CUP IT UP

I read about this restaurant several weeks ago. Here's what  i remember: it was started by 2 golfers who wanted to keep playing  the game but were also hungry but didn't want the mess or the grease or fattiness of the usual fare offered on the green (i'm not sure what this encompasses since i don't golf.) so they came up with a cup concept. Put a lot of good fresh food in a cup that can be eaten with a fork or spoon.

So voila! there is Cup it Up in the former home of a bbq place near trader joe's on wilmot and speedway. The first time we went here was for dinner and they had just closed at the ungodly early hour of 7pm!! This time we went there for  lunch during our weekly Friday grocery run.

The restaurant was just as bone chilling cold as the first failed time so we ate outside. The menu is on the wall giving you the steps to follow; pick out meat or fish as the base (we had herb citrus chicken) and then grains (we had white rice) but you could also get brown, barley or quinoa. Then lettuce or kale or spinach and they will grill it for you if you want. then some toppings; most come with the price of the cup and in our case it was $8. bill and i shared it and it was a more than ample serving for both of us. also we didn't get it in a cup (they will either mix it up for you and put it in the cup or layer it in the cup); we asked for a bowl which is a takeout container with a plastic lid.

so back to the toppings. there was tomatoes and peppers and jalapenos and onions  and mushrooms and then you got to choose 2 "superfood" toppings and if you wanted more there was an additional charge. These toppings included blueberries, garbanzo beans, avocado, edemame beans and some others that we can't remember.

Then you pick a sauce; they had a cheesy one and then their house sauce and a peppercorn one; we went with the house sauce. I don't know how to describe this sauce; slightly salty and slightly sweet with a tad of garlic. It was delicious and just enough was put on to not drown the concoction.

We were very satisfied and passed that on to the owner who was milling about.

The bathroom situation is sort of a hassle. All the businesses except for Trader Joe's shares a bathroom in the center of the strip mall and i had to wait till one of the server gals could go back into the restaurant and get the key and then walk me to the bathroom.!!! Not ideal.

 Not enough of a "problem" to prevent us eating here again.

HAIL, CAESAR

Pretty good film; way more enjoyable than i thought it would be. In my opinion (well, that's what this blog is, isn't it? MY opinion.) the Coen Brothers can put out some fairly dull and goofy stuff.

This movie was a satire on the old Hollywood studio days. Josh Brolin has the main part as the head of production; Tilda Swinton plays 2 - yes, 2 - gossip columnists; George Clooney is a very popular heart throb leading actor; Scarlet Johansson is the lead in all the Esther Williams type swimming extravaganzas. She  is unmarried and pregnant and a husband has to be found quick. Ralph Fiennes is a director of staid British parlor type movies. Anyway, there are a lot of actors in this one; some like Frances McDormand has barely any screen time but add to the mayhem of the studio/making movies/keeping the stars in line plot.

The movie was way funnier in the beginning but it did have scenes throughout that were either witty or out loud laughing humorous. One of my favorite ones (and i was pounding the arm of the seat and thumping the floor with my leg and i couldn't catch my breath for awhile) was Ralph Fiennes trying to direct an actor who only had appeared in cowboy movies and didn't have to talk hardly at all except to say "giddyup" and "whoa" and ride horses all the time; an entrance and then some lines talking to his sweetheart in the movie. The line was staidly British-old England "may i thwart my love who hither and yon was not forgoing pithily." (this is not an exact rendition of the words.)

They rapidly went back and forth with the cowboy actor continually screwing up his pronunciation and the order of the words and it just got funnier and funnier; the whole audience was roaring.

So the film rated a 6.5; entertaining but not consistently so.

CASA DEL RIO

What a delicious find! This Mexican restaurant was recommended by my friend Jacki who is also my hair stylist and the lady who is going to add some pizazz color to my hair. Its located on the NW corner of 22nd and Pantano.

The place had a great atmosphere with lots of booths in the main room and tables in an adjoining room.  Good service. The chips and salsa and water were brought to the table within a minute. Not much decoration but I was more interested in the food.

The chips were wonderful; very thin and crispy and flavorful and the salsa had just a very mild zing. Bill had a tamale and rice and I had a combo: tamale and cheese enchilada and a machaca taco. I saved the tamale for lunch today; just couldn't finish it. Bill loved his tamale; the masa was good and it was stuffed end to end with tender beef and the sauce wasn't too spicy. and i was super satisfied with my entree. The taco had lots of meat in it and was covered with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.

