Quick Byte 2.0 – Alta

The second restaurant review of this week-old blog is an impressive Tapas place called Alta.  Although I am happy to report a favorable review, I have to admit I am already looking forward to writing a scathing restaurant view on here.  I feel the need to vent to the blogosphere, but so far life has been good….at least as far as movies, food, and tennis are concerned.  So why don’t I just share what we ordered out of the 40-50 small dishes they offer?

Crispy Brussels Sprouts with fuji apples, crème fraiche, pistachio nuts
Seared Foie Gras served on pan toasted brioche
Grilled Gulf Shrimp & Chorizo Skewer with avocado cream & garlic sherry vinaigrette
Avocado Relleno with crabmeat & shrimp, frisee, and orange segments
Skirt Steak with Chimichurri, parmesan potato puree, haricot vert & tomato salad
Catalonian Flatbread with oven roasted mushrooms, fresh ricotta, truffled boschetto

 

My favorites were the crispy brussel sprouts and seared foie gras.  The only thing that I would not order again is the Avocado Relleno.  Nothing bad about it, but it was a bit boring compared to what I was expecting.  In addition to these dishes, we also ordered the selection of Spanish cheeses, which I would also recommend.  Also the churros and a blueberry polenta cake for dessert.  And yeah, I am pretty full right now but I had two other lovely people helping me scarf it all down.  With all that food (and wine/cocktails/port), the bill came to a reasonable $180.  Trust me readers outside of NYC, that’s a pretty good deal.

The place is also pretty big for a Manhattan restaurant, which I like because you do not feel right on top of the next table.  The second floor tables overlook the first floor dining room, but both floors offer a nice ambience.  Give the place a try on 64 West 10th Street (see map).  Very nice selection of wines as well by the way, but I don’t know wine like I know food!

Ferrero’s Lucky 13

Former #1  Juan Carlos Ferrero aka El Mosquito aka Juanqui wins his 13th title in only 13 games in his 13th year of professional tennis.  Ferrero crushed surprise finalist Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-1 6-0 to win the 2010 Brasil Open.  The modest champion explained “You never expect to play a one-sided final like this. One is always nervous in the beginning of a final, and it wasn’t different today. I thought I played well from the beginning and with two breaks of serve ahead quite early in the match I never looked back.”

Juan Carlos Ferrero won his first Grand Slam at Roland Garros in 2003 the same year that Roger Federer won his first at Wimbledon.  He also followed that up with a US Open Finals appearance later that year as well.  Since then, JCF has struggled with illness and injuries as well as overall stronger competition in the years to follow.  But this past year he has rebounded with a couple of smaller tournament victories (Brasil and Casablanca) as well as decent Grand Slam result (Wimby QF and US Open 4R), and I sure hope his recent success breeds even more success for this quiet Spaniard.  It certainly helps to have an improved ranking of #22 as opposed to #101 just a year ago.

I also want to share with my fellow tennis crack whores that I was able to watch the live feed of this final at atdhe.net.  I will not swear to the legality of these sites, but I enjoy watching live tennis online at sites such as this, stream2watch.com, and justin.tv for free.  These sites are not always reliable, so please share if you know of any others.

Quick Byte 1.0 – Song 7.2

For the foodii part of this site, I will share my latest restaurant finds as I um…find them.  The first find is a Korean place called Song 7.2, located on the corner of 7th Street and 2nd Avenue in the East Village.

When we walked in, the place was empty and the decor definitely left something to be desired.  The menu also looked scary with dishes that I didn’t recognize by name or even by the scarier pictures.  Stuff like Bi Bim Bap and Bulgogi were only on the lunch menu for some reason.   But there were chicken gizzard and sardine dishes on the dinner menu.  We went a little safer with the Oh Dag Gu-Ie for two (chicken, calamari, rice cake, and veggies in a VERY spicy red sauce).  Delicious!  And be warned, their dishes for two probably serve 4-6 people.  The dumplings for starters were just OK, but something tells me we should’ve been a little more daring with our appy order.  They were probably just on the menu for us silly Caucasians.

Meanwhile, the place was empty when we arrived but completely packed when we left, yet we were still the only white people in the restaurant.  I turned to my friend and said, “I guess this place filled up since they knew the food would be good once they saw two white guys eating in the window.”

I hope this Quick Byte was quick enough.  I definitely recommend giving Song 7.2 a try, but for Korean fare I still prefer Do Hwa in the West Village and Moim in Park Slope.  But Song 7.2 is your place if you want to go casual, have lots of drinks, and eat authentic Korean cuisine (or at least what I imagine it to be since I have not made the trip yet).  Oh, and the techno-pop soundtrack will definitely make you smile and just that alone make this worth a late night visit.

Now let’s talk Tennii….

NOTE: Please go to tenniscrackwhore.wordpress.com as the blog is now 100% devoted to tennis.  Welcome, Tennis Crack Whores!!!!

