Steady Tonic

June 9, 2008

Open kitchens can create a frustrating take out experience. You try not to watch, but after a certain amount of time it’s uncontrollable. You’re like a dog waiting for its owner outside a store: “Is this one mine? What about that one? Is that one mine? WHERE’S MINE!?!?!?!”

Pompei’s open kitchen falls somewhere in the less frustrating range of the spectrum. The restaurant displays all the menu items behind the counter, so customers can see the many (delicious looking) options. My small chicken chopped salad totaled $7.02 with tax and took no more than five minutes from ordering to receipt.

Here’s the salad’s ingredients: chicken, olives (which were promptly extracted), red onion, bacon, tomatoes, Gorgonzola, some Italian dressing as thick as phlegm. They also give you a few pieces of focaccia.

Best aspect of new shit: Overall it was pretty good — chicken was still moist and the size of the salad was filling.

Worst aspect of new shit: It was probably about 600 calories.

New Shit Rating: Repeatable but I’ll probably use a different dressing and leave off the bacon to save a bit on calories.

DSDD* = Different Shit Different Day

June 8, 2008

This was an impulse purchase from a Cost Plus excursion many months ago. Clearly the fact that it took several months to have the desire, energy, and supplies available in our Spartan cabinets shows we don’t cook pancakes very often. It’s probably a once a year occurance when we have houseguests.

In fact, we didn’t have all the supplies this time — I had to use clementine flavored olive oil.

The mix contains actual almond slivers, which is a nice touch since I find typical pancakes boring in texture. I also find typical pancakes too floury, so I added an extra egg to the mix.

The result was delicious - even with the oil substitute.

Best aspect of new shit: Besides the tastiness, it felt good to use the mix that had been sitting there forever.

Worst aspect of new shit: None.

New Shit Rating: Repeatable.

DSDD* = Different Shit Different Day