Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
While wondering at the necessity, I marvel at the kind of concentration and craftsmanship it takes to write a single sentence that makes sense and holds interest as it spans 12 pages rife with characters, each distinctly different, who share a common struggle against fate, karma, some elusive and nebulous hand manipulating a game board with varying designs and obstacles; yet this engaging contest in Michael Chabon’s most recent novel, Telegraph Avenue, is played with swagger and fear by men, women and teenage boys fighting to hold onto dreams while desperately needing to relinquish the realities of their colorful lives.
I lack the skill, and inclination, to take a 100+ word sentence any further. Chabon can, but that’s the least of his mastery. Set in Oakland, his story about two men who run a (old school vinyl) record store in danger of being razed to accommodate a mega urban renewal project is a tribute to friendship, music and, oddly, especially family.
The novel is drunk with sensory images. Consider: “At 9:45 a.m. the first batch of chicken parts sank, to the sound of applause, into the pig fat.” Or: “… the loose weather stripping that peeped like a gang banger’s drawers from the seams around the back door.”
The major flaw lies in the glut of characters; initially, it’s difficult keeping track of who’s who. Nonetheless, it’s clear everyone, from actors to midwives, is just trying to get by in life while a poor economy, outdated technology and children get in the way.
Telegraph Avenue
Four Bookmarks
HarperCollins, 2012
465 pages
Although the window into the kitchen of Trinity Brewing Company is small, diners can almost see food being prepared. On the other hand, larger windows provide spacious views of the brew master at work. Brew pubs shouldn’t get a pass on food just because beer is their primary focus. Fortunately, Trinity appears to agree – even if the observation point is restricted.
Of course, we ordered beer. I was in the mood to sample the pumpkin saison, but it was only being sold in much larger quantities than we cared to consume. We settled for the Flo, the in-house I.P.A. Trinity brews its beer on premises, but also features around 35 different “guest beers” on tap.
I ordered the Soul Gouda Soup and Forest Salad of organic spinach, red onions, walnuts and mushrooms with a tangy Tahini-lemon dressing. The soup arrived at the table looking like a bowl of peanut butter topped with pretzel pieces and green onions. It’s the kind of thing most five-year-olds would push aside and refuse to taste. My palate is far removed from that kind of disdain, and while I agree it didn’t look very appetizing the soup was decadently rich, creamy and full of flavor. The buttery, smoky gouda was augmented by the Soul Horkey Ale.
My husband’s Balsamic Chicken Wrap was good but messy. We shared an order of Belgian Fries. These twice-fried potato sticks are served in a paper cone and come with a choice of sauces. The homemade Ketchup was a good pick.
Trinity Brewing Company
Three-and-a-half Plates
1466 Garden of the Gods Rd.
Colorado Springs, CO
The Handy Market is just that: conveniently located and, despite its compact size, well-stocked with fresh produce, an impressive meat counter and a decent selection of wine and beer. And there’s the Saturday barbecue.
Every Saturday the industrial grills are loaded with a variety of meats cooked to fork-tender perfection. The aroma alone is hypnotizing. People stand in line – often a block long – to order ribs, chicken and tri-tip, but the bonus is the aroma emanating from the ballooning smoke of the grills.
A Santa Maria-like style is used: meats are cooked over a hot, hot bed of slow burning fuel, such as mesquite. Tri-tip is a lean roast with one fatty side from which the juices flow into the meat during the cooking process.
A recent visit to LA netted a trip to the Handy Market. We arrived later in the afternoon and the line was only about ten people deep. A wipe board identifies the meats, and orders are placed at the window of a trailer. The grills are set up next to it in the market’s parking lot. We ordered the trip-tip and chicken. With just the right amount of salty, smoky flavors, and optional tangy sauce, the Tri-tip is the meat of choice.
Grilled corn and salads, ordered at the meat counter, are offered. Once the meats, which are sold by the pound, are wrapped in heavy duty foil there’s the option of having them slathered in a thick, rich barbecue sauce. Go for it.
The Handy Market
Four-and-a-half Plates
2514 W. Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, Calif.
Father Greg Boyle is a rock star in Los Angeles. His status is a reflection of his strong faith; it’s not based on short-lived trends or fickle fashion. He’s revered for his efforts – actions which give more than lip service – to helping former gang members contribute positively to society. He started Homeboy Industries whose slogan is “Jobs Not Jails,” in 1988. Homeboy offers a range of services from tattoo removal to education, from counseling to career placement, and boasts several social enterprises, including the Homegirl Café, that put people to work.
The Café is run primarily by women with former gang affiliations or who have lived in dangerous domestic violence situations. The Café, as with the other enterprises, gives people a chance to learn conventional social skills while becoming economically independent.
