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Archive for December 2010 – Page 2

On Writing: Line Editing

Dec12

Line editing and polish is an interesting part of the process of professional writing. It bears a lot of similarities to optimizing code as a programmer, but more fun. One of the weird things is that no mater how many times one has read a chunk of prose, there’s always room for improvement. In code optimization, one is usually trying to make the code either smaller, or use less memory, and there’s a clear logarithmic curve, where for ever increasing energy one can achieve ever shrinking gains. Plus, in order to make it faster or smaller one often has to make the code messier or more complicated. Caching is a frequent speed optimization and this always leads to extra complexity and bugs.

Not so with prose. Optimizing prose should always make it better.

With prose, shorter is usually better — not always, but usually. You want your story to move. Scenes serve a number of purposes. They must entertain, and be cool. They must characterize, and essentially, they must move the plot forward. Each scene therefore has a set of things it accomplishes, changes in the state of the characters, their knowledge, their situation. I have scenes that have dropped from 2600 to 1100 words and yet still accomplish all the same plot and character transformations. Oftentimes even more has been thrown in during the process. If every line, ever word matters, then the scene races along.

At first my editing was a mater of reading the prose over and tweaking the sentences using my inner ear. I have a pretty decent one due to lifelong obsessive reading (5000+ books at least — 150 novels this year alone). If you want to write, you must read. There’s no other way. You have to fill your head with sentences so that when you see an awkward one, it rings wrong. Plus, reading is also the key to vocabulary. Still, you can manually build vocabulary, but it’s tough to build inner ear quickly. My early editing passes were like what I’m going to do with this blog post. I wrote it, then I read through and neatened up the bad sentences — very casual.

But there’s a much deeper level of craft possible.

Here is a paragraph from my novel’s first draft:

The newly exposed body was that of a young boy, perhaps fourteen years of age.  He lay naked on his bake in the dirt, covered now only by a few random sticks and leaves.  He had light mouse brown hair, and his pale eyes were wide open leaving him frozen with a startled expression.  His skin was very pale all over, and one arm was bent savagely behind his back, the shoulder bulging in an odd way as if it had been ripped halfway out of its socket.   This was on the opposite side of the mangled leg, lending him a kind of grim diagonal symmetry.  He had gashes on the wrists, ankles, and a deep gouge on the side of his torso.   There was surprisingly little blood.  Numerous flies however had discovered what little there was, they buzzed happily about the wounds, and crawled in and out of his nostrils and mouth.

Then again as it was a couple weeks ago, after probably 15 or so light self-editing sweeps:

Revealed was the body of a boy, naked in the dirt, belly up, covered only by stray sticks and leaves. His eyes stared at the sky, a startled expression frozen on his face. His skin was bluish white. One arm was twisted behind his back, the shoulder bulging halfway out of its socket in response. On the opposite side, his knee was mangled, lending him a ghastly diagonal symmetry. Cruel gashes scarred his wrists and ankles, and a deep gouge split the side of his torso. There was surprisingly little blood, though innumerable flies buzzed about the wounds, crawling in and out of his nostrils and mouth.

Then two weeks ago, I did a serious self edit pass. The heavy use of passive voice makes me cringe now, even though I had a deliberate intent in using it (to have the effect of someone looking, and then surprised to see this shocking sight). After that my editor got to it, then I cleaned that up yet another time. Notice how the final result is 40% shorter than the original, but isn’t really missing anything. There was too much prose the first time. There’s still a lot, as this is a purposeful attempt to kick the sentences into slow gear for horrific effect.

The body of a boy lay naked in the dirt, belly up, covered only by a few remaining sticks and leaves. His eyes stared at the sky, his face frozen in bewilderment. His skin was bluish-white. One arm was twisted behind his back, the shoulder bulging unnaturally. On the opposite side his mangled knee was twisted, lending him a ghastly diagonal symmetry. Gashes scarred his wrists and ankles, and a deep gouge split the side of his torso. There was surprisingly little blood, though flies buzzed about the wounds, crawled in and out of his nostrils and mouth.

Or take this example of some dialog from my first draft. The first speaker is the sister of the second (Sam).

