CIM Orchestra: Sasha Makila Conducts Shostakovich/Corigliano/Brahms

Shostakovitch: Festive Overture, Op. 96
Corigliano: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (John Lee, piano)
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73
Sasha Makila, guest conductor.

A good friend joined me to attend her first concert at the Cleveland Institute of Music this evening. Through sheer chance we wound up a couple rows further back than my "normal" location. While we settled in with some conversation -- and while the orchestra warmed up -- I noticed that the orchestra seemed louder than I remembered and throughout the concert, the acoustics generally seemed more focused and generally favorable. Note to self: New seating location.

I've generally found myself to be a fan of Shostakovitch's works, but closer to the dawn of this blog and my exploration of classical music -- in other words, October 2009, I heard the Festive Overture and said that it left me "generally unfulfilled". Revisiting the overture tonight, that sentiment couldn't be further from the hall -- bursting with energy and with chest-thumping percussion, it was immediately gripping. The strings under Mr. Makila's baton were particularly lovely, and I don't think anyone could claim that it was played too quietly.

A composer whose name I didn't recognize, John Corigliano's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, was again beautifully clear with some great passages in what was generally a tumultuous and unsettled piece. Listening to the work I was trying to hear a story threaded through the work but I'm not sure I ever convinced myself of a single outcome.

Lastly, Brahms Symphony No. 2 -- where the music just sung so beautifully and to such an extent that I found myself lost amongst the notes and between movements. While the first three movements were a touch slow for my already short and seasonal allergy-impaired attention span, the fourth movement (allegro con spirito) returned to the impressive and extremely expressive joyful tone of the Festive Overture.

Overall, I think this may have been the most impressive CIM Orchestra Concert to date, an I'm certainly glad that I heard this version of the Festive Overture -- I think I may have to download it from InstantEncore, which considering my gneneral avoidance of recorded classical is high praise indeed.

