Cover of first edition, 1937
The Hobbit: A Reading
Sunday, December 9th, 7:30 p.m.
Master storyteller Helen Engelhardt begins the tale of enchantment that led to the adventures of The Lord Of The Rings. Hear the story of the most famous hobbit of all, Bilbo Baggins, and his dangerous adventures in the big world outside of his subterranean home in Middle Earth.
Helen is a storyteller,
"THE HOBBIT": A READING
Read User's comments(0)
GENTLY USED COATS ARE NEEDED FOR HURRICANE SANDY VICTIMS
New York City police precincts, public libraries, and three Prospect Park locations are accepting gently used coats through December 31st for the New York Cares 24th Annual Coat Drive. This year, recipients of the donated coats will not be the homeless only but also the thousands of victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Last year, New York Cares collected 78,000 coats. This year, because of the
Awesome and Unusual Handmade Christmas Stockings From Etsy Designers Make The Mantel.
Not your usual Christmas Stockings, these three etsy stores sell handmade and unusual designs for the artisan holiday home. Hand-tooled leather with koi, flowers, bees and snowflakes from Moxie and Oliver, Burlap coffee sacks turned into elf stockings available with or without customization from Habitation Boheme and wild and modern patterns and designs for people and pets from Urban Creative.
Most can be still be shipped in time for Christmas. Prices and designs vary. Read on for more info, pics and links to buy.
Hand-Tooled leather stockings from Moxie and Oliver:
shop for them here
Habitation Boheme offers unique, handmade one-of-a-kind repurposed burlap Christmas stockings made from coffee sacks:
shop for them here
Kendra Lock of Urban Creative has colorful modern graphic Christmas stockings for people and pets:
shop for them here
F AND G TRAIN CHANGES TONIGHT TO MONDAY MORNING
No F trains will be running between Jay St-MetroTech and 18 Av from 11:30 tonight, November 30th, until 5:00 Monday morning, December 3rd.
No G trains will be running between Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts and Church Av from 11:30 tonight, November 30th, until 5:00 Monday morning, December 3rd.
Free shuttle buses will provide alternate service.
Watch out for holiday pickpocketing.
Protect
The Weekender for Nov. 26-30
All of this week's headlines, as you've come to expect, can be found below for your convenience.
Once you're done catching up, be sure to check out JDTVB's Facebook page, which now includes special exclusive items which aren't posted here, and follow me on Twitter for all the latest information, as well as comments on a host of other topics, too.
Have a great weekend!
Have a great weekend!
BRIEF: Insight adds GMC TV, Hallmark Movie Channel
Insight Communications (part of Time Warner Cable) announced Friday morning that the company has added GMC TV and Hallmark Movie Channel to its lineups in the Evansville, Louisville, Bowling Green, Northern Kentucky and Lexington areas.
Digital Standard/Choice customers will find GMC on channel 820 and Hallmark Movie Channel on channel 261 (HD channel 628).
WVLN FM translator move OK'd by FCC
Back in July, V.L.N. Broadcasting of Olney, Ill. purchased a 10-watt translator station from Dallas-based First Venture Capital Partners, and now it's official: The FCC has approved V.L.N.'s move of W296BV-107.1 FM from Newton to Olney, where it will serve as an FM translator for sports talk station WVLN-740 AM.
The relocated W296BV will get its effective radiated power increased to 250 watts and it will broadcast from V.L.N.'s tower just south of Olney. The station's official service area will range from Dundas to Parkersburg north to south, and from Noble to Claremont west to east, although it's likely that it will reach somewhat farther, as is typical of other such stations.
No word yet on a timetable for completion of the move or when WVLN's Fox Sports Radio programming will make its FM debut, but if other stations' translator additions are any indication, it likely won't take long.
Santa Claus, Ind. Christmas Celebration to be filmed for the Travel Channel
The Travel Channel will film the famous town of Santa Claus, Indiana, during the Santa Claus Christmas Celebration next month, for a new special called Christmas Showdown.
While in town on Saturday, December 8, producers for the Travel Channel plan to visit the town's two original attractions - the Santa Claus statue and Santa's Candy Castle - which both opened in December of 1935. The historic 22-foot Santa Claus statue, which was recently restored, is part of the Santa Claus Museum & Village. The nearby Santa's Candy Castle will host a fruitcake-eating contest that day as part of its special activities. The crew will also capture the Santa Claus Land of Lights after dark at Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort as well as other Christmas-themed attractions and events in town.
