Cant believe we got into a bcs bowl this year!!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Michigan - Ferris St basketball
Went to the Michigan vs Ferris State game last Friday. Michigan won 59-33. Ferris' jerseys look like the McDonald's All-American ones - very nice. Game was a lot closer than score indicates. Early in the 2nd half it was a one score game. The new renovations to Crisler exceeded the floor product; we miss Morris. Hopefully Burke will come along, he looked decent for a freshman. No one really stood out; Hardaway Jr had some good moves but I thought should drive more. Still don't fully understand the McGary commitment as we just hoist 3's all day long...
Renovations include new scoreboard (great display and more info such as names, rebounds, assists), brighter lights, new seats, and a new sound system (sounded powerful in such a large space). I like the upgrades and thought they were well spent. New practice facility looked nice as well but did not walk close enough to look in. Oh and $5 tickets ftw...
Renovations include new scoreboard (great display and more info such as names, rebounds, assists), brighter lights, new seats, and a new sound system (sounded powerful in such a large space). I like the upgrades and thought they were well spent. New practice facility looked nice as well but did not walk close enough to look in. Oh and $5 tickets ftw...
Quick pictures from Providence
Many months ago the Providence project wrapped. Here are some of the pictures from the project with a quick write-up about them...
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| Jacky's Galaxie, North Providence (@@@) - beef and broccoli. Americanized Asian food that was passable |
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| Forget the name but used to be in the Brazilian steakhouse. Went there expecting the Brazilian steakhouse, instead got dry pork chops. Food lacked flavor, would not go back. |
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| Haven Brothers, Providence (@@@) - somewhat world famous "diner" that is based in a trailer that parks downtown starting at night and stays open until 4 am-ish. Known for late-night food for the bar crowd, it was not that special the few times I have had it. I have always been working the next day though... |
Bocelli Restaurant - @@@
Went to a local Italian restaurant the other day to kick off the project in Medford. Definitely not the most decorative place as it looked a little old, but the food was pretty good. Was sat downstairs where there is an enormous auxiliary banquet hall. It looked so strange since the storefront looked pretty tiny.
Ordered the stuffed pork chops with antipasto salad. Salad was interesting because it was not chopped, rather the meat, vegetables, and cheese were lumped on a bed of lettuce. Others have had it that way, so I guess that is somewhat normal. The "salad" itself tasted fresh with good tasting meats and cheeses. The pork chop was stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella and topped with a slightly mushroom flavored sauce. It was good and the portion was a very satisfactory size.
Overall it was a good place to start out the project, nothing earth shattering but satisfying nonetheless. A standard 3 of 5. Since it is so close to the hotel right now, I may be back later on.
374 Main Street
Medford, MA 02155
Ordered the stuffed pork chops with antipasto salad. Salad was interesting because it was not chopped, rather the meat, vegetables, and cheese were lumped on a bed of lettuce. Others have had it that way, so I guess that is somewhat normal. The "salad" itself tasted fresh with good tasting meats and cheeses. The pork chop was stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella and topped with a slightly mushroom flavored sauce. It was good and the portion was a very satisfactory size.
Overall it was a good place to start out the project, nothing earth shattering but satisfying nonetheless. A standard 3 of 5. Since it is so close to the hotel right now, I may be back later on.
374 Main Street
Medford, MA 02155
Monday, October 31, 2011
Boston!
Boston project starts tomorrow. Big time lack of updates in Pittsburgh food area. Will do mass post of back pictures and hopefully start up again with this project.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Riviera Inn - @@@
Well my long awaited 2nd trip to a Portugese restaurant. If you remember, I went to Madeira a few months ago and came away very impressed with the Portugese cuisine. The abundance of meat and potatoes made me a fan, but was it a one time thing or a long-term trend?
Riviera Inn is another large Portugese restaurant around the East Providence area. It seems that all of these restaurants have multiple hidden rooms because throughout the meal there were people going in and out of a door to another room. These people going in and out were not the same either, they were legit new customers. It's like they have a secret room for gambling mah-jong style or something like that.
If you recall, last time I started out with the flaming sausage appetizer. Obviously for comparison reasons I had to get it again. This time it was a little crunchier on the outside with the casing and a little spicier. I enjoy both of those characteristics so I will give the slight edge to Riviera on this one. Again it came out on fire but as an added bonus it was sitting in a pig dish. How awesome! The portion was noticeably smaller than Madeira which is another reason Riviera barely beat it out.
