A Fool of Myself

My friends and I have recently become obsessed with fondue, and the impetus for this new fetish is Fedora Social House. Chris and our friend Justin hosted a bachelor party for our friend Barron there this winter, and for weeks, all I heard was how incredible the fondue at Fedora’s was. Ever the Show-Me State girl, I would not be convinced until Chris took me there for dinner, but at the end of the night I was convinced. Here’s the scoop:

We walked into the restaurant around 5:30 and a host promptly escorted us to a previously-reserved table. Unless you arrive early, reservations are encouraged at Fedora; this little place has become quite the night-life spot in downtown Springfield, and the bar and tables fill up early and are full throughout the evening. We were seated in the front of the building, so we had plenty of light, but the farther back into the restaurant you go, the darker it gets. I didn’t get a chance to scope out the decor in detail, but the depths of the restaurant really feel like a classy lounge (from what I could tell to and fro the restroom).

We started with the Siciliano fondue ($12), a blend of mozzarella, Gruyere, and Havarti cheeses, melted with marinara sauce and Tuscan seasoning, served with pita bread and pepperoni. Imagine fondue pizza, and you’ll be right on target. Our server brought our fondue pot and “dippables” straight to our table, lit the fuel, and instructed us to stir every little bit until the cheese melted. She checked on us regularly to make sure the fondue was melting properly. Once we’d eaten through our pita bread and pepperoni, she took away our pot, but promised to come back with our entree soon.

Chris and I chose to split an entree fondue, so we could have dessert, and we chose Shrimp Scampi ($15) cooked in a mix of butter and garlic and dipped in a spicy seafood sauce or a tarragon caper remoulade. Again, our server lit the fondue pot at the table, and we had to wait for the broth to warm up before cooking our shrimp. It took longer than we wanted, for the Siciliano had certainly appetized us, and we were still hungry, but the shrimp was worth the wait. Nothing special about the shrimp, per se, but butter-garlic broth and sauces made the shrimp really yummy.

We still had room in our bellies for some dessert, and our server enticed us with a new fondue that hadn’t made it to the menu yet: Snickers Fondue ($12)! That’s right, chocolate fondue with bits and pieces of Snickers candy bar mixed in. Yum-O! This fondue came with marshmallows, graham crackers, and pretzels, but they weren’t enough! We ate all of them, and there was still chocolate left. I wanted to lick it straight out of the bowl!

Having never “done fondue right,” I was really pleased with Fedora’s range of fondue options and the quality of food we received. I was really pleased with our service, too. Our server was very attentive to us and the table-top fires, making sure that our fondue pots weren’t too hot but that our food was melting correctly and giving us explicit instructions that we were not to blow out the fires on our own. For the bachelor party, the guys brought in a group of 12, and they were well taken care of. (And they continue to rave about the steak fondue.) If you’re looking for a place to take your special someone or if you’re a pyromaniac or if you need to feed a group, you must give Fedora Social House a try. (Just make reservations in advance!)

Fedora Social House is located on 300 Park Central East in Springfield and can be found online at www.fedorasocialhouse.com.

Colby & Lyndsey at dinner

I’ve been working on this post all night, and considering that my mind is quite fuzzy from this swell head cold I’ve acquired, it’s a wonder I’ve made the progress that I have. Sans this first sentence, I have a sampling of pictures, a set list, a YouTube video, a link to a fellow blogger, and an embedded photo album all from the Coldplay concert the Fros, Chris, and I went to in November. Yes, I realize this “review” is long overdue, and since a lot of the newness has worn off (and because I feel like crap), this won’t be a traditional review.

This was my and Chris’s third event at the Sprint Center in KC this year. Folks, contrary to popular belief/rumor, we are not loaded, nor are we obsessed with attending concerts; 2008 was just a good year for us.

Lyndsey and me checking out our programs.

We ate dinner at Ted’s Montana Grill in the KC Power & Light District, which was a nice change from the usual restaurant I insist on eating at when we venture to KC. I usually insist at eating at one of four Fiorella’s Jack Stacks because it has been my family’s favorite restaurant since before I was born. I cut my teeth on their gigantic onion rings. No wonder I’m a carnivore.

