A Cat Even Loyal Dog Lovers Can Love

In our quest for a theme for our Christmas 2009 gift exchange we ended up deciding on "Cutesy Patootsy". First because, we all embrace the little girl inside of us and secondly, the budget was $10.00 (in keeping with America's current economic crisis - BTW: Barack, please get us out of Iraq). Of course this theme is subject to varied interpretations and it was meant to be that way. Considering the theme and the budget constraint, one might expect to open a present and see tiny, adorable knick-knacks (cutesy), or probably miniature candies (patootsy), or a framed picture of Taylor Lautner or Nick Jonas(either one of them definitely cutesy patootsy), but that's not what happened.

Now, you've heard of women who work together getting their menstrual cycle synch together, well I guess what happened to us was kinda like that. We all psychic-ly linked and decided that "Cutesy Patootsy" meant only one thing - that classic kawaii icon - Hello Kitty! Now, I really wasn't so surprised because ever since I can remember Sticky Fingers Ann has been robbing my desk of my Hello Kitty pencils. The entire booty comprised of brilliant things such as: mechanical pencils, light up stamps, personalized cards and notebooks, the whole gamut, all emblazoned with Hello Kitty's copyrighted image. We were all transported to when we were giggling little girls with pigtails and frilly dresses...well, ok my memory was invented, but still. Happiness and contentment defined us.

The gifts were great, but I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that no one purchased the fake Sanrio stuff. My friends told me that in certain regions fakers abound and they produce not-quite-right Sanrio knock offs. I don't think I could fake a smile if I ended up opening a present with a cute image of a cat whose name is "Hello Katty". Meeeouch!

Why so crabby?

When my friends said we're eating at Roy's, a hawaiian restaurant chain, I had very low expectations. Having visited Hawaii a few times, I know that anything attempting to be Hawaiian-esque in our cold, foggy city will surely fail. Which is why Roy's was smart in tagging itself as "hawaiian fusion", because grasping for 50th state authenticity is not something you can really achieve.
The evening started inauspiciously, as our table was right underneath a busted light bulb. Great. We needed flashlights to see what they had to offer in their menus. One of my amigas had to stand up and walk closer to the bar where there was better lighting. Not sure if because it was really that dark and the flashlights weren't cutting it, or because she just recently had her blepharoplasty done on her eyes and she was still healing.
Anywho, darkness aside, the food was great and the service highly competent. Make sure to order the crabcake with macadamia nut (pictured here), and finish with the chocolate molten mousse (order early on as it takes the kitchen awhile to prepare this dessert). Please see my complete review at my website. Aloha!

Appeteasers are Crowd Pleasers

Boulevard is to be experienced. From the beautiful Belle Epoque setting designed by Pat Kuleto, to the delicious French-influenced cuisine by Nancy Oakes, the entire time you spend there is absolutely arresting - until you drink the iced tea.
It's a glass of snore.

Anywhooz, enough with the dissing. I still enjoyed this restaurant, despite it's iced tea short coming. The main entree highlights were the rack o'lamb and the pork chop. They were competently created and very good to my tummy, however the starters were beyond the beyond! The two highlights were: soft boiled egg and foie gras. The crispy farm egg, pancetta, with semolina fonduta was amazing. The creativity behind the end product just startled my tastebuds. It gave me a glimpse of what the chef envisioned; she wanted the diner to have that perfect bite - a piece of pancetta, with softboiled egg and porcini mushroom. Honestly, it was lovely. She knew that that perfect bite would be transcendent.

The other appetizer that was equally satisfying was the seared Sonoma foie gras, with pumpkin brioche, spiced butternut squash, candied pecans and cranberry crackle. The rich flavor of the foie gras was the perfect complement to the sweetness of the cranberry crackle and the candied pecans. It's a must have! Although, I must admit that the foie gras got a little too rich and the brioche wasn't neutralizing that immense richness enough, well that's what the free bread is for!

Check out my complete review of Boulevard at http://www.jonseybalonsey.com/.