BOBBYWOOD?

Discover BOBBYWOOD Creative American Bistro by clicking on the photo above.

It was voted the "best new restaurant in Hampton Roads" in 2006

Their web site is super cool.

And I can testify that the accolade "best" is well-deserved.

So position your cursor over the picture & click your mouse.

Yum Yum Yum Yum

Bon Appetit.

Bravo Italiano

A couple of days ago I wrote about the five star meal at a Japanese restaurant in Norfolk. Today I'll write about an entirely different, but equally pleasing experience in that fine city.




Veneziano is a 3-generation family restaurant serving family Italian food. Home-made minestroni, plateful of spaghetti, fresh bread & a bottle of red wine.


The decoration! The ambience. The music, Italian music: opera, Frank Sinatra. The comfortable tables & spacious booths.

And best of all, [along with the food, of course!] what service. Mother, sisters, cousins, all with a welcoming smile, an inquiry about your well-being, a recommendation if one is needed, knowledge of your usual if you're a regular. Although it's a popular neighborhood [& city-wide] establishment, each customer enjoys an intimate evening of first-rate food.

Grandpere et Grandmere are indeed regulars at Veneziano & therefore I received a true family welcome.

Grazie Grandpere et Grandmere & Grazie Veneziano

Japanese Meal: gushing

The photo above shows Me at home waiting [and waiting] for a meal. While I would not describe this as a begging attitude, I'm sorry to report that meal times at the Roushanzamirs can be irregular [highly].

Such is never the case at the home of Grandmere et Grandpere. The following story illustrates that happy circumstance.

Promptly upon my arrival at Norfolk Grandmere et Grandpere whisked me to Kotabuki [click the link] a 5-star Japanese restaurant [fortunately located 1 block or so from their spacious townhouse in the historic Ghent neighborhood]. The sushi Chef, a man of highly dignified mien, stands guard over the extraordinary array of fresh fish; the Chef is a tall man, little given to smiles or social chit chat.

In any case, immediately we sit down and are served Horin Gekkeikan an ultra-premium or, more precisely, Junmai Daiginjo sake. Quite frankly the best I've ever sampled. As we sip our wine, the Chef carefully and I daresay lovingly, prepares 3 sashimi platters. And when they appear, what a gloriously beautiful presentation & what a highly satisfactory, gourmet delight.

[below, a soup bowl with the requisite chopstikcs, usually filled with Udon; my Grandmere kindly presented them to me, as a substitute for my usual doggie bowls, for when I eat Japanese noodles at home. And see entries of July 31, 2006 and February 15, 2007 for more information about serving ware at the Roushanzamir home!]

[As I'm showing examples of the Japanese aesthetic, below is a screen, over 50 years old; it graces the luxurious guest room in Grandmere's & Grandpere's home. By the way, my own Mama was born in Nagoya, Japan--year unknown or at least unrevealed--but here I digress]

Such was my welcome at Kotabuki [click the link] that, after finishing the delicate sashimi [raw fish, accompanied by sculpted radish with rice on the side] and as we were leaving [to take a well-deserved, post-parandial nap], the solemn sushi Chef bestowed on me a beautific smile.

What a fortunate way to begin my holiday!

Thanks Where Thanks is/are Due

Those familiar with my January 30, 2007 entry, Mercury's futon, will doubtless remember my troubles a propos the disregard with which my personal needs [at table, dog accoutrements such as leashes & name tags, and wardrobe] are fulfilled. Amongst other grievances: the heavy blue water bowl &, an even more crushing indignity, the green plastic cat food bowl.

I am able announce that my melancholy, at feeding time at least, has been in great part acknowledged & alleviated.

[True the menu remains ever-unchanging and my plea for 3 meals per day has gone unheeded.]

However, as the photos above & below show, the table setting itself has been upgraded. With the pop art water bowl & the Modernist stainless steel serving dish, complemented by a colorful place mat, meal times [albeit only 2] satisfy both hungers: for food & for an aesthetically pleasing dining experience.

To whom do I owe my enhanced condition? Primarily it is a response by my Grandmere et Grandpere who understand & empathize with all the challenges & trials facing any discriminating dog. My new food dish is strikingly elegant. It's worthy of display in the Museum of Modern Art. [In fairness, Mama et Papa provided the place mat & the plastic, but cute, water bowl.]

So, from the bottom of my heart Grandmere et Grandpere, I extend my sincere unqualified [and highly public] thank you.

Gratitude also to Mama et Papa who, I concede, have apparantly launched a higher level of service & care.

N.B. Grandmere et Grandpere:
Expect a private communication that will arrive shortly in your mailbox.

Mercury's futon

For you, loyal readers, who worry that I'm relegated to Dog Status [i.e. dog-in-the-manger] in the Roushanzamir household, I've provided this [minor] evidence to the contrary.

True, I could wish for better things: a fine china bowl for my food and Waterford crystal stem-ware for water [in lieu of the green plastic cat dish & water in an absurdly large blue container]; three meals per day [instead of two] with a greater variety of menus [it could hardly be less since I eat the same--premium--dog food day after day]; a couture gem studded collar [the jewels wouldn't have to be diamonds]; an 18- or 22-carat gold or platinum name tag, and so forth. I could also hope [and do] that Mama would stop dressing me in sweaters, hats, raincoats and t-shirts [but she hasn't-- as yet-- sunk so low as to insist upon frilly dresses or frou frou hair styles].

Dear fans, do not despair or worry unduly [your steadfast concern is appreciated]. Here, pictured, a green futon, Mercury's futon, which is [however slight] concrete proof that Mama et Papa contrive to construct a proper environment, maximizing what resources [admitedly scant] they possess to ensure [a measure of] my comfort & pleasure .

***Forthcoming: my entry about the friends, both dogs & humans, with whom Mama et Papa permit me to associate.***