So first let me share that I like to refer to myself as a tennis crack whore.  I really can’t get enough – playing, watching, reading, discussing, etc.  Although I am sure I will write about the top players and the big matches at some point, the purpose I am really hoping this blog will serve* is to share with you some of the untold stories of the unheralded players in our wonderful sport of tennis.  The journeymen, the non-Americans, the players with 3-digit rankings, the unendorsed…who are also the fascinating, the charismatic, the cute, the struggling, and the future stars of the game.

* Not only was that pun intended, but there were two meanings.  Because in tennis, you always get at least two serves.

I am wishful that people from around the nation (USA) and the world will eventually find this blog, but I have to imagine my early readers will be located near me in NYC.  Brooklyn, represent!  No, not Brooklyn Decker…Andy Roddick’s wife who now graces the SI Swimsuit issue cover.  And that’s as much coverage you will see Andy Roddick get in this blog.  Back to my point about NYC…I am about to share with you a few players you should try to see during the US Open qualifying rounds (aka quallies).  Although this is more than 6 months away, the Grand Slam quallies are where you will find some of the highest drama,  most hard-fought matches, and other tennis crack whore fans in attendance.  These matches are also free of charge, and you can sit just a few feet from the players instead of miles away within Arthur Ashe stadium.

Here are just 3 players I am already looking forward to seeing at the 2010 US Open quallies:  Conor Niland, Dustin Brown, and Ryler DeHeart.

NOTE: Please go to tenniscrackwhore.wordpress.com as the blog is now 100% devoted to tennis.  Welcome, Tennis Crack Whores!!!!

 

tenniscrackwhore.com – CLICK HERE FOR ALL THINGS TENNIS AND DUSTIN BROWN!

1.Conor Niland (Ireland) – Let me ruin my tennis cred right from the start by letting you know that the main reason Conor is being featured is because he is adorable.  I have never actually seen him play, but he had me at google image search.  His adorability is not the only reason for this feature however.  At 28 years old with a rank of #250, he typifies the player I admire most.  He grabbed my attention while I watched the live scoreboard during the final round of Australian Open quallies as he and countryman Louk Sorensen were both competing for a place in the main draw.  Ireland has never had much success in professional tennis, so two main draw entries in a Grand Slam would have been huge.  Louk qualified, but Conor did not.  Let’s cheer this journeyman on to his first Grand Slam main draw this year in Flushing.

2.Dustin Brown (Jamaica) – Here is another player from a country with limited to no success in tennis.  He may not be as fast as Usain Bolt, but Dustin is currently racing his opponents off the court.  Although ranked outside of the Top 100 right now, his recent winning form may push his ranking high enough to qualify automatically for this year’s US Open main draw.  Last week, he made the quarterfinal of a tour-level event in Johannesberg and is still alive in the semis of a challenger event this week in Italy.  The ATP may visit the best places in the world, but it becomes very expensive for the lower-ranked players whose travel expenses are often higher than their prize money.  No one said it would be easy reaching new heights for Jamaican tennis, but that’s exactly what Dustin is doing.

3.Ryler DeHeart (USA) - The picture above shows Ryler working at Chipotle last year while he was recovering from an injury in order to make some extra money and more importanly to eat some free food.  Like I mentioned, it ain’t easy surviving the tour when you’re outside the Top 100.  I became a huge fan of Ryler at the 2008 US Open quallies watching him earn two gritty comeback wins to qualify for his first Grand Slam main draw.  He even capitalized on this in the 1st Round by beating one of my all-time favorite players Olivier Rochus, a tiny Belgian who has been ranked as high as #24 in the world.  It’s a shame Ryler suffered his injury shortly after that mini-breakthrough, but I predict an even bigger breakthrough for this tough lefty whose biggest asset might actually be DeHeart.  Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Please feel free to comment or share with us some of your favorite players ranked outside the Top 100 right now.  And for those of you not as interested in Conor or any of the other ATP hotties, here is a sneak peek at Brooklyn Decker and Ana Ivanovic from this year’s SI Swimsuit issue:

Top Ten Movies of 2009 according to mii

As always, I encourage your comments or even better for you to share your Top Ten with me as well. And without further adieu, here are my Top Ten Movies of 2009:

1. Precious – Even though I have steered more people away from this movie than toward, no other movie on this list has lingered in my brain for as long as this one has. Of course, the only reason I say stay away is if you feel you cannot handle the content which is certainly very tough to handle. Otherwise, it is a must-see for Mo’Nique’s performance alone. Newcomer Gabourey Sibide more than holds her own in the title role, and they both should and will get Oscar nominations. Paula Patton as teacher Ms.Rain also deserves a nomination in my opinion, but regardless of that happening Mo’Nique will most definitely be going home with Oscar.

