Great Wifi on the cheap: Asus RT-N12 with DD-WRT for dual Wifi

If you have friends with gadgets, they're always asking for your WiFi, and if you're like me, you want to give them internet access but you don't (or you really shouldn't) want to give them access to your internal systems. You may also not want them to have full leeching power on your internet pipe either. That second part may not be as important to you, but you should at least consider it... :)

After being frustrated with the lousy quality of the ISP provided (especially the Westell variety) WiFi routers, I decided to give DD-WRT a try. My research pointed me in the direction of the Asus RT-N12 router since it's very well supported by DD-WRT and it's very cheap: less than $40 shipped from NewEgg.

My setup is probably more complex than most, but it still applies to the typical home setup:

• An internal system that serves internal DHCP, DNS, and external SSH/SOCKS proxy
• An ISP provided internet router with DHCP disabled.
• A WiFi-N Access Point (AP) on the A-band (5GHz)
• A WiFi-N AP on the B/G band (2.4GHz)

With the exception of the external SSH server and SOCKS proxy, a typical home setup using an ISP supplied WiFi router would play all of those roles, which is fine. In my case, what I want to do is replace the B/G 2.4 AP with the DD-WRT unit that would provide wireless access to the internal network on the B/G/N band, plus create a separate password-protected SSID for friends with a completely different IP range than the internal network, and with public DNS servers. The end effect being that devices connected to the "friend" band would have internet access, but would be able to access the internal systems. Also, the 'friend' access network would be capped at 1.5 Mbps (DSL speed), which is more than adequate for the usual e-mail, Facebook, etc. access. The other benefit of this is that I would not have to give my internal WiFi access password to anyone, and can change the 'friend' password at any time without having to re-do the internal systems.

Step 1: Install DD-WRT on the router


The DD-WRT wiki has plenty of information on how to do this, but essentially it comes down to:

1. Download the DD-WRT firmare for your router (I chose NEWD-k2.6-mini generic)
2. Download the tools from Asus
3. Set the router in recovery mode
4. Use the Asus recovery tool to install DD-WRT

Two important notes:
(1) - It is recommended that you use Internet explorer for the initial setup. I don't know why, but that's the recommendation.
(2) - Most internal home IP ranges start with either 192.168.0 or 192.168.1. If yours is the latter, you will need to make some (temporary) changes to your IP setup. The Asus router defaults to 192.168.0.1, so make sure the PC you are using to set up the router is set to a fixed address like 192.168.0.10. On a PC, the steps are pretty simple:

From the "Network and sharing center", select your LAN connection, then click on the Properties button:

then, select the IPV4 protocol and click on properties:

Change the settings from your default (probably this):

to look like this:

Click Ok until all the property windows are closed.
Now, connect your router and follow the wiki instructions to start it in recovery mode to you can install the DD-WRT firmware.

Step 2: Configure the Router for the internal network
Note: I like the concept of using the unit as an access point rather than a router, simply because I'm happy with my current router. These instructions are for an AP setup. If you rather use the unit as a router, then consult the wiki. The unit's mode (AP or router) is not important for the dual WiFi setup.


The first thing you need to do is set up a root password. the username is root, and pick your password. Then save the changes. Now, configure your IP address setup to match your default network. Click on the Setup tab and set the Wan connection type to disabled.

My network is 192.168.1 based, so I gave mine a high-enough number:

Also, make sure the gateway and local DNS points to your router's IP. Note: my local DNS is not my router. That is why they don't match in the picture.

Enable the DHCP server on the unit, but set it to have zero maximum DHCP users. On the server configuration, put any number you want for the start IP address, and set the static DNS entries to your router's IP address. You will probably need just one, unlike me. It is also important to enable dnsmasq for DNS and DHCP.

(Note: As of 2011-Sep-08 This "no dhcp" lease setup is not working 100% reliably for me. I will post an update when I find a way to resolve it)

Another important side note: If you plan to use this as your actual DHCP server, then do not use zero for the Maximum DHCP users box. 50 is probably more than adequate. In this scenario, I would select a start IP address of maybe 128.

Also, I strongly recommend you set up a time server:

The reason you need the DHCP server enabled (even though in my case it will not provide any addresses) is because you need a DHCP server set up for the 'friend' WiFi network. If the main DHCP server is not enabled, the secondary one will not work either. Click on the "Apply Settings" button, then the Save button.

A very important note: If you changed the IP settings to match your current network, you will need to reset your LAN setting back to the defaults (DHCP). Look at the first three pictures above.

Now, set up your private wireless network.

Select the Wireless tab at the top of the page. in the Basic Settings, set your wireless mode to AP. Give your internal WiFi network a name. I picked "PrivateWifi" for this example:

If your page does not show a virtual interface, click on the Add button, then give it a name "FriendWifi" for this example. Then (you guessed it) click on Apply settings and then on Save.

Now, secure your networks:

Go to the "Wireless Security" tab and select WPA2 Personal mixed, TKIP+AES, then your password. Repeat for the 'friend' network, but use a different password! :) Do the now familiar Apply + Save.

You should try to connect to your private WiFi network and make sure you can get out to the internet, etc. The public WiFi network is not yet ready to be tested. We will do that one later.