Going with the same entree, Portugese steak, I clearly give the edge to Madeira. If you recall, this dish is steak topped with a slice of ham and sunny-side up eggs smothered in a brownish sauce that is not thick enough to be called gravy. The meat was thicker, juicier, and more tender at Madeira. At Riviera, it seemed like the cut was round steak while Madeira used sirlion. Those that know cuts of meat know instantly the difference, but I realize not everyone will want to be Bill the Butcher from Gangs of New York. Round steak is near the butt of the cow and thus is a heavily worked area which causes the meat to be tougher initially with less fat content. It is usually cooked slower and in a liquid braise and not conducive to quick high heat like the searing for Portugese steak. Another bonus side note - my college go to meal was pan fried round steak drizzled with olive oil and pan fried red potatoes. Or broiled round steak - either way in hindsight it was not the best of meals. Back to the present, the sauce was not nearly as flavorful at Riviera for reasons I cannot remember now. I just remember that the sauce was much tastier at Madeira. The ham and eggs seemed similar at both places. You still got the dual starches with the rice and fried potatoes, however Riviera was missing the side vegetable as well.
Overall, I think Riviera is a decent enough place for Portugese food, but in no way would I recommend it over Madeira. This sort of confirms that Madeira really is that good. Either way, I am a fan of the Portugese meals and will go back to them when I have the chance. I give Riviera a 3 of 5 and could even go to a 2 when comparing it head to head with Madeira. Since these are not strict peer rankings, I rank Riviera as an overall decent place.
580 N Broadway
East Providence, RI 02914
Riviera Inn is another large Portugese restaurant around the East Providence area. It seems that all of these restaurants have multiple hidden rooms because throughout the meal there were people going in and out of a door to another room. These people going in and out were not the same either, they were legit new customers. It's like they have a secret room for gambling mah-jong style or something like that.
If you recall, last time I started out with the flaming sausage appetizer. Obviously for comparison reasons I had to get it again. This time it was a little crunchier on the outside with the casing and a little spicier. I enjoy both of those characteristics so I will give the slight edge to Riviera on this one. Again it came out on fire but as an added bonus it was sitting in a pig dish. How awesome! The portion was noticeably smaller than Madeira which is another reason Riviera barely beat it out.
Going with the same entree, Portugese steak, I clearly give the edge to Madeira. If you recall, this dish is steak topped with a slice of ham and sunny-side up eggs smothered in a brownish sauce that is not thick enough to be called gravy. The meat was thicker, juicier, and more tender at Madeira. At Riviera, it seemed like the cut was round steak while Madeira used sirlion. Those that know cuts of meat know instantly the difference, but I realize not everyone will want to be Bill the Butcher from Gangs of New York. Round steak is near the butt of the cow and thus is a heavily worked area which causes the meat to be tougher initially with less fat content. It is usually cooked slower and in a liquid braise and not conducive to quick high heat like the searing for Portugese steak. Another bonus side note - my college go to meal was pan fried round steak drizzled with olive oil and pan fried red potatoes. Or broiled round steak - either way in hindsight it was not the best of meals. Back to the present, the sauce was not nearly as flavorful at Riviera for reasons I cannot remember now. I just remember that the sauce was much tastier at Madeira. The ham and eggs seemed similar at both places. You still got the dual starches with the rice and fried potatoes, however Riviera was missing the side vegetable as well.
Overall, I think Riviera is a decent enough place for Portugese food, but in no way would I recommend it over Madeira. This sort of confirms that Madeira really is that good. Either way, I am a fan of the Portugese meals and will go back to them when I have the chance. I give Riviera a 3 of 5 and could even go to a 2 when comparing it head to head with Madeira. Since these are not strict peer rankings, I rank Riviera as an overall decent place.
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| flaming sausage aka Chourico `a Bombeiro |
580 N Broadway
East Providence, RI 02914
Monday, July 11, 2011
Thayer St - Brown University - @@@
One night we decided to go very casual with the dinner and get some pizza in the College Hill area of Providence. Providence has a few colleges in the area, but the most prestigious is Brown University. An Ivy League university, it is the 7th oldest in the US established in 1764 (per wikipedia).
First on the list was Toledo Toledo pizza. Their claim to fame (and the reason we remembered it) was that it served its pizza in a cone. Yes a cone. Like an ice cream cone except warm with savory ingredients instead of cold, sweet ingredients. Reviews on this one were lukewarm at best. They get points for originality however usability is a bit lacking. First when they bake/warm it up, they have to have a special contraption to keep it upright. This is not efficient. Then they have to have similar stands to keep them held up while you wander over to pick up your order. Next is a challenging part...eating it. You can't start too quick or else the hot oil and ingredients will kill your mouth. So you are stuck holding it or lying it down, which causes ingredients to fall out. And I am not even going to go into the salad in a cone. I am guessing after a night at the bars this might be better, but for me on that night I am going with a 2 of 5.