"Being featured on the Travel Channel is an exciting opportunity for the town," says Melissa Brockman, executive director of the Spencer County Visitors Bureau. "We look forward to sharing our festive Christmas attractions, activities, and traditions with their viewers."
Travel Channel's Christmas Showdown will highlight the best holiday events and traditions in America. Two destinations will be featured in a variety of categories such as Christmas Towns, Off-beat Parades, Neighborhood Lights, and more. Viewers will be asked to go online and vote for their favorite destination.
The Santa Claus Christmas Celebration begins today and is held the first three weekends in December in Santa Claus, Indiana. Events include a traditional Christmas Dinner with Santa, Writing a Letter to Santa at the Santa Claus Museum & Village, Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, the annual Christmas parade, and much more.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information about the Santa Claus Christmas Celebration, call (888) 444-9252 or visit www.SantaClausInd.org/Christmas.
WEVV teams up with Buehler's IGA to "Scan Away Hunger"
Shoppers can donate $1.44 every time they shop to support the Tri-State Food Bank
Beginning Monday, Dec. 3 and continuing through Dec. 31, each time shoppers at Buehler's IGA check out, they will have the opportunity to donate $1.44 to the Tri-State Food Bank by simply adding this small amount of money to their total grocery bill. Each cashier will be able to scan a special bar code to quickly and easily add the donation to the customer's grocery bill.
"In Evansville, 16.9% of people live at or below poverty," explained Mary Blair, executive director of the Tri-State Food Bank. "Many more, living on the margin, are food insecure and do not have regular access to enough nutritious food for an active, healthy life. There are over 6,900 children in Evansville subjected to extreme poverty that affects their ability to learn and participate in physical activities.
"Our local pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters are reporting record numbers of people requesting emergency food assistance. The people entering the lines are our neighbors, family members," Blair continued.
"We are excited to once again support the Tri-State Food Bank with our in-store fundraising efforts during the holiday season," said Craig Knies, Buehler's IGA division manager. "The Food Bank is a cause that's very dear to us and our associates, and we're happy to continue our longstanding partnership and support of the Tri-State Food Bank."
"Many media outlets and similar organizations have always done a fantastic job of supplying the food bank with truckloads of canned goods and other food items," added CBS44/Fox44 WEVV general manager Tim Black. "WEVV decided to do something a little different this year, in that we wanted to help in making a monetary donation that the food bank will be able to stretch to as much as eight times the actual dollar value to purchase much needed food into 2013."
ABOUT THE TRI-STATE FOOD BANKLocated in Evansville, Indiana, the Tri-State Food Bank provides safe food to pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters to provide food to hungry people in the tri-state.
Tri-State Food Bank collects usable donated foods to disburse among 250 non-profit feeding organizations in a 33-county service area of the tri-state. We provide food to nine counties in Indiana, 16 in rural Illinois, and eight in Kentucky.
Each month an average of over 100,000 people received food assistant through our network of pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters with nearly 40 thousand each month just in Vanderburgh County.
98% of functional expenses go directly to program services, with only 2% to management and fundraising.
For every dollar received, Tri-State Food Bank can generate $8.57 in food to the needy.
- On average $1.00 = 5.20 meals
- $16.15 will provide food for a family of four for a week.
- $25.00 will provide a meal for 130 hungry people.
"It's what's in the grooves that counts" - David Ruffin - "Walk Away From Love" -only one of my favorite 10 songs ever; ABBA - "S.O.S."; Ruffin's version of "I Want You Back"
sevensman YouTube Channel: David Ruffin - "Walk Away From Love" on "Soul Train" with Don Cornelius. (1975) Uploaded July 20, 2010. http://youtu.be/APlXHfhbiVw
Truly, a perfect three-minute song.
So much immense talent, so much towering ego, so many inner demons... and that crazy amazing emotive voice that never failed to get your attention.
That June day in 1991 that I heard on the radio that
BUY A CHRISTMAS TREE AND SUPPORT A LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOL
Buy a Christmas tree from Tom Foley and help a local school financially. Tom, a former stock broker, sells trees at the corner of 8th Avenue and 8th Street in Park Slope. Tell Tom you would like $10 of the purchase price donated to P.S. 154 or P.S. 230 (choose which school's PTA you want the money to be given to), and then sign the school signature sheet.
