Fusion cuisine and exclusive subdivision nomenclature

Tonight, my wife and I went out with friends of ours. We went to Takashi. It was great. But it got me thinking about the nature of 'fusion' food. Sometimes, you can combine various elements of different styles of cuisine and come up with something truly unique. Most often, you get something that is unique but nonetheless forgettable.

In one of my previous entries I spoke of the Spice Market Buffet in the Holy City. I guess why I like it and other casino buffets so much is that they do fusion how it should be. The Spice market doesn't combine Japanese and Eastern Med cuisine to make something new. The sushi is over there, the lamb and hummus is over here. They have traditional recipes from a wide variety of styles. That is what I want from a restaurant. The only place I can get it is buffets. I close my eyes and dream about a place where the menu is varied every day (something like the French Laundry but with man-sized portions.....none of that 'tasting' menu BS)

Todays menu is:

- Lobster bisque (traditional French) for the soup
- Sunomono (traditional Japanese) for the salad
- Spaghetti Bolognese (traditional Italian)
- Flan (traditional Mexican) for dessert

See what I mean? Traditional old school recipes from different styles making a meal. Not a bastardized mish-mash of the four styles combined into something uninspired.

Did I mention that I despise hip youngsters wearing black as part of the ambience? Life is a bitch when you are young, white, and affluent!

Next-


What is so wrong with long straight streets, laid out geometrically? Even better is when the streets are named according to their relative coordinate (N/S/E/W) and a street light is nearby to illuminate it. And while we're at it, let's connect all the roads.

Tonight was the latest adventure I had with the 'exclusive' subdivisions of the town I live in. On uneven terrain and canyons and the like the roads and homes would have to conform to the topography. This is to be expected. But when the terrain is flat, the roads need not twist and bend and terminate in an endless array of cul-de-sacs, From the air, it probably looks like someone's lungs. The problem is this. When I wish to move from alveoli to an adjacent alveoli I should not have to pick my way clear up to the bronchus. At one point I could SEE the back of the house and had to drive and weave another 6 blocks to get there.

The street names are long and hence difficult to read at night especially when NOT lit. One in particular I remember was Logan Canyon Road/Avenue/Way/Drive/Street/Parkway/Place or maybe it was Boulevard. Hell that's got a lot of letters. It had to be boulevard! You cannot read the damn thing until you are ten feet away. You cannot see more than a half a block down the road so you have no clue if it is a through street or not. And most are not. By the way, Logan Canyon is a 100 miles away

I've got a better idea. Rename the streets to something more accurate. Wandering Cows Street. Or Sorry, your pizza is going to be late Avenue. NO wait! I've got it. The police/fire department/ambulance all got lost on the way to your place BOULEVARD. Put it all on a street sign and turn off the F***ing lights!