“Hi Sarah,” she began, but quickly turned to her brother, “Sam get that pack on the horses and lets get going.  Nothing fun is going to happen here right in front of Sarah’s house.”
Sam snapped to mocking attention at his sister’s order, “yes ma’am!”  However, he quickly packed Sarah’s stuff into the saddle bags and then put his hands together allowing Sarah to step up and swing onto the small horse.

Then the current edited version.

“Sam, get that pack on the horses. Nothing fun’s going to happen here on the street five minutes from our house.”
Sam snapped to attention, “Yes, ma’am!”

The sentiment is the same, but it’s a third the words, and vastly snappier. A frequent culprit is first pass dialog. In the first line, the same thing is said twice, both indicate the desire to hurry (which is the only real point). Cut one, or merge. The beat about turning isn’t important. The “snapped to mocking attention” is a TELL. We can tell from the action and his dialog that he’s mocking her (it might not be obvious from the isolated lines, but it is knowing they are siblings of the same age). The final bit about mounting the horse isn’t really needed. In the next scene they’re ON the horses, so we don’t have to show them mounting, it’s assumed in the dead zone of the scene break.

In essence, even after one has worked out much of the plot and character quirks, each scene, each paragraph, each sentence can be polished. Lately for example I’ve been trying to make description more lively. A chunk from my first draft:

The Palaogos house was a large home that had been built approximately fifty years earlier, in the residential adaption of the gothic revival style.  It was all wood, and had a haphazard and eclectic appearance not unlike a giant gingerbread cake.  Frilly little wood details abounded, and it was even replete with a turret like tower.  Inside the atmosphere was generally dark (Palaogos men were not often bothered to draw curtains or open windows), and had lots of odd shaped rooms decorated with a very peculiar mix of period furniture.  The floors were draped in heavy carpets, mostly Turkish, covered with dizzying non-figural designs.  The furniture itself was all very large and heavy, a mixture of things like medieval trunks and benches, juxtaposed with Viennese, Bohemian, and Venetian baroque cabinets and consoles (the later adding a touch of gilt to offset the dark woods of the former).

The description is just description. There are a few amusing comments mixed in, but awkwardly with the parenthetical forms. Below is my current version.

He wound through the maze of staircases and twisty corridors that honeycombed his new house. Built by some baker-turned-architect maddened by the American Civil War, its gothic revival style lent it a haphazard appearance not unlike a giant gingerbread cake. Frilly wooden details included a turret-like tower and odd-shaped rooms carpeted with dizzying non-figural patterns. To this Grandfather had added his own taste for the baroque, all grand and substantial, a hodgepodge of medieval trunks and benches, juxtaposed with Viennese and Venetian cabinets. Dark portraits of dour old men and dying saints scowled down from gold-framed canvas perches.

I’ve converted it from passive to active. He actually travels through the space. Attributing the construction to the “baker-turned-architect” livens things up, and instead of just saying there is baroque furniture, it’s attributed to Grandfather such that we get just a smidgen of characterization.


As you can see this is a highly iterative process. If you are curious to learn more — and there is like 10,000 times more to learn — my freelance editor has a great book on the subject (click the picture to the right).

FOR MY PREVIOUS POST ON WRITING, CLICK HERE

Related posts:

  1. On Writing: Yet Another Draft
  2. On Writing: Passes and Plots
  3. On Writing: Revising, and Waiting
By: agavin
Comments (8)
Posted in: Darkening Dream
Tagged as: Arts, Editing, Fiction, Prose, Sentence (linguistics), The Darkening Dream, Writing

Quick Eats: Taverna Tony

Dec10

Restaurant: Taverna Tony

Location: 23410 Civic Center Way, Malibu, CA 90265, Tel: (310) 317-9667

Date: Dec 10, 2010

Cuisine: Greek

 

I have a weakness for Greek food. I spent big chunks of the summers of 1990 and 1991 in Greece, and a month in 2005. I know it isn’t always the fanciest (although in 2005 I had a brilliant modern Greek meal on the Island of Rhodos), but I love the flavor palette, particularly lamb and yoghurt. And Tzatziki, which I absolutely can’t get enough of. Here in LA our favorite Greek haunt is Taverna Tony. We haven’t exactly tried a zillion of them either, but Tony’s is fun.

The menu.

