Monday, May 19, 2008

Bluephies -- Madison, WI

On the www.foodfightinc.com Web site, Bluephies promises us "Contemporary fun food in an ultra-modern setting." Well, if "contemporary" means bland and dirty, then I'll be sticking with traditional for a while. Back in the early days of Bluephies, with its connection to the hip, east side Monty's Blue Plate, I was consistently satisfied. The bright, airy interior gleamed with modern accoutrements and the food was a step above your average diner fair.

But on several recent visits, I have been disappointed.

The service was spotty at times. On our last visit, our first encounter with our waitress followed this pronouncement: "I need you to hold tight for a minute." Um, ok. We'll be right here when you are ready. And what's the story with the stained shirt at the start of lunch service?

My main course was good, as good as one would expect of the "Bowling Alley Burger," which was topped with battered and fried onion strips, cheese, bacon (done perfectly) and a couple of not-quite-ripe-enough slices of tomato. The burger was cooked perfectly -- juicy and filling.

The problems began at the start of the meal with the soup. The white bean florentine soup was as bland a concoction as I've ever tasted. A dash of salt merely turned the tasteless broth into salt water. I sent it back and replaced it with a peanut curry spinach(?) soup. I personally love curry, and this soup was better than the first, though it was dull (curry was the only flavor) and lacked any hint of Mister Peanut.

My wife's salad and side was odd. The food itself wasn't bad, but the presentation was forced. The salad was heaped on a long, thin (stylish?) plate that made eating it an exercise in dexterity. The impossible feat would be to eat the entire salad without watching leaf after leaf topple off the plate. Yeah, the plate looks cool, but who cares about that? Could we just get a normal plate, and could you please add something (anything?) to the salad other than dressing?

Once my burger arrived I had to flag down the waitress for some ketchup, though once she planted it on the table, I didn't even want to touch it. The bottle was caked and smeared with old, dried ketchup. I used a couple of napkins to pick it up and twist off the cap, the inside of which had some black dried bits. I should have said something, but I just don't feel that comfortable making other people uncomfortable. I just decided not to come back again.

Friday, April 18, 2008

High Chairs, A Fossil Record

When you are an infant or a toddler you live in the moment. The moments are not sullied by details. Your vision of things is painted with a broad brush. And that is why a little one is more than content (even giddy, perhaps) to sit comfortably in greased and crusted high chairs marred by weeks, months and years of splatterings, pukings (I hope not, but yeah, probably), and wild feastings.

My own casual scientific analysis of high chairs has yielded a wide range of findings: dried noodles, crumbs of all shapes and sizes, grease (I hope that's grease), red sauce (I hope that's red sauce), dried eggs (yeah, that's dry eggs, I force my mind to believe), etc.

Restaurants, I'm begging you (90% of you -- yes, I'm probably talking to you. Yes I am. Go look. Rub your hands all over that bad boy and then suck on your fingers.), please clean (and scrape, if necessary) your high chairs. Rarely am I not at least a little disappointed when you plop down a high chair for my daughter, and as you dash away, force me to stop you and say, "Um, Ma'am, could you bring a rag over and wipe this down? It's a little (I'm thinking, 'TOTALLY') dirty (I'm thinking 'DISGUSTING')."

Noodles & Company -- Fitchburg, WI

LOCATION: 2981 Triverton Pike Dr. at McKee Rd., Fitchburg, WI

As the name of the restaurant aptly declares, it's mainly about the starch. The "Company" is the stuff that's added, I presume, but it's really never quite enough. Good-for-you vegetables are treated like a distraction from the sauce (quite good) and noodles (quite chewy).

Expect a 6-1 ratio of noodles to veggies. I counted maybe five shrunken mushrooms and about 8 shriveled (not that that's a bad thing) spinach leaves in my Penne Rosa.

My wife ordered Macaroni & Cheese, which arrived with a full cup of mounded, shredded cheese on top. I don't know about you, but that just seemed a tad on the excessive side. It's not like that was the only cheese in the dish. It was mounded ON TOP of the Mac n' Cheese. Easy enough to shovel off on to MY plate, however.

Before our food arrived we had to find a table that wasn't already occupied by dirty dishes, which comprised at least a third of the available spots. Am I'm being too picky when I don't want to share my meal with soon-to-be garbage?

The servings have always been generous (noodles!) at Noodles, and if you are there for the noodles -- of course you're there for the noodles -- then no worries. This place would be on my regular go-to places for food if only I could get a generous portion of vegetables, meat, tofu, etc., in my dish. Sure, you can add more, double, or even triple the load, but that's just too much pre-planning, and too expensive.