I've been wanting to go to Maison Akira for several weeks now. I read about them on Yelp and various other places, and it sounded like a very unique place. The chef is Japanese and specializes in French food. I think they serve mostly French-style food with a Japanese touch. They've also got a Sunday brunch buffet that's supposed to be very good quality food.
Well, after going to Gyu-Kaku last Saturday night (where upon talking about Maison Akira, our server piped up with his enthusiastic recommendation of the food there), we went to Maison Akira Sunday morning for the brunch buffet.
The restaurant is located off the main street of Colorado. It's not in the middle of the street action, being that it's on Green St., maybe halfway between my apartment and Lake Ave. The area is very nice...brick buildings and shady trees line the street. Entering the restaurant, I was struck by the unique layout. The dining area(s) were split up into little room-like sections. Curtains hung up on the walls, and some walls were mirrors, giving the place the feel a French parlor.
The buffet itself was placed in a long narrow section at the 'front' of the restaurant. The corridor would have been rather uncomfortably small if more than a handful of people went up to the buffet at a time. At one end of the buffet were desserts. At the other end was a carving station where at times the chef himself would carve you meat. They served prime rib and lamb, each with their own sauces. There were creamy potatoes au gratin, a corn potage kind of soup, deviled eggs, a selection of cheeses and crackers...also pieces of nigiri sushi, some rolls, cold soba, salmon, steamed egg with crab meat, and various small bite-sized finger foods that were delish!
When you first see the buffet, you may be rather underwhelmed by the quantities. "I'm paying $36 for this?!" Then you try the food, and you realize it's about quality rather than quantity. "Do I really need to stuff myself to the point of falling over?" You realize that this is Good Food. Fresh ingredients, prepared well, and beautifully presented (okay, maybe not the food in the buffet trays). You try a little of each dish - and luckily they come in small sizes! Perhaps you go back for seconds of the dishes that really stood out to you. You try a slice of both the prime rib and the lamb. Take your time and savor the flavors while conversing with your companions. Before you know it...you feel satisfied and ready for dessert. There. Was that so bad?
Do you really need 500 different food options to feel like a buffet was worth it?
I definitely want to go back during their regular dining.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Apotheosis
I was going to respond to a thread on Ravelry, but then I did some research and got too caught up in my findings.
When I was a kid I read a lot of fantasy. I also listened to a lot of classical music and I had an overactive imagination. For some reason, I had this image of how I wanted my wedding to be. Think: large beautiful cathedral with sunlight streaming in from high windows. Fresh flowers and vines in baskets lining the aisles and the sides of the room. Screw traditional white gowns, I'd be wearing a jewel-toned medieval (think Renaissance Fair) style dress with wildflowers in my fine fluffy blonde- er I mean straght flat black hair. Han Solo would be standing there waiting for me, a la the final throne room scene in the first Star Wars movie. I knew THE song to be played for the procession too. It would be the Apotheosis from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet. While listening to it, I would play out the procession in my head, timing the steps of the flower girl and the bridesmaids, through the procession of the bride myself.
It has the feeling of a regal court procession, and according to various dictionaries, "apotheosis" means "elevation to the status of a god". Wikipedia says the Apotheosis was when the characters would take their final bows, so I suppose when the actor-dancers were transformed to the status of gods of ballet. From this thread on a ballet forum, I learned that the melody used by Tchaikovsky is not actually unique! It was used by Rossini 15 years before Tchaikovsky wrote his ballet. Even more interesting is that this tune is actually an unofficial anthem of France, "Vive Henry IV". Liszt produced a piano arrangement of this tune, and you can listen to a sample of it here on Amazon. No doubt about it, this is the tune. It was used as the national anthem of France after the monarchy was reintroduced in the early 1800s. Apparently Russia has been greatly influenced by France, so it's natural that Tchaikovsky would probably have known of Vive Henry IV.
