Exploring Food and Movies

      On Saturday I had lunch at Lardo. I went to the SW Washington location. The decor is a more modern sandwich shop with some neon signs. It is simple with red walls. There is a small bar, counter seating, and some small tables. There are big chalkboards with the menu on them. It is very loud in there. You order at the counter and then are given a wooden spoon in a stand with your order number on it. I got a side kale caesar salad. It was huge. I think it's meant to be for two people. I barely had room left for my sandwich. The sandwiches are all unique. I got the Peter Pablo. Which includes smoked pork shoulder, ham, pepper jack cheese, mustard sauce, pickles, and mayo. It was good but the mustard was spicy. I ended up just picking out the meat on the second half because it was spicy and I was getting full. The service was good. I would go back but I would get something different. Monday: Klute (1971)        Klute is a small town detective. A fr...

     It has been exactly a year since I started this blog. I have long since finished my original list of restaurants. At least the ones in Oregon. But I have continued to add more. It has been a fun experience. I have enjoyed going to all these different restaurants. I don't always like the food, but it is still fun to explore. I now know I do not like Russian food. Indian food will always be too spicy. Restaurants in Victorian houses are always enjoyable, even if it's just being in the house. The places that stand out are Khun Pic's Bahn Thai, TarBoush, The Roxy, and Memoz. Exploring different parts of Portland has also been fun. I've seen a lot of great movies as well. I am going to continue to do this blog. To another year of exploring food and movies. Monday: A Little Romance (1979)          Lauren is an American teenager living in Paris. She meets a French teenage boy named Daniel. Daniel is obsessed with movies, especially American ones....

          Yay for finally going to a restaurant on my list! I went to Ava Gene's. It is on SE Division. I went around lunch time. It turns out they just serve brunch until 2. Then they close and open later for dinner. So I will have to go back for dinner. The service is friendly. The outside is fairly modern. Inside there is sort of a modern 20s Italian vibe. There are shelves up high along the walls with different jars and bottles. There are long hanging plants. The bar and other counters are marble. The tables are gold. It is small so when it is busy it is loud. The brunch menu is small. Some of the items are vague. You don't know quite what you are getting. What I got was described as: Brioche, Ham and Cheese, Spiedini, Salsa Verde, Maple. I thought maybe it was like a ham and cheese on brioche sandwich with a chicken skewer. When I googled Spiedini all that came up was recipes for chicken skewers. That is not what I got at all. It was like a cake with layers...

Monday: The Clock (1945)        Joe is a solider on a short leave in New York City before he goes to fight in WWII. He meets a woman named Alice (Judy Garland). It starts with her just showing him around. They quickly fall in love. Despite what everyone says, they want to be fully committed to each other. Especially with Joe going off to war soon. I liked this movie ok. This movie was directed by Judy Garalnd's future husband Vincente Minnelli. Thursday: The Two Popes (2019)        When the current pope dies all the cardinals gather to vote for a new one. The two favorites are German Cardinal Ratzinger and Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio. Cardinal Jorge doesn't want to be pope and he makes this known. In the end Ratzinger becomes the new pope, Pope Benedict. His time as pope is filled with struggle and scandal. Jorge wants to step down from being a cardinal. Then he is called to Italy to meet with Pope Benedict. He stays there for a while...

Monday: The Rocketeer (1991)           Cliff is a pilot struggling to get by. He is dating a beautiful woman, Jenny, trying to make her way in Hollywood. A car chase between the mob and the FBI ends at the air field that Cliff works at. Later he finds a jetpack hidden in a broken down plane. He wants to use it to do a show to make money so he can buy a new plane. But the FBI and mob are still looking for it. Cliff has been seen using the jetpack with a helmet on. He is named the Rocketeer by the press. A famous actor, who is actually a spy, is working with the mob to get the jetpack. He has darker plans for the jetpack. He finds out that Jenny is somehow connected to the Rocketeer. So he kidnaps her to draw Cliff out of hiding. Cliff must save Jenny and keep the jetpack away from the wrong people. This movie is ok. They were trying to make a 40's movie with all the Hollywood glamour. But they missed the mark. The acting isn't very good either. Wednesday: Litt...

Monday: Dead Ringer (1964)        Edith goes to the funeral of her twin sister's husband, Frank. Her sister is very wealthy.  Edith runs a bar and is behind on her rent. She hasn't seen her sister, Margret, in years. Her would be boyfriend didn't even know she had a sister. While visiting they start arguing about how Margret stole Frank from Edith. Margret has always claimed it was because she was pregnant. Later that day Edith finds out that there was no baby. Enraged she comes up with a plan. She lures Margret to her apartment and kills her. Then she switches clothes and makes it look like she, Edith, died. She pretends to be Margret. She goes back to the mansion. Edith does a pretty good job convincing most people that she is Margret. But she is unable to convince Margret's lover. She has to find a way out. I liked this movie ok. It is a thriller. They tried to use this music to make it seem more intense, but the music is just annoying so it doesn't really w...

        My next restaurant was a Lebanese place called TarBoush. It is on SE Hawthorne. I have passed it so many time and have wanted to go in but never have. It is in a Victorian house, which of course was one of the major draws. The house is kept in better shape than some of the others I've been to. It is a pretty decent size. I sat in the room with a big window looking out onto the street. The decorations are pretty minimal. Some Lebanese items here and there. The music was Lebanese. There are some old photos on the walls. The house was built in 1852. Before your meal they bring out warm pita bread. There is olive oil to dip it in. There was also some spices you can dip it in. I'm not exactly sure what it was. It tasted like tea. I got the Chicken Shawarma plate. It comes with Basmati rice and veggies. There was a white sauce, which I've guessing is a yogurt sauce, for the chicken. Also there is a red sauce for the rice. It was so good. It was perfect on a cold da...