The serve one of the typical creamy greek spreads with their bread. This is one of the yogurt, garlic, eggplant, olive oil type ones. A guilty pleasure.

As big a wine snob as I am, I’m also a huge believer in drinking the local beverage. I actually like Greek wine. This one is a mainland wine made by monks, Tsantali Agioritikos. In my opinion the best Greek whites (I don’t really drink Greek reds) are from Santorini. If you want the really authentic flavor, go for Retsina — Tony has it — makes me remember my college summers in Greece, but not to everyone’s taste.

One thing about Tony’s, they have mega sized portions (to use the Greek). My wife always gets the “Vegetarian’s paradise” which is basically every dip and vegetarian appetizer known in Greece. It comes on two plates, the hot and cold. Don’t even think about trying to order an appetizer, or even a salad unless you have a lot of people. A partial list of what’s included is: Hummus, Tzatziki, Melitzanosalata, Tabouli, Spanakopita, Tiropita, Feta Cheese, Horta.

The hot plate of above. Spanakopita etc. You can see the ubiquitous rice and overcooked vegetables (I like them this way at Greek and Turkish places).


This is the “ROAST BABY LAMB KLEFTIKO, Baby Lamb, slow-roasted with Herbs, Garlic, Onions, Oregano – A House Specialty that melts in your mouth.” That pretty much says it all.

In case you couldn’t see the lamb itself well enough, here it is again!  Baah!

I always get a side of “TZATZIKI DIP  Fresh Yoghurt, Cucumber, Fresh Mint, Garlic.” Roast lamb is just not roast lamb unless slathered in Tzatziki.

It’s worth noting that the atmosphere is fun here, and they have very loud live Greek music. There seem to be an endless supply of families throwing some kind of big dinner’s with like 20-30 people at huge long tables laden with food — this also is very Greek. There might be better Greek food in town (if anyone knows please tell me), but I’m perfectly happy with my monthly dose of lamb, yogurt, and Greek wine.


You can see the band in the corner.


A giant table arrayed on the patio.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Coastal Flats
  2. Quick Eats: La Cachette Bistro
  3. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  4. Quick Eats: Mon Ami Gabi
  5. Quick Eats: Piccolo
By: agavin
Comments (13)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cooking, Feta, Food, Grape Leaves, Greece, Greek, Greek cuisine, Greek wine, lamb, Lamb and mutton, Malibu California, Restaurant, Retsina, reviews, Rhodos, Santorini, side dishes, Spanakopita, Tiropita, Tzatziki, vegetarian, Wine, yogurt

Book Review: The Lightning Thief

Dec10

Title: The Lightning Thief

Author: Rick Riordan

Genre: MG Fantasy

Read: Dec 1-6, 2010

Summary: Okay read, but really cheesy.

_

In my ongoing research of novels: both bestselling and good, I figured I should give this one a try. Sure it’s for a young audience, but I’m also a big Greek history buff.

Hmmm. The voice is engaging, and it’s certainly easy to read. The idea is great. The characters fine, not good but fine. The writing is stiff, and the plotting… oh the plotting is pretty awful. I really don’t understand why it sold so well. Perhaps it’s a vaguely educational angle?

Percy himself is likable, although he is unrealistically brave in this just-go-for-it-because-I-know-as-protagonist-I’ll-win way. The rest of the characters are pretty one dimensional, although they do fulfill the requisite positions.

The flip style is good, but not exactly ground breaking, and the sentences are clunky.

I’m a stickler for accuracy with regard to mythology. But mostly, that part isn’t too bad. Sure he completely goofed Satyrs, as they are hybridized horse people, not related to goats (although they are partial to the beasts). You can see my detailed post on Satyrs. And on a related note, Dionysus was lamely portrayed, missing out on any of the interesting nuances and dichotomies of the god. That’s the name of the game for this book — shy on nuance. Sure he throws in all sorts of figures from Greek myth, but very little of their subtle and interesting character is retained. But the modernized updates are sometimes fun. Even so, this wasn’t my big problem with the book.

