Best Weekend Wrap-Up

It's Sunday night, the weekend is drawing to a close. But a few things happened this weekend and some photos were taken so, hey, I'm going to share them with you.

First and foremost, Big News: My buddy Bryant and his wife Candice (also a buddy) came and visited New York this weekend. We had dinner at Galanga and reminisced about those three years of Law School we shared. It was really great, seeing Bryant, talking about stuff, I wish the Smiths had never left me.


At dinner I gave Bryant a present. The present was I returned his Elder Maxwell book that I borrowed two years ago.


The Smiths came over for a minute to check out my roof, and then they were gone.


By the way, here's their blog.

Friday night Collin and I went to Jeff's house in Brooklyn and watched Disney nature movies from the 50's or 60's all night. Might not have been in high definition, but these little masterpieces could go head to head with Planet Earth any day. There, I said it!

Saturday I quadruple booked my obligations to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. First off, that night was to be the Union Square 3rd Ward's Fall Social. They needed people to make chili for dinner so I decided it would help me to grow and mature if I cooked one of the pots of chili, so I signed up to provide and then emailed my mom for a chili recipe. Mom sent me am extremely self-assured narrative recipe for a chili that she promised me would do the job...so I spent the morning shopping for my ingredients (I went to a proper butcher to get myself some freshly ground pounds of pork and beef and the experience was so satisfying [I just love working with people that know what they're doing] that I think I'm going to start buying a lot more meat and all of it from a real butcher, nothing wrapped in plastic anymore) and cooking it up. I've never cooked anything for 4 hours before. This is what the chili looked like during the first hour.



But in the afternoon I had to take a break from the chili warming because I had signed up to be a fake-investigator for the Stake's Youth Mini-MTC Day in Harlem. It was a fun experience, seeing all those youngsters dressed up with their missionary tags and such, prodding each other to do all the talking, assembling as best they could their doctrinal knowledge, and, when at a loss for knowledge, making up some pretty good stuff (for example, did you know that now that we have the Golden Plates, we're trying to find the Bronze and Silver plates as well?)

While wandering about the Harlem building I discovered where the stake has been keeping the Joseph Smith statue that used to be downtown by the river. It's just in a corner of the parking garage, minding its own business.


While the young missionaries did a pretty good job, this other Church on Lenox Ave seemed to have a pretty solid foundation itself.


Back at the house and a few more hours of simmering later, the chili was ready for its first tasting. Collin accepted this task with a great sense of duty and responsibility. Observe...



And then it was off to the ward party. Shortly after I got there this pot of chili set off the fire alarm. But we never figured out exactly why. We could see through the pot's glass lid that it was full of smoke, but when Sarah and Mike and I took it to the patio to investigate, everything looked fine in the pot. Sure, it smelled a bit like a campfire, but nothing was burnt or anything. Mysterious.


The party started at 7 and if you got there later than 7:30 you probably did not have any chili because it all got gobbled right up.


I almost forgot to try my own chili. I must admit, Mom's recipe was a good one. I'm not necessarily a cook, but I'm good at doing exactly what a recipe tells me to do.


Dave's Guitar Hero was at the party and we made it look so fun that Bishop Cropper and his wife (Julie) tried it out. This was thrilling to us ward members, you know, to have our authority figure playing trying out our favorite game, but it's not like our bishop is some cranky old man.


Also noteworthy: Jules played her first Guitar Hero songs that night, too. And she took right to it.


But the major activity for the Fall party was the pumpkin carving.


Ace went to work and started carving up pumpkins like it was his job. He completed two rather creative pumpkins. The first was fanciful...


The second, a little gruesome. Just a little. (but points for imagination, no doubt about that)


Others:




Kim's work. She's got her own little pumpkin tool kit, she doesn't kid around with this stuff.



And that was the weekend. Or at least some of it.

Best Wishes to You, Dear Favorite Restaurants

Congratulations to Dressler and Peter Luger on their Michilen Stars!

Remember when I went to Dressler?
Remember when I went to Peter Luger?

Sort of funny how they're across the street from each other. Not bad for a block in Williamsburg.

It's nice to know what one Michilen star tastes like. I think I would like to move on to two stars soon. Masa? Gordon Ramsay?

Oh, and the Spotted Pig got a star. I've been there. And Gotham Bar & Grill, I almost went there. But I'm not excited about their stars. I'm excited that Dressler, which I laud and recommend whenever I can, has received this honor and I'm also glad that a rugged yet famous steak house doesn't get overlooked by the big snobs because, holy cow, I still taste the bacon from 18 months ago.

Some Links:

What, exactly, is a Michelin Star, Brigham? And why should I care?

NY Times reports who got stars in New York this year.
Frank Bruni opines on the selections.

Best Things I Did and Things I Ate in Los Angeles, pt.2

I bet you were worried I forgot I had a blog. No, didn't forget. Let me prove it. Let me show you more tacos.

Ok, it pains me to say it, but the Monday of two weeks ago (I suppose I have fallen behind) I was still in California and still furiously hungry for tacos. In California there's this Mom and Pop chain called "King Taco" bent on bringing a proper taco-cart experience to the masses and fortunately for me they're so interested in this mission that they have an outpost in Pasadena.


While I assure you I could have eaten all of this on my own, I was actually there with Grandma. I had heard tell of King Taco's ferocious red salsa, but really didn't expect it to be all that tough. Was I wrong. Definitely the meanest taco salsa I've ever encountered that came standard with a meal. I love King Taco for keeping the taco experience totally street despite it's many outlets throughout Southern California. No sacrifice of authenticity or flavor, quite commendable. Also, and this is so important for a proper taco experience, the food was all dirt cheap. Even the plate of taquitos in the background cost barely any money (and it included guacamole!)


