Barcelona (New Haven)

I was once again charmed during my second visit to this superbly designed restaurant in downtown New Haven.

The menu includes a variety of tapas, cheeses, hams and wines as well as a few personal dishes and traditional Valencian paella. The ambience can be romantic and mellow, however tables with groups of people are the norm. The music selection is eclectic and enjoyable spanning Iberian Flamenco, Cuban classical son, Brazilian Bossa Nova and spanish slow pop.

The bread is served fresh and warm and is quite memorable. Very few tapas are not outstanding, but my favorites are: Chorizo with Figs, Grilled Hangar Steak, Cauliflower Cazuela, Avocado Salad and Papas Bravas. The dessert menu leaves nothing to be desired; do not miss the Crepas Salguero. I recommend going in a group, ideally 4-6 people and by all means share dishes!

Inglorious Basterds

Marcelo, I agree with you on that movie. Was really good suspense + drama + wonderful ending. I like Tarantino movies in general and I find him really funny and this movie was hilarious. Brad Pitt's Italian impression was perfect and was probably the funniest part of the movie for me...and how good was Landa's character written/performed. The rest of the cast meh....but Brad Pitt doing his best impression of George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Though + Landa was killer. Was one of the more entertaining movies I've seen. Wish I saw it sooner.

Saw Hurt Locker too, not sure if you've seen that Pinche, but its pretty good. The dude from Friday Night Lights was pretty good in it. I don't think they ate anything the entire movie...in fact one of the scenes was about how they didn't have food int he desert, so not sure if I should be writing about this movie.

Saw Food, inc. which is about food and you could save yourself 1.5 hours by just knowing that"
1) Mass Produced Food is cost-affective
2) Mass production of food causes certain actual issues (susceptibility to mass plagues) but also has many benefits which cause America to be big and strong and powerful (a point I think curiously the movie left out)
3) Americas should look deeper into what they are eating and how the food ends up on the table.

I think the movie is made for people already paying for $12/lb chicken that was allowed to roam free, eat nice things and take its hen out to dinner on friday nights. The movie makes big food seem like harbingers of death but doesn't give a lot of credit to the fact that the American food supply, general food quality and safety is pretty impressive. Even the poorest American has somewhat decent options for food. Compare that to India, Africa etc. where people actually starve to death. The movie also doesn't really bring up the point that most plants and animals are genetically modified (whole point of domestication is to breed the best to maximize food supply). The idea the movie preaches about food roaming freely is extremely inefficient and impractical on a large scale. Its nice for the Whole Foods Collective to use as ammunition to smugly denounce Costco and Walmart shoppers.

2.5 hrs into Spartacus

The death of Jean Simmons + advertisements for the Spartacus show on some channel (Showtime? A&E?) got me to finally sit down to watch Spartacus....watching that movie (I am 2.5 hours into it, couldn't do it all in one night) I couldn't help but be amazed at Kirk Douglas's chin. I know Kubrick got pissed at Kirk during the movie and they hated each other afterwards but its entirely possible that Kubrick told the cameraman to focus on Kirk's chin the entire movie...that thing itself could bring down the Roman army.

Some thoughts while watching it:
- I wonder if Kirk Douglas gets royalties from every Gladiator movie ever made after Spartacus, but I guess he would have to cede credit to Ben Hur and on and on and on...
- Maximus (Gladiator) completely ripped off Spartacus
- Peter Ustinov was great...nice combo of funny and sleazy...wish there was more of him in the movie...another character Gladiator sort of ripped off
- I remember being amazed that Jean Simmons' breasts didn't peek out during the swimming in the pond scene. At one point the showed about a foot of cleavage without a hint of nipple. I was thoroughly amazed at the camera work.
- How the hell did they get all those people to walk through the dessert for all of those scenes...is that a huge stage? Did they really drag ten thousand people into the California dessert and then make them walk across it with goats?

I am 75% about finishing the movie...especially since Wikipedia ruined the ending for me.