One of the posters on the previously linked thread hints at political motivations in using the melody: "Given the rather tepid history of the Bourbon Restoration, I wonder if using this music to represent the restoration of the monarchy after 100 years sleep at the end of Sleeping Beauty was as reassuring to the ruling classes at the premiere as it was allegedly meant to be."
SO, while a mere online streaming sample can not do justice to this piece, you can listen to one here (#11).
When I was a kid I read a lot of fantasy. I also listened to a lot of classical music and I had an overactive imagination. For some reason, I had this image of how I wanted my wedding to be. Think: large beautiful cathedral with sunlight streaming in from high windows. Fresh flowers and vines in baskets lining the aisles and the sides of the room. Screw traditional white gowns, I'd be wearing a jewel-toned medieval (think Renaissance Fair) style dress with wildflowers in my fine fluffy blonde- er I mean straght flat black hair. Han Solo would be standing there waiting for me, a la the final throne room scene in the first Star Wars movie. I knew THE song to be played for the procession too. It would be the Apotheosis from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet. While listening to it, I would play out the procession in my head, timing the steps of the flower girl and the bridesmaids, through the procession of the bride myself.
It has the feeling of a regal court procession, and according to various dictionaries, "apotheosis" means "elevation to the status of a god". Wikipedia says the Apotheosis was when the characters would take their final bows, so I suppose when the actor-dancers were transformed to the status of gods of ballet. From this thread on a ballet forum, I learned that the melody used by Tchaikovsky is not actually unique! It was used by Rossini 15 years before Tchaikovsky wrote his ballet. Even more interesting is that this tune is actually an unofficial anthem of France, "Vive Henry IV". Liszt produced a piano arrangement of this tune, and you can listen to a sample of it here on Amazon. No doubt about it, this is the tune. It was used as the national anthem of France after the monarchy was reintroduced in the early 1800s. Apparently Russia has been greatly influenced by France, so it's natural that Tchaikovsky would probably have known of Vive Henry IV.
One of the posters on the previously linked thread hints at political motivations in using the melody: "Given the rather tepid history of the Bourbon Restoration, I wonder if using this music to represent the restoration of the monarchy after 100 years sleep at the end of Sleeping Beauty was as reassuring to the ruling classes at the premiere as it was allegedly meant to be."
SO, while a mere online streaming sample can not do justice to this piece, you can listen to one here (#11).
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Alan Rickman
A funny thing I've noticed on the knitting forums (although probably not limited to them) is an obsession with Alan Rickman (Snape from the Harry Potter movies). Although already in several famous movies before the Harry Potter series, I personally never noticed him until then. And then when I saw Love Actually in 2003. And then I watched him in Sense and Sensibility and listened to him in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Notable Alan Rickman avatars on Ravelry (ravatars) include one of him as Snape holding a knitting magazine to his chest, and another one of his naked upper body holding onto a bust (of Apollo I think).
I don't know what it is about him...he's definitely not your stereotypical ladies' man. Perhaps it's that dry, cynical sense of humor combined with the hint of inner warmth his characters tend to portray that makes women swoon. I can't help but feel giddy thinking of him in Sense and Sensibility. heh heh.
Notable Alan Rickman avatars on Ravelry (ravatars) include one of him as Snape holding a knitting magazine to his chest, and another one of his naked upper body holding onto a bust (of Apollo I think).
I don't know what it is about him...he's definitely not your stereotypical ladies' man. Perhaps it's that dry, cynical sense of humor combined with the hint of inner warmth his characters tend to portray that makes women swoon. I can't help but feel giddy thinking of him in Sense and Sensibility. heh heh.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Back in the game
So I've still been playing WoW for the past couple of months. I just haven't been playing my Stormscale characters. I made a hunter on Draenor for the Ravelry guild. Level 70! I also have a 16 warrior and 24 mage there. However, recently I've started playing on Stormscale again. Why? Well, Lawrence decided to play again. I may even have a group to PVP with. Not so much raid because that's too much of a continuous time commitment...and needs too many people. However, for Arenas, my gear is seriously outdated and not suitable. In the mean time I'm PVPing in the Battlegrounds to get enough honor so I can buy the gear from Arena Season 1. I've been doing Alterac Valley, as it's the best BG for honor farming. With people who know what they're doing (both horde and alliance), it goes very quickly and can actually be rather fun!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
work
I feel uncomfortable if I don't have stuff to do at work. For some reason I don't count the long-term open-ended projects as work because they have no due date. Lately it seems I've been assigned all the random jobs...learn FlowCharter 2007 (flow chart making software) and train this group of people how to use it; meet with this group and tell them about automated QA testing; plan this co-worker's retirement banquet! I may even get to help with some SQL training.