Anyway, we didn’t eat there. We ate at Ted’s Montana Grill, which was just a block from our parking garage and a block from the Sprint Center. Lyndsey and I really hoped The Band would be eating dinner there, too, but alas, they did not. Gotta say, the restaurant was very good. I had a bison burger, Lyndsey had a veggie burger, Chris had the salmon, and Colby had a steak, and I believe we were all quite satisfied with our choices. I loved that this restaurant is all about sustainability and being responsible consumers; for that reason, our plates were filled with the perfect amount of food so nothing would go to waste. We even drank our beverages with paper straws! And we had room for dessert, which was something with chocolate that I picked out before we even got to the restaurant.

The Fros and the Austins at dinner.

Once at the Sprint Center, we found our seats and purchased our cursory merchandise and waited. Thankfully, we had some pre-concert entertainment from the four drunkards who sat in the row in front of us. The opening acts Sleeper Car and DJ Jon Hopkins were the usual opening acts: Good, perhaps, but paling in comparison to what we were waiting for. And once they were over, we waited some more for the stage to be reset. Once again, there was more entertainment from the fools in front of us, and they were certainly “entertaining” the people around them. By “entertaining,” I mean, they were starting to get on everyone’s nerves, but everyone around them kept there mouths shut because the four were drunk.

The Austin

Concert began. Set list below. I gotta say that before the concert, I thought Chris Martin’s dance moves looked a little weird when I saw the band on shows like SNL. On stage, in a huge arena, though, Chris’s frenetic dancing looks kinda normal. Or less crazy. Something.

Do I have a favorite from the concert? It’s hard to say. I mean, it was all great. I especially liked “Green Eyes” and “Lost” and the segment in the crowd. I included someone’s video of “Green Eyes” from the concert in the media below. It cracks me up because Chris Martin’s voice cracks at the beginning, and he laughs at himself; that and his other running commentary during the concert made me wish I was friends with the band. They just seem like a bunch of cool, laid back guys who play music for a living. Totally unpretentious. Lorraine (a blogging friend of a friend) was closer to the crowd segment than we were and also has a great review of the concert, plus some great pictures of the band that are much better than ours.

What’s curious, and sort of what I hate about attending great concerts, is that afterward I have this great admiration–that occasionally turns into obsession–for the band. Yes, I familiarized myself with Coldplay’s songs before the concert, and I liked the new album just fine, but honestly, I consented to go because Chris really wanted to. After the concert, Lyndsey gave me the idea of making a playlist in iTunes of the concert set list, and I listened to it over and over. I finally committed the titles of all those songs to my memory, and I read everything I could find about the band. In sum, I need to go to another Coldplay concert because now I truly appreciate them. Argh!

The view of Coldplay on stage from our seats

Set List

1. Life In Technicolor
2. Violet Hill
3. Clocks
4. In My Place
5. Glass Of Water
6. Speed Of Sound
7. Cemeteries Of London
8. Chinese Sleep Chant
9. 42
10. Fix You
11. Strawberry Swing
12. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)
13. Talk (techno remix)
14. Green Eyes
15. Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)
16. Viva La Vida
17. Lost!
18. The Scientist (acoustic)
19. Death Will Never Conquer (acoustic – Will singing)
20. Viva La Vida (remix interlude)
    First Encore
21. Politik
22. Lovers In Japan
23. Death And All His Friends
    Second Encore
24. Yellow
25. The Escapist (outro)

Here’s a link to my Picasa album of all our “good” pictures (with some contributions from the Fros). Photographing a concert is hard with all the fluctuating light levels, so here is the best of what we took.

Coldplay

Coincidentally, I went to high school with a Chris Martin. Not the Chris Martin, but I think it’s funny.

OK. So maybe this did turn out like a normal review. Guess I got caught up with writing about it long enough to forget that my nose won’t stop running. Anyway, the moral of this story is: if you have a chance to see Coldplay, TAKE IT!

4-0, people! Day four of NaBloPoMo, and I’m still going strong. To mix it up a bit, today’s post is a video. My first! Enjoy!