Lincoln

PlayhouseSquare 2011-12 KeyBank Broadway Series Launch

Today was the day that PlayhouseSquare announces their next KeyBank Broadway season. Tonight was a party with a recap of those selections for group sales, and I was glad to be invited back. Before we get to the new, let's not forget that there are still a few shows left in this season not the least of which are Next To Normal which I've been eagerly anticipating since seeing it on Broadway (and I made a minor fool of myself by singing along with I'm Alive while the theater filled up this evening) and Jersey Boys, although I think I'm going to pass on it this time, it holds a special place in my musical heart having seen it twice pre-Broadway, and pre-Lincoln in Cleveland while I was living in California at the La Jolla Playhouse (including once with director Des McAnuff and Frankie Valli just a couple rows in front of me). The warmup for tonight's announcement was a buffet and open bar -- the food was pretty good, and the conversation amongst fellow theater-goers was likewise enjoyable. It was great to hear what other people love about Cleveland, and for the life-long Clevelanders what they've seen change -- including when the theaters that are now PlayhouseSquare were movie palaces in the 50s. For the new season, I remembered several of the shows from the trip that I won to last year's Tony Awards courtesy of Playhouse Square... and they were all numbers that I enjoyed to some extent* so I'm really looking forward to this season: Million Dollar Quartet (October 11-23, 2011, Palace Theatre) - Based on the true story of a Sun Records jam session on December 4, 1956, Million Dollar Quartet is a gritty look inside the recording studio when Elvis Presley, Johnny Carson, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins were together for the first and only time. While I was interested from the beginning, the surprise appearance of the Original Chicago cast (who will be reprising their roles and kicking off the national tour in Cleveland) certainly amped up my level of excitement for the show. Of course, it's worth mentioning that the performance by members of the Million Dollar Quartet cast this evening took place in the same building that Alan Freed's WJW-AM radio broadcasts, credited for popularizing Rock and Roll -- both the term and the music -- originated from. La Cage Aux Folles (November 8-20, 2011, Palace Theatre) - Of the shows this season, I'm least sold on La Cage because I'm still a bit foggy on what it's about, though the "we are what we are and what we are is an illusion" line quoted by Ms. Vernaci is intriguing (as are the conservative parents from Ohio coming for dinner; this seems to be a Broadway musical theme). Hair (January 17-29, 2012, Palace Theatre) - A legendary musical, and one of the shows I most regret not seeing during my last trip to New York [nude scene and my discomfort with nudity notwithstanding]. I know it for the songs Age of Aquarius and Let the Sun Shine In, the promo material is dripping with the catchy Hair. A musical about Americans searching for peace and love amongst turbulence, it looks like this should be an interesting and entertaining look at a time past with themes that are ever relevant. Hair generated violent reactions in its era and has two notable connections to Cleveland's PlayhouseSquare: When the first national tour opened in the Hanna Theatre, someone attempted to bomb the theater (breaking several windows and causing no injuries) and several family members of the touring company died in a Cleveland hotel fire. Memphis (February 28-March 11, 2012, Palace Theatre) - 1950s Memphis, the story of a white DJ who wants to change the world with music, a black singer waiting for her big break, forbidden love and expolosive danging. An original score with music by a founding member of Bon Jovi (David Bryan), I couldn't resist toe-tapping in Radio City during the Tony Awards show, and I had a hard time restraining myself this evening. The Addams Family (April 10-22, 2012, Palace Theatre) - The "conservative parents from Ohio come for dinner" theme from La Cage Aux Folles" resurfaces here when Wednesday Addams falls for a "sweet, smart, young man from a respectable family". Billed as a "family portrat that's completely off the wall" this musical has looked beyond the films and the television series to Addams' original cartoons that ran in the New Yorker for inspiration. Come Fly Away (May 8-20, 2012, Palace Theatre) - Music of Frank Sinatra and the choreography and direction of Twyla Tharp... I'm not the biggest Sinatra fan, but the excerpts staged during the Tony Awards were captivatingly energetic, combined with unexpected enjoyment from Michael Fieinstein's Sinatra Project with The Cleveland Orchestra's makes this a definite possibility on my list. Last but most certainly not least, Sondheim on Sondheim (May 30-July 22, 2012, Hanna Theatre) -- co produced by PlayhouseSquare and Great Lakes Theatre Festival to celebrate GLTF's 50th anniversary season and is "revue of a lifetime" and takes you inside the head of the Broadway's "greatest living composer" featuring videotaped interviews with Mr. Sondheim interspersed with live action, I'm quite looking forward to it. I'm reminded of the Invocation and Instructions to the Audience from The Frogs and recapitulated in Side by Side by Sondheim which is how I came to know it...I'd hum it for you but you're better off iTunes or Googling it -- or just watch from about 2:40 in this YouTube video -- though the version I'm most familiar includes a variation on the standard curtain speech that makes me crack a smile every time). I'm a firm beleiver that this should be used before any performance, not just Sondheim. Ok, so now I'm just rambling... Lincoln *- One show very thankfully not in this season was Fela! which ranks among the worst theater I've seen, and is the only time I've disputed a credit card transaction for a purchase I actually made (and I won that dispute). A several friends who saw the performance during the Tony Awards described it as "suck[ing] all of the energy from the room" so I'm obviously not alone there.

Cleveland Museum of Art: The Lure of Painted Poetry (Member's Reception)

Based on my preference to walk to the roughly 2.5 miles to the Cleveland Museum of Art rather than drive, the colder temperatures mark a significant decrease from my weekly visits the other three seasons of the year. So it's been a few weeks since I've made it to the museum.

My excuse to visit tonight -- not that anyone should ever need an excuse to visit one of America's great (and permanent-exhibits-free) art museums -- was the Member's Reception for the exhibition The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art, a free exhibition opening tomorrow and running through August 28th. Driving to the museum this evening the timing of this exhibition in relation to the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami struck me as either very fortuitous or very ominous.

The exhibition introduction was given by Seunghye Sun, the Associate Curator of Japanese and Korean Art after a introduction by Director David Franklin. You could tell that both were quite excited about the exhibition, but Ms. Sun's comments in particular were invigorating: Having joined the museum's staff within the past year, she commented that her ability to organize the exhibition in such a short time--using objects predominantly, if not exclusively, from the museum's permanent collection--comes from the renown of Cleveland's Asian Art collection as "the best in the United States" and already being quite familiar with the collection by reputation from her previous posts.

Ms. Sun's comments were brief, but insightful. In describing the screens on an island in the exhibition space she remarked that they were like characters on a stage and it was up to the viewer to understand their story. And entering the exhibition hall, that's precisely the feeling that struck me: Characters forever frozen in time, waiting for you to understand their story. That's actually the attitude by with I approach most art but something about the screens at the visual centerpiece of the exhibition makes it particularly worthy of asking and introspection.