In LA it’s possible everyone who ventures into the Café knows the story. Although it’s a good one, the fresh, enticing food is the real reason to stop by. Sure, it’s a great cause, but this is far from a charity case. All the women work hard, know the food and serve it with pride. It helps that much of the 100 percent organic produce is grown in Homeboy mini-farms.
Most of the menu items have a Latino flair. Chilaquiles combine fresh corn tortilla chips covered in a green salsa that relies more on flavor than fire. It’s topped with crema fresca and crumbly cotija cheese, and red onions. They’re breakfast super nachos, a great way to jump start the morning. There are a few alternatives to the mostly-spicey entrees, including Blueberry Multi-grain and Quinoa Pancakes. These taste as healthy as they sound, but the refreshing burst of blueberries in almost every bite makes them seem decadent.
Homegirl Café
Four Plates
130 W. Bruno St.
Los Angeles, CA
Breakfast and lunch served Monday through Saturday
I was on the library’s waiting list for Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl for months. When it was finally ready for me to check out, I was impatient to start reading. After mentioning this to a friend, her reaction was less than exuberant, it was baffling. After all, the novel was so popular there’d been hundreds ahead of me waiting for a library copy. It’s been on Publisher Weekly’s list of Best Hardcover Fiction for 15 weeks – and appears pretty comfortable there. I pressed my friend for more, but she held fast: we’d talk when I finished.
Gone Girl is a mystery on several levels, including how I spent time living with such unlikeable characters for the past week? The story follows the disappearance of Amy on her fifth wedding anniversary. By all indications, her husband, Nick, is responsible. Amy and Nick alternate as narrators. The book is divided into three sections. The first focuses on the disappearance, possibly abduction or possibly murder. Nick comes across as shallow and surprised, not upset, at his wife’s unexplained absence. He seems guilty, which is reinforced by Amy-as-victim told through diary entries.
The second and third sections of the book reveal much more about Amy’s ability to weave complicated webs of deceit. It’s not that Nick is suddenly less appalling, but Amy is more so. Flynn is a craftswoman. Her characters are fully developed as repulsive and intriguing. They’re also scary, always a good thing for a mystery, and I couldn’t look away. I need to talk to my friend.
Gone Girl
Four Bookmarks
Crown Publishers, 2012
415 pages
I was tempted to revisit Giampietro’s when my husband and I recently returned to Breckenridge, but I knew we should venture some place new. Good call because we discovered Relish. We dined al fresco on a not-quite-chilly-not-at-all-warm evening where we enjoyed exceptional food and superior service.
Relish features an extensive wine list and a menu heavy on choices with unusual flavor profiles. I love avocados, but it never occurred to me to fry one; I had to try this appetizer served with duck confit, honey-glazed shredded carrots and chimichurri sauce. The avocado was lightly coated with panko before it was pan-fried. The result was a crunchy shell with a creamy interior. The other ingredients complemented one another surprisingly well.
To me, the sign of a good menu is when there are several entrees that sound appealing. At Relish there were at least four I found intriguing, but, with some direction from our server, I went with the Almond-crusted Opah served with miniature squash, wild rice with corn and split pea all embellished with a refreshing, creamy lemon sauce. The fish was flakey, subtle and a perfect match for the sauce. My husband ordered the Porcini-crusted sea scallops served with crispy raviolis filled with mushroom and ricotta. They looked like large wontons, and were clumsy to eat yet fascinating – although I only got one bite.
Our server was knowledgeable without being condescending. She was friendly but not effusive; she enhanced the meal, which is an art.
Relish
Four-and-a-half Plates
137 S. Main St.
Breckenridge, CO
National Cheeseburger Day was this week. The place for burgers, just good old fashioned burgers, is Cy’s Drive-In. It’s an anachronism. Not just because of the carhops, Formica tables, and Elvis and James Dean posters; it’s the food, especially the messy burgers and thick shakes. Cy’s has been serving traditional drive-in fare since 1953.
The menu board features variations on burgers and includes a few items requiring explanation like Texas Toothpicks. Green chile and grill sandwiches such as BLTs and Pork Tenderloin add variety, but the burgers are the way to go. With or without cheese, the “top of the line” beef patties are juicy and substantial; lettuce, tomato and onion, with mustard and catsup, on a standard bun round out the flavors.The fries are just okay. In fact, they’re weakest part of the menu. The shakes, on the otherhand, truly stand out and are made with fruit and whole milk. Bits of bananas, cherries or strawberries clog the straws, so it’s helpful to have a tall spoon ready to scoop out the thick, rich goodness. A variety of other fountain treats includes sundaes, cones and floats.
