Proctor in Admiralty

Outback Steakhouse and Pappasito's Cantina - Chain Restaurants Oh My.

Meal: Dinner – 7 oz filet, vegetable medley, mashed potatoes

Restaurant: Outback Steakhouse, Houston Texas.

Meal 2: Lunch – Fish Taco and Beef Enchilada

Restaurant: Pappasito's Cantina, Houston Texas

Ok, so I am a bit of a food snob and the thought of a chain restaurant usually sends me running in the other direction.  In addition, I am big into supporting local businesses and also eating locally sourced foods.  However, while in Houston, I ate at two chain restaurants, so I figured to combine both meals into one post.

Outback Steakhouse – When I think steak in the Lonestar State, the last thing I imagine is Outback Steakhouse.  Not that it is terrible but when you are in a place known for beef, the last think you want is what you can get pretty much anywhere – and that is truly why people tend to like chains; the predictability of it.  Well, I had dinner at Outback because I wasn’t choosing the restaurant and it was my first time in an Outback in at least 5 years.  Upon entering the restaurant I noted a sign proclaiming that Outback was voted the #1 Rated Zagat Best Steak 2009.  Wow, thought I…then the fine print…within the full-service category National Restaurant Chain survey..ok, I can live with that one but I never like seeing superscript in advertising.  It seems a bit disingenuous to me.

In truth, the steak was decent though overcooked.  I ordered medium rare (described as a slightly warm red center) but it came out on the far side of medium (warm, pink center).  The mashed potatoes and vegetables were not worth eating.   Service was generally fine. The waitress failed to enter the order for one in our party and apologized profusely, bringing over the manager and free desert for the aggrieved party.

 

Pappasito's Cantina – Pappasitos is part of the Pappas chain of restaurants scattered throughout Texas and the Southwest and includes the Paddadeaux seafood restaurants, barbeque and burgers joints along with the Tex-Mex version, Pappasitos.  Privately owned by the Pappas family, the chain is based in Houston but is expanding its reach as far as Atlanta and Chicago.  Lunch on my last day in Houston brought us bowl after bowl of freshly cooked tortilla chips, and salsa and a very nice combo plate of a grilled fish taco and  beef enchilada with rice & refried black beans. This one was a winner though I am sure I don’t want to know the number of calories and fat intake of that meal!

Oysters, butter, garlic and cheese...what's not to love?

Meal: Dinner - Grilled Oysters and Seafood Gumbo, Magnolia Seafood Salad (mixed greens tossed with spicy creole mustard, topped with shrimp, crab meat), bread pudding

Restaurant: Jimmy G’s, Houston, Texas

Funny thing, almost every time I go to Houston, I wind up having a meal at Jimmy G’s, a Cajun restaurant near George Bush / Intercontinental Airport.  It may be that much of my business tends to be in that part of the sprawling metropolis but for one reason or another, someone always suggests Jimmy G’s and I always readily agree.

I was first turned on to Jimmy G’s and especially their grilled oysters by a former colleague, MJ, where one night we proceeded to eat several dozen of those artery blockers – take a oyster on the half shell, baste it with butter and garlic and throw it on the grill until the edges of the oyster begin to curl, sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top and serve away with lots of crusty bread to sop up the butter/garlic /oyster juices that puddle on the serving dish. YUM!

On this particular visit, we had a dozen or so oysters and then I had a cup of their great seafood gumbo and the magnolia seafood salad plus because in a moment of weakness, I ordered and thoroughly enjoyed their bread pudding.

Grilled oysters are certainly not unique to Jimmy G’s in Houston as I have enjoyed them at Uncle Bubba’s on Wilmington Island in Savannah, Georgia and at Drago’s in New Orleans.  In fact, it was at Drago’s that the Long Range Planning Committee of SEALI (the South Eastern Admiralty Law Institute) and friends (all officially dubbed The Long Rangers) consumed dozens upon dozens of grilled oysters with a lot of crusty bread to boot, and that was only as an appetizer!

Writing all of this has me salivating and now that we are officially in the “r” months, I am thinking this weekend might be a good time to buy some oysters and try to replicate the Jimmy G’s/Drago’s experience.  I wonder if I can get some Turbo Dog around here?

