I don't know if it's because I haven't written in a little while or that my Magic Eight Ball / blog idea generator is in the shop, but I am here today saying, "And now for something completely different!" (Truth be told, it's probably because a friend of mine has been writing Monty Python references on Facebook all day. Nevertheless, I am doing something today that I have never done before; a restaurant review.
Before I begin I should tell you, I am not a paid reviewer of restaurants. I learned everything I know about cooking, and reviewing, from Ratatouille, the Disney movie. I should also warn you that my blog for today is not for the faint of heart. Vegetarians beware! Sylvia is a Pisces. I was born under the sign of Meat with Potatoes rising. Carnivores of the world unite!
It all started when Sylvia checked something on Facebook. I whipped out my smart phone and started chatting with her. (I was about twelve feet away from her at the time) She played along and with all of my charm, wit, and suaveness I won a date with my wife. I think it was when I said that I "LIKE her, like her" that I sealed the deal. The only question was, where to go?
Since it had been a while since I took Sylvia on a date to someplace that didn't involve ordering by talking into a clown's mouth, I decided to try someplace new. There are three places in Fremont, that I know of, that have a reputation for being a cut above. Only one, however, had just been on the TV show called Kitchen Nightmares. I think the choice was clear, we went to the nightmare place. Yes, Spin A Yarn in Fremont was where we ended up. Sylvia and I have seen the show. We know that they go in, assess how bad a place is, work to make it better, and all with explosive confrontations between the owners and the host of the show. That is the formula for the show...we have no idea how their particular episode went. We haven't seen it. In fact, judging from the conversations around the room we were in, we were the only people in there who hadn't seen it. I think our waiter may have been glad to have a table where the show wasn't the topic of conversation.
I was worried, with its new found fame and previous reputation, that we would have a hard time getting a seat. We got there about 7:30 and were given a choice of table or booth. Not being able to make decisions easily we chose both. I got a booth while Sylvia sat at a table nearby. (Not really) In our booth we noticed that it was nice and quiet, a change from where we typically go to eat, and a really welcome change since my ears have been bothering me lately and everyone seems to be talking as if they have hand towels stuffed in their mouths...but I digress. We sat. We talked. It was great!
When I looked up the restaurant on Google this morning, to see what the actual name of the kitchen show was, I saw the beginnings of a review. It had "$$" under price. That is usually one "$" too many for a teacher who gets paid with bags of multi-colored elbow macaroni but what the heck, we splurged. It isn't often that we get to sneak away, just the two of us, and I wanted it to be memorable. Our waiter, whose name escapes me, was funny and personable and gave us time to make our selections. After a while he came by and said, "The suspense is killing me!" It's nice when people recognize that I am a goofball and give it right back to me. Sylvia ordered the halibut on the waiter's suggestion and I had the...wait for it...Prime Rib! You have to picture Homer Simpson drooling slightly, catching his breath, and saying "Prime rib" in order to get the full effect. Both orders came to our table quickly, so quickly that we almost didn't have time to finish the bread and softened, salted butter spread they brought to our table, almost. They brought the prime rib to us on a cart and sliced what I thought was a generous portion right there at the table. Medium rare, perfect. I asked if they had straight horseradish instead of the creamy sauce, to which the humorous waiter replied, "Don't toy with me sir." He came back with a dish of horseradish and a plate...with another littler piece of prime rib on it saying, "The chef felt that he may have shorted you a little bit." and set it next to my already full plate. I think the real reason was that I scared him by covering my plate with my arms and growling at him when he made a move toward me with the pepper mill...none for me thanks.
Eating this meal was a pleasure! Everything was prepared well. I even ate the green beans that came with the meal since they were fresh, seasoned well, and cooked but not turned into a soggy mushy mess. Sylvia was impressed. At least three people came over to see how everything was and/or if we needed anything else. I felt like they were trying to impress me since I was an important food critic...I didn't want to disappoint them, so I became one here on my blog. I wasn't able to finish all of my meal even with the, "Come on sir, you can do it!" prompting of the waiter. We both turned down dessert but not before seriously considering sharing one.
As we were getting up to leave I asked our waiter if he could please be rude to me or do something else that would make me not want to come back since we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves but really couldn't afford to come back. He told me that my request was odd since 'rude' just comes so natural to him. We left, with perhaps a new favorite restaurant on our list. We had a wonderful time and with our meals and a glass of wine each I think the $80 dollars we spent was well worth it.
If you are ever in Fremont and want to have a nice meal in a semi-famous place I would highly recommend Spin A Yarn. Tell them Jeff, the guy that writes a blog, sent you. Heck, bring him a copy of this, tell the owner that I talked you into going. Tell him that he should thank me in a tangible way by giving us a free appetizer or something. But mostly, enjoy your meal.
