Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 47

The Durham's restaurant disappoints

A while back, a group of us ate dinner at the restaurant inside the trendy hotel, The Durham.  With Beard-winning chef Andrea Reusing at the helm and this rare five-star review from the News & Observer's Greg Cox, the place certainly appeared promising.

Sadly, in this case appearances were most definitely deceiving.  Our meal at The Durham was deeply disappointing.

Six of us squeezed around a table that would have been comfortable for four.  Though a couple of bigger tables were in sight, they told us this was the standard size for a group of six.  Throughout the meal, we and our servers wrestled with space issues.

The women refilling the small water glasses did as good a job as the space allowed, but our primary server was one of the worst I've recently encountered.  Constantly inattentive--each time we ordered, I noticed him looking at other tables as he tried to take notes--he actually pulled the menu from one person who was in the middle of ordering and walked away from another who was still talking.  It's no surprise, then, that he missed two of our orders, nor that our mains sat so long under the heat lamp that several dishes dried out.

I'd forgive shoddy service, though, if the food was great.  It was not.  It was decidedly middle-of-the road.  The meat-and-cheese board was good but no more.  The chopped salad was also good--but no better.  The crab souffle was hardly a souffle and sufficiently boring that its high point was the bread in it.  The beef fat French fries might have been good had they not sat so long; we'll never know.  The steak was fine, but you can find better prepared pieces of meat all over the Triangle.  And so on.

The only two dishes that showed great promise were the chip & dip starter, which involved a sort of carrot hummus that we all quite liked, and the pot de creme dessert, which we all agreed hit the bittersweet chocolate target perfectly.

The baked Alaska, by contrast, used mediocre ice cream--Ben & Jerry's would have been way better--and a meringue that was so thick and viscous that after I scraped it off the top of the dish and pushed it to the side, stayed exactly the same for the next twenty minutes until we left.

I rarely write such negative reviews, but I felt compelled to do so for several reasons.  First, this chef has the talent and the pedigree to do dramatically better.  I like to believe that if she had been at our table, she would have been appalled.  Next, no restaurant aiming for the high end should provide this level of service or accept this quality from the kitchen.  Finally, I simply cannot let Greg Cox's review stand uncontested.

If someone from The Durham would like to invite me back on a night when they feel they have their game on--I would, of course, pay my own way--I'd give it another try, but otherwise, I won't return there for food, and I have to recommend that you, too, spend your dining money elsewhere.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

drew me to the theater because I try to catch everything director Tim Burton does and because I have a fan-boy crush on Eva Green.  I was concerned, though, because some of Burton's more recent efforts have been disappointing, and I worried that the film would contain entirely too much of the children and too little of Green.

I'm happy to report that though the children are indeed (and properly) the stars, the film shows us Burton in fine form, and Green is a strong presence for much of it.  I never expected to like this movie anywhere near as much as I did.

The baseline story is completely familiar but always a worthy starting point:  a child--here, a teenager--who's always wanted to be special but is not discovers lots of special kids and in the process his own special gifts.  What makes this version so entertaining is Burton's visuals, which are beautiful and compelling.  The actors also turn in good performances even when voicing lines that are occasionally rather silly.

I feel obliged to warn you that the film plays with time streams and does so rather sloppily, so you have to accept its machinations in this area with a rather large helping of suspension of disbelief.  Once you do, though, the game is afoot.

Catch Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children in the theaters while you can, because the visuals deserve the big screen.

Another PT person doing good in the world

This time, it's Duvan, who tells his sabbatical story in this video.



I've said it before, and I will almost certainly repeat it again:  I am proud and fortunate to be able to work with such great people.

Oh, yes, I'm ready to see this movie

After the first John Wick flick, I decided I could happily watch a new one every year.  That schedule was a bit too aggressive, but now a second in the series is on the way.



I'm definitely there.

Well, that was not fun

The plan was to watch the UFC PPV.  Hurricane Matthew did not like the plan.

So, out went my power, mid-afternoon, as I was enjoying a weekend nap.

No problem.  We moved the whole group to a nearby friend's house.  We got takeout pizza and settled in to watch an episode of Parts Unknown before switching to the fights.

Out went the power.

At that point, we gave up.

As a special treat, Sunday morning (I'm posting this Saturday entry on Sunday night), we discovered minor flooding--a couple of inches of water--in my basement.  The damage wasn't horrible, except that hundreds of comic books are ruined.

I am not happy with Matthew.

Not that the storm cares.

The Girl on the Train

I have not read the bestselling book behind this movie, and I avoided spoilers, so I went into it with no more knowledge of its plot than what the trailers revealed.  I'm glad I did that, and I encourage you to do the same, should you also not know the story.  Though reactions in our group were decidedly mixed, I enjoyed the film and found it interesting from start to finish.

The movie's story unfolds in bits and pieces that jump around in time, a nice device for a mystery but one that can lead to confusion.  Fortunately, I didn't find this one at all confusing, and the pieces built slowly to an interesting conclusion.

What really makes The Girl on the Train worth watching, though, is Emily Blunt's excellent performance.  To avoid spoilers I will say only that she is completely convincing throughout a complex series of scenes that involve many aspects of her character.

I will warn that if you are seeking a movie with characters you can consistently like, this one is not for you.  No one here is without flaws, and many of the flaws are serious indeed.

If you're in the mood for a tense mystery, check out The Girl on the Train.

Another embarrassing affection I refuse to apologize for

I like many of Cher's songs.

Yes, I understand all the criticisms you can reasonably level at her, but I like quite a few of her pop hits, and I refuse to apologize for liking them.

Consider this one, for example.



Overdone?  Silly?  Needlessly sexy video?  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.

I don't care.  I love it.

And then this song, the very best cover of a great song.



I love the Marc Cohn original, but I also adore Cher's cover, which she makes her own.  I even love that she plays the Elvis part.

Yes, you can reasonably call me shallow for liking Cher.  I don't mind.  When the music works for you, it works for you.

These--and many of her other songs--work for me.

Check out this interview with Sarah

She is an amazing young woman, and I am lucky to be her father.

She even gave me a plug.  How about that.

As I said, I am incredibly lucky to have her as my daughter.

Check it out here.

More good from PT folks

As I've written on multiple occasions, one of the aspects of PT that I'm most proud of is the sabbatical program.  Another PT colleague has taken a sabbatical and during it done some charity work.  Check out the following video to learn about what he did.



I'm happy and proud to get to work with such great people.

The barking cycle will not break

Holden's sister, Pixil, is spending a few nights with us while her owner, Gina, is out of town.  Pixil is a planner, a hound who's always playing for the main chance.  She also is supremely adept at cranking up her brother just because she can.  Combine that with a willingness to bark at a shadow of a leaf, and you have a recipe for barking beyond all reason.

Tonight, for example, Holden was working on a bone in the den while Pixil was, as usual, stretched out in her guest crate on watch for Gina.

Holden coughed a bit on the bone.

Pixil barked to sound the alert:  something must be amiss!

Holden ran to join her and began barking, too.

Pixil grew agitated--Holden has confirmed the threat!--and barked louder.

The two of them fed on each other's barks and through the power of their barking turned away whatever threat was menacing us.

And so the barking cycle begins anew.