The plot. The premise of modern day child of the gods is great. The overall arc of the plot is fine, that a war of the gods is brewing. It’s just they way the main quest is actually architected. The middle 50% of the book consists of a series of encounters with monsters literally concatenated with nary a thought as to connection or relevance to the overall story. In fact, you could delete quite a few of them and never notice. This is always bad writing. If a scene can be deleted without incident, well then, it probably should’ve been. The overall taste we’re left with is one of ludicrous coincidence, where everything just happens to the hero.

Then we get to the end. Can we say cheesy melodrama. There’s no real menace, or challenge. Things just kind of happen. Mostly the hero solves them by whipping out his sword disguised as a pen. It all works out. It didn’t have to be this way. Harry Potter is much better plotted.

Now I have to see the movie and compare. This may be a chore. I wonder if the series gets better, but I don’t have the interest to find out.

Related posts:

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  5. Book Review: Personal Demons
By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Books
Tagged as: Book, books, Dionysus, Fantasy, Fiction, Greek mythology, Harry Potter, Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, reviews, Rick Riordan

Quick Eats: Osteria Latini

Dec09

Restaurant: Osteria Latini [1, 2, 3]

Location: 11712 San Vicente Blvd.Brentwood, CA 90049 310.826.9222

Date: Dec 03, 2010

Cuisine: Italian

_

LA is full of good Italian places, and, well, it was date night and my wife loves Italian. So off we went to Osteria Latini which is one of the ten or so in Brentwood, most on San Vicente. About half of the places are actually very good and we often rotate around between them. The menu can be found HERE.


“BELLA SALAD, Arrugola, pears, dry cherris, goat cheese and shaved parmesan.”

“BEEF CARPACCIO, Thin sliced filet mignon with capers, parmesan and arrugola.” This was a very good version of this classic. The beef was excellent, there was a nice tang to the dressing, and the cheese was very good. I love good cheese.

“BOMBOLOTTI, Small rigatoni with tomatoes filet and basil.” Very straight up pasta.

“RISOTTO ALL’ARAGOSTA, With lobster in a light tomato sauce.” I’m a huge risotto fan, all sorts of risotto. This was an excellent seafood variant. You can’t see it, but there was a lot of lobster in there. And the light tomato sauce was indeed — light — complementing the fleshy lobster well. It was not particularly rich — but was very good. Given that I was coming off the gluttony of the ThanksGavin, light was a good thing.


Latini always gives you this little glass of lemon sorbetto mixed with prosecco at the end, regardless of whether you order desert or not. Given my penchant for lemon and my sweet tooth, I like it a lot.

This place is well above the median line for the already high bar of LA Italian (although it certainly has A LOT of company). They’re friendly, tasty, reasonably priced, and the chef has a very good touch.

For other Osteria Latini reviews, click HERE or HERE.

Or for LA Restaurant reviews.

Or an entire month of eating in Italy!

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Piccolo
  2. Quick Eats: La Cachette Bistro
  3. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  4. Quick Eats: Coastal Flats
  5. Quick Eats: Panini at Home
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: beef, Cooking, Food, Italian cuisine, Lobster, Los Angeles, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Restaurant, reviews, Risotto, Tomato, Tomato sauce

Book Review: Uglies

Dec08

Title: Uglies

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Read: Nov 19-21, 2010

Summary: Great Read.

_

The Science Fiction in this book is a little hokey, but it’s still a extremely compelling read. There is a bit of a silly high concept in this dystopian future, where at 16 teenagers get an operation that promotes them from “uglies” (normal people) to super improved “pretties.” I didn’t really buy the idea of this particular and odd society, but I just suspended my disbelief and enjoyed the ride.

The voice is solid and captivating. It’s a good story, and the world has a really nice feel. The characters are pretty well painted too. I pounded though the book and ordered the sequel. I have some little beefs with the logic of the plot, and a bigger one with a motivation of the protagonist, and the ending. However, when I enjoy a story and care about the characters, a little ignoring is worth it.

There are also some cool gadgets. The tech feels a little uneven — I usually find that the case, where the level of technology changes aren’t consistant across the board. But a good read is a good read.

Related posts:

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  5. Book Review: The Passage
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Books
Tagged as: Arts, books, Fiction, Pretties, reviews, Science Fiction, Scott Westerfeld, uglies, YA, Young-adult fiction

Food as Art: Chanukah in Style

Dec07

Some old friends invited us over to their place for a Chanukah party. Now, as many of you may know, the traditional food for this occasion is potato latkes. These are basically shredded potato and onion deep fried. Like any fried thing, if fresh, they can be tasty.