Breakfast, Lunch and 50 Random Songs

Meal: Breakfast and Lunch Buffets

Restaurant: Oakley’s Restaurant, DoubleTree Hotel Houston Intercontinental Airport

Last week brought a trip down to Houston and with it, a decision on how to post about breakfast options within the confines of a hotel.  I have decided that each meal on the same trip does not require a separate post and so I have consolidated the experience here.

I stayed at the DoubleTree years ago when it was a Hyatt and not much has changed.  The restaurant is adequate but certainly nothing exciting.  I ate breakfast there every day of my trip and had lunch there on two occasions.  Both are presented in a buffet style and I will say that the cream of broccoli soup was very good but the rest was uninspired.

Flying Continental Airlines to Houston, I was pleasantly surprised to be provided with a small snack box containing a package of crackers, some boursin cheese, beef jerky and a Kit Kat.  I have gotten so used to receiving nothing on small commuter jets that it was a big surprise (nothing but pretzels on the way back – so not sure how/when the snack box comes out).

Working during the flight, I flipped on the iPod and decided to carry out an experiment I saw on Facebook.  The premise is to set your iPod to shuffle and then record the first 50 songs played in order to showcase the truth about what you listen to rather than what you want people to believe you listen to.  Of course, the size of your music library will greatly influence the results.  In my case the 50 random items came from a library of 7029 tracks.   As I worked away, I took a moment to jot down each song and artist – not the album or other data.  The following are my results and although I found myself listening to several new songs, there were some oldies too and it is fairly representative of my music tastes.  I hope you don’t laugh too much!

1. I’m Scared                                         Duffy
2. Townes’ Blues                                   Cowboy Junkies  
3. Goode’s Field Road                            Drive-By Truckers
4. Motherless Child                                Eric Clapton
5. What’s Your Favorite Color?                Living Colour
6. The Grind                                           Aerosmith
7. Say Hello 2 Heaven                            Temple of the Dog
8. Mountain Dew                                    The Pogues
9. The One That Got Away                      Pink
10. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)               Stevie Ray Vaughn
11. Spiderwebs                                        No Doubt
12. Do Do Do, Da Da Da                          The Police
13. Martha My Dear                                 The Beatles
14. So Cruel                                            U2
15. Columbia                                           Oasis
16. Tenth Avenue Freezeout                      Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
17. Dream On                                          Depeche Mode
18. Detours                                             Sheryl Crow
19. I’m Not Over                                       Carolina Liar
20. Having a Party                                   Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
21. One Particular Harbor                         Jimmy Buffett
22. Evangeline                                         Mathew Sweet
23. Hey Baby                                          No Doubt
24. Oh Atlanta                                         Little Feat
25. Strawberry Wine                                The Band
26. Get Real Paid                                    Beck
27. Bent                                                 Matchbox 20
28. The Kids Are Alright                           Mathew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs
29. The Purgatory Line                             Drive-By Truckers
30. A Blessing And A Curse                     Drive-By Truckers
31. In Limbo                                            Radiohead
32. Sporting Life Blues                             J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton
33. Always Touched By Your Presence     Blondie
34. You Really Got Me                             The Kinks
35. Many Waters                                     Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers
36. Thrill Of It                                           Robert Randolph & The Family Band
37. If I Should Die Tonight                         Marvin Gaye
38. Summer’s End                                   Foo Fighters
39. Borrowed Time                                   John Lennon
40. Lifetimes                                            Sheryl Crow
41. Weary Blues                                      Madeleine Peyroux
42. A New Flame                                     Simply Red
43. Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine     The White Stripes
44. Jesus Online                                      Bush
45. Silvergun Superman                            Stone Temple Pilots
46. Up And Away                                     Dave Matthews
47. Time To Kill (Alternate Mix)                 The Band
48. Can I Get A Witness?                         Edwin McCain
49. The Golden Age                                  Beck
50. When I Dream of Michelangelo            Counting Crows

OBX Bound for Beach and Beer

Meal: Lunch – Shrimp burger, chips and homemade salsa

Restaurant: Full Moon Café & Grille, Manteo, NC

Last weekend we ventured down to the Outer Banks to spend the day at the beach and getting some nice photos of the kids.  Even though it is a bit further, we decided to go over to Manteo, on Roanoke Island for lunch and to show my sister-in-law the quaint village as she had never been. 