The only thing i wish had been different was no cheddar cheese and instead queso fresca.

Very happy well fed full belly's on sat. night.

FRESH SUSHI PHO

Located on the NE corner of Kolb and Broadway; near DSW. Its open every day except Sunday till 9pm.

I didn't really like anything we ordered but we will come back anyway because i loved the atmosphere of the place and the portions are generous and the prices low and there's many other items on the menu that appeal to me.

Lots of bamboo and fans and "coolie" hats and wood frames and mirrors shaped like a zen   sand garden and the sushi area looked like a tea house. The service was good.

No booths and i think 4 of the tables, maybe 5 had those high chair/stool seats which i don't like at all.

So we ordered spring rolls because i got confused and thought i was getting egg rolls. the rolls were fresh and big (2 of them) and the sauce was tasty - a hoisin based sauce but i don't like spring rolls; too much rawness; like eating a salad in a cigar.

We also ordered a chicken ban mi; traditional Vietnamese sandwich. Unfortunately, this one lacked; the amount of chicken and pickled vegetables and the clear fish sauce and the bread which was a French baguette was a tad stale and way too crusty.
 

On to the main entree; a bun dish which was really a pho; it was listed under pho so i don't know why i expected something different. The broth was good and the vegetables (carrots and sweet and white potatoes and bean sprouts and cilantro) were cooked perfectly. There was lots of tofu which i didn't eat. But the vegetable and dumpling soup at Ha Long Bay is WAY WAY WAY better plus having a lot of different veggies.

I think the next time i will order egg rolls and one of their chicken and rice dishes.

GRANDMA

We both rated this movie a 9. Lily Tomlin is a lesbian feminist pro-choice grandmother of Sage who needs $630 for an abortion.

Elle (Tomlin) helps Sage by visiting several friends - past and current -  and lovers and  the father of  Sage's baby (irresponsibly clueless) and also Sage's mom.

The dialogue was marvelous; snappy and hilarious and witty and honest. The scenes at the abortion clinic and when Elle visits her former flame (played by Sam Elliott who is referred to in the film as a Biblical patriarch; wow; he is handsome.) were so believable. Nothing was forced or overboard emotionally.

And the ending was perfect.

BAI THONG

We gave this Thai restaurant on Speedway near Swan another chance. We  have quit going there (culinary boycott) twice because of the quality of their food and the toughness of their meat. And each time we have come back, the first meal was pretty good and then we go back again; uh oh, back to a chewing marathon and picking out gristle from the chicken which is not all white meat.

So i think we are again going to have to separate from this place and take it off our restaurant list.

We ordered pad woon sen vegetarian (the veggies were plentiful and perfectly cooked) but it tasted like the sauce was a can of Campbell tomato soup.

The yellow curry with chicken?? Well, let me just say i let bill eat all the chicken after i wrestled with my first piece and just doused the rice with the curry sauce and potatoes. The sauce was tasty and just spiced enough.

However, overall, the meal just wasn't real satisfying.

BROOKLYN

This is a10+ movie. Gleamingly filmed in New York and in Ireland with excellent acting, great dialogue with a lot of sharp witty humor, a story flow that was exquisite and characters that were believable.

I wasn't expecting much. This film was a 'fill-in' choice because i had rejected CAROL due to a friend's telling me it was painfully slow, I had also rejected HATEFUL EIGHT due to some reviews and the almost 3 hour running time and YOUTH (with michael caine and harvey keitel) that i did want to see was not in the theater at the Loft with stadium seating. SOOOOOOOOOO

I was amazingly grateful for my cinematic choice.

A young adult leaves her small Irish village to go to
America. The movie superbly showed the adjustments and transitions from leaving a birth home and landing in a totally opposite environment knowing no one. Her homesickness could be felt through the screen.

However, then she meets a young fella and she successfully completes some schooling and gets better at her sales job and things start to happen. Until she gets a call that necessitates a return trip home.

I don't want to say anything more because it will ruin the delightful and poignant twists and unexpected turns of the story.

And the ending was superb.

THIS is why i love going to movies.

