I am the luckiest girl in the world. My girlfriend K is brilliant, thoughtful, stunningly gorgeous and she looks good eating anything. And on top of all that, she's the best co-mom a kid could have. Since L, my daughter is pushing 11, and is, as my mother loves to say "developing," we thought it was about time to have "the talk" with her. The very idea of discussing anything approaching sex with a ten year old throws me into abject terror, but with K as back-up, I thought it would be do-able.
After lots of discussion (most of it consisting of me with my hands over my eyes, fretting 'oh my gawd, what am I gonna say...), we decided that the sensible thing to do would be to take L out to her own dinner and open the door to that sort of discussion. You know, her own special thing, where we would expound on the virtues and excitement of her impending pre-teenhood, caution her about drugs and peer pressure,... let her know that we were there for her, offer our sage advice on whatever questions she may have about anything and everything: social dilemmas, her changing body, boys.... any topic would be fair game.
She was enthusiastic about the whole idea, and when we told her she could pick the restaurant, she chose Athens Tavern. We like Athens, because it is home cooked Greek fare in a nice hole in the wall sort of location with its own smoking section perched up in the back. It's one of those places where every time we go, it's good. Not to say Athens' food is ultra extraordinary, but it's wonderfully reliable and they always have lots of specials, the service is always great, and we've never had anything that wasn't fresh and well prepared.
We started out with the Calamari. Athen's Calamari is tender inside and crisply fried outside. It's a little different, in that instead of the rings you often see, it comes in sort of sliced looking pieces, served with a thick mild garlic sauce. A good squeeze of lemon, and the slices scoop up the tangy sauce like little boats. I get hungry all over again just thinking about it- it's almost as yummy as a Big Daddy corn fritter (see Big Daddy post). We ordered the Syrah to go with our food, since the wine list there is a little odd- heavy on unfamiliar (Greek I guess) wines that look a little suspicious to me. Tonight we opted for the whole bottle, instead of a glass. L had Sprite.
As we picked through our 'Greeked up" salads- house salad with feta, peperocini, olives, oil and vinegar, tomatoes, and anchovies (if you can stand them), K glanced expectantly at me out of the sides of her eyes... "Uh..." I stammered between forkfulls.."We just wanted to let you know that we're always here for you, and ...um, we'll never judge you, and you can ask us anything you want to... whaddya wanna know?"
We both stop breathing for a few seconds...L butters her bread and gazes at the ceiling... Finally she speaks: "I want a debit card. How do I get one?" This is not what I expected. I patiently explain how debit cards work, and then I try again. "Ah... don't you have any questions about boys?" L rolls her eyes... "All the boys are dorks." I am not getting anywhere. I look helplessly at K. "Do you know how girls get pregnant?" she inquires. L does not. I look back at K... "you tell her," I say. Oh no.... turns out, that's my job. I do the dirty work, imparting the delicate information, leaving everyone shrieking "Eeeeeeew!" K makes the save, telling her it's a powerful and emotional force, bailing me out of my hamhanded description of the mechanical aspects of the act, and we go ahead and order.
As usual, there is an impressive list of tempting specials... Lobster ravioli, an array of pasta dishes, lamb, chicken... and on and on. I've had all sorts of good things here- Spanikopita, Tiropita, some sort of spinach and tomato pasta, Moussaka...all delicious and obviously homemade. Tonight L and I both go for the Souvlaki. It comes with your choice of sides, and L got a rice pilaf, while I opted for spaghetti. I have to say the marinara here is exceptional. Some of the best ever. I noticed it this visit so much that I think I will have to get a marinara based dish on my next visit. The Souvlaki was very good though- 2 skewers of seasoned pork with a spoonful of creamy Tziatziki sauce, made of yogurt and cucumber. My only complaint was that I'd have like to see more veggies on the skewer too- the lonely little bits of onion and green pepper were not quite enough to be a complement.
K had the seafood pasta special, which looked wonderful. The tastes I begged lived up... It was pasta in red sauce with all sorts of goodies- big scallops, shrimp, crab, mussels in the shell, were the highlights I recall. Often when you get a seafood pasta in other restaurants, they scrimp on the seafood and cover things up with sauce. That was not the case here. the seafood was fresh and well prepared and it was center stage of the dish. We felt all our food was well seasoned, and all of the portions were large enough that we had great lunches the next day. I really like that Athens is the kind of place that can work equally well for a romantic date, or a family dinner.