Full Moon Café and Grille stands on the corner of Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth Streets, has both inside and outdoor seating and features an extensive wine and beer list featuring a list of locally produced beers.  There is also an attached and related art gallery and the framed items for sale extend into the dining room.

The menu featured several vegetarian items and everything sounded very nice.  I chose the Shrimp Burger, a half pound burger of Angus beef topped by a chopped shrimp salad made of local shrimp and your choice of cheese (mine was provolone).  Served on the side were tortilla chips and homemade salsa.  The meal was very good.  However, I do need to comment that neither my wife nor sister-in-law were overly impressed with their meals and the kids’ mac & cheese looked like it was out of a box.

Next time in Manteo, we will likely try another restaurant.

One note if you are heading down to the Outer Banks.  As you drive down 168/158 otherwise known as the Carotoke Highway, you pass the Weeping Radish in Jarvisburg, North Carolina.  The Weeping Radish is a brewery, a butchery and an eco-farm. I first learned about the Weeping Radish when I met the owners at the Five Points Market in Norfolk, where they were selling their delicious homemade sausages and beer.  Now, we cannot pass by their establishment without picking up some of the German lager and weizen style beers along with nitrate free bratwurst made with grass fed beef and free range pork from sustainable local family farmers.

I have a strong interest in supporting local sustainable farming since reading The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and try to purchase all of our meat from local family farmers who practice such methods.  We even get our milk delivered in glass bottles from a local dairy farm every week.  Check out the Weeping Radish - you will be very impressed.

 

"Hey George, the ocean called; they're running out of shrimp."

Meal: Lunch - Spicy Dynamite Roll Box

Restaurant: Sakura Sushi Bar, Norfolk

I enjoyed the company of two friends and former colleagues Ms. C. and Ms. A for lunch the other day at a Sushi restaurant near their office.  Lunch included Miso Soup, and a bento box containing 6 pieces their spicy tuna roll, 4 of the dynamite roll, 3 pieces of California roll, salad with ginger dressing, rice and orange slices.  The sushi was fresh and the conversation lively.  The meal started with the sushi chef sending over a few pieces of a roll containing tuna, shrimp and avocado that was dipped in tempura batter and fried – yum!  Ms. A. enjoyed it so much, she ordered it for her lunch.

Ms. C lives in the country and along with her husband, they grow and supply many with an almost endless supply of fresh fruit and vegetables all summer.  This time, she had a special treat for me – a jar of honey from their first season of tending honey bees along with a jar of fresh salsa from their abundance of tomatoes.  I am very excited to give them both a try.

Ms. C is an avid reader of my blog and she has encouraged me to write about our eating adventures in Marseilles and Paris with her when we traveled together on business.  I explained that in order to make it into a full fledged post, she will need to escort me back to her homeland and accompany me to some wonderful meal.  That being said, I will comment that I think I ate France out of most of their seafood on more than one occasion.  C’est la vie!

Breakfast with DMB and Grits a la Vincent Gambini

Meal: Mediterranean Omelet with fresh spinach, tomatoes, garlic, feta and provolone cheeses

Restaurant: The Broken Egg Bistro, Chesapeake Virginia

My daughter LOVES breakfast, so much that often her favorite dinner is breakfast.  Around here, we call that Brinner (breakfast for dinner) and her favorite breakfast is French toast with bacon.  Usually she consumes her order of bacon, followed by her sister's, and any other bacon left on anyone else’s plate and then she starts on her French toast.   It only made sense therefore that we would go out to breakfast during her birthday weekend (she had school on her birthday so it had to keep until the weekend).

One of the best places for breakfast in Hampton Roads is The Broken Egg Bistro.  Owned by Dave Mathews Band fans, (their  license plates even proclaim “DMB FAN” and “DMB STAY”) the menu includes items such as 2E's Two Step – two portions of peppered bacon wrapped asparagus, charbroiled and topped with homemade hollandaise sauce, served with two eggs any style;  Cinnamon Swirl French Toast and the Kitchen Sink Omelet - a twelve egg omelet with your choice of four items.  If you can eat this omelet and sides, the restaurant waives the bill.

