor of "Bow Tie Friday", check out Social Primer's (www.socialprimer.com) Brooks Brothers reversible bow tie summer collection. Pretty awesome and they come out with seasonal patterns throughout the year.

http://www.brooksbrothers.com/IWCatSectionView.process?IWAction=Load&Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=1143&CMP=BAC-042811brsocialprimer

A Much Needed Break

Well, it has been an adventurously dubious first week of partaking in something I never thought I'd find myself doing. I believe I have provided a good outlook on what this blog will be composed of and hope my insight has been amusing. However, like most other rich, private school playboys can attest to, life is hard and I am in much need of a vacation.

The original plan was Germany, but I informed my father that my tan needs a good final burn before I am confined to the library and Baylor classrooms for the remainder of the year. Also, the marlin fishing is going to be at its peek during our allotted vacation time. Therefore, my next posting will not come until I return from Key West in a little over a week. However, that post will be full of delightful fishing tales and Florida restaurant reviews.

I hope you get a chance to see the movies I recommended and can make your way to The Cedars Social and maybe even try to cook a steak in a way you've never attempted.

Just as an aside, I am watching the PGA Championship and while I try as hard as possible to give as little consideration to Tiger Woods as possible (he already has enough people talking about him) I had to say something. He just birdied the ninth and the announcer says with sheer excitement in his voice, "Could this be the turning point?!" He is 7 over, 13 shots off the lead, and will almost certainly miss the cut. I feel very sorry for the sports media and misguided Tiger fans everywhere who actually think that this guy is going to return to PGA greatness.

A Lesson in Meat

My celebration for the end of summer school went just as planned. I promised more on my celebratory meal and here it is; along with a little insight for the many who enjoy a good steak but just plain disrespect the godsend that is red meat.

First and foremost, let your meat sit outside the fridge and get to room temperature.

The less work the meat has to do, the better it will taste. This philosophy comes from Japanese cattle farmers who raise the cattle that yield the greatest of all red meat, wagyu beef. Most know this prized meat as Kobe beef because Kobe is one of the most popular regions in which the meat derives. The cattle are raised to be as relaxed as possible to increase the marbling of the beef, and with increased fat content comes increased flavor, this is how these things go. Anyways...let your steak come to room temp. This way, the trip it takes to get to the internal temperature you want will not be as long and arduous as it would if you just took it from the fridge to the grill. And don't worry about spoilage, it's red meat, it's only going to be sitting out for a little while, and your going to cook it, killing any germs.

Second, don't over-season.

If you have a good quality slab of beef your going to want to let the natural flavors shine, especially if you're doing a ribeye or other fatty cut. Most inexperienced cooks think that the more dried seasonings they put on their steak, the better it will be. Now, if your preference when eating an expensive steak is to taste an abundance of garlic salt, onion powder, and cayenne pepper then by all means, douse it. But this particular preparer of meats prefers the flavor of red meat with fat rendered throughout. My suggestion is to put your cut into a glass baking dish with a healthy dose of Worcestershire in the bottom, sprinkle the top with sea salt and cracked black pepper, and let sit overnight.

Sear the hell out of it.

This is a personal preference but if you are like me and would rather have a juicy, flavorful steak over a dried piece of shoe leather, than this is the way you'll want to do your steak. Very hot grill, coals close to the surface, steak over the coals, sear for 4 min, turn horizontal and sear another 4 min (this is just for looks really), then flip and repeat.

I went with the porterhouse because anything you cook bone in is going to draw flavor from the bone and yield a better taste. It was labeled as a t-bone but was a very thick cut and the filet side was large enough, I believe, for the porterhouse consideration, so I'm going with it. 

Now, the most important part, let the meat rest!

Anyone who has ever hacked into their steak immediately after removing it from the heat knows that an abundance of juices run onto the plate. All that juice is supposed to come out of the meat while it is in your mouth and is very disheartening if it ends up on the plate before it even makes its way to the end of your fork. Pull it off the grill, put it on something, cover loosely with foil, and walk away for 20 minutes. I recommend making some sort of whiskey concoction and readying your side dishes for the meat that is about to accompany them. 

Once the steak has cooled, move it to a cutting board. If you are working with a large steak such as this, especially one with a bone, cut it first. Don't be that guy who sticks a huge piece of meat on his plate and then knocks his asparagus and potatoes onto the table while trying to maneuver around a large bone and thick gristle. Move your meat to a board, remove the filet and strip from the bone, and cut into strips, against the grain of course (another key step in preparing easy to chew meat).

Ok, everyone chill out. I know this looks incredibly rare. If I could get the flavor of the grill and smoke onto a rare piece of meat and simultaneously sear only the fat around the edges, I would eat my steaks completely raw. But alas, I don't have a blow torch and I hate liquid smoke. Also notice that very little juice has spilled out onto the board, basically just the wetness from the outside of the meat. This is purely my preference and if you like your beef a bit less bloody, cook it longer. But I would like to take this opportunity to inform the ignorant (I said ignorant, not stupid. There is a difference), that red meat and fish are COMPLETELY SAFE TO EAT ABSOLUTELY RAW and in most cases, much better that way, especially fresh fish.  Pork and chicken are the only types of meat that need to be thoroughly cooked in order to avoid food-born illnesses. 