If you were to meet me on the street, you might get the impression that I’m a snob. I’m really not; it just takes me a long time to warm up to people, and it takes even longer for me to establish a long-lasting friendship. Even so, I had a sudden urge a few weeks ago to meet new people and make new friends; thus, I invited myself to my friend LFro’s book club at Well Fed Head Books .

In college, I did a really good job of faking what I read by listening to class discussions and responding intelligently, but I actually wanted to do the "assigned reading" for this, so I picked up Barbara Kingsolver ‘s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and Michael Pollan ‘s The Omnivore’s Dilemma at my local library one week before the book club meeting. I only had time to read Kingsolver’s book, but even as I sped through it, it opened my eyes to the issues surrounding what we eat.

In the book, Kingsolver documents her family’s pact to eat only local food for an entire year. What they can’t grow on their own plot of land, they buy from neighbors and local farmers, and if they need something that can’t be found locally, they find a fair trade and/or organic version (i.e. coffee) or go with out (i.e. gummy worms). They start in April by growing asparagus and hunting morel mushrooms and end the following March by hatching turkey babies. In between, they grow every vegetable imaginable, can gobs of tomatos, harvest roosters, and store up enough food for the entire winter. In every chapter, Kingsolver’s husband Steven Hopp contributes sidebars with supplemental information and references, and her daughter Camille Kingsolver offers recipes and college student’s perspective. Truly, the book—just like their year of food life—is a family project.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up the book, but Kingsolver’s narrative drew me in, and soon I couldn’t put it down. Almost immediately, I started rethinking how I buy groceries for my family and where our food comes from. Yes, that was a little annoying, but I didn’t feel that Kingsolver was condemning me for eating bananas; she laid out what her family did and made me think it was possible for my family, too. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t be growing an orchard in my backyard anytime soon, but I started buying local milk. And I found out that my local hardware stores gets produce from a farm in Arkansas, which is considerably closer and better than buying produce from California.

Some might not like this book because it sounds liberal or utopian or whatever, but I come from a blue-collar, working-class family who has practiced much of what Kingsolver preaches for years. They grow their own food, they raise their own meat, they live off the land, and they’re probably a lot healthier for it. Admittedly, food is a touchy subject for us all, but if you eat, you should consider reading this book and prepare to have your food paradigms shifted.

I have a stack in my office that is entirely dedicated to books I need to read. This stack rarely shortens because as I read one book another replaces it in the pile. David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons’ book unChristian has been in that pile for at least six months, and I finally picked it up last week. I am so glad I did.

The premise of this book is three years of research on how outsiders of the Christian faith view Christianity. More specifically, it’s about the Buster (born between 1965 and 1983) and Mosaic (born between 1984 and 2002) generations and their perceptions of the church. The results are frightening. An overwhelming majority of this demographic has a negative impression of Christianity in America. They view us as hypocritical, too focused on getting converts, antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental. Does this come as a surprise?

Maybe to my parents’ and grandparents’ generations, but it certainly doesn’t surprise me. As a twentysomething, I’ve long struggled with my faith, my politics, and my culture and watched many of my friends from high school and college do the same. Many of them no longer practice their Christian faith, and I surmise that some of them have the same impressions of Christianity as many others in the country. I sure do.

Once Kinnaman and Lyons present the six broad themes found in their research, they dedicate a chapter to each impression using theme-specific research and interviews to illustrate how outsiders feel about Christians. Once they’re sure readers understand the problem of the theme, they address how Christians can work to change those perceptions, and they offer a new perception to work toward:

• Hypocritical
  Perception: Christians say one thing but live something entirely different.
  New perception: Christians are transparent about their flaws and act first, talk second.
• Too focused on getting converts
  Perception: Christians are insincere and concerned only with converting others.
  New perception: Christians cultivate relationships and environments where others can be deeply transformed by God.
• Antihomosexual
  Perception: Christians show contempt for gays and lesbians.
  New perception: Christians show compassion and love to all people, regardless of their lifestyle.
• Sheltered
  Perception: Christians are boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned, and out of touch with reality.
  New perception: Christians are engaged, informed, and offer sophisticated responses to the issues people face.
• Too political
  Perception: Christians are primarily motivated by a political agenda and promote right-wing politics.
  New perception: Christians are characterized by respecting people, thinking biblically, and finding solutions to complex issues.
• Judgmental
  Perception: Christians are prideful and quick to find faults in others.
  New perception: Christians show grace by finding good in others and seeing their potential to be Christ followers.