W/o onions and garlic

One of our Hindu mourning traditions is to shun all meat, fish and certain vegetables, grains and pulses for a period of 12 days after a death (everyday practice for Jains). Members of the onion and garlic family are forbidden, which brings up an interesting challenge for the earnest Epicurean. How to find tasty things that do not contain garlic and onion....

In major Indian cities, I can find restaurants that cater to this diet, but in America I thought it would be more difficult than it has been. In fact, I would argue that there are more varied options in the States than in India. Some examples:

Italian: Margherita Pizza, cream based pastas,
Japanese: Miso Soup, tofu appetizers (fried tofu), Seaweed salads (without scallions of course)
Indian: Jain spice packets like the ones Rasoi Magic have http://www.rasoimagic.com/jain.html, samosas, some south indian dishes


Usually the asian diaspora restaurants (Chinese, Thai etc.) will hook up a stir fry of your vegetable choosing.

Am going to be in England this week and will report back on those options.

Pics to follow....

3 Idiots

Very entertaining!

"3 Idiots" is a Bollywood hit about three engineering students from very different backgrounds who meet at one of the finest engineering colleges in India. In a atemporal fashion, the movie tells of their friendship in school, their relationship (mostly their run-ins) with the strict director and what happens to each of them after graduation.

Unlike more traditional Bollywood films, "3 Idiots" is short (at 2 1/2 hrs) and has less musical scenes. The acting and dialog are both very funny, even for those who are not very familiar with Indian culture like myself. Filming took place throughout India and there are very beautiful mountain scenes. I found some the songs in the film to be catchy!

Spacca Napoli (Chicago)

One of new favorites in Chicago!

Spacca Napoli is a family-owned Italian restaurant specialized in Neapolitan-style pizza. They have their own wood-fired brick oven used to make pizza and bread. Spacca Napolis is located in the Ravenswood neighborhood, a few blocks from the Montrose brown-line stop.

I had the Ubriaca (one of the daily specials) which was an olive-oil based (no tomato sauce) wine-fermented cheese and prosciutto pizza. It was really tasty: the dough was thin, chewy and nicely toasted and the ingredients very flavorful. Many of the other options had fresh basil which I got to try from a friend's pizza and would also recommend.

The restaurant is well lit and comfortable and service was very attentive. Expect to wait in line, or make a reservation.

Thanks to David from David's Second Helping for the suggestion.

Inglourious Basterds

Tarantino's film delivers quite an epicurean delight!

Inglouriuos Basterds develops two independent story lines and their convergence in German occupied France during World War II. Led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), the "Basterds" is a highly feared guerilla of Jewish-Americans who go about killing and scalping Nazis. Shosanna Dreyfus, a.k.a. Emmanuelle Mimieux, (Mélanie Laurent) is a young cinema owner in Paris who finds herself in the middle of an opportunity to avenge the brutal killing of her family by SS Colonel Hans Landa's (Cristoph Waltz) men. Their stories meet on the premiere night of "Nation's Pride", a state-sponsored German war film.

The film has rich dialog, superb acting, outstanding photography and a top-notch musical soundtrack. The movie kept me on my toes and also made me laugh many times.

Welcome to Epicurean Musings

I'm a 20-something guy who enjoys food, drinks and visual arts. I live in Chicago, a city that offers great opportunities to explore these tastes. I'm also fortunate to travel a lot for work and fun and so I get chance to experiment in other cities.

Although I find rating sites such as Yelp useful, I prefer specific recommendations from human beings. I also find enjoyment in recommending people to something they'll like. That is why I started Epicurean Musings.

What to expect:

1. I will only write about experiences I find worthwhile; in other words, if I write about it, it's a recommendation
2. In an effort to keep entries concise, I will write a description of the experience and then the reasons why I liked it
3. I won't delve into details of prices; restaurants I visit tend to be under $40 a person with an appetizer and/or a drink
4. I'll be delighted to take recommendations, feel free to send via comment
5. At some point I will likely have guest writers. Rest assured, they'll have good taste :)

Welcome!