I wasn’t going to continue any form of a rant today, but I can’t help it.
These people just seem to find me. So I’m driving on a two lane road, with much opposing traffic, not to mention that double yellow line, all of which point to the fact that passing (besides being stupid and dangerous) is virtually impossible. I usually travel at whatever speed the car ahead of me is going (normally speed limit as a minimum), and as my reflexes are dulling somewhat with age, I leave maybe 4 to 5 car lengths in front of me. So there I was headed for Leonardtown this morning, in just that situation, and things were perking along just fine, even to the point where I could use the cruise control.
So I look in the mirror and see the hood (not the grill, the hood) of a car behind me. I have grown somewhat accustomed to this behavior so common in the county, and so any thought of touching the brake was ignored (well, maybe resisted is a better word). I just sat there, being mature. And sure enough I got the whole (NASCAR?) show. “Drafting” position, then drop back four or five lengths, charge up to “draft” position again, or move half the car over the white line marking the side of the road for a while. Combinations of this occurred over and over, all six miles to Leonardtown. It would be nice to be able to ask the person what they would like me to do… Perform the same idiot action to the car in front of me? Pull off the road so they could get that one car advantage? I just don’t get it. Pretty much they are going to arrive five or ten seconds behind me regardless, so why the foolishness?
Okay, we’ll move on to “this and that”
We had a nice group at the digs on Monday night for the fireworks display right out in front of us. The previous Friday I had sat through a live broadcast on how to photograph fireworks, but just didn’t have the energy to do it. Fortunately one of our friends is a great photographer and he took this and allowed me to “borrow” it.
And another friend of ours recently completed a trip to France to join up with their daughter who was completing a semester abroad program as part of her college work. The poor girl was assigned to Bordeaux for her session.. too bad how they treat these people. Anyway, they did a bit of touring and he sent me this picture of dessert in a creparie in Vanne, northeast of Dijon:
The little hemispheres are caramelized apples. Vanilla ice cream in the center. The whole was drizzled with salted butter caramel sauce. Just another little place in France..
More food:
I received another issue of Sauce, that nice little magazine from St. Louis which I greatly enjoy and encourage all my STL friends to obtain. Anyway, this issue contained the “reader’s choice” insert which contains the results of their annual poll. There seem to be a plethora of categories, and mercifully the word “best” is always replace by “favorite”. I don’t mind that. Just a few notes… The favorite overall restaurant is Sidney Street Café; Niche was the “Favorite Place to Impress Visiting Foodies”, and also Favorite Contemporary American Restaurant. Favorite Italian (very important in St. Louis) was our old friend Trattoria Marcella (Cunetto’s was second). But what really caught my eye (besides the fact that Imo’s never appeared in ANY pizza category) were the results from the Favorite Fine Dining category. Now before the drum roll, anybody familiar with the St. Louis dining scene would expect (as I did) the starred Tony’s to be at the top of the list. Not so!! It was third behind Niche and Sidney Street Café.
Which surprised me. But then I got to thinking that probably the readers of Sauce are predominately the thirty somethings with disposable income and probably loosely described as Foodies. I think with the explosion of the foodie craze, trendy restaurants with “innovative cooking”, and chefs who have sold out to Iron Chef stupidity, people tend to get wrapped up in more contemporary restaurants. They forget the grace of a well served meal with a team of waiters in Tuxes, and well prepared food without the foam and the sous vide and fluff. So I guess I’m not surprised at those results, but I suspect that it more representative of the readership than anything else. Not that I quarrel with any of their choices, they are all fine establishments, but I would have to lobby that Tony’s is the flagship of fine dining in St. Louis..
another instance why there is no "best"..
DFD
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