Backing up a few steps, as I approached the exhibition hall I wasn't sure what to expect as Asian Art is far from the top of my "favorite types of art" list, but I tried to keep an open mind. And that openness was rewarded. While my previous Asian art experiences* were earthenware heavy, and earthenware just isn't my thing -- though there is some pottery, this exhibition predominantly is screens and scrolls which I find much more visually interesting.

And I was impressed both by the artistry and the variety. Some pieces are explicitly detailed, while others provide only general shapes or movements and leave much to be filled in by the imagination. Some are monochromatic making extensive use of shading to create depth while others are monochromatic and flat; still others use varying amounts of color. One interesting thing that registered early on is that even where the central art was monochromatic the scrolls on which they were placed were often brightly colored.

The exhibition ends, of course, in the gift shop. But before you get to the gift shop the exhibition concludes with a wall full of beautiful but large Japanese characters. The philosophy of one, that people are drawn to those with warm personalities like "Clouds Chasing Dragons" was particularly memorable; as was the beautiful assortment of cast glass pieces to the right of that wall.

One of the claims of the exhibition is to explore the relationship between Chinese poetry and Korean and Japanese art, which is intriguing, but based on how crowded the galleries were and how wantonly some were disregarding what I consider to be basic tenants of museum etiquette** (wow, am I sounding curmudgeonly tonight or what?) I didn't really explore this on this visit; perhaps in a future visit. Ms. Sun, during her opening remarks, also encouraged a visit to the Museum's Ingalls Library for anyone interested in further research. For those who don't know the library -- with its beautiful reading room -- is located on the 2.5 (yes, second-and-a-half) floor of the Breuer building,

Lincoln

* See the bottom of here for my visit to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, or here for my visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts which has a rather extensive Asian collection.
** - They may not be official tenets, but among things that I consider sacred: Do not walk in front of someone who is taking in a piece or its label copy, rather pass behind so as not to disrupt their concentration; the taller should allow the shorter space to view; do not position yourself so close to a piece [for an extended period of time] such that others can not view the art-- particularly if those people were there before you; if you are going to engage a group of people in conversation not related to a piece, do not do so in close proximity to art, lest ye prevent people from actually seeing the art.

Cleveland Play House: My Name is Asher Lev [With Happy Hour]

The Cleveland Play House hosts periodic happy hours which I try not to miss because they're a great low-key way to bump into new artsularly inclined people as well as check in with old friends and acquaintances. While the typically held at greater Cleveland bars, tonight's was in the Play House's back yard at MoCA Cleveland.

Arriving at the Happy Hour I knew I wanted to do something after but I wasn't sure what -- CPH had two plays up (My Name is Asher Lev and Present Laughter) and CIM had a orchestra concert, which sounded interesting but some of the details were a bit strange, so it got ruled out pretty early. Present Laughter, was a contender (and something I want to see anyway) but was sold out this evening. Last play standing: Asher Lev.

(Deep exhale). I was really on the fence about Asher, if for no other reason than I accidentally read the review of the show by a critic who is one of few people I can't stand*. He loved it. Our paths and tastes rarely cross.

All of this is really stalling while I try to figure out how I feel about the play. Intimately set on thrust stage, from beginning to end everything was convincingly three dimensional; Asher's early childhood at three stops, his teenage years, and adulthood are all visited (though there were explicit breaks between the first several vignettes, I the break between "13" and "adult").

Growing up in a Hasidic Jewish family, Asher discovers artistic ability at an early age; the art isn't encouraged by his parents (who view the art as something between a waste of time and sacrilegious), he pursues art in spite of their objections, staging conflict between Asher and his parents, but the Rebbe (for whom his father works) forges a connection to an artist behind his parents back [I'm making an assumption here]. The artist challenges and encourages Asher's development. Asher grows, culminating in an exhibition that is at least initially critically acclaimed but further alienates his parents.

While I have no qualms with the way the story was told, I just couldn't connect or relate to much of the story...I can't say if it's because I've never been particularly religious, or just never had conflicts of that magnitude with my parents ("Just remember", my mother said growing up and says to this day, "do whatever you want, but I will not bail you out of jail.") but it didn't resonate with me.

