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first and foremost, alison and i are both excited and pretty bummed that our friends ronda & phil are moving to england. yes, across the pond. near london, i hear. and they are not getting cable. definitely a satellite dish.

they are leaving next week so we wanted to get an excursion in to jeremy’s and the bridge cafe before they headed out.

i arrived at jeremy’s first. and i almost immediately remembered “free wifi at jeremy’s”. laptop - open. (btw, it is FAST, really easy to connect and most definitely free. second office, indeed.) i love getting a beer/cider there. they serve in two sizes: pint or quart. both in styrofoam cups. excellent.

alison arrived and ronda shortly after and we talked (bitched?) about wedding related stuff for some reason. alison did find that… beer does a body good.

off to the bridge cafe… i will not be giving a “formal” review of the place this time around. although i should. soon. however… the bridge cafe is hand’s down our favourite restaurant in nyc. we take everyone there.

as per usual, the staff at the bridge were very cool — in fact, purchasing us a round of pineapple martinis before dinner.

alison and ronda split her favourite appetizer — a fondue-ish concoction with crab, spinach, and artichokes served with flatbread/crackers. i certainly dig it as well, but going out always affords me the opportunity to get…

seafood!!

both phil and i started with a fried oyster appetizer. nicely breaded with something reminiscent of a good fish fry batter with some spices in it (paprika, black pepper…). served in a martini glass on top of blanched risotto and with a light, yet creamy, dipping sauce. when this dish was on the menu (it was a special last night) it used to be served with three dipping sauces. if i had a complaint, that would be it…

we worked through a bottle of l’ecole #41 (2003 napa, ca) — a syrah that was bold in both colour and flavour with a lot of “earthy” notes attached to both the front and the back end. i dug it. alison… notsomuch.

alison and ronda both ordered the same entree. then again, phil and i both ordered the same entree.

we are creative people. clearly.

alison and ronda did the petite lamb chops. i’ll let them comment on them…

phil and i did the diver scallops. for the record, i always get the diver scallops. i love diver scallops. the bridge changes their preparation on them a few times a year. last night, they were served with a cheesy pile of grits that had andouille sausage in it. i liked the complement of the sausage to the scallops. (my fave prep involves their lobster risotto!)

during dinner we had the ballentine old vine zinfandel (2001 ca) — a red zin that was much lighter in colour than i had expected and had a bit of “tart” on the front end.

we skipped dessert. who doesen’t? ahem.

thank you, ronda and phil!! we had a great time!!

the rest of the photos are at: http://www.erock.org/gallery/2007/20070523_Night_Out/

attempted to qualify, again, at o’flanagan’s.

this week i was the tournament director as well as a player.

alison and i went up early for brunch — yummy omlettes! — and a few beverages before the matches started.

i missed out on the byes in the first qual and played one of two people i did not know previously — whendy. although small in stature, she intimidated me with her glove and fancy chalk contraption. she played quite well and got herself out of a few jams i put her in while trying to play some defense. dorie ended up winning — woo!

the first qual ended in record time and the four remaning players — myself included — decided to play a second qual. with only four players, you skip the first round completely and go right to semi-final play. i played joseph — an sl3 — that had lost to mandy the first time around. in all seriousness, i think we all should have had less to drink. ahem. i lost. mandy took down the second qual — woo!

i baked/brought cupcakes to the qual. thank you to joseph for actually eating one.

the sabres game was on as well… they lost too. go figure.

woo! blue bombers!!

a week after a tough loss to guapos, the BB pulled themselves up by their chin straps and took out the number one, UNDEFEATED team!

the blast are always tough — and always at the top of the division. more often than not, though, we have ended up in tight games with them. i truly believe that teams elevate their level of play when they play a “better” team.

i actually love playing the blast — they are a bunch of good guys.

our first goal was a bit painful… i was one-on-one with the forecheck and their D was trying desperately to get rid of the puck. i stood in front of his slapshot hoping to take it off the shins. unfortunately, it was a “riser” and i caught the shot squarely on my stomach — the part with no protection. ouch. adrenaline. i grabbed the puck from there… behind the net… to the half-wall… pass to bart on the point… shot… rebound is hanging on the post and scotty taps it in for the goal. adrenaline — off. ***OUCH*** i still have a nice sized red/purple welt on my stomach.

the game was pretty “even” — more neutral zone play than i would have expected.

going in to OT, i had a plan… the blast, you see, have a “coach” — andrea. they also had a full bench. a full bench that andrea stopped using at the beginning of the third period. i put out three different forward pairings in the beginning of OT — none of which were jamie/will. the blast countered with their best guys for the first half of the OT. as soon as their “star” guys got off the ice, i put jamie/will out there. they had possession in the offensive zone for nearly the entire time and SCORED with just over a minute left in OT. woo!!

