Tuesday, May 02, 2006

restaurant ramblins

I don't have a whole lot to blog about, but thinking about it has stymied me from doing any work so I might as well write some dumb crap. Today I wrote my city councilman about how crappy that block of Tower with the closed down Joe Marty's, closed down Irish shop, etc., looks. I was all like "hey, how come the council is so obsessed with K st. yet there's no help for areas like this?" and he'll be all, "thanks for writing, but I'm busy trying to secure a Disney store for the K st. mall". I also sent some questions to Waterboy chef Rick Mahan, so I'm hoping to hear back from him. I sneakily wedged a request that his new restaurant be a French bistro (rather than yet another American one) at the end of the questions to force him to read my rant on the subject.

Lately I've been stoked on white wine, especially rieslings. There's one at Taylors called Dr. Loosens that's fucking good. Peachy but not that sweet. I'm just writing this because I wish I was drinking it right now. They even have it in the cold case, so pick up a bottle if you like a good white.

Hukilau is closed and there is a sign that says "pronto, coming soon". I'm thinking it is probably going to be an Italian place. I never ate at Hukilau and now I will shed a tear because I'll never have a chance.

Mike Dunne gave an overly positive (in my opinion) review to Paesanos. Here's a quote:

Paesanos has a tendency to reinterpret even customarily light and lilting dishes so they come out with surprising shout and slap.

Another way to say this is that they drown everything in oil and cream and garlic and salt. The majority of their pasta sauces are cream sauces, and the other ones are boring. He does mention that things are oversalted but not that they are too heavy.

Two buildings have been demolished fairly recently. The antique mall across from Hukilau is now rubble, as is this cool old house that was across from the church on the corner of (I think) 27th and capitol (on the block with Bernardo). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these spaces don't become candy-colored, stucco luxury lofts.

16 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:16 AM

    The building on the southwest site - called So'O, because it's south
    of O - will have 21 loft condos in the $280,000 to $450,000 price
    range, five three-story town homes and a restaurant, all wrapped
    around a 130-space parking garage.

    The building north of O - yes, it's called No'O - will have 32
    apartments, with rents ranging from $1,200 to $2,000, along with three
    town homes and ground-floor retail.

    Construction is set to begin in July. It should be completed in early
    2008, says CADA exec Paul Schmidt.

    Friedman says the project will stand out because it'll have fewer
    residential units than other downtown projects. Also because of its
    varied architectural elements. "The design speaks for itself," he
    says.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:16 AM

    The building on the southwest site - called So'O, because it's south
    of O - will have 21 loft condos in the $280,000 to $450,000 price
    range, five three-story town homes and a restaurant, all wrapped
    around a 130-space parking garage.

    The building north of O - yes, it's called No'O - will have 32
    apartments, with rents ranging from $1,200 to $2,000, along with three
    town homes and ground-floor retail.

    Construction is set to begin in July. It should be completed in early
    2008, says CADA exec Paul Schmidt.

    Friedman says the project will stand out because it'll have fewer
    residential units than other downtown projects. Also because of its
    varied architectural elements. "The design speaks for itself," he
    says.

    ReplyDelete
  3. i'm sure the city probably could help out.

    but, with Joe Marty's (as most of that building goes), the business is in lease. it's both good and bad. Joe Marty's is still required to pay rent even thought they're making no money at the moment (or for almost a year). but, they also can't get kicked out and have a place to re-build if they can.

    seems that's part of the reason it's taking so long and that side of the building just looks like crap.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11:33 AM

    Can't wait to hear what the design has to say for itself. A little something like "metropolis magazine circa 1989?" or "hodgepodge of architectural references that make no sense, then covered in many shades of brown stucco?" Or "my architects build auto malls for a living?" Shitty sheet rock crapholes coming up!

    Ol bitter one,
    EC

    ReplyDelete
  5. hey have you noticed the sweet new feature that blogger has?

    click on the little handicap logo and the code is shouted out for you in case you're blind bloggging.

    neat!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous11:50 AM

    the signs say, "paesano's pronto coming soon."
    anything is better than hukilau. people on yelp consistently bashed that place.
    -greg

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous12:33 PM

    As usual, EC comes through with a perfect, point-blank, dead-on assessment.

    As for "anything" being better than Hukilau, are you sure? The place wasn't the greatest for dining, but the boozy slurpees were excellent and something really awful could be the replacement.

    Agreed on Dunne's review, by the way. On finishing the thing, I felt that if I'd never been there, the review told me nothing accurate (or articulate) about the food. Pretty lame place if Spag Fac is better with the sauces.

    Ed

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  8. Chalk up another one for a French bistro. This town needs more French. We're overrun with Italian.

    Oh, and I won't miss Hukilau either but it was a good place to watch young drunk people try to hit on each other.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous3:15 PM

    Sac is overrun with American bistro's actually

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous10:27 PM

    So I've got just a little scoop on Pronto for y'all. I was walking by it this weekend and saw some worker dude takin' the ol' razor blade to the Hukilau door decal, and so had to stop to ask him what the hell was going on and what Pronto is. He said it will be a simpler/faster Paesanos with panninis and salads and lighter fare (no heavy sauces!). I think he also said it would be an ordering process like Jack's (aka cafeteria style). He said it will be open in about a month, then cited 40 days with the requisite delays, hiccups, etc. factored in. After about a minute of talking to him the wafting stench of stale pineapple sauce was making me sick so I wished him luck, thanked him for the info and carried on.

    As for wine, Becky, have you ever had Thomas Fogarty Gewurztraminer? Good stuff!

    -Dave

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous8:03 AM

    I hate Jack's "ordering process". It really stresses me out, especially since the only reason to go in there is for a side of mashed potatoes. So then it's like, cut? or don't cut? How's this work? Bah!
    summer

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  12. Anonymous11:18 AM

    Summer, I second your hatred of Jack's ordering process. I go there about twice a year and it's so close to my house. If the ordering process wasn't so stupid I would probably go there more often. They need something like Crepeville style.

    -Connie

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  13. also, more tits in your face and visible buttcrack(crepeville style)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous11:56 AM

    The block (between 27th & 28th and Capital and N?) is supposed to be a big parking lot for all of the restaurants in that area. I think the city could do better, but thats what I heard.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous5:05 PM

    I am disappointed with Pronto, Hukilau was much better. The food is expensive, and portion sizes are small. Service is slow too.

    ReplyDelete