Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 35

I have to get up at 5:30 in the morning

and it's a great deal later than the timestamp on this post would suggest, so I'm going to keep this short and simple:  Le Pigeon remains an amazing, wonderful restaurant.  A group of us ate the seven-course tasting menu there tonight, and I loved every single dish.  Chef/owner Gabriel Rucker and his team produce innovative and delicious food that you absolutely should sample if you are ever in Portland--and if you live here, get down to Le Pigeon ASAP.

Do not miss Le Pigeon.

Wonderful Willow wows

Sorry about that headline, but I couldn't resist the temptation, because it's true.  Willow, a small (11-seat) Portland restaurant, wowed me again tonight with its delicious, thoughtful, and playful food.  Though only four of us sat at the counter tonight, this place deserves to be sold out every day and have waiting lists; it really is that good.

It's late, and I'm tired, so I'm going to cut this short by summarizing the quality of the dishes in the following way.  I strongly dislike beets, squash, and Brussels sprouts, with my dislike increasing as you read from left to right in that list.  Three of tonight's six courses at Willow, all in a row, featured first beets, then squash, and finally Brussels sprouts.  I absolutely loved them all, and my favorite of the trio was the Brussels sprouts dish.

Yes, the Willow chefs created a Brussels sprouts dish that I adored.

Yes, these guys are that good.  Check 'em out.

Hotel operators do not love me

Late last night, before turning off the light, I placed a wake-up call (and, as usual, set my phone alarm; I'm a belt-and-suspenders guy).  I asked for a call at eight a.m.

This morning, my phone rang.  I glanced at the clock:  7:45 a.m.  I answered the phone.

A Germanic female voice said, "This is your seven forty-five wake-up call."

I said, "I asked for an eight o'clock call."

The hotel operator replied, "It is seven forty-five," and she hung up.

Hard to argue with that logic.

I got up and went to work.

The rumors of snow were greatly exaggerated

At least here in Portland and in the nearby city I visit for work, we've had zero snow so far--lots of rain, but no snow.  I can't complain, because snow would make everything harder, but I wouldn't have minded seeing a light dusting.

In other news, Gabriel Rucker's Little Bird Bistro continues to be a lovely place to eat a delicious French meal, done in Gabe's own style, on a cold night.

Another great minute about Fast 8

This ad appeared during the television coverage of today's Super Bowl.  Just watch the part up to the trailer you've seen before.



Clearly, this film will continue the highly realistic nature of its predecessors.

It's the middle of the night,

I'm in Portland, I ate an amazing dinner at Castagna, and I am falling asleep.

That's all I got.

"Another solution"

is the name of a short story of mine that will appear in an upcoming Baen anthology.  I can't give you more info yet, because I don't believe Baen has announced the book yet, but I'll tell you more when I can.

Yes, I'm being a tease.

I heard this song earlier today,

sitting in a McDonald's because it had bandwidth and was near where I needed to be an hour later, and I had to stop and sing (quietly) along.  Now it's stuck in my head, so I figured the easiest way to get it out of mine was to put it into yours.



Enjoy.

Oh, yeah:  you haven't lived until you've seen my hand-dance version.

Well, maybe I'm wrong about that.

A hint that you might have stayed in a hotel too many times

You ring the late-night operator to place a wake-up call for eight hours from that time.  After you tell her when you want the call to occur, she says, "Sleep in!  Nice.  You never get to sleep that much."

Yup, that happened.

Pro tip:  I didn't get to sleep that long.  I just placed the call earlier than usual.

COUNTER 3. FIVE. VII amazes again

I've written about this great restaurant many times before, and each time I say the same things:  the food is fabulous, the team is wonderful, and it's the best restaurant in Austin, period.  I'm too tired to do a full post on my meal earlier tonight, but it was one of the best yet from Counter, and that's saying something.  Not a single bite was anything other than delicious.

I hope to return to this meal with pictures and more info, but for now let me close with a simple but truthful admonition:  if you care at all about food and can possibly eat at Counter, do so.