DOLCE VITA

excellent Italian restaurant right next to sprouts on the  nw corner of broadway and pantano. It was not crowded and therefore, not noisy.  Lots of tables well spread out and no booths.

Our service was wonderful. Just enough attention.

The olive oil dip for the bread was very good but the bread itself was similar to a dollar loaf of french bread at Safeway; very doughy with hardly any crust.

 Each entree came with soup or salad. We had a salad; very fresh. I had feta garlic dressing.  Also a plate of bowtie pasta with peas in a very light vinaigrette as  an appetizer for the table. This didn't have much flavor which did NOT stop me from eating it.

Bill had chicken piccata which came with his choice of pasta and sauce. He picked angel hair with a garlic butter. He was very very happy and said the chicken had the best flavor and was so tender he didn't even need a knife. I had cheese ravioli with meat sauce which was a 10.

Both of us have leftovers for lunch today. Their desserts looked wonderful but i had made a chocolate magic flan cake so we passed on the sweets.

Oh and the bathroom was painted  the most striking combination of a lilac and mauve. Beautiful.

We will be back.

THE DANISH GIRL

I have decided i don't like Eddie Redmayne. His role in this movie seemed to me to be a Stephen Hawking in drag performance.

The movie was sooooooooo slow and everyone talked in whispers and amazingly in British accents even though the movie takes place in Copenhagen. There was no suspense or  tension and i couldn't identify with any of the characters; they all seemed unreal and like they had just stepped out of the book Pride and Prejudice (a 'silly sisters' sort of land) with restrained and muted facial expressions and speech.

There was an excess of skin self-love; lots and lots of stroking and tears? you wanna see tears? a schooner filled with brimming drops.

Summary: Man has penis
Man doesn't want penis
 but Wife wants  him to keep his penis.

EL MOLINITO

First time at this Mexican restaurant. Its so close that on a warm summer's evening we could walk to it; on the corner of Wrightstown Rd. and Pantano.

Its a really large place and has several rooms; some of the rooms are stark and too bright with no decorations at all but other rooms are filled with murals and wall hangings.

This is a mixed review because the prices were good; portions large and the food was ok. However, the bathroom was horrid; very dirty and one toilet was spewing a steady drip of water. and the service was desultory and slow (we waited about 20 minutes before our food came out; usually at Mexican restaurants the entree arrives almost as soon as you say LADA; like in enchiLADA.) and even then it wasn't all our food because our waitress said they had no ground beef to put in my chimi so i had to pick something else. which i did; chicken which was quite tasty and i have some left over for lunch too.

Also bill's order was incorrect and the beans were a lukewarm soupy swirl of beige; totally unappetizing.

However, (back to the positives), bill liked his tamales and the guacamole and as i said, my chicken was good. uh oh, another negative; the chips were cold and stale.

But we will be back maybe in 6 months.?? there are a couple more Mexican places we want to try that are close to us now that we are east-siders.!

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKNGJAY, PART 2

We loved the first movie; didn't like the 2nd one (too many endless battles); really enjoyed the 3rd one (lots of character development); and this last one was a mixed experience.

The first 2/3rds were excellent (a 9). Katniss and her team of friends including a gradually  recovering Peeta joined forces to take District 2 and then eventually the Capitol with an intended assassination of Snow. It was fast paced and the tension was incredible as they marched and hid in the city approaching the Capitol knowing there were booby traps set up in lots of places.

They had an app which would alert them to bombs and guns. And there were several especially exciting scenes having to do with molten oil and an attack by the Mutts. Oh, and then an escape through the sewer system. Really good.

But when Katniss and Gale were in the crowd of other refugees marching into the Capitol, it got very dull and slow and boring. The unification of the Districts and the overthrow of Snow were anti-climactic and by the time it happened, i just didn't care.

The dullness ratcheted up even more in the last 10 minutes when Katniss and Peeta got together again. This part resembled a Disney like Nicholas Sparks land of cotton candy.

ECLECTIC CAFE

We used to come here all the time after a hike on Mt. Lemmon during Tucson #1. then during tucson 2, our favorite waitress had retired (a clone of barbara streisand and very efficient), their prices had gone up, portion sizes down. So we quit going.

Now that the cafe is located in 'our hood', we decided to give it a try especially since i had a coupon. unfortunately, the coupon had expired which i didn't find out till we were settled in our seats.

