June 28 - 30, 2015
Bonus Chapter – Three Days
in One Post
June 28th
The 28th was a
maintenance day. Getting laundry done and whatnot. We also made a quick tip to
Cycle Gear for a couple of items.
We stopped for a small
snack, and shared very good Bar-B-Qued ribs, fries and a sandwich. It turned
out the snack was bigger than we anticipated. Or maybe it was the two beers.
June 29th
On the 29th we spent
the afternoon at the Univ. of Texas - Harry Ransom Center, where Jerry is the Carl
and Lily Pforzheimer Curator of Early Books & Manuscripts. Kate is involved
with the conservation of materials in Harry Ransom Center. So, we got to see
some pretty old and valuable books, photographs and clothing, and learn about
how they are conserved, repaired and restored. The visit was fun and
interesting.
About the Ransom Center
The
Ransom Center is an internationally renowned humanities research library and
museum at The University of Texas at Austin. Its extensive collections provide
unique insight into the creative process of writers and artists, deepening our
understanding and appreciation of literature, photography, film, art, and the
performing arts. Visitors engage with the Center's collections through research
and study, exhibitions, publications, and a rich variety of program offerings
including readings, talks, symposia, and film screenings.
We had a great behind the
scenes tour that most people would not be privileged to have. I do have some
interesting pictures of antiquarian books, such as a Gutenberg Bible, the
Nürnberg Chronicles, and first editions of James Joyce’s Ulysses, and on and
on. However, I cannot post the pictures on social media, as per agreement with
UT Harry Ransom Center. So, you’ll need to take my word for it.
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| This I can show on Social Media. The 307-foot tall UT Austin Tower, designed by Paul Cret of Philadelphia, was completed in 1937. Through the years, the Tower has served as the University's most distinguishing landmark and as a symbol of academic excellence and personal opportunity. |
June 30th
Today is Judith’s birthday.
We’re going out somewhere this evening – don’t know where yet. It’s Jerry and
Kate’s surprise.
This morning I replaced the
broken Auxiliary Light front housing and the missing rear turn signal and lubed
Judith’s chain. Very easy work, but I sure worked up a sweat in the heat and
humidity – ugh!
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| Before |
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| After |
My buddy Ron Fish told me
about a place called Doc’s Motorworks Bar & Grill in Austin that looked to
be a biker hangout. There are three in Austin as it turns out. One was within a
mile of us, so we went there for a beer this afternoon. This one didn’t seem to
be too biker hang out like, but the beer was good.
Actually, Texas has a good
number of microbreweries and many of them are rather tasty. Lots of variations
of IPA’s, which I used to like a lot, but not so much now. We found a German
style Pilsner that is nice – Pearl Snap Pils from Austin Beer Works.
The Birthday Dinner
The surprise place for
dinner was Bess Bistro in Austin. Sandra Bullock owns the restaurant, and it is
not just another celebrity restaurant. This one is very successful and
deservedly so. The food is superb and the service is very good and entertaining
– although we were sure if it was intended to be as entertaining as it turned
out. It was an unintended Dinner Theater evening.
Sorry, but this is long, but please suffer through with me. Allow me to recap the show
(although I don’t know if I can do it justice).
Valet Parking
They have valet parking,
which we used. About 20minutes after we were seated the hostess came to the
table and told Jerry that the valet would like to settle up now. “Why is
that?”, asked Jerry. “Well it’s a little slow tonight and he wants to go home”,
was her explanation. Huuumm, OK…
Bubbly
Our waiter, John, asked if
we would like something to drink. Since it was Judith’s birthday we had decided
that a glass of bubbly would be appropriate (actually any of us will find some
excuse for a glass or two of bubbly, it’s just that a birthday is a
particularly good reason).
The last time Jerry and Kate
were at Bess Bistro there was a Happy Hour special on bubbly and Jerry asked
what it was this night. “Well”, says John with all authority and resolve, “that
is only offered at the bar, the outside seating and in the bistro area.” We
were seated in the dinning room (of the Bess Bistro), so I assumed we were in
the bistro. Not so it turns out. There is a different seating area called the
bistro.
My idea was to simply walk
over to the bar, which was no more than five paces away, and order whatever the
bubbly happy hour special was and then returns to the table. However, being a
foreigner and all, I decided we would just get 86’d out of the place if I did
so, plus embarrass Jerry, Kate and Judith, as well as go hungry. So, at John’s
recommendation I ordered a bottle of something or another (I can’t recall the
name, but it was quite good by the way) and John scampered off to fetch the
bubbly.
When he returned with the
bubbly I asked why they don’t provide the nice happy hour special in the
dinning room. After a somewhat long and convoluted explanation, again with all
authority and resolve, it boiled down to their bar business is slow and they
are trying to improve it. Huh? While all
of this is going on Judith and Kate are trying their best to not burst out
laughing, and turning away so they don’t have to watch the show. Jerry just sat
very quietly biting his lip and rolling his eyes. In the end, I said as calmly
as I could, “seems like an odd policy, but open the bottle.”