These existing perceptions and new perceptions really challenged me. In light of Jerry Bridges’ Respectable Sins , a book my small-group Bible study has been based on this spring, many of the existing perceptions are a result of the sins we tolerate in the church and in our lives. Personally, I’m guilty of all of them—many just in the last week! Even before reading unChristian, God had been challenging me to build more relationships with outsiders, to engage the culture, and to be much slower to judge others (especially when I’m driving), and now I’m starting to see the bigger picture and how my personal faith is affecting and being affected by outsiders and Christianity.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely, but with a condition. If you are a Christ-follower, engage the book by prayerfully measuring every paragraph against God’s Word. Sometimes we latch on to a book or a song and esteem it as Truth without holding it next to Scripture. Prayerfully ask God to show you your own heart and how you can begin changing the perception of Christianity in America.

Chris and I had a date last night! I can’t remember the last time we had a real, live date on the spur of the moment. Before starting Financial Peace , we went out every week, but since we’ve tightened our purse strings, the dates have been fewer and farther between.

But I had been in a funk all week—I still don’t its source—so we decided to go downtown. No, not downtown Nixa. Downtown Springfield ! We ate at Maria’s for some prime Mexican food, and I finally found a dish that closely resembles a chimichanga from my hometown Mexican restaurant. It’s called the Sergio and is made with shredded beef, but I think next time I’ll ask if they can make it with shredded chicken. That would be bueno.

We hadn’t been downtown since the new library branch opened, and since we were on a budget, we headed there for some free reading. I’m telling you, this place rocks. It’s not your traditional library; I don’t think I saw any bookshelves, but plenty of books and magazines lined the walls, and there were lots of places to cuddle up with your reading material. And it seriously looks like Phorm decorated the place. Way cool.

Next door and connected to the library is The Coffee Ethic , one of the new coffee places downtown. Now, I’m an avid fan of the Mudhouse , but there’s never very much room there to spread out and work, and when Linden returns to town, we’ll need a new place where we can work (since Churchill’s is closing ), so we took the opportunity to check out this place.

Overall, the place has good potential. For one, The Coffee Ethic has a great logo, so much so that Chris was drooling and asked the owner’s about it. That’s a good start. The decor was interesting, too—lots of turquoise, grays, and browns plus lots of wood and some leather furniture pieces. And I liked my chai latte; it was different than what I’m used to in a chai, but I would get it again.

This morning, I’m sort of up in the air about the place, and I think it’s the lighting that I didn’t like. All of the lighting is overhead and lights up the entire space, but I like the invisibility factor when I go to a coffee house. When a coffee house has dim overhead lighting but well-lit tables, I feel like I’m tucked away in a corner even if I’m out in the open, and when I’m working or having deep conversations with Chris or friends, I don’t like feeling as though everyone can see what I’m doing or can hear what I’m saying.

Regardless, I definitely think The Coffee Ethic is worth a try, and if you don’t like the environment, you can always go next door to the library.

Chris and I love Asian food, hanging out with close friends, and trying new restaurants, so Saturday night was the perfect opportunity to check out Springfield’s latest Chinese restaurant. We met our pals Colby and Lyndsey for dinner at 5 Spice China Grill (5SCG), the newest restaurant from Johnson and John Tan, owners of Springfield’s popular Ocean Zen (OZ).

Springfield, MO, is known for its Chinese food and is the home of Springfield-style cashew chicken, and after eating in Chinese restaurants across the country and in China itself, I can honestly say there is nothing quite like Chinese food here. 5SCG was touted as a step up from usual Springfield Chinese cuisine, which is known for being quick and cheap, so we were excited to give it a try.