All in all, I don't mind. I find some of this fun, educational, and a good overall experience. I just wish I didn't feel so damn expendable. I was rather proud of myself for actually calling the hotels about catering with only a modicum of hesitation, but I don't think that's anything my bosses would be excited about. :P I'm trying to get myself to create an informational webpage for the banquet but it's hard to focus on it. I should just buckle down and do it! I need more experiences like this in design, where I get full freedom to design it how I want and I don't have to follow any sort of predefined standard.
All in all, I don't mind. I find some of this fun, educational, and a good overall experience. I just wish I didn't feel so damn expendable. I was rather proud of myself for actually calling the hotels about catering with only a modicum of hesitation, but I don't think that's anything my bosses would be excited about. :P I'm trying to get myself to create an informational webpage for the banquet but it's hard to focus on it. I should just buckle down and do it! I need more experiences like this in design, where I get full freedom to design it how I want and I don't have to follow any sort of predefined standard.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Aiyaaa
I stayed up till 5am last night watching "The Magicians of Love". That is so not good...
www.aznv.tv has a really cool feature where you can mark which episodes you've watched. :D This is an awesome way to keep track of which episode you're on! It can get confusing if you're simultaneously watching several different series. I'm currently on ep 14 of "The Magicians of Love", ep 2 of the Japanese "Hana Kimi", and ep 9 of the Taiwanese "Hana Kimi". They can do that because they actually require you to register for an account before you can stream the videos.
www.aznv.tv has a really cool feature where you can mark which episodes you've watched. :D This is an awesome way to keep track of which episode you're on! It can get confusing if you're simultaneously watching several different series. I'm currently on ep 14 of "The Magicians of Love", ep 2 of the Japanese "Hana Kimi", and ep 9 of the Taiwanese "Hana Kimi". They can do that because they actually require you to register for an account before you can stream the videos.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Dramas
My interests often cycle, and recently I have once again started to watch Asian TV dramas. It started when I went to Lawrence's cousin's apartment. His cousin's wife, Caroline, put a current Taiwanese drama on the TV for me to watch while they played mahjong. It was hilarious, and when I went home I found a website that streams Asian dramas so I continued watching it.
It's called "The Magicians of Love" and it's about a hair salon opened by 3 internationally renowned hairdressers. They claim to be able to give anyone a new image, transforming them into someone beautiful. Antics ensue and love triangles develop as they compete with a headstrong young girl who works at (and who's father is the owner of) the local neighborhood hair salon.
Browsing around I also found out that this year, Hana Kimi was made into a TV series in Japan! Yay! I already enjoyed watching the Taiwanese-produced Hana Kimi. Although I haven't finished watching it yet, I think I now have more of an incentive.
The 2 sites I found are:
www.aznv.tv
www.mysoju.com
It's called "The Magicians of Love" and it's about a hair salon opened by 3 internationally renowned hairdressers. They claim to be able to give anyone a new image, transforming them into someone beautiful. Antics ensue and love triangles develop as they compete with a headstrong young girl who works at (and who's father is the owner of) the local neighborhood hair salon.
Browsing around I also found out that this year, Hana Kimi was made into a TV series in Japan! Yay! I already enjoyed watching the Taiwanese-produced Hana Kimi. Although I haven't finished watching it yet, I think I now have more of an incentive.
The 2 sites I found are:
www.aznv.tv
www.mysoju.com
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