Now bear in mind that I didn’t do any of the excellent cooking depicted below. The hostess of this party has always been an amazing cook, and this was a collaborative effort between many members of her family. I brought the wine.

Four different kinds of latkes were made (details below). This is the batter from the cheesy one. My one cooking contribution was to fold in the whipped egg whites. This is basically blintz filling.

Some frying. Latkes are usually pan fried.

The wine. Given that applesauce and the like are traditional latkes accompaniments, I brought a very fine sweet Riesling. Parker gave the 2008 a 95, but the 2009 hasn’t been reviewed yet by him. But I have some notes: “Sweet mineral and hay notes, with defined notes of fresh cut grass, honeysuckle, and lemon drop, are apparent in the intense perfume of the Wehlener Auslese. The bitter yet sweet flavors of citrus peel and white pepper enrapture the palate, while sweet lychee and melon notes become pronounced on the mid-palate, opening and expanding with the wine’s rich and nearly searing minerality. Yet this is a rich and creamy example of Auslese, its bold concentration and grip becoming more apparent on the back palate. Lingering cherry and apricot flavors are spent savorily on the minute long finish. This wine promises to take its place with the many of its ilk on the high-90s rating panel!”

Then one of my all time favorite wines, The M Chapoutier ‘Ermitage Le Pavillon. It always scores between 95-100. “Year in and year out, one of the three greatest Hermitages made is Chapoutier’s Le Pavillon. The 2001 Ermitage Le Pavillon exhibits a saturated ruby/purple color as well as a big, sweet nose of camphor, ink, creme de cassis, and hints of licorice as well as smoke. Although dense, rich, and full-bodied, the 2001 reveals more acidity in its delineated, nervous personality. Unquestionably great and intense, it will be less charming and precocious than its 2000 sibling. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2030. (I disagree, but Michel Chapoutier feels his finest three Le Pavillons to date have been 1991 followed by 1995 and 2000. I retain a preference for the glorious trilogy of 1989, 1990, and 1991.)”

Classic potato, but made totally from scratch.

On the left are the carrot latkes, and the right sweet potato. Personally, I thought both superior to the classic, but i’m not a huge potato fan. These were both awesome. Some of the sweet potato ones had nuts in them, which i liked.

The cheese latkes, made with the batter shown above. Raisons were mixed in. These were delectable, tasting like blintz filling, with a nice light fully ricotta flavor. Personally, I found them to be a bit reminiscent of a recipe from Apicius where the Romans mixed ricotta, herbs, lightly fried it, and drizzled it in honey.

Top shelf condiments. Two sorts of sour cream, two hand made apple sauces (from two apple types) and strawberry jam. Latkes go well with sweetness, cuts the fat.

A blend of various chilies, in case the above is just too sweet and mild.

This was an amazing salad. It had a bit of everything in it, and was delicious.

Two homemade deserts. The hostess makes the most incredible deserts. On the left is a praline cheesecake, and on the right is a bavarian cream tart.

All that needed an expresso.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Hatfield’s part 1
  2. Food as Art: Hatfield’s part 2
  3. Food as Art: Saddle Peak Lodge
  4. Food as Art: Bistro LQ
  5. Food as Art: Little Saigon
By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Apicius, celebration, Chanukah, Cooking, Dessert, Food, Hanukkah, holiday, Home, latkes, party, Potato, Potato pancake, Riesling, Salad, side dishes, vegetarian, Wine, Wine tasting descriptors

Inside Game of Thrones

Dec06

HBO has been working on a new hour drama based on my favorite fantasy series, Song of Ice and Fire, which they’re calling by the title of the first book, Game of Thrones. Last night they ran a 15 minute teaser which can be seen here.

I need to do a full review of the series, which you should all immediately read if you haven’t, but it totally rules, and the HBO show looks fantastic too. The books are long, but incredibly fast paced. Set in a sort of fantastic reinterpretation of late medieval England, the magic is very lightly handled. In fact, the story concentrates on extremely vivid and ambiguous characters caught in a vicious political struggle. It’s very dark and real — giving new meaning to the Tarantino phrase, “I’ma get medieval on your ass.” However, nothing’s gratuitous, just well done.

