Words and notation just became an utter jumble. That means it’s time to pack it in for the evening, just slightly before the morning.

10/12/2010

5/5 stars

Ah, what better way to wind down after a nice, toasty Pride parade? Picked up outside Outwrite (*before* closing, thank you very much), the pomegranate margarita pop was a nice, firm treat in my mouth. Hard but giving with a touch of salty trickle down my throat. Delicious and refreshing. The pomegranate was a delightful tang belying the sweetness. I wonder if there was pineapple juice…

Another of our party thought her melon treat tasted of perfume. I suppose that's always a risk when you prefer melons.

Yelp tags: Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt

10/13/2010

3/5 stars

My uneducated opinion: Solid, flavorful, satisfying food.

Bear in mind that I'm one of those people who **hates** cilantro. The cilantro in my chicken curry was *on* the curry, so I could remove it easily. After that, the flavor was delightful. And the garlic kulcha was very, very garlicy and yummy.

Our Indian colleague seemed satisfied, but not delighted. I was happy without being bowled over with wonderfulness. To me, this is a good restaurant for such solid basics as a Pasty American can appreciate.

And not only was our server very attentive (keeping our water glasses full), but also the owner made his rounds greeting everyone. That personal touch means quite a lot.

I suspect I'll be back to this area. I definitely will keep this local, independent restaurant in mind.

Yelp tags: Indian

10/13/2010

4/5 stars

I'm not much of a "sports bar" type. I'm making an exception for two reasons.

One: Soccer. First Down reminded me that Massi & that hand-ball were for Uruguay and not Argentina. Must correct myself with a certain German tomorrow.

Two: The people. Regulars who start conversations with business travelers are such a win that it's difficult to describe. And not just a conversation, but a *technical* conversation.

And while I don't know her opinion on tomorrow, Annie has the patience of a saint. As does "pink Annie," as another barkeep was called… Not by me, but someone they know. The folks working the bar are fantastic. And obviously they understand how us pasty-Americans function. (No, really, someone referred to a song as "gangsta," and even *I* knew better. Pasty pride?)

Why not a 5-star? Well, it's a combination of worry about star inflation and the lack of *local* brews. I know Virginia's laws are all sorts of crazy about alcohol, but I do wish more places would make an effort to offer local-ish brews. Any east-coast brew could qualify as local-ish… Except for the major labels. They'll always be on tap for the McDonalds/Starbucks/bridge&tunnel/ewyuckgross crowd.

Yelp tags: Sports Bars American (Traditional)

10/16/2010

4/5 stars

Fair street food means greasy and overpriced, right? Not with these folks. Two $6 meals that were filling and good.

My Cajun chicken egg rolls were delightful! Chicken, a bit of ham, corn, and other tasty vittles in a well-fried, non-greasy roll. The two sizable rolls were chopped in half and served on (iceberg) lettuce with a creamy sauce. Some splashes of tabasco, and these rolls are fantastic finger food.

My wife's black beans and rice with andouille may mix cuisines, but it's well done. Good sausage, and very well seasoned beans. Very, very filling, as good beans and rice should be. Sure, $6 is far more than beans & rice cost to make, but this is available at a street fair. And it's relatively healthy… Great option.

Looking forward to seeing the Pickle at other events.

Yelp tags: Food Stands Caterers

10/17/2010

3/5 stars

The food is significant and cheap. My first time involved a $2 taco and a $5 burrito, and it was far too much for for my lunch. This last time was a taco and a basket of sesame fries ($3). Good, basic stuff. Nicely crunchy veggies on top. The fries had a rather strong after-taste, though…

Why only three of five? Hm. Neither time were my taste buds rocked the way I expected and wanted. And they tend to run out of items quickly. At first, I figured that was just because they weren't sure of the demand. They've been around long enough and gone to enough events that they should have a better handle on their ingredient quantities.

That said, if they were near my building at Georgia Tech, I'd likely hit them up for a few tacos pretty often.

Yelp tags: Korean Food Stands Mexican

10/18/2010

5/5 stars

Graveyard Tavern was not what I expected. For that alone, the event more than served its purpose. And introducing people to the nifty EAV neighborhood. The free sodas and shots were a nice touch, although I'm not a shot person. Great to see the folks who made it! Some clearly engaged in a bit more pre-gaming than others (*cough*Ivan*cough*), so there were people making the party lively. If only it weren't a work night…

Yelp tags: Local Flavor

10/20/2010

2/5 stars

The good bits: Prime location. Excellent desk staff. Cool barkeep.

The WTF: The water in my iron flowed freely all over the shirt I was going to iron… They replaced the iron quickly, but irons in the "executive suites" likely should *work*. And the bathroom is bizarrely tiny. The door only barely clears the toilet and must be closed to use anything other than the sink. That's a bit pointless when you're the only one in the room.

The cruddy: Paid network access (although accepts Boingo). Really, really high prices thanks to having a captive, funded audience (people visiting the NSF and other agencies).

And on the catered food for our meetings… When you cannot identify refried beans, there's a problem. The food generally didn't cause stomach upset, but its appearance had me worried. The food's flavor wasn't objectionable. Said flavor would have to *exist* to be objectionable.

Yelp tags: Hotels

This year’s SuperComputing conference is in New Orleans. I’ve received at least 20 vendor invitations to events at SC10.

All are events held in hotel conference rooms. In New Orleans. None involve local music, local food, or anything about New Orleans. How of the locale has whizzed past? All of it.

Every one of these vendors could afford non-hotel food and local musicians. Every one. A few even could afford to rent out world-known venues like Tipitina’s or Preservation Hall. But no, these are bog-standard corporate events. That’s the mentality of SC. The mentality slops over onto the research side. While quite a few folks make honest submissions, some of the yearly award submissions are for one-off stunts. There’s no thought in those submissions towards sustainability.

Sustainability applies to everything. Music, food, even software.