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Author Archive for agavin – Page 87

What is Diablo 3?

May12

Only three days to go until D3-day, and in case you don’t know what that means, this little video from Blizzard does a nice job summarizing the game:

See you in Sanctuary!

My detailed impressions of the closed beta can be found here.

And my review of the Barbarian 1-60 experience here.

Related posts:

  1. Diablo 3 – Beta Preview
  2. Diablo III: Wrath
  3. Diablo 3 – Commercial
  4. Diablo 3 Opening Cinematic
  5. Dark Souls
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Games
Tagged as: Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard North, Diablo 3, Diablo III, Fantasy, role playing game, RPG

Umami Burger at UMAMIcatessen

May12

Restaurant: Umamicatessen

Location: 852 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014. 213-413-UMAMI (8626). @umamiburger

Date: April 20, 2012

Cuisine: Gastro Burger

Rating: Top Burgers

_

UMAMIcatessen is a rather peculiar concept (albeit one that works). Grafting Umami Burger, The Cure (high end deli) and P!GG (pork oriented charcuterie) together under one roof. Not to mention E&O donuts!


The triple menu. Click here for PDF.


Truffle cheese fries. Oh my!


Onion rings and sweet potato fries. These alone would be damn good.


But we have five sauces. Homemade ketchup (this one actually is better than Heinz) and four others. Spicy, mustard, etc. All were great.


Smushed potatoes. Dutch yellow creamers, double fried with some kind of aioli.


The cure bagel. Lox, creme fraiche, onions etc. A very (very) slightly lighter high end version of the classic.


Manly burger. Beer-cheddar cheese, smoked-salt onion strings, bacon lardons. Wow!


Shrimp Burger with Yuzu-Kosho. Wild shrimp patty with japanese spices.


Ahi Tuna Burger. Hand chopped ahi tuna, crushed avocado, gingered pickles, wasabi flake.


The greenbird. Shelton farms turkey, crushed avocado, green cheese, butter lettuce, sprouts, green goddess.


And after a “light” meal like that, donuts!


Carrot cake, rum raisin, cream cheese. Pretty much like what it sounds like, a carrot cake donut!


Tres leches, cajeta, ceylon cinnamon. Yep, tasted like tres leches.


Beignets, chicory, cafe brulot, burnt sugar. The carmel alone was to die for!

The concept here of glomming together a bunch of different high end comfort food joints is kind of interesting. Basically it works as the flavors are unified by fat, plus the execution is good. It’s casual, fun, modern (not in an avant garde way). Basically jammed with flavor, so what’s to complain about?

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. ThanksGavin 2011 – Salty Saturday
  2. Brunch at Tavern – again
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bagel, burger, Cheese Burger, Cream Cheese, Deli, donut, Donuts, H. J. Heinz Company, Hamburger, Heinz, Los Angeles, Lox, Pigg, S. Broadway, The Cure, Umami Burger, Umamicatessen, veggie burger

Dark Shadows – The Revival

May10

Title: Dark Shadows

Genre: Horror

Watched: May, 2012

Summary: Old school gothic

ANY CHARACTER HERE

The upcoming Tim Burton remake reminded me that I wanted to rewatch the 1991 Dark Shadows revival. I saw some of it at release, but being a lover of all things vampire, felt it my duty to revisit. Now, that vampire-philia doesn’t extend so far as to actually watch all 2,231 episodes of the 1966 original, particularly when it’s black and white and shot live!

Anyway, back to the 1991 version. It has a certain production cheese. I think the photos to the right make that pretty clear. But the writing is actually good. This can not always be said of the acting (David Collins, I’m thinking of you!). Still, some of the leads are solid. Victoria Winters is cute, and Barnabus has an old school vibe. He even says yes instead of “yes.” Imagine the classic horror movie vampire voice as the italics. He has all that classic vampire goodness: No reflection, sunlight challenged, a fear of crosses and stakes. Fog machines follow him everywhere and when he gets excited, out come the red contacts and the pop in fangs.

This show has everything: vampires, dopplegangers, witches, ghosts, curses, familiars with low IQs, vampire-curing doctors, even time travel! And all that in just twelve episodes. There is a classic sensibility to all of it. Barnabus arrives (recently freed from his coffin) and poses as a long lost relative. What a coincidence, he looks just like his namesake from 200 years ago! And, the family tudor is the spitting image of his long dead love. I love a good Bram Stoker homage. I enjoyed that the writers actually plotted a real story with solid characters and a bit of complexity. There might be hammy moments, but the characters remained true to themselves.

Plus, the last four episodes are all set in 1790, which is always cool.

Check out more TV reviews.

Related posts:

  1. The Way of Shadows
  2. TV Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer – part 3
  3. TV Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer – part 2
  4. TV Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer – part 6
  5. TV Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer – part 4
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Television
Tagged as: Barnabas Collins, Dark Shadows, Television, Tim Burton, Vampire, Victoria Winters

Diablo III: Wrath

May08

Blizzard has released Wrath, an animated short by directory Peter Chung (Aeon Flux) depicting an ancient battle between the angels of Sanctuary and Diablo. Pretty cool.

Strangely though, I am reminded a bit of Ralph Bakshi’s bizarre The Lord of the Rings.

Related posts:

  1. Diablo 3 – Beta Preview
  2. Diablo 3 Opening Cinematic
  3. Expansion of the WOW Factor
  4. Diablo 3 – Commercial
  5. Conan the Barbarian – Lamentation of their women
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Games
Tagged as: Animated cartoon, Animation, Arts, Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, Diablo, Diablo 3, Diablo III, Peter Chung, Ralph Bakshi, Wrath

Las Vegas – Guy Savoy

May08

Restaurant: Guy Savoy

Location: Cesar’s Palace, Las Vegas

Date: April 14, 2012

Cuisine: French

Rating: Spectacular

_

A good friend’s bachelor party brought me back to Las Vegas and that meant: extreme food. On my last trip I sampled  é by José Andrés and Twist by Pierre Gagnaire so this time it was time for Guy Savoy. Guy himself is one of the few and proud Parisian Michelin 3-star chefs (even if he’s originally from Burgundy). The Vegas outpost is overseen by the older chef’s son. It’s tucked  away in a quiet section of the main Cesar’s Palace, near the wedding chapels.


True to its Michelin form, the place has a lot of carts. First to greet us is the champagne and aperitif cart. I’m not really that big a champagne fan, and done off the cart for the table often results in some serious financial hike. But, as you’ll see, you don’t come to Guy Savoy to keep the budget under control!


This first pre-amuse is fois gras and brioche on a stick. Can’t complain about that!


Then I crack open the wine tome. Even though I have recently become an “Italian Wine Specialist” there was very little vino from the boot, so I had to go French.


Jadot is usually very reliable and I have a soft spot for Clos Vougeot. “Charred meat, black currant, and wet stone characterize the bouquet of Jadot’s Clos Vougeot. Savory, salty, brightly-fruited and invigoratingly juicy on the palate, this displays more energy and acidity than I would have expected from the appellation. For all of the clarity and juiciness of this wine’s fruit, grilled meat and stony earthiness combined with the emergence of formidable tannins and subtle but persistent cyanic and iodine notes to turn its formidably long finish somewhat austere.”


Then another amuse, this cheesy “parmesan waffle.”


And the menu. Check out the prices. Because we must, we took out a mortgage, and ordered up the Inspiration Menu.


The amuse was this artichoke soup with black truffle and toasted mushroom bread. A nice start.


Then the bread cart comes around. Just a few varieties. When we failed to remember the 14-16 different types we could choose from on the first recitation the bread boy (who was just a tad creepy) offered to create a “bread tasting” for us, pairing various breads to each food course. How could we refuse?


A few samplings include on the right, bacon brioche!


“Concasse of oysters, seaweed, lemon granite.”


The granite itself is added later. Truthfully, this dish was a revelation. The flavors were pure and intense. Briny oyster and this potent cold lemon thing.


One of our party doesn’t like oysters, so he got this avocado and chickpea variant.


“Santa Barbara Spot Prawn caught in sweet and sour fishnet.” Mostly this just tasted like a very good shrimp with some interesting vegetable texture stuff going on. It was pleasant, but not one of the best dishes.


The shellfish hater got this pea and egg salad. Twice peeled English peas, pea gelee, pea puree, dressed in chive oil. It was then topped with greens some bread and a quail egg.


On my way to visit the elegant little boys room I photoed the “smaller” of the two private dining rooms.


It’s white asparagus season! “White Asparagus and Caviar, Smoked Sabayon.” The sabayon was in the egg. You pour it over the dish.


Voila. A “simple” but spectacular dish. The asparagus and sabayon is similar to the classic Dutch version, but the caviar took it up a notch.


This was a long meal and so we quickly exhausted the Burgundy. This Barolo by old school producer Giacomo Conterno was a bit “underpriced” (if anything in the tome could be called that). Parker 94+ “1999 Barolo Cascina Francia—Medium red. A classic in the making, the 1999 Cascina Francia offers a quintessentially pure expression of Nebbiolo in it aromas of roses, licorice and tar. It is powerful and potent on the palate, where endless layers of sweet fruit blossom with exceptional length. Though I expect it to be relatively accessible within a few years, it will also reward cellaring for several decades, and may ultimately be deserving of a higher score. A great effort. 94+/drink after 2009.”


“Marinated-Grilled Hamachi Aged Sherry Vinegar, Radish Gelee, Eggplant Puree.” The fish was nice but the really interesting bit was the jelly. It was made of radish (hence the color) and tasted somehow so Japanese. It was a very bright and intense flavor and I really liked it.


Next up, “Salmon Iceberg.” Scottish salmon.


“Cooked” on dry ice.


Then dressed with grapefruit bits, bockchoy, and little jelly cubes of something.


Then finished off with a consommé. Spectacular actually. Hot and cold in the same dish and expressed the flavor of the fish wonderfully.


This is the large private room, with a Krug theme. After you win $100,000 in the casino, you can blow it here.


“Seared Dices of Foie Gras with Horseradish, Braised-Grilled Celery Stalk Sepentines, Potato Chips Bouillon.”