2. Up – Hmmm, maybe I do like animated movies after all. It seems to always take some convincing to get me to go see the Pixar movies, but in similar fashion as Wall-E last year I was pleasantly surprised and awed by Up. Or more like awwwwwww’ed. Despite utilizing modern state-of-the-art animation, this is really classic story-telling at its best. And Pixar seems to throw some social messages in there too just as well as Dr. Seuss, but somehow you don’t mind that a billion-dollar company is teaching you that materialism is bad….among other life lessons as well.

3. La Nana (The Maid) – Me encanta esta pelicula de Chile y especialmente Catalina Saavedra como La Nana Raquel. Don’t worry, you won’t need subtitles for the rest of this mini-review. Raquel has been the maid for a family in Chile for more than twenty years, and she does not react well when they decide to hire another maid to help her out…or maybe push her out. Parts of this film are very funny and some quite emotional too, and I enjoyed being surprised along the way. This film and its characters could have easily become caricatures in another director’s hands, but thankfully director Sebastian Silva does not let that happen.

4. (500) Days of Summer – The romantic comedy for us cynics….well, maybe. I really liked the non-linear story-telling and overall quirky moments of this film, but what made this film so enjoyable for me were its two stars. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is both equal parts charming and brooding as Tom Hansen while Zooey Deschanel is both equal parts charming and um, annoying as Summer Finn. Plus, a movie with a karaoke scene and a full-out musical number can’t be bad, right?

5. Avatar – With neverending press and a box office of $500M and counting, I am guessing no one really needs to read a synopsis of this movie. All I’ll say is that this would have been number one on my list if it wasn’t for Unobtainium. Alien language, animal species, flora and fauna names were all uniquely created; but James Cameron couldn’t come up with a better name than Unobtainium for the precious substance found on Pandora. Really? Unobtainium?!? Really?!?!?!?!

6. The Blind Side – I will be brief about this film as well. I knew from the trailer that I would love this movie, but I did not expect so many others to agree. I’ve always been a big Sandra Bullock fan though, and it’s nice to even hear her name being mentioned as an Oscar contender.

7. The Hangover – Hysterically funny. And never boring. The whole concept of trying to figure out what happened at a bachelor’s party from the night before is sheer genius. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zack Galafanakis were all great, but can the hilarious Ken Jeong please appear in every single movie from now on? Oh wait, he does already. And to think he could have wasted his life being a doctor before he was discovered doing stand-up as a hobby. Here are some outtakes from the movie if you want a few more chuckles and don’t want to buy the DVD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ON9FMFQ8w&feature=related

8. Away We Go – John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph play Burt and Verona, a couple imminently expecting their first child. When soon-to-be grandparents decide to move overseas, Burt and Verona embark on a cross-country trip to visit friends and family in hope of finding where their new home will be. The quirky characters they reconnect with are quite funny with Allison Janney and Maggie Gyllenhaal being the standouts, but the chemistry between Krasinski and Rudolph is what makes this movie so special.

9. Zombieland – Just pure fun. One of the few movies this year you can really say that about. There are quite a few laughs with the biggest coming from a surprise cameo that I will not ruin.

10. Inglorious Basterds – Wow, there’s a lot to cover here. I’m not even sure how to describe this movie, but as usual with Quentin Tarantino there is a lot of non-stop action and smart dialogue. Brad Pitt gives a good performance as Head Basterd Aldo Raine, but Diane Kruger as German actress-turned-agent Bridget von Hammersmark and especially Christopher Waltz as Nazi Hans Landa give riveting and continually surprising performances. He certainly should Waltz away with that Best Supporting Oscar. And with that final pun, we are done.

…Or are we? Here in no particular order are a few movies that Just Missed:

* Brothers – Great performances from the three leads, but I want to point out child actress Bailee Madison who made me tear up more than once.
* Nine – Had low expectations since I did not like the Broadway musical version, but I was pleasantly surprised….especially with the Cinema Italiano number by Kate Hudson.
* Invictus – How can you not go see Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela? FYI, the All-Blacks team is actually the team from New Zealand.
* It’s Complicated – This movie has its problems, but I loved watching Meryl Streep let loose. Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin certainly know how to get the laughs as well.
* Duplicity – Some will cringe, but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie thanks to a smart plot, rapid-fire dialogue, and great chemistry between Julia and Clive.

Normally this would bring us to the Bottom 5, but let’s call this section Underwhelmed:

* Informant! – This Matt Damon vehicle had such potential but was all over the map….and in a boring way.
* Julie – Loved the Julia half, but the Julie part of Julie & Julia was so annoying, whiny, and uninteresting thanks to Amy Adams Um yeah, I won’t be seeing Leap Year.
* A Single Man – Had such high hopes for Tom Ford’s directorial debut which got great reviews, especially raves for Julianne Moore. Yeah sorry, I really don’t see it.
* Up In The Air – Although I did not hate this movie, it’s hard for me to understand what all the fuss is about.
* Where the Wild Things Are – Some have described the Spike Jonze movie as dream-like. I definitely would agree as it lulled me in to a really nice slumber.

Thank you for reading, now let’s see your Top Ten List!!!!