I decided to try one more time. "Now that you know some of the facts of life, is there anything else you'd like to ask us about?" L stuffs a huge bite of Galactiburikos (lemon custard and phyllo dessert) into her chops, and chews thoughtfully....:Do you think they'll teach Shakespeare in sixth grade?" she asks.
Maybe we'll try this again in a couple years, but we'll be back to Athens many times before then.
Athens Tavern
401 N Robinson St
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 353-9119
Monday, September 22, 2008
Tomato sandwiches revisited - guest blogger and her big titted girlfriend!!
Since they've been working the hell out of me at my job, I've neglected this blog, and am taking advantage of the mirth and mad skillz of one of our friends who has limited tolerance for my boundless devotion to my hot girlfriend... here you go, Tomato sandwiches, done right:
My big-tittied girlfriend and I do not cook. I never have; she is too tired after work to bother with it. Hence, we eat out... a lot. However, being creatures of habit, we tend to go to only to three restaurants with any sort of regularity: Dot's Back Inn, Zeus Gallery and Davis & Main. This entry will not be about any of those places. Instead, this is about me fending for myself; or, What I Do for Meals When R. Works Late.
I read in a different and far superior foodie blog about the tomato sandwiches prepared for someone known as My Lovely Girlfriend K. Whatever. But it jarred my memory -- my brother had given me a bunch of homegrown tomatoes about a week ago. I decided a tomato sandwich was in order. I opened the refrigerator to see if they had become rotten, as most of my produce does. Lo and behold, they seemed to be OK. I debated washing them off......I HATE getting my hands wet because I must then IMMEDIATELY put hand lotion on them, but on the off chance some neighborhood dog took a piss or a shit on or near the tomatoes, i rinsed them off.
After scurrying to the bathroom for hand lotion, I sliced the tomatoes. They looked pretty good - just like every other tomato I've ever seen. Next came bread -- I had purchased a Brand New Loaf of Sunbeam bread just days before......undoing the twisty-tie thing I reached in past the first 5-6 slices. I never eat them. I think they are gross. I laid the slices on a paper towel with the sides lined up so they would be stacked correctly on top of one another upon Sandwich Completion. The next task was the most important -- application of mayonnaise. Proper mayo application is crucial because it has to be enough to keep the tomato juices from seeping into the bread, making a soggy pink mess, yet not so much that it squishes out of the sides of the bread and touches my hands. (see reference above regarding hand-washing)
I only buy Duke's mayonnaise because it is The Secret of Great Southern Cooks. It says so - right on the lid. The tomato slices are carefully arranged on the right hand bread slice. They must lie flat and cover as much bread without having any of slices overlap. If that is a possibility, I cut the slices into the appropriate shape. Next came cheese......as i cracked open the cellophane of the new package of Kraft Singles, my mouth began to water. What's not to love about plastic, perfectly square cheese slices?!!! Said cheese is placed upon the left hand slice. It is critical that the ingrediants go onto the "correct" side -- cheese is ALWAYS on the left. Then, pepper is sprinkled onto the cheese - only pepper is put on the cheese - the black on orange/yellow is aesthetically necessary for me. Salt on tomato slices. The cheese slice side is placed on top of the tomato side......ahh......bliss.
My big-tittied girlfriend and I do not cook. I never have; she is too tired after work to bother with it. Hence, we eat out... a lot. However, being creatures of habit, we tend to go to only to three restaurants with any sort of regularity: Dot's Back Inn, Zeus Gallery and Davis & Main. This entry will not be about any of those places. Instead, this is about me fending for myself; or, What I Do for Meals When R. Works Late.
I read in a different and far superior foodie blog about the tomato sandwiches prepared for someone known as My Lovely Girlfriend K. Whatever. But it jarred my memory -- my brother had given me a bunch of homegrown tomatoes about a week ago. I decided a tomato sandwich was in order. I opened the refrigerator to see if they had become rotten, as most of my produce does. Lo and behold, they seemed to be OK. I debated washing them off......I HATE getting my hands wet because I must then IMMEDIATELY put hand lotion on them, but on the off chance some neighborhood dog took a piss or a shit on or near the tomatoes, i rinsed them off.