Pair your delicious side of beef with classic steakhouse accouterments, like I have done here with a baked potato and squash casserole. Yes, in case you were wondering, I did put blue cheese crumbles on my potato, along with real bacon bits leftover from breakfast, green onions, and a healthy dollop of sour cream. Don't judge my plate, I'm still a college kid and haven't purchased my William Sonoma french whites yet.

The Cedars Social

The joy of yesterday's market success and the Ranger's win in walk-off fashion was flattened by the three exams I had this morning. Luckily, along with summer school classes, they are now over and I can look forward to the rest of the summer, however brief it may be. Tonight I shall celebrate with a fat porterhouse, baked potato, squash casserole (more to come on all that later) and a night out at the bars with the few friends that I have in town, but I digress.

The purpose of this post, and one of the inspirations for my personal justification of blogging, is The Cedars Social restaurant and bar. My experience at this restaurant was so enjoyable that it left me pondering the gastro-adventure for days. I have been wanting to tell people about this place for awhile and it is one of the topics I had in mind when I decided to start doing this.

I became aware of this 6-month-old establishment while reading the July issue of Texas Monthly. The segment was about different variations of the Texas staple, the margarita. While I am a Bourbon above all else type of individual, I was still somewhat intrigued by the article. Anyways, I bought the damn magazine why not read it. I was kind of skimming through the article when something stuck in my head, "...where the drink list is longer than the menu." It's rare to see a place that takes true pride in the way they make their drinks. So often you order a drink in a place and they throw together some well liquor with some mix from a plastic bottle, toss in a lemon wedge and call it a cocktail; basically the drink equivalent of canned vegetables. But not at this place.

My fascination with drinks made proper really began while I was living in New York. A few of us went to a bar one night in Queens called Dutch Kills. This was a little speakeasyesque bar down the street from my apartment that we walked passed about 3 times before we actually found the front door. The light was dim, the bartenders dressed in 20's garb, and the ice for your drinks was chiseled off a large block. If you're ever in NY check it out, but for now I'm getting off topic.

My trip to the Cedars Social was one accompanied by my lovely girlfriend Jessica, my recently turned 21-year-old sister, and my parents who are always up for a new place and love to have fun. We pulled up to a very nondescript, little renovated diner looking place on the outskirts of downtown Dallas and parked on the street. We could see it was busy from outside, but when we walked in and I was told the wait for a table was 2 and a half hours, I started laughing. As I began to look around the restaurant I realized the hostess wasn't kidding. To my fathers dismay we agreed to sit on the back porch. This was around the beginning of July, so the temperatures weren't the dry hell that they are now and it wasn't so bad. But once again, I digress.

MY MINT JULEP CAME IN A JULEP GLASS! This was a revelation. I've never had that happen before, but then again I've yet to visit Churchill Downs. I was immediately impressed with this place and would return based solely on that. I wrapped my hands around the icy metal glass and sipped to my delight. The perfect amount of slightly muddled mint (bartenders please stop crushing the mint, it doesn't need to be pulverized), simple syrup, and Maker's Mark poured over actually crushed ice was the best julep I've had. A Woodford Reserve old fashion with giant orange peels was just as tantalizing.  Everyone else at the table enjoyed their drinks as well and for good reason. The bar is run by two Mansion (on Turtle Creek, maybe you've heard of it) alum Craig Reeves and Michael Martensen. I didn't have the chance to thank them personally, but I made sure to instruct our dry humored and very friendly waitress to do so for me.

The food was good, relative to the drinks. Growing up in fine dining establishments, one can get rather picky about food. The menu was an upscale spin on classic southern dishes that people in the area grew up on. We started with deviled eggs, pulled short rib tacos with a fire roasted salsa and chipotle creme, short rib sliders with delicious braised collard greens, and the chicken wings. All great choices. For our entrees everyone at the table got something different and we all shared. A merry-go-round of seared duck with blueberry reduction, meatloaf and lobster pot pie brought a smile to my face. The side dishes are served family style and we were sure to order more collard greens and two orders of the mac and cheese (one of many items I am constantly ordering and cooking, trying to find the best one, but each is as delicious as the next). We then finished with one of my favorite desserts, a large slice of buttermilk pie. The food was all pretty good, not amazing (I'm sure they are still settling in), and I would usually be inclined to explain the flavors and presentation as well as post pictures, but I don't want to get out of hand with my first food post.

Being the obsessed foodie that I am, future food inspired posts will be much more illustrious. But unfortunately, my visit to this restaurant was about a month ago and I had no intention of documenting the experience for later publication, so I have forgotten a few of the details. The atmosphere was cool, the staff conversant, yada yada... One thing that stuck out among all others was that our check was brought to us in a book. I'll leave you with that and an abrupt end because this is probably already too long to be attractive to the casual reader.