Hey, remember Guitar Hero? (The 12th Street Guitar Hero Fanciers' Association isn't dead, just sleeping, by the way) The Santa Monica ward had a big FHE Monday night featuring a cultural hall full of Guitar Hero stations. How magnificent. And I finally got to square-off against Tanner and ran into many a fond California acquaintance as well.


There was a discussion on how to best pose for a figure drawing pose and this is the pose Tanner and Keith decided they preferred.


Tuesday was Tortilla Soup day at Houston's, but it was also "Weird Camera Malfunction Day" but I was able to get a picture of my sushi salad. I know, it's weird. I went to Houston's and got sushi. I won't bore you with the decision-making process that got me there, but everything is great at Houston's, so why not try the sushi? No regrets. None at all.


Wednesday evening I went to the Los Angeles temple because I love how enormous it is and like to imagine what it'd be like there on a busy day. While there I discovered (hidden in plain view) the Fire Inspector's Certificate in the Celestial Room restricting that space to a maximum occupancy of 475. I think they manage to stay pretty far away from that cliff's edge.







Also, Wednesday night (after a little Twin Peaks watching) I went back to El Super Taco on Santa Monica and (as I mentioned previously) ate a torta (a torta de tinga de pollo, to be precise) that was the single most delicious torta I've ever eaten outside of Mexico. It was so delicious that I started to panic, started to worry. Why was this meal so delicious? Was something wrong? Was I in trouble? Could you taste what I tasted, you'd know what I was trying to get at here. (No picture b/c too sacred)

Thursday. A visit to Tacos Por Favor on the westside with Broek and Jared (creator of the Hamster Fighting Machine).



Looking at these pictures again, I start to hate California a little for being too tricky to get to for lunch.


Tacos Por Favor: "We make healthy Mexican food that just taste great." Indeed.


And finally, that night I went with Grandma to the Claim Jumper and ordered some asparagus with a side of tri-tip.


And then, the next day, I went back to New York and I have remained here ever since. I do not kid.

Best Things I Did and Things I Ate in Los Angeles, pt.1

So, yeah. Last week (practically two weeks ago, to be honest) I flew out to California for Grandma's birthday. And you know what? It wasn't any normal trip...I was a surprise!! Grandma had no idea I was coming! Just like she didn't think Mom, Dad, or Afton were coming out either (I guess she was expecting to have an awful birthday with no one who cared about her or something?)

Shortly after getting to California we went and had breakfast at this fine place in Pasadena called Marston's.


Grandma and Aunt Afton.


Mom.


I had huevos rancheros (it's always interesting to see how huevos rancheros will be interpreted...in this case, they were interpreted with lots and lots of chili)


Grandma's eggs and bacons and fruit


Dad's Eggs Benedict.


That night we went and celebrated Grandma's birthday with a meal at the Tamoshanter.


Prime rib! Lots of it!


And after dinner? An trip to the Glendale Center Theatre (California's Family Theatre) for a performance of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.


This is a bit of art from when the Glendale Center Theatre was just the dream of some poor theatre-in-the-round enthusiast and his wife.


Was the evening ready to end? NO! Back to Grandma's for cake and candles!


Then, on Saturday we had some lunch at our family's restaurant, Twohey's. I don't mean that it's the restaurant we own (because we don't own one), but the restaurant that we go to always. It's like Monk's Diner on Seinfeld, but for those with Condie blood.

There I enjoyed their famed curry clam chowder.


And their magnificent onion rings and a fine, fine chili dip.


But most importantly, our order got a little mixed up and I got a free bittersweet hot fudge sundae! And bittersweet hot fudge sundaes is what Twoheys is about! (p.s. depth of field ftw, btw)


That evening (after an undocumented trip to Yang Chow for Chinese) I ventured away from my family for a few hours for some LA adventures with Broek and Ramsey (remember when they came to New York for Daft Punk? I'd love to link to that, but it's getting late).

The night began with a visit to El Super Taco where I enjoyed a little chicken sope and a little taco al pastor. These were some excellent little treats. A few nights later I'd return to El Super Taco and order a Torta de Tinga on a hunch. It was the most delicious torta of my entire life. It was so good that I started to panic over its tastiness. My life is ruined now because of that delicious torta that lives on the other side of the country.



Then we went to the Echoplex and saw Simian Mobile Disco and Boysnoize.



Afters we hit up a taco truck in the vicinity of the club.


Yeah, that's right. Late night post-dinner tacos twice in one night. That's how great things can be in Southern California. But, to be perfectly honest, my tacos were more than a tad on the gristly side. Sad but true.


Sunday afternoon. A proper Sunday dinner at Grandma's.


There was this rumor that Grandma Barnes was in California that same weekend visiting my Uncle Greg and his family so after I dropped my parents off at the airport I went down to Tustin to see how everyone was doing. Greg had just bought himself a Wii and a challenge was presented: Could I get Grandma to play Wii? The answer, as you can see here, Yes. Yes I could. She bowled twice and got strikes both times, kid you not.



Heading home that night, I just couldn't help myself. I had to have a late night Del Taco feast. Sorry. I just LOVE Del Taco. I had a crispy beef taco, a soft chicken taco, a fish taco, and (for the first time ever) one of their cheeseburgers. Del Taco cheeseburgers...taste pretty much like a McDonalds burger dressed up as a Burger King burger.


Also on my way home I saw this Lamborghini Diablo. It had a funny vanity plate and a really cheesy driver. I thought Southern Californians would be embarrassed to be seen in a 17 year old non-classic supercar like that, but he was living it up. You sort of had to be there.


You know what? I think I'm going to call it a night and cut this post in half. I'll post more tomorrow, or the day after. Are you going to see more pictures of tacos? Come on, get serious. You are going to see lots and lots of pictures of tacos.