After scurrying to the bathroom for hand lotion, I sliced the tomatoes. They looked pretty good - just like every other tomato I've ever seen. Next came bread -- I had purchased a Brand New Loaf of Sunbeam bread just days before......undoing the twisty-tie thing I reached in past the first 5-6 slices. I never eat them. I think they are gross. I laid the slices on a paper towel with the sides lined up so they would be stacked correctly on top of one another upon Sandwich Completion. The next task was the most important -- application of mayonnaise. Proper mayo application is crucial because it has to be enough to keep the tomato juices from seeping into the bread, making a soggy pink mess, yet not so much that it squishes out of the sides of the bread and touches my hands. (see reference above regarding hand-washing)
I only buy Duke's mayonnaise because it is The Secret of Great Southern Cooks. It says so - right on the lid. The tomato slices are carefully arranged on the right hand bread slice. They must lie flat and cover as much bread without having any of slices overlap. If that is a possibility, I cut the slices into the appropriate shape. Next came cheese......as i cracked open the cellophane of the new package of Kraft Singles, my mouth began to water. What's not to love about plastic, perfectly square cheese slices?!!! Said cheese is placed upon the left hand slice. It is critical that the ingrediants go onto the "correct" side -- cheese is ALWAYS on the left. Then, pepper is sprinkled onto the cheese - only pepper is put on the cheese - the black on orange/yellow is aesthetically necessary for me. Salt on tomato slices. The cheese slice side is placed on top of the tomato side......ahh......bliss.
the continued search for the perfect mussels(Mr. Patrick Henry's)
When I heard that Mr. Patrick Henry's in Church Hill was reopening its doors, I was elated, but wary... for several reasons. Back in 'the day' when MPH was going full swing, I waited tables there, and was an enthusiastic patron as well. The back garden is without a doubt one of the most beautiful spots in Richmond to relax and enjoy food and drink, the inside dining rooms, with their fireplaces and warm lighting are cozy and romantic, and the pub is a perfect smoky, dark hidey hole. In short, it's one of the best spaces around. The food back then was on the pricey side, but always managed to be both traditional, reasonably innovative and most important- delicious.
I worried that with the name staying similar, I would inevitably make unfair comparisons. So when we visited recently, I made a studied effort to come in with an open mind and not to compare. We went on a Thursday night, and I was almost giddy as we climbed the familiar stairs to the main dining room. When we went in, there were a few tables occupied, but overall it was very quiet. We asked to be seated in the back garden, so we could smoke unharrassed- and it was completely empty. Which is a shame really, because it was a lovely night and I would have thought neighborhood folk would have at least been out for a cocktail and a snack under the stars.
We ordered lemon drop martinis- I know, we have GOT to find a new cocktail- but these were particularly good- very lemony and icy cold. This seemed to bode well for the food, and we had heard good things about the mussels, so we started with a bowl of them in the white wine and garlic sauce as an app. While the sauce was garlicky and savory, the mussels themselves were kind of subpar. They were doing that weird stringy thing that not-so-great mussels do- like coming apart when I pulled them out of the shell. And a couple of them tasted a little funky to me
Side note: I was still being optimistic and giving them the benefit of the doubt until we got mussels at Can Can a couple days later- Now *that* is what mussels are supposed to taste like. Can Can's mussels were plump, juicy and fresh- popping with goodness in my mouth- pretty much what these were not.
But I digress. I've heard good things about the new MPH. and I really really wanted to like it. Especially because we like sitting in the garden, and in the winter I love the fireplaces.... For an entree I ordered the Shrimp PoBoy sandwich and K ordered a Chicken Parmesan sub.
While I studiously avoided comparing the food to the past glory of the place, I could not help doing it with the same dishes that we've had from other restaurants recently.... While K's sub portion was large, and it looked good, it was not even in the same ballpark taste-wise, with a Chicken Parm we got from Valentino's the week before (Valentino's is a little pizza-shacky place on Grace St, that we got delivery from and were pleasantly surprised) It was okay- and I felt guilty for comparing. The chicken was sort of dry, and the marinara, while reasonably tasty, as just not all that. And it wasn't cheesy enough. I know that's probably unsophisticated of me, but I like really good mozzarella on a sandwich like this and it just wasn't happening.