This visit I had the Mediterranean Omelet which contains fresh spinach, tomatoes, garlic, feta and provolone cheeses along with real grits (not the instant kind of mush), wheat toast and a great cup of coffee. 

A note here about grits . . .I am a Yankee and a Jersey one at that .  As such I am supposed to love home fries instead of grits (don’t even get me started about Taylor Ham.)  My wife apparently has the right Northeast DNA and wouldn’t eat grits if they paid her.  As for me - I love ‘em., if they are real grits, where you can almost taste the texture of the individual “grit”.  The instant pablum they serve at many restaurants as grits are not worth even a spoonful.  As Maury Chaykin told Joe Pesce, “No self respecting southerner uses instant grits. I take pride in my grits”.  I just wish Chaykin’s character, Sam Tipton would convey that to more restaurateurs as the preparation of real, not instant, grits seems to be a dying art form!  However, at the Broken Egg, real grits are in evidence.  Get over to the Broken Egg Bistro, try one of their wonderful omelets and get the grits as your side! 

Sushi and the Eighth Wonder of the World

Meal: Chef's Choice Sushi and Sashimi, Spicy Tuna Roll, Spicy Beach Roll, Banzai Roll

Restaurant: Haiku Sushi, Chesapeake, Virginia

Last night I had dinner with my good friend Marcus, his business partner Steve and my corporate big brother, James Q. 

Marcus and Steve run a collections firm based in New York and think of Hampton Roads as a bit backwater, or maybe that's tidewater, but in any event seem to spend a good deal of time in the area and always go to the same restaurants. So, we decided to try a Japanese restaurant I had not explored before, looking for both sushi and entrees.  What we wound up with? Well, read on.

We ventured to Haiku Sushi, a restaurant in Chesapeake described by reviewers on Yelp as follows:

I love this place.  They have the best sushi prices in town and the quality is awesome! 

I would recommend Haiku to anyone who really appreciates good Japanese food.

Too bad this seems to be an unknown...it's a hidden gem, with great service, creative rolls, and the freshest fish. 

Reviewers at the local newspaper, The Virginian Pilot, gave glowing reviews too, including:

Outside of Tokyo itself, I have never had better Sushi/Sashimi. Decor is plain, but you go for the food.

I have had sushi all over the country, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and DC. This place ranks at the top of my list, and it's right around the corner. The sushi is always fresh and excellent. The kitchen dishes are fantastic also.

In fact, there was not a single bad review on either site or anywhere else I looked, so I figured it was worth a try. 

About my dining companions:  I used to work with James, (he likes to think of himself as my older brother) and we try to catch up, usually over lunch, every couple of months.  Marcus is a good friend (the kind of friend who takes you to opening day at the New Yankee Stadium) and we both share a love of good local food, grass fed beef, maritime law and the New York Yankees - not exactly in that order...and Steve is a really funny guy, though truth be told, I don't know him as well but always enjoy a good meal with him.  Anyway, Marcus and I get competitive from time to time about obscure facts and he regularly enjoys besting me - wasting no time to whip out his blackberry to prove me wrong (he usually does!)

During dinner, we discussed the fact that Marcus and Steve drove down via Rt. 13 over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.  For those who never heard of it, the CBBT is a 23 mile long bridge-tunnel road with two "cuts" or tunnels allowing for shipping traffic to pass overhead.  It is fairly incredible, the first time you go across to come up from the first tunnel and feel like you are driving in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay with ocean going ships passing behind and in front of you.  I happened to mention that the CBBT is often referred to as the 8th Wonder of the World. Marcus retorted - "You mean, 8th Wonder of the Modern World".  I explained that I never heard the qualifier, which seemed to me equal to an asterisk, a la Roger Maris. My good and well intentioned friend pulled out the handy blackberry and proclaimed that there was no reference to the CBBT as the 8th wonder of the world, because it was not in Wikipedia as such.  