Here with the Bouillon added. This was a very nice foie dish, extremely savory, but not overly heavy.


“Lobster Bordelaise, Raw and Cooked Hearts of Palm.” Wow, was this good. The lobster was great lobster, but it was that sauce in the middle. It was as complex as a fine wine!


“Wagyu, Cannellini Bean Puree, Saffron and Marjoram Crust, Sponge Cake.” A very nice beef dish.


Then one of my favorite parts of any serious French meal, Les Fromages.


Some closeups.


And more for good measure.


This is our humble selection. I can’t remember them all but it included Brillat-savarin, one of my favorites.


A relatively lightweight Sauternes. The 1999 Raymond-Lafon. “Aromas of honeyed pineapple/tropical fruit and toasty new oak, as well as an exotic, flashy perfume. The wine possesses an opulent, full-bodied, exotic, lavishly rich personality, and moderate sweetness.”


In the glass. You can tell from the color this isn’t a crazy sticky Sauternes.


This “sunny side up” isn’t actually an egg, but mango and cream! It was pretty great too.


Then this “exotic” tapioca, avocado, with lime sorbet. Really quite incredible.


Here it is with the sorbet.


Then the chocolate. This was just a simple scoop of incredibly intense and wonderful chocolate gelato.


And a bit of earl grey ice cream, which, even as a non-tea fan, was a subtle and lovely ice cream flavor.


I thought the cheese cart was heaven, but then this came. There are just oodles of little desserts here. When our waiter (a seven foot tall Gaul we nick named “French Lurch”) asked us what we’d like, we said, “yes.”


A different view. There are pots of creme, rice pudding, citrus shooters, homemade marshmellows, pate des fruits, frozen grapes, and all sorts of other yummys.


The pots were among my favorites, particularly the rice pudding.


Strawberry pate, coconut macarons, chocolate things.


Those spongy things on the spoon had a bit of passionfruit to them.


In case the heart wasn’t about to quit, the conac cart!


And finally, a triple expresso. I was worried about falling asleep when we went out clubbing (after this 6pm – midnight meal!) but this puppy kept me up straight to 9am. Given that I was trying to sleep from 5am on, that, perhaps, wasn’t ideal.

Overall, this was a spectacular meal. Much more substantive than é by José Andrés and much more focused and palatable than Twist by Pierre Gagnaire. It was classic “fancy french” updated with spectacular ingredients and very fine flavors. I’ve had a lot of opulent meals and I generally judge them by “consistency” and “impact.” This was highly consistent in that every dish worked. Perhaps the shrimp was the weakest, but it certainly worked. And more importantly, a number of dishes, such as the lobster, oyster, and salmon were mind-blowing and highly memorable. Bravo!

For more Vegas dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Vegas with a Twist
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Barolo, Bread, Caesars Palace, Clos Vougeot, Foie gras, Foodie Club, Guy Savoy, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Nevada, Lobster, Michelin, Nevada, Salmon

Game of Thrones – Episode 16

May06

Title: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 16 – May 6, 2012

Title: The Old Gods and the New

Summary: The pace accelerates

ANY CHARACTER HERE

If I had to give this episode a theme, it would be trust (and betrayal). We open as last week with what was foreshadowed before, the arrival of the sea at Winterfell. But the producers did some serious cheaping out. We see none of the assault, none of the battle, instead merely Luwin running to send a raven and Theon telling Bran what he did. Didn’t they here “show don’t tell?” They knew though, it’s just the money, and perhaps the minutes. Still, it’s effective enough, but… cheap. But we do concentrate on the characters, and when Theon gathers everyone, we see the conflict written on every inch of his face. He makes his choice when he decides to man up and execute Rodrick. He is, as the dialog says, “lost forever.”

In the north, John and Qhorin Halfhand continue their excursion through the snowy waste of Iceland. Some got lucky and filmed in Dubrovnik Croatia, some in Iceland. Who had more fun? We see Ghost wandering around again. They must have figured out how to make the wolves economical.

Then Arya continues to serve Lord Tywin Lannister. The acting here  between Arya and Tywin is absolutely first rate. The latter is more complicated, more human, and more likeable in the show than the books. Sure he’s a hardass, but he is reasonable. Then Littlefinger arrives. This is new to the show and deliciously tense. The subtle ways in which Arya tries to maneuver herself to face away, really good stuff.

Back to John in the mountains. They creep up and kill a bunch of wildlings, sparing only one, Ygritte, a pretty redhead. John accepts the responsibility of killing her. Qhorin trusts him to do it. This is a very intimate moment between Snow and the girl. There is something twistedly sexual about the power of life and death, and the lingered moment is exquisite.

Lipstick north of the wall?

The Lannisters see Marcella off to Dorne. Tyrion was right when he insisted that she’d be safer there, because the crowd is angry. Joff isn’t exactly the most endearing of kings, as Ty says, “cruel AND stupid.” The riot is fairly well done. It’s chaotic and dangerous, yet the armored troops have the individual upper hand, as they would. The septon is torn to pieces, literarily. We have various changes. The halfwit daughter of lady whatever isn’t really present. The queen finds herself in less jeopardy, and Sansa gets in some real trouble only to be saved by the Hound. This does a nice job reinforcing the SanSan relationship that the books have more time to develop.

Dany has a brief scene in Qarth with Xaro and the newly arrived “spice king.” He reminds me a bit of a Ferengi.

No love lost here

More Arya and Tywin time. We learn that Jaime is dyslexic, which is a nice bit of character building and exposition— except we haven’t seen Jaime since the first episode, which is a pity. In a way, Ty and Arya’s funny relationship reflects the whole trust thing. Arya snitches a paper about Robb, and then gets herself in a bit of trouble, but good thing she’s got her own pet assassin. The timing of the resolution has a very nice tragio-comic touch.

On the battlefield with Robb, he’s working his relationship with the nurse, Lady Talisa Migia (spelling could be wrong because she’s a new invented character). I’m not really feeling it with these two, but mom arrives to spoil the party and remind him he must marry an ugly Frey girl. I wonder what was wrong with the setup in the novels? Bolton shows with news. How many will noticed the “Flayed Man” on his sigil?

John marches through the waste with a captive Ygritte. Their little chase (which occurred in the previous segment of the thread) was nicely done. Here he has to deal with her and she sets to work on his manly weakness. I liked the two of the them in the books and I like it here.

Robb, Cat, and Bolton discuss Theon’s betrayal. I like how they have given Bolton a little more skin in the game (haha) and how they improve the clarity of him sending his bastard son to relieve Winterfell. This is a tad obtuse in the books. One of GRRMs weaknesses as a writer (and made worse by his complex POV structure) is that certain parts of important events are often a little vague. I forgive him, he has so many strengths.

Osha is fairly convincing when she comes to work Theon. Trust and betrayal. He gets what he sows. She even goes in for the full frontal, which is the only bit of nudity in this sexposition free episode (two in a row!). With Littlefinger out of town and Daisy nursing her bottom, what are whores to do? Theon has fallen for women several times before, it stems from his insecurities, and this time is no different. Contrast him with his  “step” half-brother John who resists Ygritte’s advances (for now).

Very brief status with Sasha being tended by Shae. This is mostly just to let us know she’s okay.

Then back to Theon. Osha sneaks away. She’s always had an interesting feral quality to her, with her head cocked and the like, but naked it’s doubly so. She’s pretty badass with the guard and it’s good to see the Stark boys (and the wolves) make a clean escape. Theon’s in trouble now! You reap what you sow. Wait, I thought Greyjoy’s didn’t sow!

Why does everyone want to marry me?

Then Dany (with Xaro) finds her people raided and slaughtered and her dragons missing. This too is a major change from the book but I don’t blame them, her  Qarth plot in A Clash of Kings was a little anemic. But here, trust or betrayal? And where was Jorah when we needed him?

And so ends another great episode. As usual, as the plot lines twist and knot, with the setup mostly accomplished, things move very rapidly here in the middle of the season. I so wish I didn’t have to wait another week!

See my review of A Dance With Dragons.

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My novels: The Darkening Dream and Untimed

or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

Season 5: [41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

With only men in the watch, don't forget to look over your shoulder

Related posts:

  1. Game of Thrones – Episode 14
  2. Game of Thrones – Episode 12
  3. Game of Thrones – Episode 15
  4. Game of Thrones – Episode 5
  5. Game of Thrones – Episode 6
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Television
Tagged as: A Dance with Dragons, Arya, Characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, Clash of Kings, Dany, Game of Thrones, Historical fantasy, Major houses in A Song of Ice and Fire, Television, World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Wolfgang Puck’s Cut – A cut above?

May05

Restaurant: Wolfgang Puck’s Cut

Location: 9500 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, California 90212. P: 310-276-8500

Date: April 12, 2012

Cuisine: Steak House

Rating: Great, but I think Mastro’s is slightly better at the over the top steak house thing

_

The Foodie Club rolled out on the town for the first time in a while (I was slowed up by my broken wrist) and it was founding member Simon’s birthday and he wanted to go to Cut.


Cut is located inside the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (think Pretty Woman) and is Wolfgang Puck’s take on redefining the American Steak House. In this, it succeeds very well. While it adheres to the Steak House basics: slabs of beef served plain on the plate, Cut upgrades things in a number of ways. But we’ll get to this in good time.


The modern kitchen turns stuff out in full view.

Puck himself was in attendance as well, he came by the table to admire my wines.

And self-help guru and modern Rasputin Tony Robbins was just a couple of tables over. Cut is definitely a place to be seen, and you can totally tell from the crowd.


Erick brought this Burgundy to start. “Displaying a bright, medium-to-dark ruby color as well as a cherry and ground white pepper-laced nose, this is a refined, thickly-textured, concentrated, and broad wine. It has outstanding depth of sweet cherry fruit, admirable structure, and a long, precise, and satiny finish. This gem has the requisite fruit, backbone, and concentration for extended cellaring. Projected maturity: 2002-2010.”


Out come the breadsticks. Given that this is passover, I had to abstain.


Which got even harder when the cheesy balls emerged. Simon and Erick snarfed the whole basket to save me.