The character of Jacob Kahn, like all of the secondary male characters played by Tom Alan Robbins, was the person who most interested me individually and with his relationship to Asher Lev (Noel Joseph Allain) with some particularly interesting comments on art ("An artist either reflects his life or comments upon it..."), making decisions based on conviction as opposed to because it's the hip/trendy/easy path.

Though I am a straight, red-blooded American male, I am also a bit prudish and generally uncomfortable with nudity. This production includes a scene with female nudity that felt nearly eternal as I tried to avert my eyes without directly staring down the audience member next to me (based on my front row house left seat, she was literally standing in front of me, though for the majority of the audience I believe her back would be to them). Late in the play, Asher -- at lest I think it was Asher -- makes a comment on the difference between a painting of a naked woman and a nude: A naked woman is a woman who's not wearing any clothes, while a nude is a vision of an unclothed woman filtered through the eyes of an artist. I have to say I've never considered that difference.

In keeping all of the canvases, sketch books, and scraps of paper used to showcase Asher's art blank, the audience is interestingly forced to project their own illusions of what "great art" is into that space. The amazing sounds of a mostly-solo cello weave together the scenes and set the emotional tone in a way that only a stringed instrument can. I'm a little disappointed that that musician and/or composer do not seem to be credited in the program.

So... I'm still not sure how I felt about it. Maybe after I sleep on it I'll have stronger feelings.

Lincoln
*- Though I've never met in person.

Great Lakes Theater Festival: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abriged)

Presented by Great Lakes Theater Festival; directed by Charles Fee, at the Hanna Theater, PlayhouseSquare

It's funny -- like Opera, the entire category of "Shakespeare" doesn't rank terribly high on my list of performing arts loves; I think it's a combination of of hearing "Romeo, romeo..." read in a stilted adolescent monotone a few too many times in middle and high school English classes, and some bad, edging on truly terrible*, interpretations of The Bard's works at the Old Globe in San Diego's Balboa Park, dragged at at a younger age by my good intentioned (and Shakespeare-loving) mother. I still don't get the iambic pentameter, but generally I've been (more) pleased by GLTF's takes on his works.

This is also not my first time with The Complete Works; though. I was going to
say I've seen it once before (with my dad) -- but during a phone call with the afore-mentioned good-intentioned mother, she "reminded" me that we had also seen it before. In all honesty, I don't remember that one. I remember the version I saw with my dad as being more of a reading than a play in an cramped, hot, unadorned black-box store-front theater. I remember it as being somewhere in the neighborhood of "mildly amusing".

That long exposition out of the way you may wonder why I wound up on East 14th Street this afternoon. The short answer is I'm really not sure why.

Reasons or antireasons aside, the hour and 15 minutes preceding intermission was a riotous romp covering 35 plays in an engaging and laugh out loud** funny. Though I spent a fair amount of time doubled over, the sight gags were plentiful and the wordplay was delightful.

Like I mentioned, I don't remember one of the two productions and all, and the other was a setless black box (with three guys in black T-shirts), so I wasn't expecting much from this production. Before the curtain went up, I was half wondering if the curtain would go up, or if all of the action was to be set on the forestage.

After an unintroduced curtain speech (ahem, who are you?) the play begins on amusing note after amusing note -- and that's before we even get to Romeo and Juliet. The curtain does rise and we have a miniature Old Globe-looking structure emblazoned with larger than life headshots of the bard serving kind of like the castle in a fish tank for actors to swim in front of, through, and behind. The lighting is clever without being obnoxious, and the sound is appropriate.


I think I got about 80% of the in-jokes, sight gags, and pop culture references, there were still more that others in the audience picked up on and flew over my head.

The pop culture references, by the way, are very current, not "what would have been pop culture when I saw this for the first (second) time 10 years ago" or "what would have been pop culture when the playwrights were writing 20 years ago" but include Facebook, President Obama, Justin Bieber, and Lady Gaga]. Was Bieber even alive the first time I saw this? Suddenly I'm feeling very old. See also the "wardrobe malfunction" early in the first act with pictures of the scandal on Facebook. If you're up on Broadway news, pay attention to the Spiderman look-alike who comes crashing from the fly gallery when The Scottish Play's true name is uttered.

Cleveland references and in-jokes are also plentiful, but delivered with such ease and inconspicuously (I may have just made that word up) by the actors that you might miss them if you're too busy, I don't know, hunched over laughing at the last joke.