I am a huge fan of Wikipedia, and in fact, I often turn to it for information but I do not think of it as dispositive on any subject including the bestowing of a title.  So, please let the record reflect that Google Books has digitized a copy of The Chesapeake Bay bridge-tunnel, the eighth wonder of the world, written by Robert White Hill and published by the John Day Company in 1972!  However, in fairness to Marcus, in the 1965 the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the "Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World."  So it seems that more than one title may apply. 

I know that this has been engrossing (snore) but frankly it ranked as one of the more thrilling aspects of the evening because the food was...well not exactly bad, but not exactly good either.  In fact, it was pretty ordinary and certainly not amongst the best sushi restaurants across the country, and the kitchen dishes - basically non-existent aside from udon noodles and typical teriyaki fare.

The one bright spot was the Spicy Beach and Banzai rolls which were extremely good.  The multiple layers and combinations of those rolls (for example: Banzai - shrimp tempura, crab, eel and spicy tuna) hid the lack of freshness present easily detected in the sushi and sashimi.  This is not to say the fish was old or otherwise a health risk, but rather that it lacked the "freshness" that I tend to associate with really top notch sushi.  I will not be going back anytime soon.

One Flew Over Virginia Beach

Meal: Breakfast - Nurse Ratched (Omelet with grilled red peppers, portobellos, spinach and hollandaise)

Restaurant: Doc Taylor's, 23rd Street, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Earlier this year I took at trip to Nicaragua as part of a familiarization tour of that country sponsored by Continental Airlines, National Car Rental, AirPlus and the Hilton Managua Hotel.  That trip included raising money and donations for several children's orphanages and a poor school along with distribution of donated clothing and toys and the bagging and distribution of food (rice, beans and sugar) to hundreds of families.  It was truly a life changing experience and I am working with a couple of friends to repeat the experience with a group of like minded lawyers.  If you want to come along or contribute to the effort, please let me know and I will provide you with greater details.

During the trip, I was fortunate enough to meet Keren and Abdhie - two sisters who are deeply involved in issues involving orphan children and the extreme poverty in their country. Keren had recently completed a Master's Degree in the US and Abdhie was completing law school in Nicaragua.  They both commented how much they love Virginia Beach, which I found odd at the time.  It turns out that they are both involved with a non-profit called Frontier Horizon, based in Virginia Beach.  When I returned to the US, I met the Chairman of Frontier Horizon, Dr. Vincent Rosini and learned more about the organization. Frontier Horizon's mission is the improvement of the health, education and general welfare of orphan children in Nicaragua and Ukraine. I was so impressed by the work of Frontier Horizon that I agreed to join their board.  For more information about Frontier Horizon, check out their website here.

Back to the meal . . . Abdhie just spent a few weeks in Virginia Beach and we wanted to get together before she returned to Nicaragua plus she had some delicious Nicaraguan coffee for me, so I needed to catch up with her.  Last Thursday, I met her and Vincent for breakfast at Doc Taylor's.  The restaurant, formerly a doctor's home office, is just one block from the beach.  It serves breakfast and lunch while it's sister restaurant, Tautog's (next door), serves dinner.  Both restaurants feature a wide ranging menu and are great - the lines in front of each indicate as well!  Parking in the back is appreciated given the dearth of free parking near the boardwalk.

I had a nice hot cup of coffee while I waited on Abdhie and Dr. Rosini and studied the various options including granola pancakes and a variety of omelets.  I decide on the Nurse Ratched - an omelet with grilled red peppers, portobello mushrooms and spinach, served with a side of hollandaise sauce and wheat toast.  The omelet was very tasty though the hollandaise was flat and lacked substance - I mainly left it to the side.  All in all it was a satisfying meal with excellent company.

Bruce Springsteen leads to Korean BBQ?

Meal: Lunch - Korean BBQ beef with Kimchee Fried Rice, Miso Soup

Restaurant: RAKU, An Asian Diner, 1900 Q. Street NW, Washington DC

This story begins on May 18.  It was a Monday evening and my wife and I were crushed into the bar at Rosa Mexicano, a mexican restaurant in Washington, DC.  We managed to snag a couple of seats at a two-top bar table (sharing it with two others) thus balancing the delicious Guacamole, prepared "table-side" (actually amidst the crowd of people), some entrees and a variety of overpriced but tasty margaritas and mexican beers on the edge of the table and on our knees.

