Text 4009, 100 rader
Skriven 2013-08-27 12:55:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: travels 70
==================
AA3570 PIT JFK 1130 1300 ER4 12A

The exit row single seat really is the way to go. And so I
went. The Courvoisier from the last flight kicked in nicely,
and despite assorted bumps, air pockets, and pitches and
yaws, I zoned out successfully, sleeping most of the flight.

We came in to JFK right on time, which meant that I had 3
hours to kill. Choices: Vino Volo, where I would spend
$30-40 on tolerable wine and stagger out totally blitzed;
the Admiral's Club, where I would spend $50 on admission,
which would come with wi-fi and all the swill I could choke
down and I'd stagger out totally blitzed; or Bobby Van's,
where I would spend $50-60 on decent protein and one would
hope reasonable wine. Despite my having eaten earlier
(pretty badly) I chose the last.

The reviews call it an oasis in the terminal, with clubby
wood furnishings, a high ceiling, very steakhouse; I think
people are overimpressed - it looks airporty enough to me -
perhaps a little nicer than a Friday's but not so nice as
say Pappadeaux at IAH.

I sat at the bar, which in retrospect might have been a
minor mistake. I ordered the Rosenblum Zinfandel, a plummy,
brambly, rather overripe wine that reminded me of the zins
of my youth. I think the vintage was 2010, anyhow, it seemed
just a hair older than the current vintage.

Being hungry but not too hungry, I asked for the 12-oz
sirloin strip rare. This is supposed to have been dry-aged
for a substantial period, but when it came, it tasted as
though it might have been dry-aged for forty minutes or so -
one could very barely taste or discern the effect. If I'd
known this I'd have got it extra extra rare the way I like
fresh beef. It was not the meatiest meat I ever tasted,
either, more evidence for a perhaps short aging. A decent
crust, a decent grill aroma, well seasoned with salt and
pepper.

They subbed creamed spinach for fries at no additional
charge, many points in their favor; though it didn't come
from the usual no-brainer (but actually rather delicious)
steakhouse recipe - cream cheese, Parmesan, onion - it was
both bland and overnutmegged, so that counts as some points
against. I ate all the stuff anyhow, counting it as my
week's quota of vegetables.

Steven the bartender was pleasant.

Next to me a couple plunked down, obviously in the first
flush of love, when you laugh adoringly rather than
derisively at every stupid thing that your partner says.
She had just had girls' fortnight out with her best buds
in Thailand, and he had been pining away ever since he had
stopped getting phone calls: her excuse was that she had
dropped the phone and broken it. He said, how could you do
that, Thailand is all sand, and she said, well, yeah, but I
dropped it on a marble floor. An hour more of entertaining
inanities like that (his quite loud, hers somewhat more
discreet but still impossible to block out) - I wondered
whether the entertainment was worth the price of admission
or the degradation in environmental quality was worth
asking for a partial refund.

AA1750 JFK BOS 1605 1740 738 15F

Exit row. Pretty nice. There are some better seats, but now
the word has got out, and the super-elites are snapping them
up early, to the detriment of us sub-elites.

The captain spelled out the anticipated use of our time -
50 min waiting in the parking lot that all the New York
airports are at peak times, 35 min in the air, another
15 taxi in Boston, and we arrive just enough that side of
on time that it counts as on time in the FAA book. Actually,
we shaved a few minutes in all of these places, so we landed
20 early, pretty good.

Lilli's flight came in on time, so that means I had to wait
around for 45 minutes, during which I took advantage of the
free airport wi-fi. We greeted each other heartily and decided
to have a glass of wine at the club. I was anticipating the
usual Canyon Road or worse swill, but she insisted on buying
the high-priced spread, which is a total mistake. Reason: free
is free, but Rodney Strong Pinot Noir 11 (faintly Pinot, not
unpleasant, but cheapening over the years, going toward the
sweet uncomplicated 21st century mass market style, with plums
and cherries but more in the form of cough syrup and stewed
prunes than the classic) and Joel Gott 815 Cabernet 11 (this
used to be one of the great bargains but now has been discovered
and reengineered, to my chagrin; a classic earthy brambly
California Cab has gone down the road of softness, though at
least it isn't poisonously sweet yet, and the tannic backbone
remains) at $12 a glass, that's worse than on the economy. One
glass each was enough.

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 Join Us: www.DocsPlace.org (1:123/140)