Step 3: Configure the Router for the "friend" network.

In order for this to work, the key portions needed are:

1. Create a network bridge and assign it to the virtual interface.
2. Give the bridged network a completely different IP network number than your internal network.
3. Enable DHCP for the bridged network with DNS settings that have no relation to your internal network
4. Set up a firewall rule so that the bridged network can actually get out to the internet (very important!)

Select the Setup tab, then select the "Networking" sub-tab. On the Bridging section, click on "add" to create Bridge 0. Set the IP address to something other than what you're using. For example I selected 192.168.10.1

Use 255.255.255.0 for a netmask. Now, assign the bridge to the virtual wireless (wl0.1):

On the Port setup section, enter the same IP address and netmask you used in the "Create Bridge section":

On the DHCP section, enable a DHCP server for the bridged network (br1):

The example above is configured to provide a max of 10 simultaneous IP addresses on the friend network, starting with IP address 192.168.10.50. You can tweak those numbers as needed. I haven't found myself needing more than 10 friends to connect at the same time, so that max was good for me. 

To setup the DNS on the friend network, pick a public DNS server, such as Google or OpenDNS. I picked Google. The DNS servers for my location are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Do a search for "Google dns" to find out what addresses are correct for you. Mine will work, but they may not be the best servers for your location.

To accomplish this, go to the "Services" tab to enable the DNSmasq service and feed it some parameters, like this:

Since you cannot cut and paste the text from the image, here it is:

interface=br1
dhcp-option=br1,6,8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4,4h


What that means is that the DHCP server is for the bridged lan (br1), with dns servers 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 and each IP has a max 4 hour lease time. Now, do the usual apply+save steps.

At this point, you should be able to connect to the friend network and verify that you get an IP address that starts with 192.168.10. (if you used my settings verbatim). If you click on the connection details, the DNS servers should be 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 (again, if you used my settings), and your gateway should be the IP address of the unit (the first thing you did after installing DD-WRT). Note that you will not be able to get out to the internet just yet.

There is one final step to do: the firewall. Since you need a custom rule to ensure the bridged traffic can get to the internet, you have to manually enter the rule.
Select the "Administration" tab, then the "Command sub-tab". In the command box, enter these two lines:

iptables -I FORWARD -i br1 -d `nvram get lan_ipaddr`/`nvram get lan_netmask` -m state --state NEW -j DROP 
iptables -t nat -I POSTROUTING -o br0 -j SNAT --to `nvram get lan_ipaddr` 

Then, click on "Run commands" to test that you can now access the internet. Once you're satisfied, click on "Save firewall". There are more complex examples in the wiki page. I think this setting is probably the most suitable for you. What the rules are doing is allowing the bridge traffic to flow through the physical (private) connection, and blocking any traffic from the public network going to the private network.

At this point, you can save your settings somewhere safe, and you're pretty much done. Congrats!

Step 4: Extra credit


This part is optional, but I would recommend it: Limit the amount of bandwidth the public network can use. The benefit of this is that while you're being a good friend by sharing your 'net pipe, you are also ensuring that your private systems have enough available bandwidth at all times.
In my scenario, I chose to cap the download speeds at DSL speed (1.5mbit). I have a FIOS connection, so that amount is a small percentage of my available speed. If you happen to have only a DSL line, then drop the value accordingly. I would make sure you cap the public network at no more than 50% of your available pipe.

If you're not sure how fast your 'net speed actually is, do a search for "internet speed test" or try www.speedtest.net. Use those numbers to determine the values you use for the uplink and downlink entries.

So, here is my setup:

On the Nat/QoS tab, select the QoS sub-tab. On the QoS settings, enable QoS for Lan & Wlan. Set up your uplink speed to (again) no more than 30% of what's available to you. Set up your downlink speed to no more than 50% of what you have.
Friends care primarily about e-mail, facebook, web, etc. None of those services require fast uplink speeds. 

On the "Netmask Priority" section, there should be two IP/mask entries: One is your private network, and the other is the friend network. If one or more of the entries are missing, add them using the entry fields and click on the "Add" button. Set your private network entry with an Exempt priority, and your public network with a Bulk priority.

As always, do the Apply+Save button combo.

I know it looks like a lot, but it is not. you can have the whole thing set up from unwrapping the unit to configuring it in less than 20 minutes. There are a few gotchas along the way, but I don't think it is too bad. My setup took longer because of my unorthodox setup, and because I wanted to have a fixed bandwith for the public network.

Enjoy!

Windows Phone 7: My first impression

I like the old windows mobile platform and I have very good hopes for the WP7 platform. I took the plunge and bought a Samsung focus. My first impressions are promising, but I feel MS took their mantra of a clean start way too close to heart and (to a point) left the early adopters out in the cold in some key areas.

I would not call myself a fan boy: I would not go to blows with anyone about their gadget decisions. I believe in the mantra of "do what works best for you". For me, it was windows mobile. I think just about every smartphone I had has been a WM device: From the clunky old Compaq/HP ipaq to the my current HTC tilt2 (and two other HTC devices in between). I have been pretty happy with them in the way I can control my information, and despite the slowness and the occasional lockup, they've been good to me.

