Five First Bites There is nothing better than hearing a yes!  when asking that possible special someone out for the first time.   Elation! High spirits! Now the question is where to go to capture and maintain the spirit of the moment?  Our charm city has no shortage of fine eateries but which ones can lay claim to the top spots for wooing and nurturing a budding romance?  The choice of where to go is perhaps even more important that what to wear.  Your choice speaks for you in ways that may not always seem apparent. ...continue reading. Sunday, May 25, 2008

Sushi San Attitude I was greeted with, “come on feel the noise,” by Quiet Riot at the door.   Felt the noise I did and felt the vibe too, it was sure good, the vibe that is.  There were plenty of pretty people at the bar engaging in thoughtful chatter.  Large red round Asian lanterns hung from the ceiling giving the place a soft mellow glow.  Straight lines and dark wood set the theme for furniture and décor, contemporary, elegant and bold. This wasn’t your usual sushi bar, this was Sushi Ra!...continue reading. By Steve Chau Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Honey I'm going to Roy's! Chef Roy Yamaguchi of Roy's reminds me of Josquin Des Prez (c.1450-1521).  Des Prez was a musical genius, a visionary thinker, a person who defied convention to create a new fusion of sounds which elevated his craft to which some may call sublime.  Back in Des Prez's days, church music was just simply chants (Gregorian), all monotones.  Nothing wrong with chants, it served its purpose, mainly to teach scriptures, but after a while I would imagine it to be, well? monotonous.  Des Prez must have certainly recognized this and to his credit, he challenge the status quo (the church) of the day and introduced harmonies and melodies which really kicked things up a notch, thus ushering in a new era of pious music, baroque to be more precise....continue reading. By Steve Chau Sunday, February 17, 2008

Phở, a kind of soul food My mother would say, “I’m hungry for some pho,” and right on cue my dad would get up, go upstairs, put on his going out clothes, and I would follow right behind him. Moments later we would meet out at the car and off we went. Out of our drive way we would head south down Federal street to a nondescript single family home located on an ordinary street in a typical suburban neighborhood. Once there we would all file out, knock on the door and was thusly escorted down to the basement were other like minded Vietnamese were gathered. One long table was set up in the middle of the room that accommodated perhaps fifteen to twenty happy noodle slurping patrons seated quite closely to one another. The close proximity didn’t really seem to bother anybody, once you’re in your world of pho; nothing else really seems to matter. After a short while three seats became available, once seated we proceed to order. My brother would come along too but he was too little for a seat so he sat on my mother’s lap, “no space to spare,” the lady would always say. I always got the same thing, Phở Tái, Bò Viên (rare beef with meatballs)....continue reading. By Steve Chau Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Mezze me, mezze me mucho.

It’s a special space that is created when friends come together for food, drinks and conversation. It was on a Sunday, much like today, it was warm, if you can call 38 degrees warm, at least the sun was shinning. I got a call from a recent ex-partner. We hadn’t talked for a while so it was certainly a surprise when I got the call. She called to see if I’d be interested in lunch. I immediately started wondering what “lunch” meant. As with many fresh break ups there were a lot of lingering unresolved issues. The question was, am I ready to tackle any of this today?

For those who believe in coincidences, I was already on my way downtown to drop in on a realtor friend’s open house. After that I was to head to Kali’s Court Mezze (1606 Thames St, Baltimore, MD) for the subject of this week’s blog. So why not just meet with the “ex”, I’m all about being efficient with my time. This was like “killing two birds with one stone,” a fantastic idea if you get to eat the birds afterwards.

...continue reading. By Steve Chau Tuesday, February 5, 2008