Cut isn’t in any hurry. After about twenty minutes the menu showed. You can see that the center is a wide variety of “slabs of undercooked beef.” Also present are appetizers, sides, sauces and the like.


This is a presentation of some of the special “Kobe style” beef. The black ones are Japanese cattle, bred in America. The white ones are American cattle in a Kobe style. At the top is the American Kobe style filet mignon which Simon will later eat.


More temptation arrives in the form of a very delectable looking bread plate. The guys said it was great.


Then keeping with kosher tradition we have: “Maple Glazed Pork Belly, Asian Spices, Watercress, Persimmon, Sesame–Orange Dressing, Bosc Pear Compote.” Pretty fantastic actually. Like bacon in maple syrup.


Then the first in a trio of raw. “Big Eye Tuna Tartare, Wasabi Aioli, Ginger, Togarashi Crisps, Tosa Soy.” A nice take on the familiar dish.


As I’ve mentioned recently, I’m loving the steak tartare. “Prime Sirloin “Steak Tartare”, Herb Aioli, Mustard.” This was good, with sour dour (I didn’t eat it) and horseradish and various aioli on the side.


Plus a quail egg we dumped on top. It had a nice delicate flavor, but wasn’t as good as say this one I had in Chianti. Probably because it wasn’t from Chiana cattle!


And more raw beef, because I love it so. “Kobe Steak Sashimi, Spicy Radishes.” This was a wonderful dish too, although I liked the similar take at A-Frame a little better.


Now we pull out the big guns wine-wise. From my cellar. Parker gives this a 96 and it earned every point. “This fabulous, blockbuster has been totally unevolved since bottling, but at the Jaboulet tasting, it was beginning to reveal some of its formidable potential. A saturated opaque purple color is followed by aromas of cassis, minerals, and hot bricks/wood fire. Super-ripe and full-bodied, with a massive mid-section, teeth-staining extract, and mouth-searing tannin, it is a monster-sized La Chapelle. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2050.”


Now, coming to the main course. I’m not really a straight up steak man. I don’t enjoy plain beef. It’s too simple and I’m a more is more kind of guy. So I went for “Kobe Beef Short Ribs “Indian Spiced”, Curried Pumpkin Puree, Garam Masala, Slowly Cooked For Eight Hours.” Above is the curry like sauce.


Then they settle the succulent short ribs on top. This is beef my style. Not only is the meat itself rich and flavorful, but the sauce provides an intense medley of Indian spices. Love this.


For those going plain, they provide a bunch of “free” sauces like salt and three kinds of mustard. We also ordered a $2 thing of “Shallot-Red Wine Bordelaise” (not pictured) which was a really incredibly wine reduction sauce.


Simon’s “American Wagyu / Angus “Kobe Style” Beef From Snake River Farms, Idaho, Filet Mignon 6 Oz.” Looks beefy. You can see it raw above in the raw steak photo.


Erick settled on a classic “U.S.D.A. PRIME, Illinois Corn Fed, Aged 21 Days, Bone In Rib Eye Steak 20 Oz.” Now that’s a man’s piece of meat. I had some. It tasted great, smothered in Bordelaise!


“Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Smokey Bacon, Pearl Onions.” Pretty good, but Cut doesn’t have the full array of massively decadent sides like Mastro’s.


“Roasted Campania Artichokes, White Asparagus, Guanciale.” The white asparagus are a nod to Puck, Austrians love them. But it was the artichokes that dominated this pleasant dish.


“Cavatappi Pasta “Mac & Cheese,” Québec Cheddar.” This is a little richer, and it was good, but it didn’t totally match up to a Mastro’s “Gorgonzola mac & cheese!” or “king crab truffle gnocchi.”


Out comes the dessert menu.


“Dark Chocolate ‘Marquise’, Black Cherries, Chocolate Brioche, Red Wine Ice Cream.” This was good, rich, but a little chocolatey for my taste. The wine ice cream was very subdued.


“Valrhona Chocolate Soufflé, Whipped Creme Fraiche, Gianduja Chocolate Ice Cream.” Excellent classic Soufflé, if not quite as perfect as the one at Maison Giraud (I have photos of it, but haven’t written them up yet).


However, it did come with this superlative collection of sauces. Left to right, chocolate hazelnut ice cream (yum!), creme fraiche, and deep Gianduja chocolate sauce. All excellent.


“‘Baked Alaska’ Meyer Lemon Gelato & Blackberry Sorbet, Toasted Pistachios.” This was mine and it was good. Really good. The whole meyer lemon blackberry thing completely and totally worked. It was almost as good — and very similar to — the semifredo at Capo which is one of my all time favorites.


Then to finish, some little lemon and chocolate tarts. Both were excellent.

Overall, Cut is very very good, if a little expensive. It does succeed in taking the Steak House format and shaking it up a bit. Partly by offering unusual cuts of beef, partly by having newer more modern appetizers and sides. Execution is very good. Service is very good. It isn’t as over the top as Mastro’s. Not being focused on the pure beef, I can’t speak to the steak itself (both seem good to me). Mastro’s does, however, have a serious decadence factor — not that Cut is light. After coming out of Mastro’s my heart is usually palpitating. Perhaps that isn’t a good thing.

More Foodie Club extravaganzas here.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Red Medicine – Elfin Feast
  2. No Beef with Mastro’s
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills California, Beverly Wilshire Hotel, California, Cut, Dessert, Foodie Club, Kobe, Rodeo Drive, Steak, Wolfgang Puck

The Way of Shadows

May03

Title: The Way of Shadows

Author: Brent Weeks

Genre: Fantasy

Length: 688 pages

Read: March 23-24, 2012

Summary: Great epic fantasy!

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Despite the cheesy “hooded dude” cover, this was a great bit of epic fantasy. It was recommended by a twitter follower and turned out to be one of the better “classic medieval fantasy” books I’ve read in recent years. Certainly the best since I found The Name of the Wind in 2008.

Weeks borrows heavily and to good effect from 80s fantasy tropes. This is city fantasy, almost entirely set in a corrupt capital. Our protagonist is a young boy who apprentices with a deadly “wetboy” (assassin who uses magical powers). The prose is clean and workmanlike, sometimes even modern and flip. Weeks doesn’t bother to make anything sound too medieval, in fact, it’s so modern as to sometimes sound anachronistic. Still, despite the length, the novel is not overwritten and the writing doesn’t get in the way of the excellent storytelling and world building.

For fantasy  fans, this book is an appealing ride. We have good characters, sordid and ambiguous underworld figures. We have a well conceived world with detailed and engaging political intrigue. We have a decent, albeit minimalist, magical system. And we have a lot — I mean a real lot — of very well written action scenes. Weeks is a great writer of physical action and he uses it to good effect. This book contains fight after fight. Plus lots of sneaking around. And it’s not overdone. Each individual skirmish is compact enough, well integrated into the intricate plot, and brilliantly executed.

Again, despite the length, this makes for a breakneck pace and near total immersion into the seedy underworld. The book is pretty dark too, with some serious abuse in the early chapters. It’s not A Song of Ice and Fire dark, but there is some good insight into the nature of meanness. Bravo. The adventures continue into two sequels.

For more book reviews, click here.

Or read about my own historical fantasy novel here.

Related posts:

  1. The Wise Man’s Fear
  2. The Name of the Wind
  3. Inside Game of Thrones
  4. Book Review: The Way of Kings
  5. Book Review: The Gathering Storm
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Books
Tagged as: Book Review, Brent Weeks, Fantasy, Fiction, High fantasy, Name of the Wind, Song of Ice and Fire, The Way of Shadows

Singapore – Long Beach Dempsey

May01

Restaurant: Long Beach Dempsey

Location: 25 Dempsey road Left turn to Dempsey via Holland Rd (before Peirce Rd) Singapore 249670 Tel: 6323 2222

Date: March 23, 2012

Cuisine: Singaporean

Rating: Amazing Crab

_

On my way back from the Maldives (see here for that food) we stopped for a day in Singapore. I’d been told this pretty and modern city has some of the best eating in Asia. The Raffles hotel (where we were staying) sent us to this local chain for some chili crab. It wasn’t fancy by western standards, but the crab was phenomenal.


Got to love these Asian picture menus.


This is “sweet and sour shrimp.” Heavily fried but oh so good.


And a different kind of fried shrimp, the “House Specialty Prawn.” These were good too, a bit like shrimp tempura with a slightly more Chinese taste.


And for the trio of main event items this is “classic white pepper crab.” There were a choice of crabs between $68 and $220 dollars. We went for these “popular” Sri Lankan crags. They were huge and delicious, and not nearly as expensive as the Alaskan King Crabs and the like. The white pepper crab had an awesome and delicate white pepper flavor. Not cloying in the least.


Here is the “Famous Black Pepper Crab.” It was also great, perhaps a little more powerful in taste than the white. Spicier. I think I might have liked the white slightly better.


Then comes the “world famous chili crab.” This guy is drenched in a curry-like chili sauce. The sauce was incredible.


It was so good we got these bread balls to scoop it up with. But that wasn’t enough. We spooned it and more (see later).


Next were some “Dong Po ribs with honey sauce.” These were some of the best Chinese-style pork ribs I’ve had. They melted from the bone.


“Renowned Crispy Duck.” Also good, but a little dry in comparison to everything else.


When we ordered this clam and noodle dish the waiter sold us we wouldn’t like it, “too local.” It was odd. Like steamed clams in gravy covered in strips of fried clams.  By gravy I mean Turkey gravy or the like. As I said, odd.


My poor wife had to watch the other seven of us devour all that before she got anything she could eat. This fried grouper in sweat and sour schezhuan sauce. It was good too.


After finishing the crab itself and dipping up a storm with the sauce we just couldn’t let it go.


At the suggestion of the staff we ordered some egg fried rice and just spooned the sauce on over it. Yum!


Then we got a pair of peculiar Asian desserts. These are like panacotta with in one case caramel and the other chocolate.


You can see it closer here. It was steaming like dry ice. The flavor was mild and sweet, making it a pleasant was to end a very pleasant evening.