Suggest to your family and friends
Adidas Launches Christmas Campaign With Snoop as Scrooge and An Interactive Facebook App That Lets You Un-Scrooge Yourself.
adidas has launched its pioneering Holiday Campaign for 2012, enlisting the help of some of the world’s finest sporting and cultural icons, to turn your social media content into a potentially timeline-changing classic Holiday Tale. At the heart of the campaign is ‘The Cautionary Tale of Ebenezer Snoop’ online film (shown in this post), offering you the opportunity to follow a digital journey to find and share your own Holiday Spirit. As the film closes, you are invited to find out if you are an Ebenezer, and if so, the chance to redeem yourself with an innovative Facebook app (screen grab shown below).
The film features global music heavyweight Snoop Lion alongside skateboard OG Mark Gonzales escorting viewers into the illustrated world of legendary Beavis & Butthead artist JJ Sedelmaier. ‘The Cautionary Tale of Ebenezer Snoop’ follows the path of the classic Holiday story, seeing Ebenezer Snoop confronted by the Ghosts of Holiday Past (Stan Smith), Present (David Beckham) and Future (Derrick Rose & Rita Ora), as well as a host of other Global adidas stars that keeps viewers going back to find more. As you continue on your journey through the tale, you return to Facebook to create your own story.
The adidas Holiday Facebook application produces for you, the user, a personalized journey that mirrors the structure of the Ebenezer Snoop film content. Snoop might not be the only Ebenezer. By aggregating your user data around certain Facebook activities such as comments, birthday well-wishes, & event responses, adidas creates your own uniquely tailored Ebenezer film (they choose all the times you declined invites, didn't respond to posts or didn't acknowledge friends' brithdays to prove your 'scrooginess'). The app pulls in these features from your Facebook timeline, proposing what your digital life could look like if you don’t mend your ways. The level of your online interaction determines the film which your journey takes – the storyline and content directed by your digital life.
Examples from my own Facebook page:
At the end of your personal journey adidas offers you the opportunity to redeem yourself by sending a Facebook greeting card featuring JJ Sedelmaier’s campaign illustrations to friends.
You can choose any of the ghosts from the animated tale to deliver your customized card:
David Beckham:
Derrick Rose:
Rita Ora:
Stan Smith:
The gift which accompanies the card is dependent on your Ebenezer levels – one possibility is a 15% e-commerce discount.
A truly interactive online campaign working across social media, adidas recognises the importance of the digital world to its consumers and presents a complete Holiday gift-giving solution to its fans.
“The Ebenezer Snoop Holiday Campaign is the most user-specific app adidas has ever created, examining consumer behaviour to produce a truly personalised online experience. There is so much noise during the holidays, we’ve created a simple yet effective app to cut straight through. The Ebenezer Snoop Facebook app aggregates your personal Facebook information to produce a film entirely for you. Using the Timeline we are suggesting how your timeline could look if you don’t mend your ways!” -- Gabriel Jaffe, Senior Digital Communications Manager, AG.
Creative Credits:
Production Credits
Client: ADIDAS
Creative Agency: SID LEE
Production Agency: JIMMY LEE.TV
Post-Production:MASS MARKET/JIMMY LEE.TV/ VISION GLOBALE
Production houses: Live action – CAVIAR CONTENT / Animation - J.J. SEDELMAIER PRODUCTIONS
Director: Live action – Jake Szymanski / Animation – JJ Sedelmaier
Grading: MASS MARKET
Editors: JIMMY LEE.TV
Sound Design : MACHINE HEAD
Sound Mix: LA MAJEURE
About adidas
adidas is a global designer, developer and marketer of athletic footwear, apparel and accessories with the mission to be the leading sports brand in the world. Brand adidas is part of the adidas Group, a corporation that includes brands such as Reebok, TaylorMade and Rockport.
About the adidas Group
The adidas Group is one of the global leaders within the sporting goods industry, offering a broad range of products around the core brands adidas, Reebok, TaylorMade, Rockport and Reebok-CCM Hockey. Headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, the Group has more than 46,000 employees and generated sales of € 13.3 billion in 2011.
Christmas radio 24/7: Not as widespread this year?
UPDATE, 10:01 a.m.: WGAB-1180 AM (Newburgh) and its sister station, WMTA-1380 AM (Central City) are also broadcasting and streaming Christmas music 24/7 at faith1180.com. (Thanks to D. Armstrong for this information!)
