This Saturday found my husband and I observing our 3rd of 5 shows in our Broadway Across Austin package graciously provided by my in-laws. This month's musical was "Avenue Q." "Avenue Q" opened earlier this decade and I remember hearing about it on the Tony's and whatnot - it is unique in that it involves puppets interacting with humans (a la "Sesame Street") - but is firmly not for children. My in-laws saw it when they were in NYC this summer and LOVED it - so they have eagerly been awaiting seeing it again, and for us to get a chance to see it as well. The premise is a puppet named Princeton, a newly-minted college graduate, turns up on Avenue Q because he can't afford any avenues closer into town (his opening song is "What Do You Do with a BA in English?" - hit a little close to home for me...). He rents in an apartment building managed by Gary Coleman and occupied by an odd assortment of down-on-their-luck humans, monsters, and puppets. Part of the intent of the show is too shock you and catch you off guard, so I don't want to reveal too much more. Regardless, the show is a lot of fun and something interesting and different to catch if you have a chance.
The show was good, but the real star of the night was...Hudson's on the Bend!!! We went there for dinner after the show and while it is price-y (thank you again, in-laws!) it was SO SO SO SO SO SO delicious!!!! We started out with an amuse-bouche - a wild boar tartlet topped with crumbled cheese in a white chocolate tomatillo sauce - REALLY REALLY GOOD. Then my starter was their creamy chipotle lobster bisque - if you can imagine the best soup you have ever tasted, then you know how good my soup was. My husband got a mixed greens salad with tomatillos that they did something to that were phenomenal. For my entree I ordered Grilled Pheasant Breast stuffed with a cilantro pesto in a mole sauce, served with a pheasant tamale with the aforementioned white chocolate tomatillo sauce, Shiner Bock ancho mashed potatoes, and some seasonal veggies. I made a happy plate!!! My husband ordered chicken fried antelope that was fried in masa flour. It was light and tender and delicious. My mother-in-law ordered a steak and my father-in-law ordered their wild game sampler plate that included - quail, venison, venison sausage, buffalo, and rabbit. I tried a few - all good. We had not saved room for dessert, but never fear! We were sent home with samples of the pecan pie. I can't wait to go back and I can't say enough good things about our experience. It was high end without being stuffy, fine dining with a very accessible menu, and a very polite and knowledgable waitstaff, not to mention they have a sommelier on staff that served us our wine! I recommend it for any special occasion. I'm telling you, I did not put one bad bite of food in my mouth.
Next up - my husband and I are having dinner at Roy's tonight for our anniversary, so I can't wait to tell you about that. And from there - just more of my thoughts on television and movies. Although, I am in the middle of a couple of books, so I may just flesh the ol' blog on out to include those reviews. So exciting.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Reality TV Round-Up
I realize I have been extremely absent - and for that I apologize. Let's just chalk it up to MTV premeiring two of my shows in one week.
First up - "The Hills." As of today, we are three episodes into the 5th season (I believe). Lauren has already stated she will not be returning for another season, Audrina is shopping around her own reality show all about her, Whitney is living in "The City," and Heidi and Spencer want to be on "The Hills" forever. So as far as I'm concerned, this will be my last season of "The Hills" - I hope. The last 3 episodes have been pretty Heidi-Spencer-centric, my least favorite kind of episodes. I just typed out a long recap - but then I realized - who cares? Basically, Spencer has been lying to Heidi and Heidi continues to forgive him. At this point I can't help but suspect that the Pratt-Montag clan is trying to pull the proverbial wool over our eyes. I would hope that they watch the show - assuming this fact, Heidi would learn that yes, Spencer is a gross, controlling liar. Not to mention the fact that Stephanie seems to be egging on drama wherever she can (pushing Heidi on Lauren, reporting to Spencer Heidi's whereabouts, encouraging Heidi to stay with Spencer, trying to get a job at Lauren's work). My hypothesis is that the 3 of them have to be in some sort of cahoots to further drama on the show, like at this point they are really characters (or caricatures) to ensure the focus on their storylines - this is no longer their real life. I feel this way because I don't understand how, after 4 seasons, that Heidi could stand for this constant barrage of emotional abuse. Here is your chance to be a role model and stand up for yourself and be a strong woman, but instead you're getting plastic surgery, getting fired from your job, losing all of your friends, and alienating your family. What a winner. Part of me was really hoping they had broken up since their names haven't been on the interwebs mush as of late, but I caught a snippet the other day that said they are planning to get married in June. Maybe it's fake PR so people won't see their break-up coming? The unfortunate thing is that the show is perpetuating these other story lines while Lauren is dating Kyle Howard (Bobby from "My Boys"), but she has chosen to keep that out of the show. Wouldn't that be so much better to watch?!