Before I begin I should tell you, I am not a paid reviewer of restaurants. I learned everything I know about cooking, and reviewing, from Ratatouille, the Disney movie. I should also warn you that my blog for today is not for the faint of heart. Vegetarians beware! Sylvia is a Pisces. I was born under the sign of Meat with Potatoes rising. Carnivores of the world unite!
It all started when Sylvia checked something on Facebook. I whipped out my smart phone and started chatting with her. (I was about twelve feet away from her at the time) She played along and with all of my charm, wit, and suaveness I won a date with my wife. I think it was when I said that I "LIKE her, like her" that I sealed the deal. The only question was, where to go?
Since it had been a while since I took Sylvia on a date to someplace that didn't involve ordering by talking into a clown's mouth, I decided to try someplace new. There are three places in Fremont, that I know of, that have a reputation for being a cut above. Only one, however, had just been on the TV show called Kitchen Nightmares. I think the choice was clear, we went to the nightmare place. Yes, Spin A Yarn in Fremont was where we ended up. Sylvia and I have seen the show. We know that they go in, assess how bad a place is, work to make it better, and all with explosive confrontations between the owners and the host of the show. That is the formula for the show...we have no idea how their particular episode went. We haven't seen it. In fact, judging from the conversations around the room we were in, we were the only people in there who hadn't seen it. I think our waiter may have been glad to have a table where the show wasn't the topic of conversation.
I was worried, with its new found fame and previous reputation, that we would have a hard time getting a seat. We got there about 7:30 and were given a choice of table or booth. Not being able to make decisions easily we chose both. I got a booth while Sylvia sat at a table nearby. (Not really) In our booth we noticed that it was nice and quiet, a change from where we typically go to eat, and a really welcome change since my ears have been bothering me lately and everyone seems to be talking as if they have hand towels stuffed in their mouths...but I digress. We sat. We talked. It was great!
When I looked up the restaurant on Google this morning, to see what the actual name of the kitchen show was, I saw the beginnings of a review. It had "$$" under price. That is usually one "$" too many for a teacher who gets paid with bags of multi-colored elbow macaroni but what the heck, we splurged. It isn't often that we get to sneak away, just the two of us, and I wanted it to be memorable. Our waiter, whose name escapes me, was funny and personable and gave us time to make our selections. After a while he came by and said, "The suspense is killing me!" It's nice when people recognize that I am a goofball and give it right back to me. Sylvia ordered the halibut on the waiter's suggestion and I had the...wait for it...Prime Rib! You have to picture Homer Simpson drooling slightly, catching his breath, and saying "Prime rib" in order to get the full effect. Both orders came to our table quickly, so quickly that we almost didn't have time to finish the bread and softened, salted butter spread they brought to our table, almost. They brought the prime rib to us on a cart and sliced what I thought was a generous portion right there at the table. Medium rare, perfect. I asked if they had straight horseradish instead of the creamy sauce, to which the humorous waiter replied, "Don't toy with me sir." He came back with a dish of horseradish and a plate...with another littler piece of prime rib on it saying, "The chef felt that he may have shorted you a little bit." and set it next to my already full plate. I think the real reason was that I scared him by covering my plate with my arms and growling at him when he made a move toward me with the pepper mill...none for me thanks.
Eating this meal was a pleasure! Everything was prepared well. I even ate the green beans that came with the meal since they were fresh, seasoned well, and cooked but not turned into a soggy mushy mess. Sylvia was impressed. At least three people came over to see how everything was and/or if we needed anything else. I felt like they were trying to impress me since I was an important food critic...I didn't want to disappoint them, so I became one here on my blog. I wasn't able to finish all of my meal even with the, "Come on sir, you can do it!" prompting of the waiter. We both turned down dessert but not before seriously considering sharing one.
As we were getting up to leave I asked our waiter if he could please be rude to me or do something else that would make me not want to come back since we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves but really couldn't afford to come back. He told me that my request was odd since 'rude' just comes so natural to him. We left, with perhaps a new favorite restaurant on our list. We had a wonderful time and with our meals and a glass of wine each I think the $80 dollars we spent was well worth it.
If you are ever in Fremont and want to have a nice meal in a semi-famous place I would highly recommend Spin A Yarn. Tell them Jeff, the guy that writes a blog, sent you. Heck, bring him a copy of this, tell the owner that I talked you into going. Tell him that he should thank me in a tangible way by giving us a free appetizer or something. But mostly, enjoy your meal.
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