First Impressions
I could immediately tell when we approached 5SCG’s front doors that the restaurant belonged to the same family as Ocean Zen; the brushed metal doors were my first clue. Inside, a dark interior and a decor of wood, metal, and stone confirmed that the space had indeed once been OZ. Upon this reminder, I was eager to sit down and try the long-promised Chines cuisine.

Colby and Lyndsey were waiting for us, and we were fortunate to sit in a booth. Though the dinner crowd had yet to fill up the space, I could tell that the real estate around the free-standing tables would soon be crowded and difficult to navigate.

Family-Style Dining
5SCG crab crab encourages parties to eat family style, so the four of us shared an appetizer and three entrees. We started off with the Crispy Lobster and Cream Cheese Stuffed Wontons with Sweet-and-Sour Ginger Sauce ($7.95, 5 pieces). We were already lovers of OZ’s rangoon, so our decision to try the wontons was easy. In and of themselves, they were fantastic: the shell was slightly sweet and crispy, and the filling was thick and smooth. Side by side, I don’t know that I would be able to tell the difference between OZ’srangoon and 5SCG’s lobster wontons because I really couldn’t taste the lobster.

We studied the menu a long time before settling on our three entrees. Everything sounded so good, but we finally settled on the Chinese-style Wok Fried Rice ($12.95, pork), the Crispy Orange Glazed Beef ($20.95), and the Garlic Chili Tossed Crispy General Tso’s Chicken ($13.95).

Chris was eager to try the fried rice because ever since Gee’s East Wind on East Sunshine closed in the ’90s, he’s been unable to find fried rice that rises to his standards. Here’s what he had to say about it:

For the first time, I found fried rice that matched the flavor of Gee’s. It looked like a natural fried rice dish with natural colors and real veggies, egg, and spices. Even the pork was the real deal. The flavor wasn’t too strong, and the soy sauce complemented the other seasonings–it didn’t overpower the rest of the dish. The rice could stand alone as a meal on its own.

I was pleased with the fried rice, too. It was cooked to the right texture—not soggy and not crispy—and had a good mixture of veggies and pork, too.

The Crispy Orange Glazed Beef blew me away. I’m not normally a fan of beef in my Chinese food because the quality of the beef is usually questionable, but our server assured us that they used high-quality beef tenderloin for this dish. I could tell! It was tender and almost melted in my mouth with the tangy orange glaze that covered it.

The General Tso’s Chicken was my least favorite of our selections; it was excellent, but it paled in comparison to the rice and the beef. Again, I could tell the quality of the ingredients surpassed the quality at most Chinese restaurants. The chicken was moist and covered with just the right amount of breading, and the sauce had a slight kick but not enough to deter the average diner. And the green beans served with the chicken were good, too!

Between the four of us, we had exactly the right amount of food, and for once, I came away from a great restaurant not feeling like I had totally engorged myself.

Fantastic Service
We were really pleased with our service. Not once were our glasses less than half full! Our server Jody was polite, friendly, and knowledgeable about the menu. After confirming that we were finished with our entrees, he and another server promptly cleared our table, and he anticipated that we would want to split our check straight down the middle. Even though we didn’t stay for dessert, he didn’t mind letting us digest at our table a bit before leaving.

Final Rating
Hands down, Chris and I are going to go back. We loved the fried rice, and we’d like to try the cashew chicken and the sweet-and-sour chicken, too. Now that we know how much food we get, when we do go back, we’ll probably keep our choices simple: an appetizer, some fried rice, and another entree. Even with all that food, I’m sure we’ll have leftovers to bring home. Here are some other observations from our experience you might consider:

• We went to 5SCG for dinner, but we think they have a smaller-portioned lunch menu.
• They also have a drive through with select items from the menu, but we’re not sure if it’s functioning yet.
• If the restaurant grows in popularity, parking will be hard to find during prime dining hours.