4-3 blue bombers over the previously undefeated blast — in OT

several months ago — before the baseball season started — i purchased two sets of cubs/mets tickets for this past week. one set for monday. one for wednesday. both night games. alison and i had been looking forward to seeing the cubs — as this is the only time they will be in nyc this season. and yes, i realize they could play post-season here. don’t get me started.

twist of fate…

alison needed to be in AZ for a long weekend with family. so i unloaded the monday tix to a nice guy i met while playing in a pool qualifier last saturday.

wednesday… raining cats/dogs/frogs/antelopes outside. alison and i watched 6 different channels full of weather and 4 different websites trying to figure out what to do. we even saw a tornado warning! so… we made the decision to stay home. we watched the hockey game (go sabres!) and applauded our decision not to go out there as we kept in tune with the weather in flushing (absolutely pouring…) over the next few hours. the game was scheduled to start at 710pm. AFTER the hockey game was complete (game started at 700pm) they STILL had not started the baseball game so we were REALLY proud of ourselves. (but they still had not cancelled/postponed) just before 1030pm — almost 3.5 hours after the game was scheduled to start — they started the damn game!!!

we were shocked. shocked, i tell you. there must have been 30 people in the stands for the game.

i cannot imagine WHY they would have held on that long — other than obvious scheduling stuff…

the mets are coming through, in a way… if we send in our tix to wednesday’s game, they will send us mets/twins tix for later this season… so at least we’ll see one baseball game we could care less about this season. 

not accounted for? that’s right. i’m not sure we actually showed up in a 9-1 loss to kpmg.

i would love to list all the things that went right during the game… here they are:

…

and that’s it.

i am honestly not sure what has happened to this team — especially since we clicked and started so well this season — but i am determined to help fix it. i have been working on some new defensive and breakout schemes for the team — “new” actually being a misnomer as we have no schemes now other than “get it out!!!!”. from there, i will tackle the offensive zone. i am really hoping we get a lot of guys out for practice on the 27th…

next game against cobra kai (that’s right, grasshopper…) on sunday at 1130pm.

try and try again.

i ended up playing two qualifiers on saturday afternoon at o’flanagan’s. i did not make it up there for brunch, as i had been doing, unfortuantely…

the first qual i played diane (sl3) in round one. in the first game, i worked it down to the eight and missed what should have been an easy corner shot leaving her with one ball and the eight — which, of course, she took down. in the second game i ran a bunch of balls over 3 innings and was left with a safety on the eight as i did not have a good look at it. as luck, and the table would have it, the cue ball, which should have it off the rail rolled slowly and bizarrely toward the center pocket and barely dropped in. eight scratch. frustrating as she had 6 balls left. erock goes down in two games.

the second qual i lucked out a bit for the first round by catching a bye. woo! in the semis, i played jason (sl5) in a tightly contested match. we went hill/hill and i lost as we were both shooting at the eight.

it was good to hang with some of the “usual gang” — diane, mandy… mandy’s friend was a riot. and it was cool to meet and hang with jason, billy (i’ll see YOU at chelsea piers) and hunter (thanks for taking those mets tix!).

it was almost a great comeback…

after being down 4-1 in the second period, the BB fought their way back only to fall short to los guapos by a score of 5-4.

i thought the team played quite well — especially since we did not have a goalie for half of the first period, caught a goalie from the locker room until near the end of the second (thank you, mike!) and dom got in net — cold — but played awesome. we had a pretty consistent forecheck, for the most part. i thought the team responded well to the idea of “everything moves forward” — which i harped on in between periods…

personally, i played my most physical game of the season. not in a penalty-ridden way… more being strong on the puck and playing a bit more of the body than i usually do. it felt good.