Bread, Butter and Salt
While we were enjoying our
bubbly John brought bread, butter and three small dishes containing different
salts. With the aplomb of a Julliard trained actor, he proceeded to explain
each of the breads (which came from their sister establishment that is open for
breakfast, lunch and early dinner), the unsalted butter and the three salts –
Black Lava Salt, Himalayan Pink Salt and Maldon Sea Salt from Great Britain –
just in case someone would like their butter salted. And, once again, the
reaction around the table was echoed as before.
After John retreated to
wherever it is that waiters go, Kate wondered out loud, which side of the
Himalayas the salt came from and I asked if anyone recalled where the Black Lava
Salt came from. Little did we know that one of John’s able-bodied assistants
had snuck up behind me and was ready to pour some water. When he heard the
questions he seized the moment like a true pro and said, “Oh, I can help you
with that.” He then went through the entire soliloquy just as John had completed
not minutes before. Once more, the same reactions from us all…
Theater of the Absurd
We were starting to sense a
pattern and slowly realized we had unintentionally stumbled into a dinner
theater – somewhat akin to Theater of the Absurd. We decided to go with the
flow, thus becoming a little absurd ourselves.
Shortly after this
realization I left the table for the Men’s Room. Upon my return John was back
at the table and informed me in a slightly stern tone that while I was gone the
remainder of the party had ordered salads to share. “Oh great”, I said, “What
kind of salads?” The thespian was back on stage with his rejoinder.
Ordering the Entrées
The menu was difficult in
the sense that each entrée sounded terrific, and this our made decisions
thought provoking. Judith found a nice Ricotta Risotto, which entirely
satisfied her vegetarian diet. I decided on Day Boat Sea Scallops. Jerry and
Kate were back and forth over the Risotto and Duck, but decided to order one of
each and share.
And then along comes John…
He insisted that it was requisite
hear about some subtle, but significant adaptations of two of the dishes not
shown on the menu for the evening – the Piedmont Sirloin and the Risotto.
First, another beautifully
presented soliloquy about the Piedmont Sirloin. Piedmont steers origins are
Italy, large and beauty muscled, blah, blah, however these Piedmont steers are
corn feed (organic corn mind you) in Nebraska. There was some other possibility
of how the sirloin was served, but it was so complex I cannot for the life of
me remember how.
Next was a variation of the
risotto that I cannot recall either.
John said he would give us a
few minutes to decide and scampered off to waiter world. I was anticipating for
the Jeopardy Theme to start playing while we were deciding.
When time was up, John
returned to eagerly receive our instructions. Jerry, Kate and Judith ordered.
When my turn came I was fully into my Theater of the Absurd character and
promptly, with my most serious declaration, instructed John that I would like a
special preparation of the Piedmont Sirloin on a bed of Ricotta Risotto special.
Jerry practically snorted bubbly out of his nose, Judith and Kate held their
napkins up to their faces to stifle the laughing and John, well, he was
appalled and couldn’t say a word.
Recognizing how much disbelief
John was suffering. I immediately told him I was only joking and ordered Day
Boat Scallops. “Very good choice!”, stammered John and ran off to the kitchen.
Salads and Greens
Somewhere in all of this our
salads arrived, and they were wonderful. We were trying to figure out what type
one of the greens was in one of the salads. When John came by to gather up the
empty plates, Kate asked him what the greens were in the stated salad. She suspected
that the greens are what is called Rocket in the UK and some parts of Europe
and Arugula elsewhere.
John proceeded to disclose to
us the origins from an organic farm where the ingredients of the salads are
grown. We listened with all deliberation, and asked appropriate silly
questions, but finally said to John that what we essentially wanted to know is
what are these damn greens. He didn’t know – shock! He promised to find out and
quickly disappeared. Back in a flash, John announced that indeed, Kate was
correct – Rocket, AKA Arugula. Cheers all around.
The Entrées Arrive
Once the entrées arrived
everything got serious. They were simply delicious. All of the nonsense stopped
and we ate.
Birthday Desert
After the entrées were
devoured John brought Judith a complimentary Birthday Desert consisting of four
beignets. We all felt this was a very well-appreciated and enjoyable gesture.
The Official Photograph
We decided that we needed to
have a picture of John and Judith together to immortalize the wonderful fun and
entertaining evening, as well as the tremendous meals.
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| I fiddled with the iPhone for awhile, feigning that I could not figure out how to turn on the flash, while making John endure about eight pictures. John is on the left... |
All of the craziness at Bess
Bistro made for a truly fun and memorable Birthday Evening for Judith. Oh, and the rest of us as well.
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| We came out to a beautiful sunset. |
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