Text 23247, 81 rader
Skriven 2009-04-12 10:35:08 av Michael Loo (1:18/200.0)
Ärende: end o trip 475
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US1550 PHX CLT 1454 2134 321 1A

My seatmate, a disappointed bump volunteer, turned out to be an
interesting utopian leftist of some kind with a refreshing take
on middle east politics. Would that I believed with him that
communication among Israelis and Palestinians through Internet
chat rooms is going to produce peace in our time. Otherwise: a
pleasant and industrious FA, an unpleasant and quite bumpy flight.

My first Glenlivet didn't seem to be a Glenlivet, either that or
the quality control has gone way down. It was sweet, sticky,
and unaromatic. Refills were back to normal.

Lunch: fettuccine alfredo with sun-dried tomatoes and salmon
- a most unsavory odor wafted in from the galley, and I was
regretting my choice, but when the food came, it was
actually not unpalatable, the pasta thick but characterful,
the sauce okay, the fish not as rotten as it smelled. A
pretty fresh green salad accompanied. The other choice was a
turkey-cheese sandwich sided with pasta salad. My seatmate
ate every scrap of his, so it was probably okay, either that
or his several Tanqueray and tonics steeled him to the task.

Underdone chocolate-chip cookie, cold and doughy in the
middle. The gesture was appreciated, though.

More turbulence. Thank goodness for the Chardonnay, which
was an unoaked cheapie whose name I didn't recognize.

1774 CLT PVD 2209 2355 319 1A

We loaded up a hair late and landed a hair late. I slept
from takeoff to touchdown and was so out that the FA
remarked, as I left, that I must be working way too hard.

My buddy Rosie was there to pick me up.

Next day.
Alex had strongly recommended La Laiterie in Providence, and
I was amused by the peculiarity of an Arizona boy recommending
a Rhode Island restaurant, but also I do respect his palate,
so we decided to go. Got there at about 6:30 on a weekday,
and there was space at the bar or at the little counter
overlooking the street. We chose the latter as more quiet.
There are four seats: one was empty, the second occupied by
Ellen, a woman of close to my age; we started talking.
Turns out she haunts some of the same places I used to (in
the Boston area, not in Providence); we had a pleasant chat,
in which she divulged that she was visiting her daughter, a
graduate student at RISD, and one of her favorite places
to eat is in Portland, Maine, and is called Duck Fat. I
took her wine recommendation and had the Terredora di
Paolo Falanghina 07, a bright and tropical-fruity though
quite flinty wine.  Rosie had L'Ecole 41 Chenin Blanc 06,
which I thought overwhelming with honey and jasmine. Started
with a dish of fried chicken skin, 4 pieces each about the
size of a dollar bill, $4. Delicious, though the malt
vinegar aioli was a bit of a muchness. We took Ellen's next
recommendation and had "our baked cheesemonger's mac n'
cheese with a molten center & a golden, crusty top $11" -
this was a pound of extremely rich food, quite tasty but on
the salty side. Following this, the "seared naturally-raised
chicken livers, crunchy onion rings & pan jus with bacon
$12" - a sizable portion of livers that were delicious and
tender but done a shade or two more than I would do myself,
topped with lots of lardons of excellent bacon and a potent
deglacage: on the side three giant onion rings, fried crisp
in a fragile batter. Very nice. I had a glass of The Crusher
Petite Sirah 07, which was a riot of brambles and vanilla
on the nose, strong blackberries and dark-roast coffee
with a touch of herbs and mint on the palate. This carried
over to our dessert, kahlua brownie with homemade Bailey's
ice cream. A lot of coffee flavors going on complemented the
chocolate nicely.

A festive and not grossly expensive occasion.

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30

--- Maximus/2 3.01
 * Origin: Get your COOKING fix here! - nsbbs.info (1:18/200)