Have you been to 5 Spice China Grill? What was your impression of their food and service? Interested in what others had to say? Check out these other reviews:

• 5 Spice China Grill is open. No foolin’! (Go Magazine)
• Owners of Ocean Zen find a sweet spot (Springfield Newsleader)
• 5 Spice China Grill (Bob’s Whine and Dine)

I first reviewed Kai, Springfield’s downtown Asian fusion restaurant, in September, and Chris and I ate there again with friends in December to celebrate graduation. For Valentine’s Day, Chris surprised again with a date there. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t review a restaurant twice, but last night’s experience warrants one.

Bar none, Kai has the best sushi in Springfield, and the rest of its food is high on my list of favorites; furthermore, the atmosphere is unmatched. But all of that was ruined last night for three reasons:

1. The worst table in the restaurant. If you want a table at Kai on any given weekend, you must have a reservation or resort to eating in the bar, so Chris had the foresight to make dinner reservations for Valentine’s Day in mid-January. To me, it makes sense that those who make the first reservations would get the better tables, but when we arrived just before 7 PM, we were seated at the worst table in the place: in the doorway from the main dining room to the banquet room where customers, hosts, servers, and managers all came and went. If Chris sat normally at the table, it was impossible for anyone to get from one space to another, so he had to scoot his chair in and away from the center of the table to let people pass through semi-unobtrusively. Clearly, Kai was trying to get as many people crammed into the restaurant as possible and didn’t consider how uncomfortable it would be for the customer who was sitting in that seat. The entire evening I prayed that no one would spill water or sushi down my husband’s back.
2. A one-hour wait for our entree. We arrived right around 7 PM and were seated promptly. Kai had a set menu for the evening: appetizers of cucumber and clear noodle salads, a sushi sampler, and a meat sampler; an entree (we selected sea bass with wasabi risotto); and a dessert of cheesecake and banana/chocolate egg rolls. As soon as we ordered, the first appetizer stage (the salads) came right out, and the second and third stages promptly came out once we were finished with the prior stage. Because of this promptness, we expected our entree to come quickly, too; however, it didn’t come until 8 PM. We didn’t check to see what time we wrapped up our appetizers, but we’re sure we waited 30-40 minutes for our entrees. By the time they came, we were digesting our appetizers and were ready for dessert!
3. No compensation or apology from the management. Now I’ve worked in food service, and though the restaurant wasn’t as upscale as Kai, I learned that servers should alert the manager of any problems with a table. I give our server credit for apologizing for our entree delay, but he should have notified his manager of our wait time, and the manager should have come to our table and apologized. Our server should have also noticed that I left more than half of my entree uneaten. I have a horrible head cold and the flavors didn’t mesh well with all the phlegm in my system (which is not the restaurant’s fault), but when a customer hardly touches her food, that should raise a red flag to the server, and the server should notify the manager, so the manager can make sure everything was OK. The managers/owners walked past our table several times during our meal but didn’t take any notice of the unhappiness on our faces.

Including the tip, we paid well over $100 for last night’s dinner, but based solely on last night’s experience, I wouldn’t return to the restaurant because the bad experience outweighed the great food and atmosphere. I won’t say that we’ll never return because we really do love the restaurant, and we have been treated well on prior visits (during our visit in December, my pal Lyndsey and I were comped our desserts simply because we had just graduated with our Master’s degrees), but we’ll reconsider spending our money there for a special event or on a busy night again.

Please note: I hate writing bad reviews, but if you search for any variation of “kai springfield sushi” in Google, my original review appears on the first page of results. That post is also one of the most popular pages on my blog, so though we didn’t (and maybe should have) complained to the manager last night, maybe this will compensate.

I don’t intend all my restaurant reviews to be of the Asian-fusion variety, but Chris and I had an anonymous gift card (evidence suggests it was from Chris’s bosses) to Ocean Zen, a 2006 Best of 417 winner. We also wanted to celebrate the completion of my thesis’s first working draft, so I made reservations for the hubby and I on Friday night.

We were greeted on the other side of the enormous wooden doors by friendly hosts. Our table wasn’t quite ready, so we waited in the foyer. This gave us time to take in the decor of the dining room. Another review I read referred to the interior design as having an “under the sea” theme—and not of the Little Mermaid persuasion. I really didn’t catch that theme until I read that review; the use of wood, metal, fire, and water made me think of zen-like feng shui.