None of the aforementioned devices translate well into the modern smartphone model, and as such, they can't compete, nor can they survive. So, I understand and welcome the MS move of defining a brand new paradigm for their mobile platform. I think they did a very good job on the rev 1.0 of the platform. The problem-for me at least-is that this new way of doing things requires me to give up a lot control in exchange for what seems to be very little, and I am not sure that I'm ready for that.

For some people, putting all of you information in the public cloud doesn't seem to be a concern. It is to me, and this is my one major peeve with the paradigm. I don't mind the live id connectivity concept. Works for the android platform, but even they have the ability to sync with Outlook! What I'd like is the ability to control (easily) what the device chooses to do with MY data. What I'd really like is the ability to not publish anything unless I want to. One example of this is a simple one: the "Me" aspect of the phone. If I attach a picture it gets published to my live account, and there's not a damn thing I can do to control that. Even with the account settings set to manually sync. My recourse is to log into the live account and get rid of the picture.

I may sound zealous, but I treat other people's information as very private, and since I would not like others to put my information in harm's way, I would like to return the favor. So for now, my only mitigation is to limit the amount of information I keep on the device.

There are plenty of articles on the 'net discussing the issues the platform and with the people hub concept in great detail. I won't cover them again. So far, the only mitigation for this is to use exchange. For a single individual, that's a bit of overkill! The icing on the cake, so-to-speak, are the many documented security problems with hotmail and windows live over the years. I simply cannot trust the platform to keep my stuff secure.

Here's another one: notes. The WP7 answer to notes is the OneNote app, which is very nice. The problem? there is no way for me to convert the many notes I have into OneNote versions! I'd have to suck it up and re-enter everything either on the device itself, or put the notes in the cloud and sync them that way. Again: asinine.

I'm a developer, so I'd be happy with the ability to cook up a solution for myself. Alas, I can't do that either because there no API to connect to, or to provide the service to the device. Similarly, there are no public developer APIs to access basic services like a TCP/IP stack (That's why services such as Skype are not available at the moment), and no native access provides a consistent development platform, but it also cripples the ability for us-the developer portion of early adopters-from producing the apps could mitigate the issues and bring the users to the platform. This can easily be solved, but it requires the cooperation of the MS crew to get there.

At this point, I want to love device, but I don't. I am not even sure if I'll use it on a day-to-day basis. I know they needed to get something out that covered a lot of people's needs, but I think there were serious holes in the initial implementation that are going to leave some bad impressions on the likes of us. Let's hope for their sake we make the minority.

Later,

The Aureole experience

Note: This is a very old post (last November) I never got around to publish.


The wine list was a bit of a letdown because I expected a better representation of varietals. It is mostly american, and while it is a very good american wine list, it is still too one-dimensional for me. I wanted a Beaune, and had to settle for a very good Oregon Drouhin. Still no Burgundy though...

The "spanish composition" tuna tartare with romesco was a great way to start the evening.

The main dish was a rack of lamb that was very tender and flavorful.

The wife's selection of monfish with pancetta was a good surprise. Better than expected.

We had the chocolate decandence dessert. pot de creme, chocolate molten cake, raspberry sorbet and a blueberry compote. Awesome and paired great with the wine.

While the place was nice, I don't see the attraction to return, given all the other choices that are now available in Vegas. Maybe with a group dinner, it might be more interesting, but I have other places to check out before I think about returning.

Later,

Friend's birthday dinner at CarneVino

We visited Mario Batali's steakhouse CarneVino to celebrate the 40th birthday of a friend, along with another couple. The locale at the (relatively) new Palazzo is both good and weird: the place is split between to sections in the lobby. The main section has the bar, and the second section seems like extra tables for (I presume) overflow.

We started with champagne drinks at the bar. The bar area looks impeccable with a great assortment of libations on display, including a very good array of grappa, along with a wall street sized bull sculpture. We chose the american Schramberg Rose. Everyone liked it.

We got seated quickly on the main dining rooms along the left side. The space is decorated in what seems like the typical steak house: Dark wood accents and private gentlemen's room curtains. The space has a very high ceilings that bring out that powerful "masculine" look of most steak houses. The center of the space was occupied by a country style table showcasing all the wines by glass. Our waiter seemed a bit hurried: we had to call him back to the table several times because he'd listen to just one person (as opposed to everyone), then take off. Overall, he was a nice guy, but we'd hoped he took a deep breath and slow down. :)

Our birthday man loves both Batali restaurants and italian wine, so he summoned the sommelier and chose two fantastic (but oh-so-pricey) bottles of wine: a super Tuscan along with an Amarone. Those are two very contrasting wines, but worked out great with our meal selections.

We selected Parpadelle with Porcini and truffle oil for a starter. The rest of the crew went with the capellini and white truffles. Everyone was very happy with the selection. The Parpadelle was rich and tender. The porcini mushrooms were actually fresh, and the flavor was perfect for the strength and intensity of the Amarone.

For dinner, I chose the veal osso bucco with a saffron risotto. My wife opted for the bone-in pork shop. The third couple went all out and selected the porterhouse for two and truffles. the birthday boy chose veal saltimbocca, and his wife made me proud when she selected the bone-in New York strip. Everyone shared bites with the others, so we all had a chance to sample the whole gamut.