Related posts:

  1. Book Review: The Way of Kings
By: agavin
Comments (6)
Posted in: Books, Television
Tagged as: A Song of Ice and Fire, books, Fantasy, Fiction, Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin, HBO, Sean Bean, Teaser, Television

Gobbler’s Last Stand – The Sandwich

Dec06

The Thanksgiving feast contains many useful components for a great sandwich, and in this day and age when the only food available on airplanes is a box of randomized vending machine junk, what better way to eat and fly.

This was my brother’s version. There’s turkey, stuffing, provolone, and prosciutto (because ham makes everything better). Oh, and arugula and tomato.

Mine is similar except I left off the tomato (yuck!) and added a little salami as well (two kinds of pig are better than one!).

And my wife’s. Tomato yes. No cheese or pig products. Still makes a yummy way to see turkey off.

 

We even took along some of the homemade cranberry sauce to add to the sandwich, but it was packed separately to prevent soggy bread (a big no no).

And some of these little fellows, cornichons, as complement. They really are the best kind of pickle.

Related posts:

  1. ThanksGavin in Review
  2. Ghost of Thanksgivings Past
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By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bird, Cooking, Cornichons, Cranberry sauce, Food, Holidays, Leftovers, Pickles, Provolone, Sandwich, Sandwiches, thanksgiving, Travel Food, turkey, Turkey Sandwich

Foreign Flavors: Panjshir

Dec05

Restaurant: Panjshir

Location: 924 West Broad St.Falls Church, VA 22046703-536-4566

Date: Dec 01, 2010

Cuisine: Afghan

 

Washington has a good size population of Afghans as a legacy of our involvement after the Russian invasion. We started coming to this restaurant when it opened in the mid 80s. This is a family run place and they are extremely hospitable, as well as serving up a very yummy glimpse at this infrequently found palette of flavors.


The menu.

We ordered this very reasonable Beaujolais.

There is a consistant palette of tomato, yogourt, garlic, and onion typified by this bowl of “Aush” soup. A bit of mint seasons up the exotic concoction. It might not be your typical American soup, but it is delicious.

They happily made up a vegetarian variant of these “Aushak” scallion filled dumplings. The pasta has a wonderful soft texture, not unlike a good Hungarian or Polish dumpling.

Afghan bread.

Which is best with this very spicy “green death” sauce. I love the stuff.

A nice salad comes with every entree. The dressing seems to be youghurt based, with some lemon and pepper. It’s really zingy.

What central Asian place wouldn’t have lamb kabob!

Or chicken.

This is “Seib Chalow,” or apples baked with tomato sauce, seeded Afghan prunes, walnuts, split peas, and spices. Really, really tasty. I don’t know how to describe it, but when eaten with the rice it forms a wonderful sweet and savory stew — with amazing texture too.

“Kadu Chalow,” sauteed pumpkin topped with seasoned yogurt and tomato sauce. Also a bit sweet (in a good way), but wonderful.

My personal favorite, the “Muntoo,” dumplings stuffed with ground beef and the omnipresent yogurt and meat sauce. The pasta is perfect and the whole thing very savory.

But, to properly appreciate, I apply a very liberal dose of the green death. Yum!

“Firnee,” This has the flavor palette of Indian Rice Pudding, but the texture of Italian Panna Cotta. It’s very light and pleasant. I love the cardamon and pistachio thing.

You have to love the bar.

And the even cooler antique muskets. These were probably still in use when the Russians invaded — and the Afghans won! Even Alexander the Great learned not to get into a land war in Asia. We should just leave them to their business and the cooking.

