drunk post

There is a crazy article in the NY times magazine about so-called "exurbs", which, in my understanding are new cities that are springing up in places like Arizona that are all sprawling and strip-mally like suburbs, but they are not suburbs because they aren't based around any cities. These places sound like hell and they are intertwined with the rise of the megachurch. It is worth it to register for the NY Times online, if only for the food articles and the magazine. This exurb story reminded me of me and Graces foray into suburbia last friday to go to the giant galleria mall for the first time. We ate at a Cafe Bernardos in Roseville that had a bizarre patio. The whole area is just creepy stripmalls. The patio was basically set in the middle of a parking lot and it was enclosed by plastic and had tons of heat lamps and a really loud fountain to drown out the traffic noise. I felt really sorry for the people who live around there. This was the nicest outdoor eating experience they could hope for and it was lame. Actually, Sac doesn't have much good outdoor dining, but Miller has said that the patio at Aioli is the best, so maybe I will go there on a warm night. Also, whenever I am in the suburbs I trip out on how rich everyone looks. Where do these people work that pays them so much money? I don't get it.

On the food tip, the chowhound message board is having a lively debate about the adventurousness of Sacramento eaters. It stems from an article in the Bee in which a distinguished local chef said he was leaving Sac because everyone just wants fried calimari and no one would eat his stuffed pigs hooves or whatever. The article is linked on the message board. I find this argument somewhat irritating, even though I agree that it is lame when each restaurant has the same selection of fried, greasy appetizers with dippin' sauce. The reason I find it irritating is that people say "adventurous" when they mean "weird, exotic, and disgusting meats". I am adventurous in the sense that I like food heavily spiced and really spicy. Or new vegetables or fruits I've never heard of (like cardoons) or in new combinations. But just because I don't want to eat a gland does not mean I'm not "adventurous". If so, the folks on Fear Factor would be sophisticated eaters. There is also a weird branch on the message board where they talk about parking and how some suburban couple won't try the Waterboy cuz they're scared they won't find a parking space.

The grad student will be at the undisclosed remote location in two minutes. I'd better post this shit.