My osso bucco was right on the money: tender and rich, with a beautiful lemony background taste provided by the parsley and peel topping on the bone. The risotto was orzo based and surprisingly creamier than I originally thought. The super Tuscan managed not to over-power the dish, which was nice. Out of the others, my two faves were the pork chop and the porterhouse. they were both rich, tender, and just awesome. We skipped dessert and opted for cappuccino. Perfect cap to the dinner.

On the service side of things, the supporting cast was impeccable, but (again), our waiter was not the most attentive. We had to tell him to clear stuff out a few times when it was obvious. At one time, he's struggling to find room on the table for glasses when there are empty cocktail and champagne glasses that need to be cleared off the table! Considering the price they're commanding, you would expect better service.

Then, the bill came: Everyone's jaw dropped just a bit. Even after factoring out the wine selection, the bill was a bit outrageous. Mind you: we are not easily "scared" by dinner bills on special occasions, but this felt a bit too much. This is the first time in the US where I felt like I paid for the chef's name rather than the food. Our birthday boy loves Mario Batali restaurants, but even he must have felt like he paid for a lot of things and not necessarily the food. I felt the same way when I went to Paris, and I made a point of not dining on may places I would have loved to try, but frankly, did not miss at all.

I suspect that at some point, people are going to realize that there are better restaurant deals in Vegas than this one. I could see myself returning to the bar for drinks, but I would look elsewhere for dinner.

Later,

On Wings

One of those things I enjoy very much is chicken wings. I prefer them fried, but baked works just as well. They are messy, but they have tons of flavor. Some believe they're too much hassle, but I honestly don't mind. I think the effort is worth the reward.

This past weekend, we decided to make wings with some Asian flavors. I was intrigued by a Tyler Florence recipe for curry honey butter baked wings that sounded delicious. I initially thought it was madras curry based, but the flavors didn't work as good. The red curry paste is definitely a better match. My only change was to use Agave nectar instead of honey. I also seasoned the wings with salt/pepper/garlic powder before tossing the mix and baking them.

For my own riff, I decided to borrow most of the  flavors of nuoc-cham, and made a sauce using garlic-chili paste, agave nectar, salt, and lime (no fish sauce). I used it as a tossing sauce with fried wings. The results were very good. A nice balance of the Asian sweet/salty/spicy/sour combination with the crispy wings. Highly recommended if you like those flavors!

For the sauce*:

1 teaspoon of Asian garlic chili sauce (I prefer Huy Fong: Amazon)
2-3 teaspoons of agave nectar (you can use honey, but probably use less)
1 teaspoon lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside
Fry the  chicken wings in 350 degree oil for about 8 minutes (more if you like them really crispy) and drain on paper towels.

Toss the wings with the sauce to coat. Serve hot.

Notes:

I make the sauce to taste, meaning that I eye-ball the quantities. I start with the chili paste, add the sweet and taste as I go until I get the desired heat/sweet ratio I want. Once I get there, I add about a 1/2 tsp of lime and taste from there. Once I get the balance I like, I give it a pinch of salt and pepper, and adjust as needed.
The amounts I've  provided are approximate based on what I saw in the bowl.

If you use honey, warm it up a bit so it flows and blends better. Also, use less initial quantity since honey tends to be sweeter than agave nectar.


I hope you like them as much as I did.

Follow-up on transcoding HD-PVR .wtv files from Windows 7 MCE

After some more finagling, I finally found a setting that does the trick for me:

If you recall on the previous post, I mentioned that whenever I tried to transcode a .wtv file directly, the expression encoder GUI would not display an image preview. In addition to the lack of a preview (and thus, lack of editing), the resulting files would always have the sound out of sync.This led me in the direction of de-muxing the media using graphstudio, re-muxing into a .ts file, then using the .ts file as the source. This approach yielded bad results in expression studio. The resulting file would not have any sound, even though the imported .ts file would be detected as having a sound track, and it would play the sound track fine on VLC. The only workable setting I had was transcoding using handbrake. It did the job well, except that handbrake has no cutting capability.

I have Expression encoder 4 now set up to use the ffdshow decoders and the haali media splitter, and I disabled the AC3 filter. This conflagration proved to be the correct one for me. Not only can I see the video in the preview window, but I actually produce wmv files with WMA pro 5.1 channel surround! I'd say try installing MS Expression encoder 4, ffdshow and haali media splitter. That alone is probably enough to get the job done.

I must also mention that I wound up installing the HD-PVR bundled total media extreme during my testing, but no other filters or codecs show up on the expression encoder options, so I presume the installation has no effect in my success.

I still feel this approach is overkill for what I really want (rescale the video and mux into a different container), but it is a workable solution. I'll report if I find something better... :)

HD-PVR: Setting the cap quality under Windows MCE

I forgot to post this update a while back,

If the default quality settings are not to your liking, there's a way to change them, but you need GraphStudio or another DirectShow filter tool.

The easiest way to get to the correct spot is to use a .wtv file to load the filter graph. Then, right-click on the PVR module to get to the properties, and change it to the bitrate you want. Click OK to save, and that's it.