This meal might not look like one of my crazy Michelin places but it sure was fantastic!

For more dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

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  2. Sam’s by the Beach 3D
  3. Sam’s by the Beach – Mom’s Annual Dinner
  4. Food as Art: Sam’s by the Beach
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By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asia, bbq, Black pepper, Chili Crab, Chilli crab, crab, Long Beach Dempsey, Raffles Hotel, ribs, shrimp, Singapore, Sri Lanka

Game of Thrones – Episode 15

Apr29

Title: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 15 – April 29, 2012

Title: The Ghost of Harrenhal

Summary: A very even and great episode

ANY CHARACTER HERE

If last week’s theme was torture, this week’s is revenge.

We open with the deadly mystic consequence of last week’s final scene. A revenge of sorts? Perhaps, but it certainly begets thoughts of same. Brienne swears vengence and flees with Cat, then Loras and Margarey  Tyrell swear as well. Marg hints at her ambition. But it’s also worth noting here that the production spent on some scope they didn’t necessarily do last season. For example, a CGI shot of Stannis’ ships. It wasn’t totally necessary, but helps give things a bigger look. There is still room to go, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Tyrion and Cersei talk, which is always amusing. My favorite is Ty’s line: “Schemes and plots are the same thing.” News sure travels fast in Westeros, in the books there is a little more sense of the passing of time. Then Ty extracts Joff and Cersei’s secret from Lancell. Is it me, or is his litter dwarf sized?

Davos and Stannis talk about Renly’s death and the future. And while I do think Davos in particular is well played, I just can’t get too excited about their scenes.

Back in King’s Landing, they’re eating eels, which any reader will know, is a homage to the lamprey pies of the books. Ty and Bronn walk and talk through the city giving us some local color. This is more of that spend as that was certainly an expensive way to do the exposition. Camera work is still a little close, but good try, and the costumes are great. Ty offhandedly mentions the poor prostitute he sent to a terrible fate at his nephew’s hands, and all we get is “the king is a lost cause.”

The Theon scenes feel slightly awkward, and this one sure starts off that way. It’s almost Three’s Company embarrassing to watch him with the crew and his gloating sister. Then his mate triggers his ideas. Uh oh. That’s a nice moment. Theon cuts a fine, if slightly awkward figure. His casting reeks of tough choices to come.

Arya is serving the evil Lord Tywin in Harrenhal. But mean as he is, he’s pretty rational. This serves to give us the Lannister perspective and Arya does her usual great job when quizzed. Then what I’ve been waiting for — and the revenge theme — when she has a little conversation with Jaqen H’ghar, the mysterious man in the cage. His way of speaking and his manner is great. Although I’m not sure that TV only viewers will have any sense of his mystical side. I wished they showed him changing faces, and hopefully they will yet, so it’s a little mysterious how he ended up in the Lannister guard. By the way, what happened to the Mountain? Maybe he was sent off to make some more mischief. In any case, I loved the talk of the debt owed the death god. I love creepy divine obligations. But what does Jaqen H’ghar call it the red god? I always viewed this as the same deity as Arya’s “dancing master.” And did he mention being a were? Are the writers trying to merge some of the mystical elements?

John, Morment, and the crow crew are trekking through Iceland… achem, far north of the wall. It looks great. Very frozen and barren. They mention the Halfhand, subtly introing him. “There’s only one Halfhand.” Then when they set up at the Fist of the First Men we see Ghost just loitering about. Nice. As I noted his gratuitous absence last season was annoying. They listened.

Ty is in good form when he visits the Pyromancers. The writer’s do capture a little bit of their creepy nature calling it “the substance” even if the scenes are quick. The cool locked door to the storage room is a nice touch and I like having Bronn around as Ty’s foil. In fact I’m very much liking Bronn as a character.

And finally, to Dany in Qarth. We get our first taste of actual dragon since the season opener. They look good, but the budget is stingy with them. In the same vein, a little CGI would have been nice as Xaro Xhoan Daxos’ house, while pretty, felt cramped and I missed that gorgeous vista we saw last week. The introduction to the Warlocks was cool though. The guy certainly looks creepy and the whole doppelgänger bit interesting. At least they aren’t totally avoiding the magic — although, again I would have liked to have seen the Jaqen switch his face.

Brienne and Cat have a nice moment in the wood, which looks suspiciously like the same woods as behind Winterfell. Their oaths are heartfelt. I’ve always liked oaths, what fantasy guy doesn’t? Certainly the revenge bit enters again here.

Speaking of Winterfell, we finally return to Bran. We even see Rickon for 30 seconds, which given his behavior, is about all we need. Shouldn’t have sent those 200 men away is all I can say. I like the 3-eyed raven bit, and Osha is evasive. Why exactly she doesn’t tell him, I don’t know, but revenge is hovering. I’m pretty much certain now that she’s going to triple duty for the fey twins from the Moat. The producers need cast reduction.

Back in the frozen north with John and we meet the Halfhand for real. He isn’t introduced, so I wonder what new viewers will make of him, but I like the casting. John is finally about to get his adventure. Maybe it will knock a bit of that petulance out of him.

And back to Qarth for some discussion of what everyone wants, which is pretty pointed. Xaro makes Dany an unromantic proposal, but it’s nicely done and he mixes it up with a good dose of truth. This has her looking at Jorah in a new light. Here, also, we have some realistic delay of news. She finds out only now that Robert is dead, nearly a whole season late. But that’s actually very reasonable given her location and the fact that she’s been hanging out in the red waste. Internet service there is terrible.

Finally, back to Arya, the titular Harrenhal, and revenge. We get a quick glimpse of Gendry and his rat free abs. Their lives sure have improved since last episode. I think a little too much. In the books you still felt this looming sense of dread for her. But the death of the Tickler and her realization of her newfound power is well done.

Overall, this is a very solid episode that really moves everything along. In fact, we have most of the threads present, even if only briefly. The only major players left out are Robb and Jaime. Poor Jaime, he really doesn’t get much to do in the first half of A Clash of Kings. And with the credit roll we are halfway through the whole season. I can’t believe it, and I can’t imagine how they are going to cram it all in. Really, we needed at least twelve episodes!

P.S. In what is perhaps a GOT first, there is no sexposition at all.

See my review of A Dance With Dragons.

If you liked this post, follow me at:

My novels: The Darkening Dream and Untimed

or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

Season 5: [41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

Related posts:

  1. Game of Thrones – Episode 14
  2. Game of Thrones – Episode 12
  3. Game of Thrones – Episode 13
  4. Game of Thrones – Episode 5
  5. Game of Thrones – Episode 6
By: agavin
Comments (8)
Posted in: Television
Tagged as: A Dance with Dragons, Arya, Characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, Game of Thrones, Historical fantasy, Major houses in A Song of Ice and Fire, World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Diablo 3 – Commercial

Apr29

The geek watch countdown!

And a second ad:

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By: agavin
Comments (11)
Posted in: Games
Tagged as: Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, Diablo, Diablo 3, Diablo III, Fantasy, RPG

Food as Art – CR8: Purotekuta

Apr28

Restaurant: CR8 by Roberto Cortez [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: LA

Date: April 25, 2012

Cuisine: Modern Art

Rating: Storybook

_

About a year ago I came across online a chef named Roberto Cortez who hosts periodic themed modernist dinners. Looking at Roberto’s work (visible on his blog) it was instantly obvious that his visual style and presentation were out of this world. They exhibit a standout playfulness and creativity well in advance of even top restaurants. On March 5 I went to his Dark Illuminated Forest and experienced one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

So I was extremely excited to find another invite to a new concept in my inbox this April. The current event/meal is called Purotekuta and you can see the thematic poster to the right.

This time, all the founding Foodie Club partners were available and we set off in mass for the event.

As a prelude, Roberto sent us the above gorgeous East/West fusion “story” in the mail. This contains a bit of Sci-Fi Manga style story set in future Spain. We will see later how this unfolds into a meal.

We gather in the outdoor space to enjoy a homemade cocktail.

Roberto whips them up. Below he explains the ingredients, be sure to listen in order to appreciate all the elements that go into this.

He calls this the kama sutra. At the core it’s mango (like a mango lassi).

The finished product has a delicious mouthfeel.

Above are the ingredients for tonight’s menu along with some of my wine notes.

And Roberto whips it all up in this tiny kitchen.

Roberto did me the favor of sending me the list of rough ingredients for each dish in tonight’s meal so that I could do a proper wine pairing. This is something I rarely have the opportunity to do because it requires a pretty big table. Tonight is elven people and so I figured we could handle almost one bottle per course. I doubled up the wine on one of the nine and settled on eight bottles. The two dessert wines are half bottles. This left three whites, three reds, and two dessert wines. Many drinkers prefer reds but Roberto uses a lot of complex and Asian flavors in his cooking that favored whites and reds with more finesse. I tried to mirror the dishes spiritually by choosing unusual varietals with local and offbeat qualities, avoiding anything international in style (although all are European).

We then move into the interior of the gallery and our dinner space. It’s been completely custom decorated for the event including two mural-sized paintings illustrating the dinner story.

Above Roberto explains the unique story concept for tonight’s dinner. Each course has a story card we must read. I apologize for the terrible video quality of this and later explanations by Roberto. The room was nearly lightless. In any case, it’s the audio that matters.

The first card.

And the first wine. All wines were selected by me from my cellar to match individual dishes.

“The king of Sancerres: a gorgeously, complete triumph from Jean-Max’s oldest vines. These deep roots provide concentration, structure and power. A combination of stainless steel and aging in large oak barrels combines vim with elegance. The VV is round and full-bodied with hints of crystalline honey and fresh mint.”

Roberto explains the first dish.

“Enchanted Paella. Saffron Bomba rice cream, dehydrated tomato confit, red pepper pudding, pea puree-shoots, crunchy chorizo, fire roasted shrimp/mussel consomee, soccarat crisp.”

Roberto loves to play with traditional dishes, mixing them up into entirely new forms and textures. This did in fact taste like a shrimp paella. Texturally, the saffron cream in the consomee was reminiscent of  the garlic aioli often served with boulibase.

