Here, eat this.

My weekend was filled with an abundance of food, beverage, laughter and love. I was hopeful it would be, but I try not to control how my days fold out for me. I’ve truly grown to despise planning ahead, and am now more interested in spontaneity, happenstance and good food.

Carmelita: A vegetarian delight.

Rich sauces, fresh ingredients and a happy yet not quite full tummy. When you compare the portions to the price it almost doesn’t jive. Then you taste it, and none of that really matters anymore.

The food successfully saturates every known taste bud and awakens some that maybe aren’t so well known. Each plate seems to feature a wide range of textures and a fantastic balance of flavors to make even the meatiest meat eater pleasantly surprised. But don’t get too used to the menu as it changes with the seasons. This is A-OK with me knowing that they’ll be featuring the season’s best ingredients with each new meal. Is it fall yet?

Before summer ends try the Spinach, artichoke and ricotta rotolo with green garlic cream, taggiasca olive-tomato salad and basil oil. For $18 I may not have gotten completely full, but I was fully satisfied. Each element was like an exaggeration of itself; the creamy sauce was the creamiest and the spinach was the greenest. I had to remind myself to slow down and actually taste it, not inhale it.

I was actually happy after my meal because it left just enough room for a couple bites of dessert. The Chocolate Muck Muck featured a chocolate brownie with a hot, magma liquid chocolate center. Flanking this was a strawberry sauce that looked like catsup and whipped cream that was as thick as custard.

If not just for the food come for the atmosphere as well. The waitstaff is dressed as if they are going to the prom (tastefully), and the decor is extraordinary. From the warm, dim lighting to the intricate, metal leaf sculptures on the ceiling to the poppy mural in the main dining area, this place cocoons you so you don’t want to leave.

The only bad thing I found was that the service was only medial, but not horrible. The most attentive employee was the water guy who insisted on filling my glass even after I only took a couple drinks.

All in all:

Tacoma Szechuan: As authentic as it gets in Tacoma.
Next to Paldo World on the corner of 96th and S. Tacoma Way

It would be difficult to say anything truly bad about this place. It is by far the best authentic Chinese food the South End has to offer, and if it weren’t for Shanghai Cafe in Bellevue Tacoma Szechuan would be the best.

Authentic, delicious, priced well, and large portions to boot. (I ate for 2 days!) If you don’t believe me try the Hot Pot. I dare you to finish that in one sitting even if you have friends helping you. I have yet to explore everything the menu has to offer, but I will be checking back in from time to time to describe my findings as I will surely be returning back to this place. Plus they have smoothies!

All in all (so far):

The Red Hot: Like Shorty’s only better.
(no clowns!)

They’ve got it going on. The specialty? Hot dogs. Any possible way you can imagine them, they’ve probably got it. And they’re fantastic, I hear. The downer is that they stop serving the dogs at 10pm and I arrived at approximately 10:10. But let’s not overshadow the fact that they also have beer. So even if you miss the dogs you didn’t necessarily miss the fun! There’s still good beer!

Beer that you can enjoy while watching old school metal videos on the projection TV, but only until midnight when they close. This is actually good news because it means I don’t have to completely abandon my usual spot on Saturdays; I’ll just be showing up a little later. This can be good news for you as well because The Red Hot is located on the ever growing 6th Ave. in North Tacoma, which if you know that area at all you know is in stumbling distance to about 5 other drinking spots minimum.

All in all:

Rodrigo y Gabriela

I pinky swear I won’t always talk about music.

That being said, let’s talk about some music. If you haven’t heard these guys you are missing the boat. I’m not even going to wait until the end of the post for you to hear them. Before you read on listen to this:




Yes, you’re right, that IS a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven.. Yes, right again! It IS much better than the original! You’re pretty smart!

I, being in my own bubble most of the time, didn’t realize what a positive response this duo has gotten recently. While flipping through the channels a couple days ago I caught a glimpse of them on MTV. MTV! In most cases this would have caused me to rethink my feelings, but after hearing them play, then seeing them play, and then finally hearing their back story, I can’t turn back now. They’ve even got me breaking my “no more Bumbershoot” rule just to go see them.

I’ll admit at first I was a little put off by the fact that I was shaking my booty to a cover of Stairway To Heaven for christ’s sake. I’m not too proud to admit when a musician or group has talent irregardless of whether or not I enjoy the genre of music their making, but I was seriously floored when I found myself wanting to get my hands on every bit of music these two have ever made.

I couldn’t figure it out, and then I read this (thanks wikipedia)…

“The duo met in Mexico City while playing in a thrash metal band called “Tierra Acida”. The duo list Metallica as being among their key influences, alongside other heavy metal bands such as Megadeth, Slayer, Testament and Overkill.”

How could I not like a group that cites Slayer as a major influence? More importantly how could YOU not like a band that cites Slayer as a major influence?

Hello world! (as cleverly stated by wordpress)

I can tell you one thing for sure, I will not attempt to blog about my emotional stability (ever-changing), what color socks I’m wearing today (white), the guy who flipped me off for no reason on my way to work (rude), why I love puppies so much (they’re cute!) or my dating status (happily independent). I absolutely refuse.

I will, however, be force-feeding you my opinions and beliefs on some of life’s finer things. Most of which you can digest (both literally and figuratively), and some I might advise against. Either way you can trust my judgement as I am probably the smartest person I know.