Related posts:

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By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Afghan, Afghanistan, Beaujolais, Cooking, Dessert, dumpling, Food, Fruit and Vegetable, Kadu, muntoo, Restaurant, Soups and Stews, Tomato sauce, yogurt

Food as Art: Ping Pong

Dec04

Restaurant: Ping Pong

Location: 900 7th Street NW. District of Columbia 20001. 202-506-3740

Date: Dec 01, 2010

Cuisine: Chinese Dim Sum


I’ve been going to Dim Sum for thirty-odd years, and it’s long been one of my favorite cuisines. Basically, this follows from the “law of appetizers,” which reads: “appetizers are always better than the main course.” Dim Sum is all “appetizers.” Ping Pong represents a modernization of the traditional Dim Sum concept. There are no carts, everything is made fresh to order, and there are modern variants on traditional favorites. Most of this is good, and they did a great job. The only downside is that it’s about twice as expensive as a hole-in-the-wall traditional place. However, particularly if you have a vegetarian in the party (traditional Dim Sim is nigh on impossible to appreciate as a vegetarian), it can be worth it.

The menu and our order. I like this “check your order” type menu, like an old school sushi menu.

Jasmine tea, the way they do it in China. The ball expands.

Into a pretty flower. Ping Pong has a very extensive drink menu, alchoholic and non.

Sauces are essential at Dim Sum. These are two kind of chilies. They had good soy, vinegar, etc. The odd missing one, which we asked for, but they didn’t have, was Chinese mustard. I love Chinese mustard.

Baked pork puff. This is a standard, and they did a great job of it. The pastry was buttery, and the pork sweet.

Here is an example of a welcome “modernization.” A vegetable puff. Same dough, but inside was honey-roasted vegetables. These did a pretty good approximation.

Vegetarian spring rolls, with a very nice sweet and sour sauce.

Spare ribs. Ultra soft (and fatty), with a very nice sweet flavor.

Asian leaf and three mushroom salad.

Crispy hoisin duck rolls. Tasty. Who could tell what was inside, but it had a nice meatiness to it. Like a duck taquito.

The tower of steamers begin to arrive. I personally love the steamed dumplings best of all. In China I had a 64 course Tang Dynasty style Dim Sum meal that was one of the best meals of my life.

Classic lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice. An excellent example of the species. The rice is mixed with pork, chicken etc.

Crabmeat and prawn, what’s not to like. Also very hot! They are steamed after all.

Classic Pork Shu Mai. I made the mistake of getting greedy on these and could barely taste them as I seared off my tongue. What I did taste seemed good.

This is a bunch of seafood and vegetable cooked on a griddle. A sort of Chinese seafood sausage. They call it a seafood cake. My father and I ordered these at random from an entirely non-English speaking greasy griddle at a rooftop restaurant in Shaimen China. These were better.

“Crab, shrimp, and scallop, carrot pastry.” These were great too, with the shell almost like a fresh ravioli.

Jumbo shrimp and coriander dumplings. Light and succulent. The coriander mixed it up a little.

Spicy pork dumplings. I loved these, and they have a significant kick. Basically ground pork spiced with Schezuan peppers. In Western China we would get these at hotel breakfasts.

Classic “Har Gau,” or shrimp in a light translucent pastry. Yum, but I missed the mustard.

Vegetable and beans in black bean sauce over coconut rice. Kinda light a high end weight watchers dinner.

Another example of a modernized lightened classic. Vegetable steamed bun, with sauteed vegetables and fresh baby corn. Really good. Almost as good as the pork version.

Spinach and mushroom pan fried dumpling, in crispy wheat flour pastry. Almost like meat.

Spicy Basil, rice noodles and chili. Interesting flavors.

My favorite of the meal, “black prawn, garlic and shrimp, black squid ink pastry.” There was a succulent sweetness that complimented the shrimp brilliantly.

The decor too is modernized as compared to your traditional place.

I was impressed with Ping Pong. On average the dishes were fresher than you get in the typical cart driven place, and the introduction of new flavors was very subtly but nicely done. I particularly appreciated having really well done vegetarian versions of classics. Bravo!