It's something of a tradition around these parts that several radio stations in Evansville and surrounding communities will inevitably switch to playing nothing but Christmas music 24/7.
It's something of a tradition around these parts that several radio stations in Evansville and surrounding communities will inevitably switch to playing nothing but Christmas music 24/7.
That tradition continues this year, but it seems there are fewer stations ringing those Jingle Bells and walking in a Winter Wonderland.
Indeed, as far as I can tell as of this writing, only the Cromwell Group's WVJS-1420 AM/100.5 FM (Owensboro) and WTCJ-1230 AM (Tell City) are taking a nonstop Sleigh Ride on the radio here in the Tri-State, and they started at midnight last Friday.
Interestingly, Townsquare Media's WJLT-105.3 FM (Evansville) decided not to go all-in with Christmas music for the first time in several years. I've not been able to get an answer as to why the station is going weekends-only instead of its traditional post-Thanksgiving marathon of mistletoe music (perhaps Grandpa finally caught up with the reindeer that ran over Grandma?), but that's the decision they're staying with, at least at this point.
The same goes for South Central Media's flagship, WIKY-104.1 FM, which is also doing the weekend thing. However, for those who simply must have more holiday spirit, 104 offers it with its commercial-free streaming Christmas Music Station, which can be found online at wiky.com.
If you know of any stations I've missed - or if your station is doing something you'd like me to tell the Tri-State about, let me know and I'll spread the word!
Racer TV Network to televise 8 Murray State basketball games this season
First telecast of the year is game at Evansville on Dec. 8
Murray State Athletics and Time Warner Cable announced this afternoon the broadcast schedule for MSU Basketball on the Racer TV Network.
A pair of pre-conference games begin the broadcasts when Racers travel to Evansville (Dec. 8) and Arkansas State (Dec. 19). The Racers begin their quest for a fourth straight Ohio Valley Conference championship at UT Martin (Jan. 3). The Racer TV Network continues with a broadcast from Clarksville, Tenn. (Jan. 12) when the Racers meet rival Austin Peay. Other broadcasts include road games at Jacksonville State (Jan. 25), SIUE (Feb. 14), Eastern Illinois (Feb. 16) and Morehead State (Feb. 20).
The Racer TV Network games are available to Time Warner Cable, Mediacom, Murray Electric and Comcast subscribers in parts of Western Kentucky at no additional charge. Time Warner customers will see the broadcasts on channel 16, while Mediacom carries the games on channel 23 and 97. Murray Electric carries the Racers on channel 18 and Comcast on channel 17.
Dave Winder, MSU's assistant AD for Media Relations, handles play-by-play duties, while former coach Eric Foister provides analysis. Foister is a former assistant coach at Ball State and St. Joseph's College and has 16 years of experience as a high school head coach. Foister coached schools to state-level of post-season play in Florida, Indiana and Tennessee.
Since its debut in 1996, the Racer TV Network has delivered a total of 49 MSU football and basketball games to the Racers' loyal fan base.
A pair of pre-conference games begin the broadcasts when Racers travel to Evansville (Dec. 8) and Arkansas State (Dec. 19). The Racers begin their quest for a fourth straight Ohio Valley Conference championship at UT Martin (Jan. 3). The Racer TV Network continues with a broadcast from Clarksville, Tenn. (Jan. 12) when the Racers meet rival Austin Peay. Other broadcasts include road games at Jacksonville State (Jan. 25), SIUE (Feb. 14), Eastern Illinois (Feb. 16) and Morehead State (Feb. 20).
The Racer TV Network games are available to Time Warner Cable, Mediacom, Murray Electric and Comcast subscribers in parts of Western Kentucky at no additional charge. Time Warner customers will see the broadcasts on channel 16, while Mediacom carries the games on channel 23 and 97. Murray Electric carries the Racers on channel 18 and Comcast on channel 17.
Dave Winder, MSU's assistant AD for Media Relations, handles play-by-play duties, while former coach Eric Foister provides analysis. Foister is a former assistant coach at Ball State and St. Joseph's College and has 16 years of experience as a high school head coach. Foister coached schools to state-level of post-season play in Florida, Indiana and Tennessee.
Since its debut in 1996, the Racer TV Network has delivered a total of 49 MSU football and basketball games to the Racers' loyal fan base.