For a little over $21 we shared a curry chicken salad with cucumbers, avocado, berries and "Wilcox tomatoes" (really Safeway). It was  flavorful and we got a side of their russian dressing which was just perfectly seasoned and also a side of creamy dill which was also quite good. The portion of chicken salad was fairly small.

The salad came with 2 rolls which were a tad doughy but fresh. We also shared a  slice of quiche lorraine which we enjoyed.

We were certainly satisfied after our dinner but we wouldn't make this restaurant a regular part of our dining circle.

MOLINO'S MIDWAY MEXICAN FOOD

I have a love-hate relationship with this place. sometimes the food is really good and the tortilla chips fresh and other times, the service is slap-dash casual and the food is disappointing in flavor and presentation.

As of last night though, i am back in love. Delicious dinner and the service was personable and our food was served roadrunner fast inspite of the big crowds.

I had albondigas soup to which i added some of the excellent thin crispy tortilla chips. There were lots of meatballs in the soup and it was flavored with a hint of zip. I also had a beef tamale. Stuffed end to end with tender beef. Bill also had a tamale along with a side of rice and we shared guacamole..

I know we will be back and who knows what my review might be then. i'll either still be in love or in the throes of culinary contempt.

SPOTLIGHT

Fantastic film; we both gave it a 10+. Spotlight is the name of the investigative team that works at the Boston Globe. When the paper gets a new editor (Liev Schreiber) he wants the team to work on and follow up on a priest sex abuse story. The investigation and probing into this case leads to  the discovery that  there were several other priests that were put on "sick leave" or transferred to another parish and that a prosecutor (Billy Crudup) had been quietly settling these cases with no documents ever filed in the court and that there was a support group of survivors.

And as the persistent and determined questioning continued, the one priest eventually expanded to almost 90 and it became very clear that this had been going on since at least the 80's with some lone voices clanging the abuse bell and that Cardinal Law knew all about it all this time.

The pressure from the Boston community (where over 50% of the people are catholic) was shown in quiet, subtle but powerful ways. and this pressure came from politicians, the church, college alumni and prosecutors. An especially good scene in the movie was the increase in resistance when 9/11 occurred; the religious line was that at this time, the catholic church and its priests were needed to keep supporting the people during this disaster and it would be very very wrong to undermine the church and its message of faith.

The acting was sterling by Michael Keaton, Billy Crudup, Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo. and even though i knew the ending of the story, it was presented in the film with tension and immediacy and suspense.

SPECTRE

This film was the first James Bond 007 movie i did not like. I even sort of enjoyed the early one with the horribly miscast and bad actor George Lazenby. I mean i love James Bond films; from the very first one. I don't even read reviews of them because i know i'll have a good entertaining time. However ---------

Daniel Craig looked like he had just come off of a pub crawl; like he had been shaken and stirred a little too long. His suit jacket never quite fit and he had bags under his eyes and his face was an unhealthy pallor. Some way, some where he has just lost his attractive charismatic charm.

Christoph Waltz was a pathetic villain; not scary or alarming or believably mean or cruel. and Bond's girlfriend was blah.

In the beginning of the movie, there was a way too long (of course, the entire movie was way too long!) segment where you heard Sam Smith warbling and piercingly crooning the theme song while snakes and sinuous golden women writhed around Bond's chest.

My main complaint (need i list another one?) is that it was NOT clever at all. Just a very tired and exhausted replay of prior films.

There were several good characters that i wished had more on screen time; Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw as Q, and a new addition, C, who was the head of the new security and surveillance agency.

POCO & MOM'S CANTINA

First time here and we will be back. Its on Tanque Verde near Sabino Canyon Road and its closed on Mondays.

The entrance is through a long tiled hallway. It felt like we were walking through a friend's foyer in their home and the eating space itself was large but not overly spacious so again, the feeling i had was eating in someone's kitchen. Very comfortable.  They have a patio but it was dark outside and too cold for us.

The service was excellent and the prices extremely reasonable and the portions more than adequate. All of us were happy with our meals. The chips were thin and crisp and fresh and the salsa was slightly zippy. We ordered guacamole which was good but could have been chunkier; a tad too creamy for my taste.