A semi-close up of one of the wall murals.

The second story card.

And second wine:

Robert Parker 95. “The 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape blanc is even better. Meriting the same rating as I gave it last year, it is a delicious, beautifully textured, light gold-colored white revealing plenty of white peach, apricot, nectarine, and honeysuckle notes as well as a distinctive florality and minerality. More honeyed and fuller-bodied than its 2008 counterpart, it should drink beautifully for 7-8 years, then go into an oxidative state. It is somewhat of a gamble as to what will happen thereafter. Beaucastel’s limited production luxury cuvee first produced in 1986 is their 100% Roussanne Vieilles Vignes offering. Fifty percent is barrel-fermented in one-year-old barrels, but no new oak is utilized.”

“Emperior’s Uni. Avocado tartare, uni sabayon, frozen jalapeno, shinseiki pear gelee, Blis sake cure steelhead caviar, pickled grapes, lime leaf, chive oil.”

You wouldn’t think all those things would go together, but they do!

The third card.

Because of the white asparagus I chose this gorgeous Mosel valley riesling, located just an hour or two from the heart of white asparagus country. Wine often has an affinity to the nearby agricultural products.

“The Weins-Prum 2009 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese smells of dried apples and white raisin accompanied by wafting honeysuckle and heliotrope perfume; comes to the palate creamy and with remarkable lift, delicacy, and purity; and finishes with an unctuous sense of botrytis ennoblement allied to a remarkable degree of residual refreshment and even an uncanny hint of Mosel-typical wet stone. As Bert Selbach points out, in the 1990s, he would have bottled material of this sort as a gold capsule Auslese. He picked this beauty in the last week of October, about which decision he notes “here we had probably barely 20% botrytis. I’m not a fan of letting the grapes hang too long and letting too much botrytis develop. I maintain that an Auslese has to retain Spiel.” Try playing around with this one for the next 35 years or so.”

“Spring White. White asparagus textures, mint, dungeness crab, grapefruit curd, dill sponge.”

Late April and early may is white asparagus season. It’s also traditional in Holland and Germany to make them into a soup. The crab provided perfect sweetness and the foam, although texturally odd, paired nicely as well.

The table is actually a giant door and the we have a sword!

The fourth card.

This dish wins in terms of presentation.

“The Seed. 64C egg expression, toasted seed merinque, thai basil velote, buttermilk.”

Essentially this is a sous-vide poached egg. The toasted seed merinque was really yummy and could be dipped in the egg.

But key was to pour in this basil puree (basically pesto). I’ve always liked egg and pesto. At home I often sunnyside up eggs, sprinkle parmesan on them, and add pesto (and Tabasco). I love the mix of Tabasco and pesto.

The fifth card.

I paired this wine because of its foresty mushroom vibe.

“The 2004 Boca Il Rosso delle Donne shimmers on the palate with layers of fruit, mineral, and herbs. Stylistically the 2004 is a much more expansive, generous wine than the 2005, with layers of fruit that radiate with notable energy through to the mineral-laced finish. This fresh, vibrant and impeccably pure wine is a jewel. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2024.

The reds of Northern Piedmont remain insiders’ wines, but the finest bottles from these tiny appellations merit considerable attention. I came away very impressed with the wines I tasted from Conti. I also sampled a number of older vintages, the best of which are reviewed here. All of these wines are 70% Nebbiolo, 20% Vespolina and 10% Uva Rara, the traditional blend in these parts.”

“Trapped Funghi. Morels, sesame praline, spring alliums, mushroom sabayon, cardamon, homemade coffee oil, ginger.” The sabayon was to die for in this dish. We craved bread to mop it up.

The sixth card.

Parker 93. “One of the three batches that will be blended to make up d ‘Angerville’s 2005 Volnay Champans was still in malo, so I base my assessment on the other two. Scented with cherry and cassis, flowers and fungus, smoke and chalk dust, this displays richness and depth, fine tannins and emerging silkiness, and a youthfully firm but long finish loaded with savory subtleties. Just give it 6-8 years before revisiting. (The outstanding d’Angerville 2004s were also very late to finish malo, and the Champans is especially memorable for its vivid sauteed champignons, alluring ginger spice, marrowy richness, and flattering mouth feel, indeed comparable in quality though lacking the developmental potential of this 2005.”

“Glacial Brine. Halibut confit, white miso champagne risotto, fennel, gellied ham.” This was a pretty incredible fish dish. The miso was very sweet, almost mango like. Then the ham jelly just added an awesome bit of hamminess to the whole thing.

The seventh card.

Parker 93. “The estate’s top of the line 2001 Amarone Classico Riserva Sergio Zenato is superb. A blend of Corvina, Rondinella and Sangiovese, it reveals expressive aromatics followed by a compelling array of raisins, tar, chocolate and sweet fruit. It, too, comes across as powerful and brawny in style, but it is also a much more complete, rich wine than the 2003 Amarone tasted alongside it. This beautiful Amarone offers terrific length and a long, resonating finish. It spent three years in large oak barrels. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2011.”

“El Itimo. Black vinegar Iberico Carrilleras, wheatberry, foie gras emulsion, beet puree, brussel sprouts, maple consomee.” This was pretty awesome too. The texture was more like beef short ribs than pork.

Roberto filling us in on what’s coming.

The eighth card.

Parker 99! “The unreleased 1994 Tokay-Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal (Selection de Grains Nobles) Trie Speciale is the sweetest and densest wine Olivier Humbrecht has ever fashioned. It has 540 grams of residual sugar per liter and 12 grams of acid. As Humbrecht noted, “it makes no noise when poured into a glass, it is completely silent!” He has not yet presented it for certification as an SGN, which is why that moniker is in parentheses. Needless to say, this puree of fruit-flavored syrup sets new standards in power, concentration, and length.”

A shotglass of this unctuous nectar.

“Dragon Flower. Lychee tapioca, mascarpone elderflower ice cream, compressed liquid strawberry.” This doesn’t look like much but it was wonderful. Soft and refreshing with fantastic subtle flavors.

The ninth and final card.

Parker 94. “The 2003 Sagrantino di Montefalco Passito tastes just like the harvested grapes prior to fermentation. Deceptively understated at first glance, the wine offers up a compelling array of dark plums, prunes and spices, with a long, elegant finish and lingering notes of perfumed fruit that reappear on the close. Bea’s Sagrantino di Montefalco Passito is one of Italy’s great dessert wines, and the 2003 is a splendid vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2019.”

“Phantom Porcelana. Amedei Porcelana (55C), banana, herb salad, oak wood ice cream, roasted malt, red wine, olive oil, tonka bean.” This is some kind of special uber single vineyard chocolate. It was pretty incredible. I’m not much of a banana fan (bad banana whiskey experiment in college) but even that worked for me. The “wood” ice cream was very subtle but added a nice whipped cream-like thing to the intense chocolate.

Overall, this was a spectacular dining experience. I wasn’t quite as wowed as I was during my first Roberto meal, Dark Illuminated Forest, as there is always a novelty factor with first time things. But on all levels the results tonight were truly outstanding. The most similar (non-Roberto) meal I’ve had was this one at 2-star Calima in Spain — but this overall experience took everything to the next level. This is the most complex and ambitious “meal” I’ve yet had. It combines location, music, story, food, and even my wine pairings.

The man is like a Toscanini of food. It’s mind-boggling. Every single dish worked. Some were a bit better of course, but all were great. They show technical virtuosity, but more importantly, they show his incredible talent for predicting the nature of sensory experience. Like a Mozart symphony, the notes were all harmonious. Really, Food as Art.

Roberto details this meal on his own blog.

Check out more of my grand Foodie Club meals.

Related posts:

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  2. Food as Art: Chanukah in Style
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  5. Food as Art: Ludobites 7.0
By: agavin
Comments (6)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Auslese, Chateauneuf du Pape, CR8, Foodie Club, Jean-Max, Purotekuta, Riesling, Roberto, Roberto Cortez, Roussanne, Wine tasting descriptors

The Rules of Magic

Apr26

I ran  across this extremely interesting and totally meta article on fantasy magic by Brandon Sanderson. I’ve had my own version of this kind of theory since the early 80s but he really spells it out.

He breaks magic systems down into how “hard” or “soft” they are. Meaning, how defined are their rules.

If you’re a writer working on your fantasy magic systems, I suggest that you decide what kind of feel you want for your magic. Do you like the techno-magic like you find in my books, or in books by L.E. Modesitt Jr. and Melanie Rawn? Do you like the hybrids like you find in someone more like David Eddings or J.K. Rowling? Or, do you prefer your magic to be more vague and mysterious, like you see in Tolkien or the George R. R. Martin books? I like to read works by all of these authors, but when I write, I prefer to have rules, costs, and laws to work with in my magic, and that makes it more fun for me.

By hard or techno-magic he means books like his own, or comic books, or video games (like WOW or Diablo), where the magic is a well defined tool. On the soft side are books like Tolkien with a more mythic feel. But what is particularly interesting is his insights into the narrative impact of magic.

Resist the urge to use magic to solve problems unless you’ve already explained and shown that aspect of how the magic works. Don’t give the heroes a new power whenever they need one, and be very careful about writing laws into your system just so that you can use them in a single particular situation. (This can make your magic seem flimsy and convenient, even if you HAVE outlined its abilities earlier.)

Very good advice. If your magic is soft enough that major new developments occur every time it is used, then you better NOT use it to solve problems. Or:

If you’re writing a soft magic system, ask yourself “How can they solve this without magic?” or even better, “How can using the magic to TRY to solve the problem here really just make things worse.” (An example of this: The fellowship relies on Gandalf to save them from the Balrog. Result: Gandalf is gone for the rest of that book.)

Semi-consciously, this is what I did in The Darkening Dream which has multiple complex magic systems that are not fully explained, and is hence a kind of middle-soft magic universe. The characters do use magic, but it rarely helps or pans out the way they want, and when it does, I’m generally using a power that I clearly set up before. The villains make heavier use of magic, and their systems are better defined. Still, things often go poorly. In this book I really wanted to give the magic a sense of weight. To make it clear that it was never free or easy and required years of study, practice, and consequences often far outweighing the long term benefits.