Windows 7 MCE + HD-PVR + transcode = Neverending frustration

Recently, I decided to make some upgrades to my HTPC portfolio, and as always with these things, the experience has been painful. The story always goes about the same with these things: if you want to do something slightly out of the predetermined storyline, your're simply fucked and SOL.

I got myself a shiny new HD-PVR from Hauppauge. The device is an HD capture device that relies on the component video outputs of whatever you wish to capture. it captures video as AVHCD (H.264) and audio as AC3. I'm using it at the moment as a supplement to my TV company's DVR because the damn thing has a tiny drive (120G) in relative terms for HD content, which is all I care about.

The device does the trick as advertised, but when you want to make it work under the umbrella of Windows Media Center, there are a few hoops you need to jump through. There's a beta set of drivers on the Hauppauge website that works fine for me. My one major issue with it is that the resulting file (1080 with AC3) seems to be a little too much for my HTPC to handle (although it's supposed to have enough video ans CPU horsepower to support blu-ray video, but I digress), and I would love to rescale the captured file down to 720p. This is where my deviation from the norm happens, and this is where I get severely punished for it...

When the HD-PVR is connected to MCE, the captured files are saved in the MS-only wtv container format. This container format along with the video codec makes working with the recorded files almost impossible. Most of the usual suspects (Handbrake, Avisynth, Avidemux) do not understand that container type. There's another ms format, but the conversion is only permitted when the recording compression is MPEG2. Since the HD-PVR does not record in MPEG2, I cannot convert to the other, friendlier format...

lots of googling and forum reads pointed to some alternatives: Microsoft Live movie maker and Expression encoder.

Live Movie Maker is a pretty simple app to use, but the default encoding profiles are very limited. The latest beta version from Live wave 4 allows you to define your own profiles, which is very nice. However, the application only allows the use of the windows media codec 9, which means only stereo sound, and only WMV files. Another thing that turns people off is the fact that the installation drags some other components of the windows Live bundle that honestly have nothing to do with the movie maker.

I gave it a try anyways, but the deal killer was sound severely lagging the video. Scratch that one...

I read on some AVS forums that Expression encoder supports the container and the compression format, and the commercial version ($50) allows you to save as mp4, and it also supports windows media audio codec pro 10, which can save 5.1 and 7.1 audio. I downloaded the free version 4 and gave it a try. The UI is very polished and it allows a little more editing control than Movie Maker.

The problem with Expression encoder 4 is that the source video can be loaded, and encoded, but the source video does not show on the preview window. This makes any kind of editing impossible. The closest thing one can do is to play the original, note the cut points by hand, and enter them in the clips property window. If you've ever done any kind of video editing, you know this is a futile exercise. one of my encoding attempts using 5.1 produced a file that had no sound when I played it back on my PC. The media property window showed the Windows Media 5.1 as I expected, but I got nothing. I didn't bother to check it on the MCE system because my PC is has a 5.1 setup, and the original plays correctly.

More googling and forum reads yielded some other options:

A) 3 steps,

1. Dump the video and audio streams using GraphStudio.
2. Put them back together (MUX) using TsMuxer as a transport stream (.ts) file
3. Transcode using handbrake or some other editor that understands .ts files.

As kludgey as this sounds, it is remarkably simple. It requires some level of understanding most people don't have, but could easily acquire. I'll post a recipe for this later.

This yields a file with all the right things in it. Handbrake is more than happy to process the file. This is, however, a 3-step process, and does not allow for any video cuts other than at the beginning and end.

B) Install a media splitter that understands .ts files, so Expression Encoder can load the file. for this, I used the haali media splitter and the AC3 filter for the audio decoding. I also installed ffdshow, but I thing you can skip that step.

Remember how I mentioned earlier that Expression Encoder does not show the video preview when working with the .wtv file? It it more than happy to show it to me using this method! That is one of the more frustrating aspects of this endeavor. The video and audio are identical to the .wtv file, but they're inside a different container. That's it! how come the MS container does not work in an MS product???? Shenanigans!!!!

This approach worked exactly once for me. Every subsequent attempt always ends the same way: the job fails after a little while. I now cannot seek through the imported video without locking up Expression Encoder. I probably made the fatal sin of uninstalling the software and re-installing it... These codecs are so sensitive that one false move, and you're fucked... :(

So for now, my only available compromise is option A, and living with the uncut original. Cutting out commercials is really not that big of a deal for me because I'm not really interested in archiving the recordings. The main motivation for me was saving space.

I also heard of Format Factory. I will give it a shot and update.

Do you know of any .ts or .wtv editors that understand the HD-PVR format and don't cost an arm and a leg? If you've read this far, you know I'm not shy to try something free that's not too convoluted :)

Later,

Sammy's at the Longwood: What happened?

If you've lived in the Boston area for a long while, and had to spend any time around the medical area, you remember Sammy's kebab cart on Francis street, just in front of the Brigham and Women's hospital. The food was the student's best friend. It was delicious and relatively cheap.

Many many years later, I found myself in the area and now Sammy's has grown into a proper place in the Longwood food court behind Dana Farber.