Then there is the sweet sweet return of "RW/RR Challenge:The Duel II" - was it everything I hoped it would be? Maybe more...of course, there was drama before the challenges even started. Diem (RW/RR:Fresh Meat) and CT (RW:Paris) are no longer together (speaking of emotionally abusive relationships), and she hears from Katie (RR:Extreme? and hells yes, Katie is back!) that CT messed around with Shauvon (some new, questionable, RW girl). CT thinks that Adam (RW:Paris) told her and he and Adam get in this RIDICULOUS fight. RIDICULOUS. Like uncomfortable to watch and people are bleeding and the house is being destroyed. Diem cries and they are both sent home. This all happens while Diem is dressed up as some sort of slutty cavewoman. QUESTION - does this mean that she and Paula (of RW:Key West, who was dressed as Poke-your-hontas, I think you get the picture) packed these outfits with them? Like just in case they threw a birthday party? Or is this one of those things that MTV provides, like copious amounts of alcohol? I would really like to know. Fast forward to the challenge the next day, Nehemiah (RW:Austin, Beth's 'tenderoni') and MJ (RW:Philadelphia) have joined us in place of the ejected RW:Paris competitors. The first challenge is a rugby challenge - oops! - MJ is a former SEC football player (it was Vandy, but still, did you play SEC football? I didn't think so). He doesn't win, but he gets close - Evan (RW/RR Challenge:Fresh Meat) wins along with Robin (RW:San Diego). MJ gets Robin to save him in the selection process and the two duels are set up - Ryan (Fresh Meat) vs. some new guy who I can't remember his name and Aneesa (RW:Chicago) vs. Shauvon. Are you kidding me?! Who would pick Aneesa to go against? Anyways...Ryan beats the new guy and we won't learn about the girls until tonight. I think this season could really hold a lot of outside-of-the-challenges drama. Robin and Mark (first RR) are exes, Diem is left without CT, Rachel (RR:Campus Crawl) and Jenn (RW:Denver?) have hooked up previously, Brad (RW:San Diego) and Tori (RR:Viewer's Revenge) appear to break up on the show, there are two gay guys and at least two more lesbians, Big Easy (Fresh Meat) is back (shocking, that takes a lot of nerve), and I just love all of it!
Some other, non-MTV reality shows I have been viewing are "America's Next Top Model" and "Last Restaurant Standing." I have really been enjoying this season of ANTM. I didn't ever really get into the last cycle (evidenced by the fact that I finished it about 2 weeks before this cycle started), and I didn't mean to start this one because of my indifference, but then the DVR just picked up recording it, so I may as well watch it if it's there, and it's been pretty good. I could easily say that I pretty much like all of the girls that are left - and I am interested to see how this cycle plays out. I also like the addition of "Top Models in Action" during the commercial breaks once an episode. Nigel narrates what past contestants have been doing in their modeling careers - it's kind of nice to have an update to see that they are actually modeling. I guess they are doing this in place of 'Cover Girl of the Week' now that I think about it...