went out with carrie, john, mark, scotty and craig for a few pops at the half king after the game….

our favourite bartender has moved on…

steve — a friend of both alison’s and mine for years — has been bartending at qdt (quality drinking time) since it opened… it was time for him to move on to bigger, better and “monkier” things. we shall certainly miss having steve behind the bar at the end of a long day — his demeanor, his personality, his wit, and his humour perfectly suited the position…

– steve outside the bar

there are a few other photos in “miscellaneous 2007″ — including some weird “negative” pics…

whenever steakhouses get mentioned in nyc, sparks steakhouse seems to garner at least some attention. after ~5 years of working at 51st and 3rd and not going there (it is on 46th between 2nd and 3rd) — i finally went there for dinner. with alison and tanya.

we did not make reservations, but it was easy enough to get a table at 530pm. the bar was only a 1/4 full and the dining area was virtually empty at this time.

the place felt “old”. not “old” as in “classic”, though, more like “old” as in “gordon gecko would still be eating here wearing exactly the same suits…”. there were a smattering of tourists — again, mostly in the AARP set. jokes about “early bird special” abounded. it was dark, as many good steakhouses are, and appointed in a lot of dark-ish wood.

when we sat down we noticed that one of the on-table wine classes had a nice big crack running lengthwise through the bowl. not a big deal, but as that was the first table set for the evening, you would think that someone would have looked at the glasses first. the silverware was “solid” and “heavy”.

our server was the only server who did not seem to make “rounds” on a semi-regular basis. waiting for alison, tanya and i made it through our cocktails and waited a good 10 minutes before we even saw our server again. certainly, that does not seem like a long time, but when the server to customer ratio is nearly 3 to 1, you would expect a bit more.

both our appetizers and our entrees were brought out on a rolling cart. from where we were seated, this was a relatively easy process, but the carts certainly made for an interesting maze when they were stuck more toward the middle of the dining area.

the “change the tablecloth” after dinner exercise was neat, but mostly lost on us as we did not stay for dessert or after dinner drinks. classy, though.

on to the food and drink…

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cocktails –belvedere martini, up and dirty
- solidly portioned and nicely chilled. the brine was a little off, though, and the olives were very small — especially for a steakhouse

wine –

stag’s leap petite syrah 2004
- the 2003 vintage was on the wine list, but they were out of it. the 2004 is not all that different, in my opinion, than the 2003. personally, i prefer the 1997 and the 2001, but those would no longer be cost effective. ahem. the bottle ran ~$50 which was a little less than i would have expected.

appetizer –

lump crab meat & bay scallops (hot)
- served hot in a small casserole dish. the crab was quite good — sweet and nicely textured. the scallops lost a bit of their flavour to the butter in the casserole. not a ton to share, but it worked out nicely.

entrees –

eric - steak fromage
- i am a sucker for roquefort cheese. an absolute sucker. when i saw a beef cut topped with roquefort, i put the menu down immediately. the cut, although unidentified, was closest to a ny strip. medium rare came out just as expected with a nice pink through the center. the roquefort, at first glance, was disappointing as it was a liquidy concoction loosely poured over the top. it was perfect, however. the sting of the cheese meshed excellently with the tenderness of the beef.

alison - lobster tails & broiled shrimp

tanya - filet mignon

tanya sez:

“The size was impressive. And it was cooked perfectly medium-rare on the inside; that being said, the outside was a bit charred for my taste. I am all for a tasty crust on my seared steak, but charcoal is best left underneath the grill in my humble opinion. Overall, this place is great if you feel the need for a testosterone rush. Lots of men - all trying desperately to impress each other (but not in a gay way, but rather in a “I make so much more money, have a bigger apartment/house/powerboat than you.”) If you want a good steak, a good martini, an excellent/interesting array of appetizers and sides - go to Dylans. And call me when you go!”

(i am hoping alison and tanya can leave their thoughts in the comments…)

sides –

hash browns
- lots of nice dark brown crust surrounding scalloped potatoes.

creamed spinach
- more spinach, less cream = tasty goodness

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sparks is one of those places that is often on a “list” of restaurants to go to. although i liked the food, i am just going to cross it off my list rather than put an asterisk next to it to go back to. try it once.