With good memories and a better appreciation for middle-eastern food, I head over and order some of my favorites: Lamb Shawarma , Mujedara, and Falafel with tahini sauce.

Having tasted all three, I can deduce one of two possibilities: Either my taste for middle eastern food has evolved, or Sammy's has gone down at terminal velocity.

Having tasted both dry and wet versions of Mujedara (from Byblos and Cafe Barada, respectively), Sammy's was neither. While present, I could not taste any of the key ingredients in the dish (lentils and onions), but instead I tasted the cucumber dressing they put on top of it for some reason. I like the dressing, mind you, but not on this dish. It over-powered everything else, so I ended up discarding the vast majority of it. My favorite type is the wet type, and from Cafe Barada in Cambridge. It is creamy, and the lentil flavor is just perfect.

The two key characteristics of Falafel that I love are the crunchy outside and the moist inside. Sammy's was the exact antithesis: soggy and dry. Here again, my recommendation is Cafe Barada. They make then in the traditional dual half-moon shape (think very large skittles). They are crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. Some other shops make them crispy, but usually kind of greasy. Barada's are very light and I think just lovely.

The Shawarma tasted like stewed lamb strips rather than the slow roasted goodness I am used to. The Lamb tasted overcooked (not in a good way) and while edible, it was definitely not what I consider good. The best one I've had so far is actually from a Greek place in Newton called Farm grille. Try them and see for yourself. They're non-traditional by the fact that theirs is actual sliced lamb rather than the usual meatloaf-like base.

I admit: this might be the traditional case of reality not living up to the memory. It was a let-down and I will adjust my expectations next time. I think for a "joint", the place is good. Just don't expect it to become your benchmark for middle eastern food.

Later,

Living with a 3G microcell: an update.

A quick update on the Micro cell:

As many others have mentioned in the AT&T forums, the micro cell is not all that... If you happen to have some coverage (no matter how small) around your place, your phone will happily attempt to hand-off the call from your micro-cell to the macro-cell, causing your call to be dropped. No warning, no (good) reason. The micro cell can accept a hand-off from a macro cell, but the opposite is not true.

This makes for an extremely annoying and disappointing user experience. Supposedly, Cisco (the manufacturers of the micro cell) are working on a fix, but for now it's still on a "coming soon" stage.

One of the suggestions is to get a new SIM card for the phone, which I haven't done just yet. I will update once I do that. Knowing that I coughed up 150 bux for a beta product is not a good feeling, but that's one of the perils of early adoption...

Later,

AT&T 3G Microcell on a FIOS network. Pitfalls to avoid.

If you recently bought a 3G microcell, and your internal network is not one of the usual router defaults like 192.168.0.x or 192.168.1.x, beware: the 3G microcell seems to be a little picky about those...

In my case, I am on FIOS with an internal network with that's neither of the above (192.168.100.x), using a Linux box for both DHCP and DNS, and forwarding a few services to an internal box. I bought the thing, did the online pre-registration, and started the connection. No matter what, the thing would not connect. Besides the fact that they want attempt cycles of 90 minutes, there is nothing that one can check on the damn box to know what's really happening. :(

After checking both the FIOS and the ATT&T forums, it seemed that the best setup is to configure the microcell IP to be reserved, and set that IP to be the DMZ (to bypass any firewall issues). still didn't work...

I found a list of required ports for the thing, which include:

• 443 TCP (HTTPS)
• 123 UDP (NTP)
• 500 UDP (IPSEC)
• 4500 UDP (IPSEC NAT)

I had 443 already mapped, so I cleared that mapping. Started the damn cycle allover again. nothing...
Even though it was already in a DMZ, I set the forwarding rules for the ports. Still, nothing. Called the tech support line and gave them the whole list of things I've done. He had no more ideas...

Finally, I found another post in the FIOS forums that simply said: "I had to reset the firewall to factory defaults, and it worked".

I took the plunge and did the same. Which, by the way, includes a default IP numbering based on 192.168.1.x. Reserved the IP for the thing, set it as a DMZ, and it worked. Not believing that something as dumb as a numbering difference could cause the problem, I set the router back to a 100 based IP, going through the same process to reserve the IP for the unit and setting it as the DMZ. Reboot everybody, and immediately stops working! Revert back to a 1.x IP, and everything works again...

So, my solution was the difficult one: renumber the entire internal network to the 192.168.1.x, and reconfigure all the systems in the house (many!) I cannot imagine something that silly was the cause of all the pain. Knowing that the firewall has been port forwarding all this time without issue leads me to blame the microcell for all this pain. It probably has some dumb internal rule.

So, if you get said device, here's my recommended setup:

• Make sure your network in on 192.168.0.x or 192.168.1.x (most of you will be)
• Check that your MTU is 1492 (no more than 1500), this is the default in most cases, but check.
• Check that IP fragment blocking is disabled (default for me)
• Set up a reserved DHCP address for the microcell (check your documentation). For the FIOS (actiontec) router it is under the advanced settings/ip allocation
• Set up the reserved IP as the DMZ for the firewall. Some people frown on this, but that thing is locked up so tight, it is close to impossible to hijack it for a nefarious purpose.