As for "Last Restaurant Standing," we are down to just 3 couples and 2 episodes. Last week, one of our faves - Nel's, went home - so that was kind of a bummer. The three that are left are the Cheerful Soul, True Provenance, and The Gallery. The interesting challenge/twist for this week was the invitation of some dietary special needs customers - vegetarians, vegans, and celiacs. Oh, and a fine dining supper club. None of them handled it perfectly. True Provenance didn't really have any viable vegetarian/vegan options, Michelle of the Cheerful Soul wasn't familiar enough with the menu to figure out where the gluten was so it took 20 minutes to take the celiacs' order and they were then served crostini, the celiac 7-year-old at The Gallery was served a biscuit on her dessert, and the fine dining club kind of ripped James up and down on his food at The Gallery. I don't really know anything about Raymond Blanc's restaurants, but The Gallery and True Provenance seem more up his alley, but to me the front-runner kind of seems to be the Cheerful Soul. The thing about it all now is that none of them seem to be doing particularly well, thus all three couples are in some sort of special challenge (saw that coming) for next week.
New show alert - Bravo will be premeiring "Top Chef: Masters" on June 10. This will pit 24 established chef's (including some fave guest judges) against each other in "Top Chef"-style challenges in order to ultimately win the title and $100,000 to their charity of choice.
"Project Runway" update - Season Six will finally be premeiring this summer on Lifetime. I'm really bummed that Bravo lost out on this show, and I am wary about the two replacements - "The Fashion Show" and "Buy My Line" or something like that. Hmm...
First up - "The Hills." As of today, we are three episodes into the 5th season (I believe). Lauren has already stated she will not be returning for another season, Audrina is shopping around her own reality show all about her, Whitney is living in "The City," and Heidi and Spencer want to be on "The Hills" forever. So as far as I'm concerned, this will be my last season of "The Hills" - I hope. The last 3 episodes have been pretty Heidi-Spencer-centric, my least favorite kind of episodes. I just typed out a long recap - but then I realized - who cares? Basically, Spencer has been lying to Heidi and Heidi continues to forgive him. At this point I can't help but suspect that the Pratt-Montag clan is trying to pull the proverbial wool over our eyes. I would hope that they watch the show - assuming this fact, Heidi would learn that yes, Spencer is a gross, controlling liar. Not to mention the fact that Stephanie seems to be egging on drama wherever she can (pushing Heidi on Lauren, reporting to Spencer Heidi's whereabouts, encouraging Heidi to stay with Spencer, trying to get a job at Lauren's work). My hypothesis is that the 3 of them have to be in some sort of cahoots to further drama on the show, like at this point they are really characters (or caricatures) to ensure the focus on their storylines - this is no longer their real life. I feel this way because I don't understand how, after 4 seasons, that Heidi could stand for this constant barrage of emotional abuse. Here is your chance to be a role model and stand up for yourself and be a strong woman, but instead you're getting plastic surgery, getting fired from your job, losing all of your friends, and alienating your family. What a winner. Part of me was really hoping they had broken up since their names haven't been on the interwebs mush as of late, but I caught a snippet the other day that said they are planning to get married in June. Maybe it's fake PR so people won't see their break-up coming? The unfortunate thing is that the show is perpetuating these other story lines while Lauren is dating Kyle Howard (Bobby from "My Boys"), but she has chosen to keep that out of the show. Wouldn't that be so much better to watch?!