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Little Saigon
  2. Food as Art: Calima
  3. Food as Art: Bistro LQ
  4. Food as Art: Sushi House Unico
  5. Food as Art: Saddle Peak Lodge
By: agavin
Comments (8)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: China, Chinese cuisine, crab, Dim sum, dumpling, dumplings, Food, modern chinese, pork, Restaurant, reviews, Salad, scallop, shrimp, steamed, vegetarian, World Cuisines

Quick Eats: Coastal Flats

Dec03

Restaurant: Coastal Flats

Location: 7860-L Tysons Corner CenterMcLean, VA 22102(703) 356-1440

Date: Nov 30, 2010

Cuisine: Southern Coastal American

 

This place is part of a small local chain of one-off’s. That is, each restaurant in  the group has a different name and menu. While they’re slightly commercial, they do a good job. Everything is tasty and reliable. Not innovative or fancy, but good. In a world dominated by chains the complete one-off restaurant is dying at the midrange level. In particular, they seem unable to secure leases in these coveted mall-type spaces. Probably the mall authorities are unwilling to take a risk. However, not all chains are totally evil — just most! — you know who you are Olive Garden et all!

The menu. Not so disimilar to the little non-chain Eastern Shore places I remember as a kid, just bigger and more internationalized.

Crab cakes, with cous-cous. I didn’t try the sandwich, but the cous-cous was very tasty, with a slighly sweet flavor.

A grilled salmon sandwich, not on the menu, but they improvised.

The lobster roll. This was GOOD. The corn was very sweet, and the lobster tender and fresh. The fries were excellent too.

The remains of the fried grouper my two-year-old enjoyed. He was particularly partial to the applesauce.

I love tartar and cocktail sauces with my fries. This tartar, i have to say, was one of the best I’ve had. There were capers, and an excellent lemony tang.

The flour-less chocolate waffle is awesome.

The commercial-style decor. Nothing wrong with it, but not a lot of character either. Service is always very good at these places, in that way that tells you they have a formal staff training program.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Mon Ami Gabi
  2. Quick Eats: Brunch at Tavern
  3. Quick Eats: La Cachette Bistro
  4. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  5. Quick Eats: Piccolo
By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: chain, Crabcake, Dessert, Food, Lobster roll, lunch, Restaurant, reviews, side dishes, Southern Food, United States, vegetarian

Quick Eats: Mon Ami Gabi

Dec02

Restaurant: Mon Ami Gabi

Location: 7239 Woodmont Ave.  Bethesda, MD 20814. 301.654.1234

Date: Nov 29, 2010

Cuisine: French Bistro

 

Out with friends in Bethesda we checked out this small chain French Bistro.  After 10-20 years out of favor the bistro seems to have returned in spades.

An “Amuse” of marinated carrots, quite nice.

The menu.

Parker gives this a 92, “Potentially the finest Gigondas made here since their sublime 1978 (still going strong, by the way), the 2007 exhibits gorgeously sweet black currant, kirsch, and mineral notes intermixed with hints of cigar box and forest floor. Full-bodied with elegance married to considerable substance and power, a beautifully textured mouthfeel, and a long, heady finish, this will be a long-lived Gigondas. Give it 2-3 years of cellaring and enjoy it over the following 15 years.”

The classic goat cheese salad.

Steak Bernaise for a young carnivore.

An excellent lump crabmeat cake. I don’t get enough of these out west.

My two-year-old’s grilled cheese and fries. He seemed to enjoy it.

French onion soup.

Steak frites. Lots of frites.

Bacon wrapped pork, with dijon mustard coated potatoes.

Breaded cod.

With frites.

This was a solid place. Not blow-you-away, but good.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: La Cachette Bistro
  2. Quick Eats: Panini at Home
  3. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  4. Quick Eats: Piccolo
  5. Quick Eats: Brunch at Tavern
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bacon, Bistro, Cooking, Food, French fries, French onion soup, Gigondas, reviews, Salad, side dishes, vegetarian

Quick Eats: Italian-Iberian Snack

Dec01

A simple breakfast snack made with ingredients from the Philadelphia Italian Market.

Prosciutto on top of a fantastic Manchego cheese. Simple, but delicious. For breakfast snacking cheeses I really became a fan of the Iberian cheese during my month in Spain earlier this year. They have a rich nutty quality without being too overpowering.

Some slices of my Mom’s homemade banana bread.

The setting.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Andy’s Spanish Eggs
  2. Quick Eats: Panini at Home
  3. Quick Eats: La Cachette Bistro
  4. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  5. Quick Eats: Brunch at Tavern
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Breakfast, Brunch, Cheese, Dairy, Dairy product, Food, ham, Iberian Peninsula, Manchego, snack, Spain
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