My second novel, Untimed, is in many ways closer to a hard magic system in that the time travel has very rigid rules. This (and the related villains) are the only “supernatural” element. I try to maintain my sense of mystery in a number of ways despite this increased definition. 1) The characters are young and alone and don’t know all the rules. 2) They find them out as they go and by trial and error (emphasis on the error). This is also useful to avoid bombarding the reader with too much infodump. 3) I keep the “how” this all came to be and the “why” the villains do what they do hidden throughout the first book.

To me, this balance of the feel of the mystical world is absolutely essential to fantasy writing. How much I like a story is heavily influenced by it, even if I am a fan of tales across the hard/soft spectrum. Like everything, execution is key.

Find Brandon Sanderson’s entire article here.

A detailed write up on the basis of the magic I used for The Darkening Dream is here.

Related posts:

  1. The Magic of The Darkening Dream
By: agavin
Comments (7)
Posted in: Fiction, Writing
Tagged as: Balrog, Brandon Sanderson, David Eddings, Fantasy, Gandalf, George R. R. Martin, J. R. R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, Melanie Rawn, The Darkening Dream, Untimed

Cocoa Island – Decadent Dinner

Apr24

Restaurant: Cocoa Island

Location: Maldives. Tel +960 6641818 Fax +960 6641919 Email res@cocoaisland.como.bz

Date: March 16-22, 2012

Cuisine: International

Rating: International Flair

_

We head back to Cocoa Island (and its single restaurant) to cover the last meal of the day. If you missed the endless breakfast, find it here or the spectacular Languorous Lunch.


Usually we ate on the beach. Even at night the temperature hovered around 80.


This is our jumbo long table.


For dinner, the restaurant has two common configurations. Seafood BBQ and ala carte. The BBQ isn’t available every night but the menu is.


The BBQ consists of a number of stations plus the above grilling station. You can order up as much of whatever variety of sea creatures you can stomach.


There is also a “salad” table.


This includes basic sushi. The variety might not be up to LA sushi standards, but the quality of the fish was very high.


Oysters on the half shell.


Various oyster sauces and little shooters of ceviche.


Crab shooters.


A seafood salad.


Papaya and mussel salad.


Another seafood salad. In general these were very light.


Broccoli and almonds.


Potatos.


Grilled vegetables.


Greek salad.


A grain salad.


Raddichio salad.


Classic prosciutto and melon — and this in a country that is supposed to have no ham.


Cheese and fruit.


Crackers.


Then we come back to the seafood grill. There are fish, lobsters, big prawns, tuna slabs, etc.


Any of them could be grilled up on command served with various sauces.


 Then there was the regular menu.


This was a gazpacho.


Served with avocado.


“Cold smoked yellowfin tuna, oyster cream, apple & mint.” Lovely presentation.


“Duck liver parfait, spiced oranges & toasted brioche.” This was as good as any chicken liver I’ve had. Yum.


They had lovely breads here, particularly the naan.


“Black ink noodles with sautéed squid, chorizo & chili ink sauce.” Good stuff!


“Roast tomato, buffalo mozzarella & basil risotto with lemon & shaved fennel.”


“Baby chicken Biriyani with mint raita, tomato & red onion salad.” Chicken pot pie, Indian style. Inside, under the crust, was a a mixture of rice and chicken. It was pretty delicious.


“Basil oil poached snapper, bean, olive, caper, lemon & dill salsa with Jerusalem artichokes.”

The dessert menu.


This is actually a kind of flan with spiced pears and a homemade ice cream. It was darn good.


Homemade ice cream, always good.


One of us wanted some whipped creme, so they whipped it up to order.

It’s pretty amazing that a restaurant can do this breath of styles with such excellent execution, but they did. Everything I had was great, and the same 2-3 guys in the kitchen did it all (even the breakfast, lunch, desserts, and baking!).

For more dining reviews click here.


dec

Related posts:

  1. Cocoa Island – Languorous Lunch
  2. Cocoa Island – Endless Breakfast
  3. Dinner and Drinks at Tavern
  4. Fraiche – Ultimo Wine Dinner
  5. Friday Night Heights – Shabbat Dinner
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Barbecue, bbq, Cocoa Island, Dessert, Maldives, Restaurant, Salad, Seafood, Sri Lanka, Travel and Tourism

Game of Thrones – Episode 14

Apr22

Title: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 14 – April 22, 2012

Title: Garden of Bones

Summary: Best episode yet, hands down

ANY CHARACTER HERE

This week is pure tension and creep. Plus, lots of new developments. We see this first in the credits with the appearance of both Harrenhal and Qarth. Then cut to some Lannister guards at a camp, providing comic relief. Then in what is now classic Game of Thrones combat minimalism, about a one second “battle.” On the field of carnage (after skipping all the action) Robb shows he’s his father’s son. But we meet lord Bolton (the flayed man) and know he sure isn’t. This introduces a bit of a torture theme. Robb also meets a girl, a nurse. Could this be some kind of substitute for Jeyne Westerling? Or the girl herself? I’m thinking so, given that she got about three minutes of screen time, which is a lot for a bit player. Achem, Ros I’m looking at you.

Then we cut to Westeros’ biggest villain, blond baddie Joff the Toff. He’s so mad at Robb that he’s willing to threaten and strip Sansa. Or is this his MTV? Torture again? But Tyrion rushes in to the rescue. Bronn suggests Joff may just be suffering from a case of blue balls and Ty sends in the every present Ros and another girl (we saw her before, with the Maester I think). This does not go well. Joff gets his rocks off a different way. Torture definitely. Pretty nasty actually. In an implied way. This development is slightly new from the books. In character, but more in depth. Most of the people in GOT are full of shades of gray. Not so with Joff.

Littlefinger is. And he works every angle. When he makes an offer to Renly is it true? A new game? Or just cover to talk to Catlyn? We may never know. Things don’t go so well with the ladies, first Margaery Tyrell then later with Cat.

Dany is still stuck in the waste (although not for long). Her rider returns and tells of a city just three days away. Is it me or do the bloodriders not look the least bit intimidating?

Then Arya. She approaches Harrenhal and we see it for the first time. It looks awesomely creepy. “What kind of fire melts stone? — dragon fire.” The place is a chamber of horrors, too. We hear rather than see someone being executed medieval style. As a student of such things and a visitor to the Museo de Totoro Volturi (Torture Museum of Volturi) I was guessing the rack. The squalid, chained, barefoot, caged conditions of Arya, Gendry, and Hotpie, however, are not left as much to the imagination. After being setup last episode, Arya is chanting her “revenge list.”

Littlefinger makes his play with Cat only to be justifiably and solidly rebuked. After his little speech to Ros, I feel no sympathy, but I almost joined Cat in tears when Ned’s bones are returned. This is an emotional episode. If I push the theme we can backshadow from the bones to torture.

Back to Ary. It seems the Mountain is picking one person a day to torture and execute. We meet his crew and his methods. They swapped out the Mountain actor and this new one is tall but thin. I liked the truly massive guy they had last year. The guy is supposed to be just huge. He wasn’t nearly big enough here. His torture is serious enough, the writers must also have visited the Museo because they dragged out the “rat torture” (only follow the link if you have the stomach for it — haha). This is half left to the imagination in the show, but it’s really bad. Check out the link if you dare. This link even has a picture (be warned). These Harrenhal scenes are full of creep and torture.

Stannis meets with Renly and Cat. The older brother is a cold fish and the younger is pretty funny. Sigh. Some good lines there: “And to think, I used to love him.”

Dany arrives at Qarth. The gates don’t look like much, but I like the costumes of the thirteen. This scene felt a little weird until Xaro saved it. I instantly liked him, his blood oath, and most importantly, the CGI view of the city through the gates. That was worth the price of admission for the whole episode alone for a fantasist like me. It looked awesome, like a Hanging Gardens of Babylon capriccio (see what I mean to the right).

More Arya. Perhaps shes a major reason this is such a great episode. Uh oh, the Mountain has picked Gendry for a little rodent love, but have no fear, Lord Tywin to the rescue. Like son, like father. Shades of gray. We see the man’s pragmatic nature. Although it is worth noting that this is a change from the books, a bit of cast compression perhaps.

Speaking of the son, Tyrion is in perfect form when his cousin Lancel comes to visit. He dances circles around the lackwit and provides us with the usual slew of brilliant lines: “an anointed knight” or “I would say I hadn’t hurt a hair on his head, but strictly speaking, that would be a lie.”

Davos and Stannis talk on a ship (which looks cool with a bull’s head on the front). Boring, even if we get a hint of the Onion Knight’s backstory. Still, when Davos takes the Red Lady into the cave on shore we get pregnant hottie AND the birth of a demonic shadow creature! What could be a better  ending? Actually, I’m glad to see some of the show’s more supernatural elements getting a bit more of an amplified CGI treatment. I love me a good dark ritual. And torture (when properly used in fiction— leave it out of real life).

p.s. Why don’t we see any reaction from Tyrion to Joff’s “message”? It stood out as odd.

See my review of A Dance With Dragons.

If you liked this post, follow me at:

My novels: The Darkening Dream and Untimed

or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

Season 4: [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]

Season 5: [41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

Season 6: [51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

Related posts:

  1. Game of Thrones – Episode 6
  2. Game of Thrones – Episode 12
  3. Game of Thrones – Episode 3
  4. Game of Thrones – Episode 5
  5. Game of Thrones – Episode 8
By: agavin
Comments (10)
Posted in: Television
Tagged as: A Dance with Dragons, Arya, Characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, Davos, Game of Thrones, Historical fantasy, Major houses in A Song of Ice and Fire, Robb, Television, World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Cocoa Island – Languorous Lunch

Apr21

Restaurant: Cocoa Island

Location: Maldives. Tel +960 6641818 Fax +960 6641919 Email res@cocoaisland.como.bz

Date: March 16-22, 2012

Cuisine: International

Rating: ?