Oh - the reason the bar and restaurant were more crowded than a subway train in Tokyo at rush hour? The heart-stopping, pants-dropping, hard-rocking, booty-shaking, earth-quaking, nerve-breaking, Viagra-taking, history-making, legendary … E-STREET BAND, was playing that night at the Verizon Center, directly across the street and as loyal Jerseyites, we were going to see Bruce.  

Well, I had just dipped another tortilla chip into the guac when I was tapped on the shoulder and turned around to see Ms. G., a woman I had grown up with, attended school with from Kindergarten through high school, approximately 250 miles north of Rosa Mexicano in New Jersey.  I had not seen her in nearly 20 years.  Of course, she was en route to the concert as well.  We spoke for a little while, exchanged cards and vowed to get together my next time in Washington DC.  

My loyal readers, you are now caught up to yesterday...

Having meetings scheduled in Washington yesterday, I asked Ms. G. if she was free for lunch and she suggested Raku, in Dupont Circle and nearby to my meetings.  We had a nice outside table (it was a beautiful day) and were presented with an eclectic asian fusion menu.  Comment on the location - Raku is well situated just off Dupont Circle and is a prime spot for people watching, especially from the nice outside seating area.  

My lunch started with a cup of miso soup followed by a large plate featuring Korean bbq beef strips (a little tough but finished in a sweet and spicy glaze that was very nice) accompanied by a serving of fried rice, into which had been minced kimchee with some pickled beanshoots on the side.  The fried rice was very nice, and the kimchee really spiced the dish up.  The portion was large and I did not finish all on my plate.  Only complaint about the meal was the service - after taking and delivering our drink orders promptly, the waiter disappeared for an inordinate length of time and we had to hail him down to take our order and again later to bring us the check.  

Ms. G. and I will hopefully stay in touch and continue our conversation over another lunch in the near future.

Anyone for Panang Curry in Ward's Corner?

Meal: Lunch - Panang Curry with Chicken, Jasmine Rice and Green Salad

Restaurant: Rom Thai, 7512 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA

On Tuesday (sorry for the delay) I had lunch with a former colleague at a thai restaurant in the Ward's Corner section of Norfolk.  For those who are unfamiliar with Norfolk, Ward's Corner is one of those neighborhoods that you often hear of in connection with phrases like "redevelopment", "Mayor's Opportunity Fund" and "New investment"...it has a long way to go but makes for good political promises.

In any event, my former colleague works nearby so off we ventured.  Rom Thai is a bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming and fairly decrepit strip mall on the corner of Little Creek Road and Granby Street  The interior was nicely decorated in a Southeast Asian motif and we were quickly seated.

The lunch specials all come with a green salad and jasmine rice.  The salad was uninspired, looking like it came right out of a "salad in a bag" from the supermarket.  The dressing was flat, somewhat creamy and very sweet.

A word here about service - reaching over my dining companion's plate to unceremoniously dropping my salad with a clang in front of me, in order to avoid the 5 steps around the table, does not equate to good service!

The salad dishes were taken up and we were each reset with a fresh set of chopsticks for the entrees. The Panang Curry with Chicken, pictured below, was very tasty.  The heat of the chilies was balanced by the sweetness of the coconut and did not taste or feel greasy (a common ailment in cheaper Thai restaurants).  All in all, a decent experience and the price, $7.95 per meal, was certainly reasonable.

As I dropping by friend back off at her office, I noticed the famous cheap mexican restaurant across the street from her office.  It was formerly known as Speedy Gonzalez and had a dedicated following though I had never ventured there.  The Speedy Gonzalez sign was gone and in its place, a sign advertising Vietnamese Noodle Soup Kitchen - on its own, a sign of the times as restaurants seems to be failing with greater regularity (even institutions like Speedy's).  However, far more intriguing, and somewhat disturbing, were the signs on the plate glass window fronting the establishment.  These signs featured Vietnamese noodle soup, burritos, and cheese steaks.  I'm all for fusion cuisine but I am not sure that a Pho Ga Enchilada is in my future!