Sunday, August 12, 2007

Restaurant Review

I love to try new restaurants, but I am not especially fond of chain restaurants. However, last night, Miguel and I went to the Bonefish Grill to celebrate his birthday. Wow. The restaurant just had its grand opening in Bel Air on Monday. The atmosphere was a little chaotic (I think every single server they had was on the floor!), but the food was incredible.

We started the evening off with the Bang Bang Shrimp, which came high recommended from a Connell. When a Connell says something is worth trying, IT IS! The appetizer is served with a creamy, spicy sauce. The sauce is one I will definitely try to replicate. And to top it off, we got to use chopsticks, very fun.
For dinner, Miguel had a rockfish version of chicken chesapeake, with a nice spinach, tomato topping and a lime dressing. So good. I had to steal several bites.
I had the ahi tuna (rare) with a warm mango salsa. Delicious. Miguel doesn't prefer raw fish, but he loved the way the tuna melted in your mouth.

The restaurant was a tad pricey, but definitely worth it. Oh, and a fun side note: Brenda Hranj (Jennifer Lyttle's mom) works there, so you'll bump into a friendly face if nothing else!

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Did You Know?

All of these things were invented for and first seen at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago:

The Ferris Wheel
Cracker Jacks
Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer
Zippers
Moving Pictures (This side of the Atlantic, at least)
Aunt Jemima's boxed pancake mix
Juicy Fruit gum
Shredded Wheat cereal

I found these facts fascinating. I'd never thought of their time or place of inception before reading "The Devil in the White City."

Friday, August 03, 2007

Words

Recently, the books I have been reading contain few, if any, unknown words. This past week, however, I started a new book titled "The Devil in the White City," by Erik Larson, which details the building and goings on of the World's Fair in Chicago at the brink of the 20th century. Very fascinating history. The books is incredibly well written, and contains a plethora of new vocabulary words. Today, I stumbled across this one:

Somnambulistic: affected by sleepwalking.

I love reading books that make me think (and use a dictionary)!