See the full schedule of games on the Racer TV Network after the jump.
| Date | Opponent | Location | Air Time (CT) |
| Dec. 8 | Evansville | Evansville, Ind. | 12:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 19 | Arkansas State | Jonesboro, Ark. | 7 p.m. |
| Jan. 3 | UT Martin | Martin, Tenn. | 6:30 p.m. |
| Jan. 12 | Austin Peay | Clarksville, Tenn. | 7 p.m. |
| Jan. 26 | Jacksonville State | Jacksonville, Ala. | 4 p.m. |
| Feb. 14 | SIUE | Edwardsville, Ill. | 6:30 p.m. |
| Feb. 16 | Eastern Illinois | Charleston, Ill. | 5:30 p.m. |
| Feb. 20 | Morehead State | Morehead, Ky. | 5:30 p.m. |
BRIEF: Technical difficulties knock WSIU Public Radio's Olney and Mt. Vernon transmitters off the air
UPDATE, 12:57 p.m.: All of WSIU Radio's stations are back on the air.
Public radio listeners in Southern Illinois have likely noticed this afternoon that WSIU Public Radio's Olney, Ill. (WUSI-90.3 FM) and Mt. Vernon, Ill. (WVSI-88.9 FM) transmitters are off the air.
Public radio listeners in Southern Illinois have likely noticed this afternoon that WSIU Public Radio's Olney, Ill. (WUSI-90.3 FM) and Mt. Vernon, Ill. (WVSI-88.9 FM) transmitters are off the air.
WSIU reports that the problem is technical in nature and they are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
Listeners can find the stations' programming online at news.wsiu.org.
OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Zucker to head CNN
 |
| New CNN prez Jeff Zucker |
CNN announced this morning that Jeff Zucker will join CNN Worldwide in January as president of the multi-platform global news enterprise.
Zucker started his 25-year career with NBC as a researcher for NBC Sports’ coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games and rose to president and chief executive officer of NBC Universal. He was named executive producer of Today in January 1992; under his eight-year leadership, the program was the most-watched morning news show and the most profitable program on television. Zucker went on to executive-produce NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw and the network’s coverage of the Persian Gulf War, the 1993 and 1997 presidential inaugurations and the 2000 elections. He was promoted to president of NBC Entertainment, president of the NBC Entertainment, News & Cable group and president and CEO of the NBC Universal Television Group. Currently, Zucker is executive producer of the syndicated daytime show Katie.
“Jeff’s experience as a news executive is unmatched for its breadth and success,” said Phil Kent, chairman and CEO of CNN's parent company, Turner Broadcasting. “He built and sustained the number-one brand in morning news, and under his watch NBC’s signature news programming set a standard for quality and professionalism. As a programmer, a brand-builder and a leader, he will bring energy and new thinking to CNN. I couldn’t be happier to welcome him or more excited about what he’ll accomplish here.”
“I am thrilled to join the distinguished team of journalists across the worldwide platforms of CNN,” said Zucker. “The global reach and scale of the CNN brand is unparalleled in all of news. Outside of my family and the Miami Dolphins, there is nothing I am as passionate about as journalism. I spent the most rewarding years of my career as a journalist, and it’s where I look forward to spending many more. I am grateful to Phil Kent for this opportunity, and I’m excited to return to daily newsgathering and compelling storytelling in a place that values those above all else.”
Zucker started his 25-year career with NBC as a researcher for NBC Sports’ coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games and rose to president and chief executive officer of NBC Universal. He was named executive producer of Today in January 1992; under his eight-year leadership, the program was the most-watched morning news show and the most profitable program on television. Zucker went on to executive-produce NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw and the network’s coverage of the Persian Gulf War, the 1993 and 1997 presidential inaugurations and the 2000 elections. He was promoted to president of NBC Entertainment, president of the NBC Entertainment, News & Cable group and president and CEO of the NBC Universal Television Group. Currently, Zucker is executive producer of the syndicated daytime show Katie.
“Jeff’s experience as a news executive is unmatched for its breadth and success,” said Phil Kent, chairman and CEO of CNN's parent company, Turner Broadcasting. “He built and sustained the number-one brand in morning news, and under his watch NBC’s signature news programming set a standard for quality and professionalism. As a programmer, a brand-builder and a leader, he will bring energy and new thinking to CNN. I couldn’t be happier to welcome him or more excited about what he’ll accomplish here.”