My Poboy was likewise, okay. The shrimp were big and fried and probably the best thing on the plate. It came with a nice tangy remoulade, but I wished they had given me a ramekin of it on the side. The biggest sin, to me, was that the sub roll was not toasted. When you have that big a piece of bready bread, it just needs to either be a really high quality piece of bread, or at least toasted. The result being, that every bite was a huge mouthful so-so bread and a little shrimp and lettuce. And my orzo was so tasteless I probably put 2 teaspoons of Sriachi on it.
We ordered Tiramisu for dessert, which was an amazingly generous portion. And like everything else, was almost good. There was something kind of oily about it that just didn't set that well with us.
In all fairness, if we had orderd the chef's specials, it probably would have been great. I'm sure there's really good stuff on that menu- I just haven't found it yet. I'm sure we'll give them another chance, partly because of the space, part nostalgia, the vibe there, and part because everything we had was 'close.' It's like they just weren't paying attention, maybe because it was slow that night, I don't know... I've never felt so guilty for panning a place. The service was great- our waitress could not have been nicer- there, I've said something nice.
Patrick Henry’s Pub & Grille
2300 E. Broad St.
644-4242
I worried that with the name staying similar, I would inevitably make unfair comparisons. So when we visited recently, I made a studied effort to come in with an open mind and not to compare. We went on a Thursday night, and I was almost giddy as we climbed the familiar stairs to the main dining room. When we went in, there were a few tables occupied, but overall it was very quiet. We asked to be seated in the back garden, so we could smoke unharrassed- and it was completely empty. Which is a shame really, because it was a lovely night and I would have thought neighborhood folk would have at least been out for a cocktail and a snack under the stars.
We ordered lemon drop martinis- I know, we have GOT to find a new cocktail- but these were particularly good- very lemony and icy cold. This seemed to bode well for the food, and we had heard good things about the mussels, so we started with a bowl of them in the white wine and garlic sauce as an app. While the sauce was garlicky and savory, the mussels themselves were kind of subpar. They were doing that weird stringy thing that not-so-great mussels do- like coming apart when I pulled them out of the shell. And a couple of them tasted a little funky to me
Side note: I was still being optimistic and giving them the benefit of the doubt until we got mussels at Can Can a couple days later- Now *that* is what mussels are supposed to taste like. Can Can's mussels were plump, juicy and fresh- popping with goodness in my mouth- pretty much what these were not.
But I digress. I've heard good things about the new MPH. and I really really wanted to like it. Especially because we like sitting in the garden, and in the winter I love the fireplaces.... For an entree I ordered the Shrimp PoBoy sandwich and K ordered a Chicken Parmesan sub.
While I studiously avoided comparing the food to the past glory of the place, I could not help doing it with the same dishes that we've had from other restaurants recently.... While K's sub portion was large, and it looked good, it was not even in the same ballpark taste-wise, with a Chicken Parm we got from Valentino's the week before (Valentino's is a little pizza-shacky place on Grace St, that we got delivery from and were pleasantly surprised) It was okay- and I felt guilty for comparing. The chicken was sort of dry, and the marinara, while reasonably tasty, as just not all that. And it wasn't cheesy enough. I know that's probably unsophisticated of me, but I like really good mozzarella on a sandwich like this and it just wasn't happening.
My Poboy was likewise, okay. The shrimp were big and fried and probably the best thing on the plate. It came with a nice tangy remoulade, but I wished they had given me a ramekin of it on the side. The biggest sin, to me, was that the sub roll was not toasted. When you have that big a piece of bready bread, it just needs to either be a really high quality piece of bread, or at least toasted. The result being, that every bite was a huge mouthful so-so bread and a little shrimp and lettuce. And my orzo was so tasteless I probably put 2 teaspoons of Sriachi on it.
We ordered Tiramisu for dessert, which was an amazingly generous portion. And like everything else, was almost good. There was something kind of oily about it that just didn't set that well with us.
In all fairness, if we had orderd the chef's specials, it probably would have been great. I'm sure there's really good stuff on that menu- I just haven't found it yet. I'm sure we'll give them another chance, partly because of the space, part nostalgia, the vibe there, and part because everything we had was 'close.' It's like they just weren't paying attention, maybe because it was slow that night, I don't know... I've never felt so guilty for panning a place. The service was great- our waitress could not have been nicer- there, I've said something nice.
Patrick Henry’s Pub & Grille
2300 E. Broad St.
644-4242
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