The dining area is often full, but picnic tables line the exterior, and there’s always that carhop service that started almost 60 years ago. Overall, the simple food’s pretty tasty, which is no small feat for take-out, dine-in or eating in the car. By the way, those Texas Toothpicks are deep-fried thin strips of onions and jalapenos served with Ranch dressing on the side. Who knew?
Cy’s Drive-In Restaurant
Three-and-a-half Plates
1833 W. Unitah St.
Colorado Springs, CO
Usually, I’m not a Margaret Atwood fan. She makes it so difficult, through depressing stories and odd characterizations, to appreciate her wit, imagery and intellect. Reluctantly, I read The Year of the Flood. It was the choice for my book group, and the All Pikes Peak Reads 2012 selection. As part of the APPR festivities, Atwood spoke about sustainability and survival: two prevalent themes in her works.
Surprisingly, once I started reading I was anxious to continue. Although Atwood dismisses claims The Year of the Flood is a post-apocalyptic tale, nothing better describes it. The story takes place in a time when mutations, genetic engineering and an order of fear prevail. The flood refers to an unknown deluge caused by man’s errors and destructive predispositions. It is not a natural phenomenon; it’s a “waterless flood.”
God’s Gardeners is a small cult with a foundation in Christianity that celebrates the lives of such people as Rachel Carson and Euell Gibbons, among others, for the contributions they made to saving the environment. The Gardeners strive to protect nature and prepare for (and later survive) the flood. Within the cult, Toby and Ren, represent maturity and youth, respectively. Their narratives move the story forward. Atwood said she purposely incorporates multiple voices in her works because “I don’t like everyone to sound the same.” Toby is represented in third person, while Ren offers a first person perspective. The sermons of Adam One, the Gardeners’ leader, begin each chapter using second person voice.
I’m glad I read this and even more pleased to have heard Atwood speak. It provided insight into her work, but mostly served to demonstrate her keen sense of humor, which fortunately surfaces in this novel. A novel, by the way, which has, as Atwood stated, “A ray of hope.”
The Year of the Flood
Four Bookmarks
Anchor Books, 2009
431 pages
Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World is the cumbersome and complex title of Sabina Berman’s debut novel. Yet, it turns out to be just about perfect. The me refers to the first word narrator Karen Nieto learns. She is 10 years old when her mother dies and her aunt moves into the family home in Mazatlan. It’s her aunt who teaches her to speak, loves her and later defers to her in business matters. Her aunt also identifies Karen as an autistic savant.
The family operates a tuna fishery, which has a profound impact on Karen’s education and sensitivities. If this is beginning to sound vaguely similar to Temple Grandlin’s story, it should. It’s about overcoming perceptions and obstacles. It’s about the ability to be so focused, to the exclusion of everything else including social norms, that success can’t help but surface. Karen evolves from a gangly girl with matted hair to a gangly woman with a buzzcut; along the way she develops a humane fishery.
The story spans 32 years including Karen’s schooling, business developments and interactions with others. After being tested, and self-identifying as “Different Abilities,” Karen learns “… in 90% of standard measures of intelligence (she is) somewhere between imbecile and idiot, but in 10% (she is) on top of the world.”
The most poignant moments are those between Karen and her aunt. Although Karen goes on to do great things, the most moving and inspirational are the leaps she makes in this relationship.
Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World
Four Bookmarks
Henry Holt and Co., 2012
242 pages
We discovered The Range Café in Bernalillo years ago when we used travel to New Mexico for soccer tournaments. Bernalillo is home to the original Range, but there are two other locations down the highway in Albuquerque. We try to time our travel so we can stop for a meal: usually breakfast or lunch. Recently, we arrived for a late lunch on a weekend afternoon. The restaurant is cavernous, albeit festive; nonetheless, we were in for a 10 to 15 minute wait unless we sat at the bar, which we did.
Colorful, original art and Western décor adorn the walls, as do numerous references to ranges. Not a range as in open prairie, but as in stove. This makes sense, because there is plenty of good cooking going on.
The emphasis is on comfort food: meat loaf, mac and cheese, sandwiches, salads and a standard selection of Mexican dishes. I knew we still had more than five hours left in our drive home, so I didn’t want to overeat. I ordered the Veggie Sandwich with slabs of mozzarella, tomatoes, grilled zucchini, thinly fried onions all pressed between a sliced baguette lathered with pesto aioli! This was a garden on bread. The only disappointment was the tomato which lacked that fresh taste of summer. Although other sides are available, I swear when I ordered I only saw sweet potato fries listed, nothing else was on the page.
I ate only half my lunch and still slept afterward – fortunately, my husband was driving.
The Range Café
Four Plates
925 Camino Del Pueblo
Bernalillo, N.M.
The Blue Page Special 