But enough about the decor. I mean, as cool as it was, that’s not why we were there. The hosts seated us within ten minutes of arriving, and we had a seat right next to the kitchen in a half booth-half bar top table. Now, if we had planned a romantic dinner, this was not the ideal table; however, I happen to like being in the action, and we could see the kitchen, the bar, and the dining room from our vantage point.

Our server greeted us right away, but we had to remind him a second time to bring Chris’s iced tea. Our Blue Crab and Cream Cheese Stuffed Crispy Wontons were promptly brought to our table. These rich pockets of heaven are arguably the best in town and could easily be mistaken for a dessert rather than an appetizer.

Chris ordered the Mongolian Barbeque Glazed Grilled 12 oz. Ribeye with Szechwan-style Asparagus, Bacon Cheddar Smashed Potatoes, and Peppercorn cognac Cream Sauce. Chris says, “The ribeye was good but was a little disappointing. I expected it to be a little better, but part of that was my fault; I ordered it medium rare, but it was a little too rare for me. The glaze was fantastic and had a sweet, subtle kick to it. The steak was tender—not tough. It was a good piece of meat, but it wasn’t the most flavorful steak. The asparagus was quite possibly the best I’ve had—it wasn’t stringy or limp or soggy but was crisp, fresh, and flavorful. The smashed potatoes were also great. They had a good texture and were infused with real pieces of bacon that added a rich flavor, which complemented the steak. All together, it was a great dish.”

I ordered the Sesame Nori Crusted Seared Rare Ahi Tuna with Lobster Mousse Stuffed Shrimp, Wild Mushroom Risotto Cake, and Balsamic Lobster Glaze. The tuna was excellent at first bite—hot and seared on the outside and warm and rare on the inside with a subtle tuna flavor. The risotto cake was the best risotto I’ve ever tried; it’s flavor was rich with flavor yet light in texture. The shrimp was rich with the lobster mousse and was wonderful. Actually, the flavors of the risotto and the shrimp outshined the tuna. And perhaps I’m a slow eater, but by the time I reached the last of the tuna and risotto, they had lost their warmth and weren’t very yummy to eat anymore.

This was our second visit to Ocean Zen since its move to the Battlefield location, and so far the service and food has been consistent. Friday night, from our booth near the kitchen, we witnessed the teamwork of the staff, which was fun to watch. We’re excited to visit Ocean Zen again and see how its service and food continue to improve, and we can’t wait to pick out a favorite OZ dish.

I’m sorry for all the reviews this weekend, but what can I say, we’re actually relaxing this weekend. Besides going to Kai Saturday night, Chris and I also went to the Moxie to watch Michael Moore’s Sicko.

If you’re not one for late night television, you might not have heard much about this film, but I’d like to think you’re familiar with Michael Moore and his other work (Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, Roger & Me, etc.).

Anyway, Sicko is Moore’s commentary on the United States’ health care and insurance systems. We really don’t hear from any of the 50 million people who don’t have health insurance; instead, we hear from those who do have health insurance and their trials in getting their health care needs approved. Moore paints the picture of the problems with our health care, namely that it’s privatized and that despite some efforts by our government to return to public health care, health care companies pay millions of dollars to buy the votes of our lawmakers.

Once we understand these problems, Moore takes us to Canada, Britain, France, and Cuba to let us see how happy the Canadians, British, French, and Cubans are with their respective countries’ health systems.

Clearly, the purpose of Moore’s movie is to sway us toward publicized health care, and he thoroughly convinced me to think about the future of health care in the U.S. Besides asking Chris if we could move to Vancouver during the intermission, I was ready to march into the street and do something to make this problem go away.

After sleeping on it and discussing it with my compadres, I’m ready to do my own research. I want to know the other side of the story, and I want to know what candidates in the upcoming election are doing to address the issue.

Every American, regardless of their health insurance status, should watch this movie and consider what Moore presents. Sicko shows at the Moxie for the last time on Tuesday, September 4, at 7 PM and is already available on DVD.

Here are some other reviews for you:

• Daily Film Dose
• The Health Care Blog
• Honest Medicine