_

We head back to Cocoa Island (and its single restaurant) to cover the second meal of the day. If you missed the endless breakfast, find it here.


Here in paradise the view from the lunch table doesn’t suck. One could eat outside there too, but it was pretty hot, like 94 degrees and humid. The food, however, was anything but tepid. It’s highly varied and international with an Indian slant fitting the location.


Tuna carpaccio with arugala and olives. Like nearly everything at the restaurant this was impeccably fresh and tasty.


Caprese salad.

Salad with beets and mozzarella.


An amazing “squid salad” with light fresh squid and a zesty vinaigrette.


Caesar salad with anchovies and spec.


Raddiccio salad. As you can see, there are a few salad options!


This typical frozen mock-tail was amazing for those with a sweet tooth. Strawberry passionfruit!


Spider roll. Fried softshell crab roll.


Some dipping sauces and ginger. The left is soy, the right a spicy mayo.


California roll made with shrimp. I like the wasabi balls.


Grilled blue fin tuna and potatoes. Sort of deconstructed salad niscose. The tuna was again perfectly fresh.


Fried calamari. Crisp and succulent.


A lot of folk went for the burger which had a kind of curried caramelized onions on it and came with salad and fries.


Goan fish curry. Local “job fish” stewed in fresh curry with Naan (house baked) and bismati rice.


Nasi Goreng. A kind of Indonesian fried rice with egg, chicken satay, mixed seafood, cucumbers, and a spicy peanut sauce. Not light, but it sure was good!


Chicken Tikka Masala. Also awesome.


We caught some local fish and they grilled them up.


And steamed some with ginger, garlic, and scallions.


Even this ugly barracuda.


And made these into fresh fish curry!


The bread was great too.


And the fries.


Plus one, day, I ordered this passionfruit semifreddo which was superb.

It’s pretty amazing that a restaurant can do this breath of styles with such excellent execution, but they did. Everything I had was great, and the same 2-3 guys in the kitchen did it all (even the breakfast, dinner, desserts, and baking!).

For more dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Cocoa Island – Endless Breakfast
  2. Crafty Little Lunch
  3. Go Sushi Goes To Lunch
  4. Trés – Lunch Fantastique
  5. Jackson’s
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asia, Cocoa butter, Cocoa Island, Cocoa IslandLocation, Cook, Indian cuisine, lunch, Maldives, Resort, Salad, Sri Lanka, Travel and Tourism

Diablo 3 – Beta Preview

Apr19

[ NOTE: this is my beta preview. I also have a release post on playing the Barbarian 1-60 and a separate one on the Barbarian in Inferno Mode. ]

Finally, the Diablo 3 beta invite showed up in my mailbox. Unfortunately, by the time I got it downloaded and installed I was headed to Vegas for the weekend (which wasn’t so bad, really). But as soon as I returned, I fired it up, rolled a toon, and cranked through the 1.5-2 hours it took to defeat the Skeleton King and “finish” the beta. Then I rolled another class. Then another and another until I’d played them all.

General Impressions

Not surprisingly, for a Blizzard game, and one that is only a month from launch, the game looks “finished” and is seemingly bug free. I didn’t have any problems. I didn’t try any multiplayer but I’m looking forward to it in the release.

Graphics wise, D3 is kinda dark, which wasn’t a problem playing at night, but during the sunny hours it was hard to see a lot of detail. I play on a Mac Pro with an Apple 30″ monitor. At full 2500×1600 resolution the game ran fine (I have a ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB). There was occasional slight slowdown as new textures paged in (I think that’s what it was because it wasn’t during big fights but moving into new areas).

The art is fantastic and everything is modeled in detailed 3D, yet the classic three-quarters pulled back viewpoint limits the options for dynamic camerawork or even the simple ability to show enemies at any real scale. Overall, this substantially reduces the visual drama in favor of more approachable gameplay.

But in that regard, Blizzard does it’s usual slick job of babying you into the game. This is in complete contrast to a hardcore RPG like Dark Souls, which does no coddling. Here, you start each class with just one skill, gaining them incrementally as you level. The early quests are easy and straightforward. By the time you get into the depths of the cathedral and to level six or so, the real flavor of the class starts to emerge.

The overall gameplay is, as one of my friends said, like the Diablo II you remember, not as it actually was. If you boot up the aforementioned classic you’ll find a 2D game that runs in 800×600 (and that only with the expansion pack installed!). Sure the gameplay is slick, but the late 90s graphics are very dated. The new Diablo brings the same basic experience but updated to perhaps 2007 level technology. And really, it’s that great gameplay that matters.

The Barbarian

I’m normally drawn toward dark wizards, and so in D2 I mostly played a Necromancer. In D3, that niche is filled by the Witchdoctor, but neither the pet based nature or the class style really appealed. I decided to try out the Barbarian. Big and plate wearing, this is a very straightforward class. The few skill choices available in the first nine or so levels basically seemed to oscillate between heavy hitting on a single target and non-quite-so heavy hitting on multiple targets. I haven’t studied the skill system in detail but it seems to have been simplified, moving away from the elaborate talent trees. Each skill can be powered up or tweaked with runes, and there are several completely distinct skill slots (primary, secondary, defensive, etc) that you can swap in and out skills that belong exclusively in their particular category. For the Barbarian, the primary is a fury generating basic attack and the secondary a harder hitting fury sink.

Progression with the Barbarian was a piece of cake. In the limited scope of the beta I barely even had to chug a health potion, perhaps once. I didn’t die at all. Even the Skeleton King was pretty easy. The attacks definitely got more satisfying as they leveled up, but some felt lackluster like the bleed-causing whirlwind. Maybe it gets cooler later. Maybe they aren’t done with it.

Still, all and all a very fun class to play.

For my discussion of leveling 1-60 in the final version, see here.

Taking on the Skeleton King

The Wizard

Next I tried out the wizard. This is the ranged magical damage dealer. Overall, this class is much squishier than the Barbarian and I died in one spot (right on returning to the Cathedral where there are three big sub-bosses). You have to watch your health and make sure to kite, mostly using the freeze ray or the frost nova to slow down the badies. I liked the feel of the freeze ray, it’s pretty fun. If you tune the skills toward the electrical discharges and the spark-like exploding fireball the wizard can do some serious AOE damage. On one middling outside area I collected a rather large collection of undead and then obliterated them in a big firefight (earning a 60 enemies killed at once achievement). I think there is more pure DPS output here than with the melee classes — in exchange for being fragile.

You have to pay more attention to your resources than the Barbarian. The defensive skill (on the 1 key) is crucial. With the Barbarian it was a sweetener, here, it’s key to getting out of the middle of a big cluster of foes (or blasting them down quick if you are using Crystal Armor). Although harder, it was a fun class to play and I’ll be torn what to try first in the release version.

Monk

Third up I tried the Monk. Squishier than the Barbarian for sure, but fairly similar in that you get right in the thick of thinks and wallop. At the earlier levels the different skills didn’t seem as differentiated. Theoretically the Barbarian would be slower and the Monk more nimble, but the Barb is plenty fast, so I’m not sure I yet see a compelling advantage. The teleport TO an enemy rune is kinda cool though.

At about level 7 or 8 things power up a bit and the excitement level rises. The spinning circle of fire and triple punch are real nice. Overall this was an easy class too. I didn’t die and pretty much never needed a health pot.

Witch Doctor

A few days after finishing the monk I felt it was my duty as a Necromancer player and diehard WOW Warlock to try the Witch Doctor. It was immediately obvious that this was a seriously squishy class, even more so than the Wizard. It’s harder to kite with too. A lot of the early skills are pets of one sort or another and you have to toss them out there and run. This is true of the spiders and bats. I really didn’t like trading the snaring hands for the bats and quickly went back to it. The spiders were okay though. Like the other classes, by the time I got to level 8 or so he was getting fairly powerful. The dogs were fun. The runed version of the grasping hands was a really solid snare and the machine gun blow gun too. Fun to play, but despite the cool theme, I think the Wizard was more straightforward as a ranged caster.

Demon Hunter

This is the last class I played and thematically the least interesting. The Hunter in WOW never held any interest whatsoever for me and it’s the only class I’ve never rolled. But the D3 Demon Hunter turned out to be pretty fun. Its long range and rapid fire is satisfying and I put an epic? (yellow) bow I got from another tune to good use right from the beginning. The problem with this class, like the Witch Doctor and Wizard, is that it’s very squishy. But even more than those other two it becomes problematic when you get mobbed by mobs. The Demon Hunter can go down fast. Now, even given that, I only died on the Skeleton King, but it was the only class where the boss gave me some trouble. Once I learned to kite and stun him and run back and forth for the health balls it was okay, but still harder and slower than the other classes. Up until that point I often felt I was really kicking ass with the DH, but the problem seemed to stem from the classes’ lack of AOE. I ended up having to use the “trap” as my slowing and AOE device, laying them down (up to five) in advance. I didn’t like the invisible skill very much. The Wizard, while also a ranged squishy, has much better AOE (at least at these early levels).

Gear

I enjoy the gearing up minigame in Diablo, always have. My only complaint is the still present need to manage your inventory. It’s not as bad as in D2 where one spent a ridiculous amount of time combing the trash from your inventory and leaving it on the dungeon floor, but you still have to do this. The more readily available town portal(s) makes flipping back to sell your crap much easier.

I also don’t exactly get what gear you really want for each class. Classes can use a large percentage of the items, which I guess is a good thing, but it’s hard to know if a 15.5 dagger is better for a Wizard than a 12.0 wand.

Multiplayer

I spent about an hour playing the last two dungeons and the Skeleton King with a pickup group of one other person. This does not represent any exhaustive survey of D3’s four player coop mode. Overall, it was fun, and slightly easier. It was also slower as one often had to wait on the other person. That player clearly hadn’t run through the whole beta four times already and didn’t know exactly where to go like I did :-). I’m assuming multiplayer is the most fun with a good or pre-made four man group. I was playing my monk (repeating the dungeons and she was level 9-11) and they were playing a Demon Hunter about two levels lower. There is no increased loot or particular advantage to playing multiplayer, either. There should be. It’s also not very competitive anymore because everyone has their own loot and there is no PVP (that’s in a separate non PVE mode like the WOW arenas).