I don't remember there being an intermission in the version I had seen previously -- I was thinking one act, so it caught me as a bit of a surprise that intermission was called with 35 down and only Hamlet to go.

Honestly, that was the one part of the show that seemed to drag -- and trying to 30 minutes with gags, jokes, and commentary on one play (including audience participation and several takes on the ending) is hard not to drag. If, like me, you aren't a Shakespeare fanatic, a visit to the Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson bar during intermission may be worthwhile.


Lincoln
*- At least for my teenaged self, however my mother has admitted that they were far from the best she had seen. Odd side note, near my grandparent's place, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Ashland, Oregon's "New Stage" is serving as the inspiration for one of Cleveland Play House's new theaters in the PlayhouseSquare complex.
** - Rare for me. Kind of like screaming on roller coasters; I really enjoy riding them but I rarely open my mouth. This apparently goes back to my early days when, surviving my first roller coaster ride without a peep my dad though he had forever traumatized me. Until I asked "Can we do that again?"

Cleveland Orchestra: Don Giovanni (Fully Staged Opera)

I've said it before (and before and before) that opera isn't really an art form I connect with, I think the chief concern is that it's a bit of sensory overload -- I don't think I'd feel the same way about opera sung in English as opposed to the de regur Italian, but as no one seems to be doing that, at least in Cleveland, I can't say definitively.

That said you may be wondering why I plopped down $225 for something I don't really love...the short version is I bought it much by reflexive accident--not that I got dates mixed up or something like that, just that I've gotten in the habit of buying my next Cleveland Orchestra ticket before the preceding week's concert and I didn't think to check exactly what I was buying a ticket for until I had already mentally committed myself.

My only experience with Don Giovanni was Opera Cleveland's production of the same in late 2009..and it's funny, after I typed all of that to go back and read my thoughts from back then... because that post began eerily similarly.

Generally, The Cleveland Orchestra's production compares well -- the voices were wonderfully clear, the quality of the music was no less than I'd expect from the orchestra during any normal concert despite the condensed size and position in the makeshift pit in front of the stage. Singer and musician blended beautifully. On stage, the production benefited with a collaboration with Verb Ballets.

The production doesn't take itself too seriously (to wit, among others some decidedly not-1700s dance moves and a very interesting choice of weapon) but also avoids falling into the realm of slapstick. Also a notable plus to this performance -- though one shouldn't be surprised -- is that the musicians who appear on stage at a couple points during the performance are real musicians really playing real instruments. Though a small item, the use of fake instruments that weren't being played didn't sit well with me in the Opera Cleveland production.

Unfortunately, though in addition to my standard complaint about the surtitles board* the stage is more distracting and ineffective than anything else: A strong rake, angularly patterned floor, combined with legs and valences that have a bold wave effect lead me to give myself a little bit of a headache during the first few minutes trying to figure out if the rake was real or an optical illusion -- a question I returned to many times throughout the evening, and this added distraction didn't help my quest to follow the action or plot, let alone both. The first act was quite funny and well paced; the pacing of the second act, however, seemed to drag to the point where I was fighting a persistent yawn and becoming a bit fidgety, both most likely to the chagrin of the others in my box.

Catching me a bit off guard there are quite a large number of clothes being left on stage. Both male and female... who knew Mozart could be so racy?

Lastly, the program book must be mentioned. While The Cleveland Orchestra's program books usually contain a wealth of information on the weekend's concert to provide context, history, and background, the assemblage for Don Giovanni was amazingly comprehensive 29 pages covering synopsis, timelines, the librettist, the characters and real-life inspirations and not including singers biographies.

If you haven't tried opera before I'd encourage you to try it once -- and this is a pretty good way to try it. Additional performances on March 24th (Tuesday) and 27th (Sunday).

(Music: Wolfganga Amade Mozart; Libretto: Lorenzo Da Pointe; Conducted: Franz Welser-Most; Staged: Julia Mathes; Set: John S. Bukala; Lighting: Christopher Shick; Don Giovanni: Simon Keenlyside; Leporello: Ruben Drole; Donna Anna: Eva Mei; The Commendatore: Alfred Muff; Don Ottavio, Shawn Mathey; Donna Elvira: Malin Hartelius; Zerlina: Martina Jankova; Masetto: Reinhard Mayr; With the Cleveland Orchestra Opera Chorus and Verb Ballets.)