“I am thrilled to join the distinguished team of journalists across the worldwide platforms of CNN,” said Zucker. “The global reach and scale of the CNN brand is unparalleled in all of news. Outside of my family and the Miami Dolphins, there is nothing I am as passionate about as journalism. I spent the most rewarding years of my career as a journalist, and it’s where I look forward to spending many more. I am grateful to Phil Kent for this opportunity, and I’m excited to return to daily newsgathering and compelling storytelling in a place that values those above all else.”
Illinois-based Barrington Broadcasting reportedly for sale
Nexstar, Sinclair said to be finalists for company's 24 stations in 15 markets
Schaumburg, Ill.-based Barrington Broadcasting is being shopped, TVNewsCheck reports this morning, and two broadcast companies with ties to our region are said to be the finalists to pick up the firm's 24 stations.
Nexstar Broadcasting, which owns and/or operates WEHT Local and WTVW in Evansville and WTWO and WAWV in Terre Haute, and Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns KBSI and operates WDKA in the Paducah market, along with KDNL-ABC30 in St. Louis and three stations in Nashville, have been busily buying up stations this year, and are said to have submitted bids for Barrington.
Barrington, founded in 2003 by the Pilot Group, operates in 15 markets, mostly in mid-sized and smaller markets (not unlike Nexstar and Sinclair). Its stations are in places like Flint, Mich.; Peoria, Ill.; Toledo, Ohio; and other cities. (A full list can be found here.)
Stay tuned ... this should be interesting.
Cerulean
I have been hearing a lot of hype about Cerulean with all the pre-opening dinners they have had around town, and was hoping the food would live up to it. Hubby and I have been anxious to try something new and decided to give it a go on its first weekend officially open. This isn’t something I normally do because I like to give a place a chance to work out the kinks, but this time I just decided I’d try it and maybe not write about it. But our dinner was so good; I figured I needed to share.
The first thing you notice about the restaurant is how clean and modern the interior is—there is a giant wooden “nest” in the restaurant which looks pretty cool, but I was kind of glad we weren’t seated in there just yet because it still smelled of pretty fresh timber and of new construction, which I think would have distracted me a bit from the food. Once it settles in though, it is a nice slightly more private part of the restaurant. The rest of it is made up simple, streamlined furniture and several banquettes—although I didn’t think it was so modern that it was too cold. I liked the small vases of flowers on the tables.
The food overall was pretty damn good. I like the way the menu has very small plates (that range from $3-4 each and are maybe 2-4 bites depending on the size of your bite), medium plates, and entrée plates. We were intrigued by nearly every one of the smallest plates, so we decided to get all but one of them. The first two that they brought out were the corn macaroon ($3) and the mushroom custard ($4). The corn macaroon was great—two corn flavored macaroons sandwiched around a perfect, tender piece of pork belly sitting in a rich smoky cheddar flavored sauce and a smear of what was essentially like arugula pesto on the plate. It all went really well together and I appreciated the creativity of the dish.
The mushroom custard was probably our least favorite dish of the evening. They presented it in a tall skinny jar with the custard on the bottom and “herb crumble” on top. Apparently, the idea was that it look a bit like a terrarium. It was nice to look at, but not user friendly in the eating department. The jar was barely big enough for the spoon and it was nearly impossible to mix the two together, meaning the first few bites were pretty much all herb crumble which was a bit dry without the custard. The custard was served quite cold and that detracted from the flavor for me as well. Basically, this one was a misfire. I think it could be improved if the custard were warm, it was served in a more shallow dish, and with less of the crumble. But that would sort of be remaking the entire dish now wouldn’t it?