Random

The consistent naming and art elements in Blizzard style are an amusing note. While Diablo is darker and more gothic than WOW there are quite a number of common enemy archetypes. The grotesques (abominations in WOW) are one example. These are a distinctly Blizzard baddie. Many of the spell names (and even the class archetypes) are overlapping. The Demon Hunter fires arrows and drops traps and bombs like the Hunter. The Wizard is like a WOW Mage, even down to having a Frost Nova with nearly identical effect. There was even a skeletal sub-boss with the same name as a Scholo boss.

I can’t wait for May 15. In the meantime, watch the Wrath animated short.

Or read my discussion of the Barbarian class, levels 1-60 here.

Find more video game posts here.

Related posts:

  1. Diablo 3 Opening Cinematic
  2. Expansion of the WOW Factor
  3. Making Crash Bandicoot – part 4
  4. Dark Souls
  5. Book Review: Personal Demons
By: agavin
Comments (12)
Posted in: Games
Tagged as: Barbarian, Battle.net, Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard North, dark souls, Diablo, Diablo 3, Diablo III, diabloIII, Games, Mac Pro, Monk, roll playing game, RPG, Skeleton King, Video Games, Wizard, World of Warcraft

Cocoa Island – Endless Breakfast

Apr17

Restaurant: Cocoa Island

Location: Maldives. Tel +960 6641818 Fax +960 6641919 Email res@cocoaisland.como.bz

Date: March 16-22, 2012

Cuisine: International

Rating: Mindblowing Hotel Breakfast in paradise

_

One of my oldest and best friend’s wedding brought us literally across the world to Cocoa Island in the Maldives. This little slice of paradise is an atol about two feet tall in the Indian Ocean not far from the southern tip of India and Sri Lanka.


As you can see, it was hardship duty. Completely equatorial the weather is about 88 degrees day and night year round. The ocean is about 18 inches deep and around… you guessed it… 88 degrees. Above is the view from the restaurant, which brings us to my favorite topic, food. The food at this resort was incredible, and best of all was the breakfast. It was included with the room and you could order as much as you liked. This led us to term it “endless breakfast.”


There was a cold buffet plus this menu. Again, you could order one thing, two things, or ten things.


But one must begin with a cappuccino. Or three.


The cereal section of the buffet.

They had great baked goods.


And jams.


And fruit.


The yoghurt with fruit was incredible. Rich and unpasteurized. The fruit juice was pretty spectacular too.


We’ll start with some classic Indian breakfast. Potato masala dosa (below) with daal (lentil curry) and some kind of creamy sauce.


The ultra crisp potato filled fried crepe.


Maldivian egg curry. You spoon it out onto the crepes. There is coconut on the side too.


A fantastic egg’s benedict.


And a frittata.

Or straight up eggs, bacon, and hash browns. This ain’t no MacDonalds.


They had these amazing flatbreads. This is cottage cheese, tomato, arugala, and avocado.


Or this one with top grade salmon and cottage cheese.


Or this meet and cheese plate.

Or a bit of fresh sliced mango.


Then come the starches. These incredible waffles.


Or French toast. You can see what I mean when I say the food was fantastic.


One day I spent nine hours (no exaggeration) at the table. Not only was the food continuous and great, but so was the ever changing parade of dining companions. Truly, the ultimate endless breakfast.

A review of lunch can be found here and dinner here at this incredible resort.

For more dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Santa Margherita – Miramare Breakfast
  2. Eating Tuscany – Villa Breakfast
  3. Eating Modena – Real Fini Breakfast
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  5. Joan’s on Third for Breakfast
By: agavin
Comments (5)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asia, baking, Breakfast, Cocoa Island, India, Indian cuisine, Indian Ocean, Maldives, Resort, Sri Lanka, Travel and Tourism

Game of Thrones – Episode 13

Apr15

Title: Game of Thrones

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Watched: Episode 13 – April 15, 2012

Title: What is Dead May Never Die

Summary: The wait from week to week is tough

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Intros are over (almost) and things are really starting to rock and roll. What is Dead May Never Die is certainly the best episode yet of the new series. No small part to focusing a little more tightly on a few storylines. Robb, Dany, and Stannis are all missing, but we have lots of Tyrion.

The John Snow thread moves just a tiny bit, with resolving last week’s cliffhanger with John a bit too easily. The writers take a scene to setup Gilly and Sam’s relationship and then move on to Winterfell. Bran explains his peculiar dreams to the Maester. I like that the chains come into it, but I wonder how much new viewers will get of this.

Then we finally come to Renly. Seems he has already married the lovely Margaery Tyrell, played by the Tudor’s Natalie Dormer. She’s well cast, even if a few years too old of the book version of her character. And Briene. Wow, that’s some hulk of a woman. What is she, like seven foot? Perfectly cast too. While short, this tourney looked much less dinky than the season 1 version, mostly due to a single establishing shot. Renly puts on a good show, but literarily and figuratively. But Cat is not so easily fooled.

Then Theon confronts his sister and is schooled by his father. Uh oh, seems he needs to make a choice. Old family or new. Things are never easy!

The middle part of the episode shows Tyrion coming into his own and wrestling with the political forces in the capital.  But first Shae is restless and he’s putty in her hands, but back in the palace he’s tough as nails. Cersei tortures Sansa a bit more and she is starting to wonder who she is. But when Shae shows up as her new maid, she isn’t exactly showing her best side. In this way, the episode appears to be about choices. Each character is faced questions of loyalty and role.

And so Tyrion tempts each of the three capital conspirators with a different story. Maester Pycelle, Varys, and Littlefinger. The parallel structure of the scene is quite amusing.

Speaking of choices, Renly is in his tent, first with Loras, and then with his sister. Boy or girl? Pleasure or duty? In the earlier scene’s Natalie’s Margaery was a little flat, but here not only is she gorgeous (and we see plenty of her), but when she exposes her awareness of the situation that scheming little smile is perfect. Interesting that Renly is so torn, finding it so difficult to deliver on the practical realities of his responsibilities.

Tyrion does continue to try and talk some sense into Cersei, but she isn’t listening. Which too, is a choice. And Theon. He finally makes his, and we find him baptized to the Drowned God.

Tyrion continues to play his hand deftly. His ruse has flushed out the spy in the council. But perhaps he knew all along. He makes good with Littlefinger and Varys (more or less) and deals with Pycelle. The old man is so annoying one can’t  help but enjoy seeing him get a bit of comeuppance. The writers take the time to remind us that Tyrion has a soft spot for whores. Still, the best is Varys’ little speech about power. I love how the show (and the actor) hand this nuanced character. He was great last season and continues the streak.

Finally, we get to Arya, my other favorite. After building up Yoren a bit, the Lannister forces arrive and he too makes his choice, proving to be quite the badass. “I always hated crossbows.” Poor Arya’s guardians don’t have a very good survival rate. The battle that ensues is both well choreographed, graphic, disturbing, and touching. Lorch’s men don’t quite yet have the nasty nasty feel from the book, but they’re getting started. Poor Lommy. A powerful end.

See my review of A Dance With Dragons.

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or all my Game of Thrones posts or episode reviews:

Season 1: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Season 2: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

Season 3: [21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30]

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Related posts:

  1. Game of Thrones – Episode 12
  2. Game of Thrones – Episode 6
  3. Game of Thrones – Episode 5
  4. Game of Thrones – Episode 9
  5. Game of Thrones – Episode 7
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Television
Tagged as: A Dance with Dragons, Characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, Fantasy, Game of Thrones, HBO, Historical fantasy, Major houses in A Song of Ice and Fire, Natalie Dormer, Roleplaying, Tyrion, World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Untimed – Out on Submission!

Apr13

Young Ben Franklin at the printing press

Exciting times! My brand spanking new literary agent is already out there earning his keep. Eddie (the aforementioned agent of awesome) sent out  Untimed Thursday on submission to New York and worldwide. It’s not only great to have such enthusiasm — we only signed two weeks ago — but an appropriate juncture given that the historical changes in Untimed (a time travel novel) pivot around Ben Franklin, who was one of America’s earliest important printers. People tend to remember him for the whole “founding father” bit but he was first and foremost a printer, political essayist, and satirist (not to be confused with my favorite mythological beings, satyrs).

But rest assured, Untimed is anything but old fashioned. Below and left is another awesome illustration by Dave Phillips to underscore the prose (one of approximately 21 that will be in the book). And that’s just a rough draft! Dave, like many artists, does two passes. The first (like this one) is to establish the composition, mood, and layout. Then, once we get that out of the way, he does a final with more detail. Truth is, this is little different than writing. The initial illustration is like a scene outline. Or video games, where we would rough out a level without all the visual details to see if the game play worked as intended.

The mysterious Tick-Tock gloats over a dying Ben Franklin - in 1725! — rough draft illustration by Dave Phillips

Who are the Tick-Tocks? And what do they want?

Nothing good, as far as protagonist Charlie is concerned. Their policy on time travelers is to stab, shoot, or crush first — ask questions later.

But it’s more complicated than that, as I’m working out now while making detailed outlines for book 2 and 3. Ah, plotting. I have a love/hate relationship with this phase of novel writing. Scratch that, more hate. I love the actual writing best.

This time around I’m trying to plot the entire book in detail before digging into the text, which being a pantser is against my nature. But it needs doing as time travel is complicated and I must research the periods I intend to visit. I’ve already pounded through four or five history books in the last two weeks. Hint: Buckle on your sandals, this time I’m headed way back!

Related posts:

  1. Untimed – Meet the Tocks
  2. Untimed – The Second Cover
  3. Untimed – Two Novels, Two Drafts!
  4. Untimed – Two Novels, Check!
  5. Untimed – The Last Draft?
By: agavin
Comments (8)
Posted in: Untimed
Tagged as: Andy Gavin, Business, Dave Phillips, Eddie, EDDIE SCHNEIDER, Jabberwocky, Literary agent, New York, Publishing, Publishing and Printing, Tick-Tock, Time travel, Untimed
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