What would have been nice and possibly saved me loads of time (took close to 3 days to get this thing going!) would have been a simple status landing page on the device. Even if it was something as cryptic as an internal status code. At least that could then be fed to the tech support guy so he can look it up and tell me "your microcell can't receive packets", so I have a better clue as to what's going on. But I digress...

I hope the tale help you if you run into a similar situation.

Later,

Pairings? Really?

If you've been in the Boston area for a few years, you probably remember a forgettable Todd English place called Bonfire. It was located on the Boston Park plaza hotel. Well, apparently the location has some special kind of cursed vibe, because now there's a wine bar called Pairings, and it's almost as disappointing as Bonfire...

My wife and I heard about the place and were very excited. Finally! A proper wine bar in Boston! After checking out some great places in New York and California, we felt that finally Boston was getting its due. But alas, we were disappointed :( There's more variety and ambiance at the local wine shop's evening tasting than at this place!

The place is for all intents and purposes a wine bar, but with a name like pairings, you'd expect at the very least-well-pairings! If you consider a general-purpose listing of average American wines, a sprinkle of usual Napa names and a smidgen of other wines on two pages, followed by a tiny menu of bar bites "Pairings", then you've arrive at the correct place! I expected a proper wine bar and what I got was more akin to a wine expo: No character, just a pile of average wines to sample with a few recognizable names here and there.

We asked the bartender if there were any pairings with the wines, he replied: "no". Strike one. We then asked: "Do you offer wine flights?" and he replied "Flights? What's that?" (Strike two) We explained and then he retorted: "No". Strike three... Even after all that, we still decided to look over the wine list by the glass. We sighed, then walked out.

It's sad to see a business with so much unrealized potential go untapped. With a better rounded list, a quasi-knowledgeable staff, and actual pairings and other proper wine bar features besides a pretend cellar room, the place could be so much more. I am sure that the competition from restaurants doing their own feature wine nights offer options (and competition) for those of us that actually want to experience wine, so maybe I'm missing the point. Maybe what they're trying to do is to take the pub experience and apply it to wine: Provide some selection, keep margins high and get the average muck that sells cheap but rakes in a good profit.

All that ranting notwithstanding, maybe you like the place as-is, or we walked in on a bad day where the good staff was at home. Maybe, but I am certain that their chance for a first impression is long gone, and I will not make any effort to return there.

Later,

Family penance, Formula one, and Spanish Cava

A typical Sunday, I suppose :)

After what amounted to effectively two days of children's birthdays-including an evening marked by petrol fumes among other things-I guess that's a weekend visiting the family... My wife and I finally "escape"back home. We decide to open up a bottle of Spanish Cava a good friend gave us for as a wedding present. he got it for us during the holiday season when he traveled to his home in Barcelona.

I decided to open the 2002 Recaredo Brut de Brut Gran Reserva since I had meant to do this about a month earlier, but things just didn't "line up". I had a sip right after opening at cellar temperature, and I noticed a familiar characteristic of just about every Cava I taste: crisp with a "certain" taste that I don't necessarily like. It's a sharp acid with a grassy note that I can only describe as sharp asparagus. The first thing that came up as a correlation was Freixenet. Although I have not had one in many years, it reminded me of the taste that kind of drove me away from Cava for many years. My wife decided to open a triple cream French cheese (Fromage d' Avingnon), and the wine had a most interesting effect on it: it altered the cheese's flavor to match the basic flavor profile of an Eppoises, but more subdued.

If you ever had an Eppoises cheese, you know what I speak of. I simply could not believe the change in the taste profile. I tried the cheese by itself, and the profile was gone! Immediately after I took another sip of the Cava, the same profile returned. It was a pleasant surprise, especially since I am not particularly fond of that typical Cava flavor. I like Eppoises, but I don't like that Cava profile. I'm just used to finding that flavor only on that cheese, and amenable only to burgundy wine. It definitely caught me off-guard.

I'm a little disappointed that I didn't like the wine. The reason is that My friend and I both love sparkling wines, and we have very similar tastes (judging from comments we shared in a Champagne tasting party I hosted). I promised him I'd give him my opinion, and unfortunately, I don't think he's going to like it. :(

Ah, yes... I was watching the Melbourne Gran Prix. It started pretty wet and crazy, but it ended quite well. Jason Button came away with the win. I was not thrilled with Hamilton's attitude toward his team on the radio Must have been his frustration, I suppose. Kobiyashi's wing failure produced a bad crash, and poor Vettel simply cannot complete a race so far this season. I am confident he'll finish well this season, and will soon become a champion. He reminds me of a young Schumacher back in the Benetton days... I wish him the very best.

Making bread: Something about it sucks...

One of the things I do in my free time to "relax" is to bake bread. It is a challenging thing, and for the most part, very rewarding. It takes time, precision, and loads of patience. I have tried to expand my horizons and attempt to learn from the books of the people that do the stuff for a living. So far, the experience has been relatively disappointing.

About a year or so ago, I did a lot of research online and found that the people that talked about baking at home kept recommending this particular author: Daniel Leader and his book: Bread Alone. The guy is well acclaimed, very well trained, and above all, he bakes for a living, so I bought his book, read most of it, and played with the recipes that I like. So far, I'm 0-3!