Lincoln
* To my "Sensory Overload" point: why does it seem to be opera's universal practice to place the surtitles that it is impossible visually track the singers and action while also following the plot? I eventually gave up on trying to follow the plot, which in all fairness could be part of the reason the second act seemed to drag (since I no longer had any clue what was going on).

Restaurant Roundup

I'm hungry...but can't even begin to figure out what I'm actually hungry for. It's been a while since I blogged about food so...

Actually, when I started writing I was going to note the location of each, but then I realized they're all within walking distance of my house in Cleveland Heights so that would get a little redundant...

Clyde's Bistro and Bar Room (on Lee Road, about a 5 minute walk): Still my go-to restaurant for dinner when I can't decide what else to do. I love the food, the service is great (bonus points for being a place where I need no introduction), and they catered my little party with the cellist in my living room and were quite helpful even with non-catering advice in that regard.

Though typically a dinner-only establishment, and kicking them out of the running for my current state of hunger (aside from the fact that I've eaten there twice in the past week) Clyde's recently started offering brunch Sunday mornings and while I'm not a breakfast person I've enjoyed both waffles (with a few friends, a little crispy for my tastes) and pancakes (alone, fantastic).

On my last visit (also known as "Thursday") I got a little creative with the menu, ordering the cheeseburger without onions (I think I'm allergic, and in any event really don't care for them) but with the spicy mayo from another dish. OMG. It was one of the best things I've eaten in recent memory. Next time I might press my luck and try adding bacon. I'm sure that move would do everything to endear me to the waitstaff (one member in particular, I'd love to invite for post-shift food/drinks...but haven't figured out a professional/not completely awkward way to do so)

Fracas (on Euclid Heights at Coventry, about a 10 minute walk): A relatively new addition to Cleveland Heights' dining scene, two visits later, I 'm not sure how I feel about it: On my first visit with a friend for a casual dinner a couple months ago, we were alone in the dining room. The pretzel-stick-with-cheese appetizer was fantastic, my burger was good, but I wasn't that impressed by the value proposition (price vs. quality). Recently returned for a post-date glass of wine with a frist date. The wine was good, but the pretzel sticks were merely OK (a little on the cold side, actually). Not sure about the date yet.

Service is a little weird -- verging on overly attentive at the beginning of the meal (glass), but when it's time to ask for the check it seems like everyone disappears. Truly an odd phenomena. Hopefully the energy will build to the namesake fracas level, right now the name is unintentionally ironic.

Bodega (on Coventry, also about a 10 minute walk): Two relatively recent visits; one at the bar for drinks and tapas with a friend to commiserate on our lackluster dating lives. Impressive drink list; the martini list alone is a bit frightening. Great tapas -- I think I might have called them the best fries in Cleveland. Service at the bar was good; there when you needed something, not there until you did.

The next visit was a first date dinner. As much as I liked the tapas, I wasn't impressed by the dinner menu, either substance or pricing. As a matter of fact, for my tastes and the quantity of food, the menu lands on the wrong side of the borderline for being overpriced. Service at a table was distractingly overattentive-- annoying generally, and particularly annoying whne you're trying to learn about your date and you can't sucessfully ask an entire question and have that question answered between "Everything allright?" and "Can I get you anything elses?" visits.

Lopez on Lee (do I really need to tell you where this is? On Lee Road, about a 15 minute walk)... I've been here a few times over the years, actually. Though Mexican food is not at the top of my list (and I'm not entirely sure Lopez can be called Mexican, more Mexican-influenced) I love their margaritas and their cheese (I think) filled croutons on the Caesar salad are phenomenal. Not the kind of place I'm likely to find myself alone, but good for friends. Dinner menu, is diverse but has no strong winners for my both picky and gringo tastes -- but I've also never left hungry.

Lopez was another first date choice, and, ugh. While I haven't been on any real promising dates lately I think this may have been the most disappointing. She may have been the most physically attractive, but despite initial indications that we had things in common when we actually met it couldn't have been more clear that we're at two completely different places in life. Based on that distraction, my impression of the service is a little fuzzy, but I'm going to say it wasn't particularly memorable -- pretty average.

Ok, as I'm typing I'm realizing that there are more local restaurants within my definition of walking distance (about 45 minute walk, or University Circle) that I haven't commented on--- but I could go on for pages... but those are the ones I've tried so far in 2011.

Lincoln