urbanfabric

That Guy.

Monday night we returned from a long weekend in Las Vegas. That sounds more "what happens in Vegas..." than it really was. My dad lives out there, at least for the moment, and this was a family gathering. Not to say that we didn't enjoy much of what Vegas has to offer... We even took some suggestions from a TV personality that I thought I'd never listen to!


Saturday night was dinner at an outstanding restaurant off of the Strip, Rosemary's. This was a repeat dinner location from our last visit and was better than I remembered. I allowed myself to have one of the same dishes that I had last year, since I'd literally been thinking about it since last March. The beef and blue cheese carpaccio: raw beef spread with blue cheese, rolled up and sliced so thin it melted in your mouth, served with an apple and baby greens salad, walnuts, and a port wine reduction around the plate. For an entree, I went with the Barramundi on a bed of spinach and baby shiitakes, with asian-inspired flavors and a rich buttery sauce. Amazing! Also tried a wine I hadn't tried before... I was in charge of ordering and so I asked about the Sancerre, a French white. It turned out to be exactly as described, similar to, but more complex than a Savignon Blanc, with more mineral-y flavors. I was impressed that our server knew so much about the wine list and didn't need to call out the sommelier. Overall, the service there is one of the most impressive parts of the meal. Plates are laid to the table simultaneously, even for our party of 8!


In addition to our fancy meal, we had a couple of really outstanding cheap meals too. They were thanks to Guy Fieri. Now, I'll admit, when he won the "Next Food Network Star," I hated that Guy. When he got that show where he made "dude food," I really hated that Guy. Then he started the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and honestly, I started to soften. Who doesn't like the champion of small, family-owned, roadside eateries with awesome food? And, when this Guy led me to the best stromboli I've ever eaten, he earned my respect.

It started with my dad's suggestion that when we hit the Hoover Dam on Monday that we should stop by a place that he's been enjoying since seeing it on that Guy's show. Then over the weekend, my brother said that he'd also seen an episode where Guy returned to an old haunt/former employer in Vegas that he said had the best stromboli ever. So, thanks to "borrowing" some wireless internets from one of my dad's neighbors, we discovered that this fabulous stromboli was awaiting us at a sports bar called Four Kegs. Unfortunately for my brothers, we didn't have a chance to check it out until after they left (sorry dudes, this would have been worth changing your flight and drive for!).

Four Kegs is really a sports bar, video poker in the bar in the front, and dining room in the back. Despite it being Oscar night, the TVs were set to bass fishing. That's some sports dedication. They have four beers on tap (four kegs, I suppose), and all kinds of wonderful fried food on the appetizer list. We indulged in some fried mac and cheese wedges (which appeared to be Kraft mac and cheese, battered and deep fried, hello heaven!), jalitos stuffed with chipotle chicken (stuffed jalepenos), and cajun onion rings. Then it was on to the stromboli course. I went with the meatball, my dad and his wife split the house (various meats), and J was a rebel and ordered the redneck burger. As promised, the stromboli was out of this world. The crust was a thick pizza dough, clearly stretched and baked to order, and the sauce tasted homemade. I ate the whole damn thing. The ill feeling did not even make me regret it.

The only regret I had was that I was still full when we arrived at the Coffee Cup in Boulder City (the next of the Guy recommended locales) the next morning, I could barely look at the huevos rancheros with pork chili verde sauce (I did have a bite and it was awesome) and instead went with an egg sandwich with swiss cheese and bacon on thick, toasted, yummy sourdough bread and hashbrowns.

Thankfully the seatbelt still fit around me when we got on the plane later that day. One of these visits we'll actually explore the dining scene on the strip (I'm going to leave out the description of the Bellagio's brunch buffet, because it was good, but a little hit or miss, and frankly, still a buffet)... but in the meantime, I'll be dreaming about that stromboli!

Labels: food, guy fieri, las vegas, travel

posted by marthadotcom @ 9:51 AM 0 Comments

100K House

I've been thinking about affordable housing a lot lately. Perhaps because New Jersey is caught in a debate about new yet-to-be-adopted COAH rules. Perhaps because I wonder how much longer I have before I'm priced out of buying anything within 2 miles of our current apartment.

In the US, "affordable housing" has become synonymous with "public housing," relegated to the poorest of the poor. However, these days when someone's talking about finding affordable housing they may mean just that. Housing that the average person can afford. How do the working poor, or even the middle class, afford to live in the communities where they work, where they grew up, or where the better schools are? Municipalities like to call it "workforce housing," hoping to avoid the stigma of subsidized housing.

Rather than create a burden for Muncipalities to figure out how to fund housing for the middle class, I think it's a great challenge for architects, developers, and builders to find a way to develop market-rate, affordable housing. Oh, and shouldn't it also be sustainble? Of course! Otherwise, it wouldn't really be a challenge.

Postgreen, a young developer in the East Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, is trying to build an infill house that's not only affordable, but also LEED certified and modern (no Colonial reproductions here!). The 100KHouse will be a 1,000 sf modern home with a $100,000 construction budget. I am certainly keeping a close eye on its development.

Labels: 100KHouse, affordable housing, planning rant

posted by marthadotcom @ 1:15 PM 0 Comments

"If you've got a habit, you gotta have a job."

I ride the bus with some really interesting people. And, by interesting, I mean people with addictions. Not much that I hear really surprises me anymore. In my first week of riding the bus to work, I learned that if you crush an extended-release Xanax before you take it, you'll get the full rush of the drug... no need to wait all day for the slow extended-release part. Now, if you were also lucky enough to have remembered a tall malt beverage for the bus ride, you are really in for a treat. By the time you get home, you won't have to worry about your wife asking you to mow the lawn.

These are things I never gave much thought to, being someone who's been on the straight and narrow for most of her life.

Today, I heard the headline quote: If you've got a habit, you gotta have a job. Which is an interesting perspective, because I always thought that being an addict meant that eventually you'd lose your job (and your home, loved ones, etc). This is probably a result of the anti-drug education that I was exposed to (the same education that gave me the stereotypical addict image - ie the people I ride the bus with who have visible signs of a long history of drugs and alcohol - and did not prepare me for the fact that an elderly nun could be an alcoholic) . However, there are a fair number of people who I ride the bus with to and from their jobs that seem to be holding down a full-time job to support their habits. I suppose it's a matter of balance. (From what I've seen, it's a delicate balance, that could come crashing down at any moment.)

And, really, if you think about it, aren't most of us holding down full time jobs to support our habits? Mine include good food, good wine, handbags, and living in the city. If I could give any one of those up, I probably wouldn't have to work as hard as I do.

Labels: habits, NJ Transit, work

posted by marthadotcom @ 12:40 PM 0 Comments