Next was some sweetness at La Creperie where I went for a crepe. You may remember that I did a quick entry about this place earlier because I stopped by for a smoothie and they were playing Gang Starr. So I went back to try out a crepe. Sadly they were not playing memorable music that night, but the Nutella and banana crepe was good enough to remember. Though not the most sanitary looking building, they got it done with a warm, tasty crepe that was not overpoweringly sweet. I give it a 3 of 5. If you can find it in the alleyway, I suggest you give it a try.
To round out the night, I had another slice of pizza at Antonio's which is located across from Toledo Toledo. Its sign advertised $1 cheese slices, but I went for the chicken pesto. This pizza was really tasty due to the mass quantities of chicken and flavorful pesto sauce. Similar to NY style pizzerias, they have the slices cooked and on display and then warm it up when you order it. I feel this gives the crust that extra crunch and allows the cheese to melt even more. I did think this pizza was good especially when compared to Toledo Toledo, and will rank it a 4 of 5 as I would definitely go back for more. I did not try the $1 slice, but if the size of the chicken pesto slice is the same as the cheese, it would definitely be a good value. Much larger than the Backroom/In-and-Out of former Michigan days.
Overall I like Thayer St. I have been in the area a couple of times and there are reasonable choices for the late night college crowd. I also noticed a few sandwich shops and surprisingly a few Mediterranean places. I think I mentioned it before, but it is a cross of Main St and South U at Michigan with it leaning more towards the South U atmosphere. Nice area that you can count on for late-night eats.
Toledo Toledo Pizza Cone's
257 Thayer St
Providence, RI 02906
La Creperie
82 Fones Aly
Providence, RI 02906
Antonio's
258 Thayer St
Providence, RI 02906
First on the list was Toledo Toledo pizza. Their claim to fame (and the reason we remembered it) was that it served its pizza in a cone. Yes a cone. Like an ice cream cone except warm with savory ingredients instead of cold, sweet ingredients. Reviews on this one were lukewarm at best. They get points for originality however usability is a bit lacking. First when they bake/warm it up, they have to have a special contraption to keep it upright. This is not efficient. Then they have to have similar stands to keep them held up while you wander over to pick up your order. Next is a challenging part...eating it. You can't start too quick or else the hot oil and ingredients will kill your mouth. So you are stuck holding it or lying it down, which causes ingredients to fall out. And I am not even going to go into the salad in a cone. I am guessing after a night at the bars this might be better, but for me on that night I am going with a 2 of 5.
Next was some sweetness at La Creperie where I went for a crepe. You may remember that I did a quick entry about this place earlier because I stopped by for a smoothie and they were playing Gang Starr. So I went back to try out a crepe. Sadly they were not playing memorable music that night, but the Nutella and banana crepe was good enough to remember. Though not the most sanitary looking building, they got it done with a warm, tasty crepe that was not overpoweringly sweet. I give it a 3 of 5. If you can find it in the alleyway, I suggest you give it a try.
To round out the night, I had another slice of pizza at Antonio's which is located across from Toledo Toledo. Its sign advertised $1 cheese slices, but I went for the chicken pesto. This pizza was really tasty due to the mass quantities of chicken and flavorful pesto sauce. Similar to NY style pizzerias, they have the slices cooked and on display and then warm it up when you order it. I feel this gives the crust that extra crunch and allows the cheese to melt even more. I did think this pizza was good especially when compared to Toledo Toledo, and will rank it a 4 of 5 as I would definitely go back for more. I did not try the $1 slice, but if the size of the chicken pesto slice is the same as the cheese, it would definitely be a good value. Much larger than the Backroom/In-and-Out of former Michigan days.
Overall I like Thayer St. I have been in the area a couple of times and there are reasonable choices for the late night college crowd. I also noticed a few sandwich shops and surprisingly a few Mediterranean places. I think I mentioned it before, but it is a cross of Main St and South U at Michigan with it leaning more towards the South U atmosphere. Nice area that you can count on for late-night eats.
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| Toledo Toledo - pizza in a cone |
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| La Creperie - filled with Nutella and bananas |
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| Antonio's |
Toledo Toledo Pizza Cone's
257 Thayer St
Providence, RI 02906
La Creperie
82 Fones Aly
Providence, RI 02906
Antonio's
258 Thayer St
Providence, RI 02906
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