The other three small plate items we had were the “tator tot” ($4), the marrow fritter ($4), and the rabbit rillettes ($4). All of these were very good—hubby and I disagreed on a favorite, but agreed that we liked the entire lot. The tator tot was my favorite. It was a hot, crispy potato pancake topped with a teeny barely cooked quail egg served on top of pepper paste (a lot of “paste” type things going on). It was super crunchy, like a traditional tator tot, but made of fresh potato and just lightly seasoned. There were several sauces underneath—I am thinking green and red peppers were involved here. I liked the super crunchy texture of the dish. The marrow fritter was interesting. It was almost like a beignet—a deep fried dumpling kind of a thing. Because it was served on top of a fairly sweet apple cider sauce (with pecans and a fried sage leaf), it almost came across as a dessert. I could have happily eaten it as a dessert. The marrow came in the form of powder on top, which was interesting. Not the rich fatty marrow flavor you are expecting, but it added a subtle marrow flavor. It was good for sure, and well prepared, but wouldn’t say it was my favorite. The rillettes were really well done as well, and were the thing hubby picked as his probably favorite of the small dishes. Rilletes are meat cooked down with fat so that it becomes a spread of sorts. This was smooth, and I liked that it was served closer to room temperature rather than really cold. It had the intense meat flavor and when you took the crispy kale chip and just a little of the horseradish cream along with it, it was a great combination. The cream gave a little balance to the meat flavor, and the horseradish the touch of heat you wanted. It was really well done.
At this point, we skipped ahead to the entrée portions and at the suggestion of our server, both got dishes that involved pasta (several of the dishes involve pasta in them). I had the chicken sausage with red pepper fettuccine ($23). Hubby had the duck breast with lemon fettuccine ($28). Finally. A restaurant in this town taking care to make their own pasta and not just drench it in a marinara or alfredo sauce. These dishes took a protein and used the right pastas and other ingredients to make a cohesive, thoughtful and delicious dish. Mine included the pasta, the chicken sausage, gorgonzola, dried tomatoes and lime. And the whole thing was sitting in the bowl surrounded by creamy cilantro milk. There was pasta and the salty, rich flavor of the cheese and sausage (but because it was chicken sausage, it wasn’t too heavy), and there was acid! There was acid from the tomatoes, which were rehydrated and super tender and from the lime. And the cilantro milk added just the right creaminess. This people, this is what I am talking about when it comes to a well executed pasta dish.
And hubby’s was just as good. His had acid flavor in the lemon pasta and salt from pancetta and duck skin cracklings. The pasta was in a creamy carbonara sauce that was flavored with marjoram as well. My only complaint was that the duck was a little more toward medium than medium rare, but it was still exceptionally tender and delicious. I would say it was maybe slightly less complex than mine, but equally as good (well, I liked mine slightly more and hubby liked his slightly more). I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of his before he dug in, but I did include an “after” shot. Yeah, he hated it (he also polished off the rest of mine when I was full). The other thing I liked is that while they were not skimpy portions at all, they did not serve this completely over the top amount of pasta that puts me off before I even take a bite. And did I mention they make it in house? (I know I did, I am just really excited.)
Finally, we had the “chocolate and citrus” dessert ($9). We both thought it was pretty incredible. There was a little scoop of earl gray chocolate ice cream, little pieces of brown butter cake, and some citrus wedges and citrus flavored foam. What a great combo once again. Again, I loved the inventiveness and the fact that a chocolate dessert wasn’t so one dimensional. I know some will say foam is out of fashion in the culinary world, but it was perfect here.
The staff was very enthusiastic—they are clearly excited to be working there. There seems to be a great energy. I don’t think they have tried a lot of the food yet though—our server was a little hesitant talking about some of the dishes. I wouldn’t exactly call the service “polished” either, although it was very friendly and down to earth. Our server seemed a bit nervous, particularly with the wine service. I loved that they asked for feedback on nearly every dish—and they genuinely seemed to want to hear it (little did they know I’d be writing an entire blog post about it). Also, when it took a little longer than they wanted between courses, they brought us a free bowl of the sweet potato soup (it was good, although doesn’t tend to be my favorite thing). We weren’t even feeling like it was taking too long, but I loved the initiative they took by being aware that things were a little slower than theywanted and doing something to keep the customer happy.
I liked the old world vs. new world wine list too. It is a decent list but isn’t so overwhelming like some of the ones you see at restaurants. They have some interesting sounding cocktails as well as beers.
Yep, I liked it. I hope they keep up with the quality that we had. I did notice a TON of people working in the kitchen—hard to say if they were more staffed for the opening week than they might be later, but I look forward to finding out. I can’t wait to see what they put together for spring. Parking is a little weird, but if you walk a couple of blocks, street parking is plentiful (see now, this is a place that could use a valet, instead of the north side restaurants with giant parking lots). And hey, if you have been, or go, please let me know how your experience is. There isn’t a lot out there about it yet as far as people’s opinions. I for one am excited about this one though.
Cerulean
339 South Delaware Street
Indy 46225
317/870-1320
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