Then there is the sweet sweet return of "RW/RR Challenge:The Duel II" - was it everything I hoped it would be? Maybe more...of course, there was drama before the challenges even started. Diem (RW/RR:Fresh Meat) and CT (RW:Paris) are no longer together (speaking of emotionally abusive relationships), and she hears from Katie (RR:Extreme? and hells yes, Katie is back!) that CT messed around with Shauvon (some new, questionable, RW girl). CT thinks that Adam (RW:Paris) told her and he and Adam get in this RIDICULOUS fight. RIDICULOUS. Like uncomfortable to watch and people are bleeding and the house is being destroyed. Diem cries and they are both sent home. This all happens while Diem is dressed up as some sort of slutty cavewoman. QUESTION - does this mean that she and Paula (of RW:Key West, who was dressed as Poke-your-hontas, I think you get the picture) packed these outfits with them? Like just in case they threw a birthday party? Or is this one of those things that MTV provides, like copious amounts of alcohol? I would really like to know. Fast forward to the challenge the next day, Nehemiah (RW:Austin, Beth's 'tenderoni') and MJ (RW:Philadelphia) have joined us in place of the ejected RW:Paris competitors. The first challenge is a rugby challenge - oops! - MJ is a former SEC football player (it was Vandy, but still, did you play SEC football? I didn't think so). He doesn't win, but he gets close - Evan (RW/RR Challenge:Fresh Meat) wins along with Robin (RW:San Diego). MJ gets Robin to save him in the selection process and the two duels are set up - Ryan (Fresh Meat) vs. some new guy who I can't remember his name and Aneesa (RW:Chicago) vs. Shauvon. Are you kidding me?! Who would pick Aneesa to go against? Anyways...Ryan beats the new guy and we won't learn about the girls until tonight. I think this season could really hold a lot of outside-of-the-challenges drama. Robin and Mark (first RR) are exes, Diem is left without CT, Rachel (RR:Campus Crawl) and Jenn (RW:Denver?) have hooked up previously, Brad (RW:San Diego) and Tori (RR:Viewer's Revenge) appear to break up on the show, there are two gay guys and at least two more lesbians, Big Easy (Fresh Meat) is back (shocking, that takes a lot of nerve), and I just love all of it!
Some other, non-MTV reality shows I have been viewing are "America's Next Top Model" and "Last Restaurant Standing." I have really been enjoying this season of ANTM. I didn't ever really get into the last cycle (evidenced by the fact that I finished it about 2 weeks before this cycle started), and I didn't mean to start this one because of my indifference, but then the DVR just picked up recording it, so I may as well watch it if it's there, and it's been pretty good. I could easily say that I pretty much like all of the girls that are left - and I am interested to see how this cycle plays out. I also like the addition of "Top Models in Action" during the commercial breaks once an episode. Nigel narrates what past contestants have been doing in their modeling careers - it's kind of nice to have an update to see that they are actually modeling. I guess they are doing this in place of 'Cover Girl of the Week' now that I think about it...
As for "Last Restaurant Standing," we are down to just 3 couples and 2 episodes. Last week, one of our faves - Nel's, went home - so that was kind of a bummer. The three that are left are the Cheerful Soul, True Provenance, and The Gallery. The interesting challenge/twist for this week was the invitation of some dietary special needs customers - vegetarians, vegans, and celiacs. Oh, and a fine dining supper club. None of them handled it perfectly. True Provenance didn't really have any viable vegetarian/vegan options, Michelle of the Cheerful Soul wasn't familiar enough with the menu to figure out where the gluten was so it took 20 minutes to take the celiacs' order and they were then served crostini, the celiac 7-year-old at The Gallery was served a biscuit on her dessert, and the fine dining club kind of ripped James up and down on his food at The Gallery. I don't really know anything about Raymond Blanc's restaurants, but The Gallery and True Provenance seem more up his alley, but to me the front-runner kind of seems to be the Cheerful Soul. The thing about it all now is that none of them seem to be doing particularly well, thus all three couples are in some sort of special challenge (saw that coming) for next week.
New show alert - Bravo will be premeiring "Top Chef: Masters" on June 10. This will pit 24 established chef's (including some fave guest judges) against each other in "Top Chef"-style challenges in order to ultimately win the title and $100,000 to their charity of choice.
"Project Runway" update - Season Six will finally be premeiring this summer on Lifetime. I'm really bummed that Bravo lost out on this show, and I am wary about the two replacements - "The Fashion Show" and "Buy My Line" or something like that. Hmm...
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