Best Things I've Seen This Summer

Two posts in one day is certainly not something subscribers should come accustomed to, but since I just started this I figured I should post something of substance to go with my introduction post.

There are a few things I have seen and done this summer that have made my transition into blogging that much more enjoyable. A couple of the movies I've seen are long overdue for some online praise by your humble narrator. Midnight in Paris is my favorite so far and The Tree of Life is by far the most stunning film of the year. Future movie posts will undoubtedly by longer but since I'm pairing multiple things together, these will be somewhat diluted.

Before I get into the films I want to pay respect to the best TV show so far this summer. No Reservations started its new season about a month ago and continues to impress. Although I may disagree with some of Mr. Bourdain's politics, he is one of my favorite people in the world and I thoroughly enjoy watching him. I can go on all day about Anthony Bourdain and his genius television show but I will just say, in particular, the El Bulli episode is one the best hours of television I have ever watched. If you have the chance to watch this episode, honoring the closing of what most consider the greatest, most progressive restaurant in the world, please do.

Midnight in Paris:

Woody Allen continues to prove that he is one of the great American film writers. Midnight in Paris is a romantic comedy (stay with me) set in Paris (please stay with me) starring Owen Wilson and Rachael McAdams. It is the story of a man who is unhappy with the life he is living and believes he was destined to live in another time period. Gil (Owens) is a writer and a hopeless romantic who finds himself out of touch with his fiance (McAdams) who is somewhat infatuated with an old friend who they run into while in Paris. While she is interested in going to museums during the day and dancing at night, all Gil wants to do is take a walk and revel in the splendor of Paris.

While out on a walk one night Gil finds himself perched on a stoop in an alley way. As the clock strikes 12 a car from the 20's pulls up and the passengers wave him over. They ask him to come with them to a party and Gil hesitantly accepts. Upon meeting F. Scott Fitzgerald and his exuberant wife Zelda at a party filled with the live warbling of Cole Porter, Gil realizes he has been transported to the Golden Age and is so pleased that he doesn't dare question it. Once he meets Ernest Hemingway there is no looking back.

Midnight in Paris is a movie for the movie person, but also for the history person. With characters previously mentioned joined by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Degas with mentions of Faulkner and T.S. Elliot, the art (in every sense of the word) history buff is sure to be pleased. With Woody Allen behind the script and behind the camera there is no further need for me to explain the brilliance of the film itself. Owen Wilson's dry personality gives this film its dark humor and Paris is the perfect setting for this nostalgic drama.

Tree of Life:

With my Midnight in Paris segment being longer than anticipated, I'll keep this one shorter. However, the film itself lends little to be said. Starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, and Jessica Chastain and written and directed by Texas native Terrance Malick (Badlands, The Thin Red Line), Tree of Life is a stunning coming of age tale that takes place mainly in Waco, Texas (home to my alma mater).

The story is about a young boy growing in the South in the 1950's with his two younger brothers. We witness his relationship with his father (Brad Pitt) who is a stern man, very reminiscent of fathers of that time and place. The boy witnesses a loss of innocence which seems to be the underlying theme of the film along with ambiguous heaven/hell and life/death undertones. 

To me this film was more of an artistic achievement over all else. The cinematography was stunning, for lack of a better word. The dialogue was sparse as far as a 2 hour and 20 minute film is concerned, but was executed well. The film has received mixed reviews, due in part to about 20 minutes of unnecessary shots of space and time meant to represent what I can only surmise to be the beginning of time. I may be bias toward a film based in Waco, but I enjoyed this movie. Nevertheless, I can't see another film outdoing the cinematography of this one, placing Tree of Life as the front runner for that respective award category.

More films to come as we leave the summer, which is always filled with more over-budgeted action movies than actual substantive films, and enter into the Fall, which is full of end of the year artistic attempts to stick in the minds of Academy voters.

Initial Post

Greetings and Salutations

On a day the DOW took a 634 point hit, I have decided to divulge many of my interests to the world through the wondrously revealing art of blogging. I tend to be a very opinionated person and also like to write so what better way to express my thoughts and opinions than to post them on the internet for the world to see.

I'll be writing movie reviews, sharing things I cook, documenting travel, talking about restaurants I visit, and posting various other debauchery I find myself indulging in. I am going to attempt to keep my political, religious, and economic views tamed while simultaneously trying to make myself look as intelligent as possible by using big words (in which I know the meanings of but wouldn't know how to spell without that helpful little red line) paired with an attempt at grammar that is going to be shotty at best without my confidant and peer review expert Matthew by my side to insert commas where applicable (like just then).

So, while I find it to be incredibly narcissistic to assume that people will be interested in my musings, nonetheless please enjoy yourselves and I hope my posts are both informative and entertaining.

A look into the future:
The Cedars Social restaurant
Midnight in Paris review
Tree of Life review
Dad's new Grapevine restaurants
Key West trip
Bourdain episodes, mac and cheese, and maybe a golf story or two