I had 2 tostadas; one chicken and the other ground beef. Very flavorful. Bill had tamales and enjoyed them. Every dish had refried beans and rice. Neither impressed me. The beans didn't even have any cheese on top and was a  sad and  unappealing scoop of brown-ness. The rice was dry.

Nice to find a good Mexican restaurant close to our new location on the east side.  though my heart and stomach still belong to
Frankie's on Pima and Alvernon and their tacos dorados.

SUFFRAGETTE

Excellent movie about the fight in the early 20th century for voting rights for women. It stars Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter. Meryl Streep appears on screen for about 4 minutes only as Pankhurst the head of the movement and the lady who called for civil disobedience since years of peaceful speeches and meetings and the passing out of flyers was having no impact at all.

the movie ends with one of the outspoken feisty suffragettes giving her life in a dramatic fashion during the Derby race as a way for the cause to get global attention. which it did and slowly, very slowly, voting rights were granted. Initially for instance, only "certain" women over the age of 30 were allowed to vote.

 Less than 100 years ago (there are women alive today who remember this!) women were legally subject to their husbands and had NO RIGHTS regarding their children.

All i remember being taught about the suffragette movement (of course, with time, my memory has dulled) is that women did not have the vote and then, they did. la di da!, it was a brutal battle with many many women jailed and beaten and thrown out of their house by a husband who took total control over their children.

A really powerful movie and very well acted.

SHISH KEBAB HOUSE

We finally tried this restaurant that we must have passed about 50 times on Broadway - its across the street from the park place mall. I got a coupon in the mail which was the deciding factor.

and we will be back. Excellent aromatic delicious food.

The atmosphere is ok; sort of a small restaurant and the tables are fairly close together so i would imagine on the weekends (belly dance nights) it could be really crowded and noisy.  Also i was disappointed a bit in the bathroom; plain and sparse. Didn't seem to go with the white table cloths.

The menu is huge so we had trouble deciding what to order. We ended up getting perfectly complementary dishes which we shared; baked squash in this absolutely transforming yoghurt, lemon, garlic and fenugreek and oregano sauce, a rice dish with chicken and pinenuts and veggies and spinach pie. The crust on these 2 small pies was tender and crispy and it was filled to the fluted edges with spinach and feta and bits of green olives.

the pita bread was so-so. I've never tasted pita bread that i really liked; just seems tasteless and too doughy.

and the service was good and personable.

KNEADERS BAKERY AND CAFE

This soup/salad/sandwich place opened this July. Its near the corner of Broadway and Wilmot.  The menu includes sandwiches, soups, salads (given with a slice of bread - your choice of variety), some pastries, some desserts, coffee drinks and a packed to the edge of the shelves gift area with lots of STUFF. So Kneaders is similar to Beyond Bread except BB is a tad better due to their bread quality and the size and filling amount for their sandwiches.

We shared  chicken salad on a croissant which comes with a small salad with balsamic vinaigrette. and we shared an entree salad with bacon and avocado. I asked for a side of the poppyseed dressing but the ranch which normally comes with the salad was extraordinarily good so i switched mid-lettuce chew.

B K - TUCSON

Wanted to eat here before we moved because the drive would be about 30 minutes one way from our new townhouse  so our visits to BK will be significantly curtailed.

The restaurant is on 1st avenue between grant and glenn. I love it here. the service has always been friendly and prompt and the atmosphere is noisy and festive and joyful. Lots of families come here for their excellent Mexican food. They have an awesome salsa bar; varieties of dips and sauces and salsa's that i've never seen any place else; including lots of thin sliced crisp cucumbers and radishes. Oh and their cheese is absolutely out of this world; very finely grated with a hint of sharpness underneath the creaminess.

We usually always get the same thing. Bill gets a bowl of charro beans (most excellent; tastes like rich chili) and 2 carne asada or pastor tacos. I get a sonoran hot dog (though i didn't last night because i had a chicago dog at Luke's for lunch) and 2 shrimp tacos. There is always lots of tiny breaded shrimp on each taco and it comes with its own dipping sauce.

They have 3 or 4 tv's on the wall and they usually are tuned to different channels; always a sports game or two, and then music video's and a soap opera (Mexican) and on top of that cacophony there is piped in mariachi music.

Yes, this is a deafeningly happy place.