I really enjoy making bread. I've made easy stuff like Pain Ordinaire and American-style loaves to Pain the Champagne, Fruit breads, ryes, sourdoughs, and even ciabbatta (which is a major pain). All with very good, if not excellent results. The common thread? None came from his book. They came from another book called the Art of Bread from (I think) the culinary club or America I received as a gift from my mother.

Lately, I've been enjoying hearth baked Tuscan loaf from a local baker. It is mildly sour with a beautiful golden with a chewy interior and not-too-thick crust. The bread is delicious as is, and even better toasted with a little EVOO or butter. Puts a smile on my face every time I eat it. So...

I decided to look for a recipe for such item, and lo and behold, Leader's book has one called "Truly Tuscan Bread" whose description is as mentally accurate as I could find. The recipe is relatively simple, but it takes a looong time to develop. It consists of:

• Two poolies fermented slowly in the fridge over at least 1-1/2 days
• Two fermentation and punch-down periods of at least 6 hours total
• Dividing, shaping and proofing (about 2.5 hours)
  
• Baking that takes 30 minutes
• plus the prep time to mix, create the 20% bran flour mix (not an easy thing to find pre-made), etc.

Working with the dough once finally made felt right, but it didn't have the sour nose I had hoped. The dough seemed elastic enough and seemed to behave correctly. I divide the dough, proof it, and bake it in a stone with a little vapor in the oven as I always do in my house oven, checked for the right temp.

I take the loaves out and they have the dark golden color I'm used to getting from my oven, but not the beautiful medium golden color from the bought loaf. I let them rest in the cooling rack as specified, and take a slice. They look beautiful, but not as expected (again, using the store loaf as reference). I always taste my breads by themselves before I load something else like butter or oil. The crust felt thin, not at all like the bought one, the interior bubble structure seemed fine and very similar, which made me feel better. ...So I took a bite... What a supreme disappointment! It was as boring as one can make bread! It lacked the tang I was expecting, and the worst part was: the seasoning was non-existent! (If you've ever made bread and forgot to put in salt, you know what I'm talking about) My first instinct was to check the salt amount specified in the recipe (When I was making it, I thought it was too little, so I even bumped it up a bit), and it was the amount I read. At this point, I'm more pissed than anything else. The reason? I wasted about 2 days making bread that more than probably will end up being croutons or slathered in jelly or some other way to hide the blah-ness of it! 2 10-inch loaves worth!!!!

I know my ingredients are good. I use King Arthur flour and use it relatively fast enough to make sure it doesn't go bad. I use Fleischmann baker's yeast that is consistently good and lasts for eternity (my dough rises fine every time). I use the gravi-metric method whenever possible to ensure best results. I use filtered or bottled water and bring it to temp before using. I check temps while working, take the dough's temp, and ensure everything is as copacetic as possible.

My disappointment did not come from the fact that the loaves which took so long to make didn't match the store bought. That could be explained by a variety of factors. Ignoring commercial equipment related issues, it is very possible that the bought version is closer to actual sourdough than the recipe. Judging from the color and texture, that's almost a given. My disappointment comes from the fact that every single time I attempt to follow one of the "Bread Alone" recipes, they have the same negative result: average looking and with very little flavor.

I want to make something clear: I'm not tooling on Brian Leader. As I said: he bakes for a living, and seems very successful at it, so he's doing it right. What I'm saying is: There's something missing either in the translation, or my oven is shit, or, and this is very probable, I don't know WTF I'm doing and I get lucky sometimes.

The only other possibility I can conjure is that I don't like his bread. If you knew me, you'd find that statement ludicrous. I haven't found a baker's bread (OK, Subway...) I haven't liked (for the styles I like); ever. My only experience with his bread are my attempts to reproduce them, and so far, they have been boring at best.

It's gotta be something...

Got any suggestions other than "give it up and keep buying bread instead of making it"? Maybe I just need another baker's book!

I'll probably give another one of his recipes a shot. One more disappointment, and that will be the end of it for my relationship with Mr. Singer's book...

...Maybe I ought to take a class!

Later,

Vegas trip dinner 1: Le Cirque

The day of our arrival at the Bellagio, we were celebrating my Wife's birthday. We chose to try Le Cirque for dinner. Two of our good Friends from California met us for dinner to celebrate, and two more were scheduled to arrive that night and possibly join us for dessert.

The venue is located at the front of the main floor overlooking the famous fountains. It is a very intimate setting with probably not more than 15 tables. The Decor is (surprise) reminiscent of an old circus tent with vibrant colors and overhanging draperies. Our waiter was a great gentleman originally from Beaune (Burgundy) with great flair and sense of humor to match :)

We started with cocktails. I stuck with one of my new faves: French 75. The wife ordered a Framboise (raspberry puree and champagne), Our friends had a Lychee martini and a margarita. Everyone loved their choices.

With the help from our new friend from Beaune, we selected a Nuits St Georges bottle of a Gran Cru burgundy that was superb. Everyone loved it! Even our friends who don't drink red wine that often.

For a starter, I chose to be daring and order the Escargots. My wife chose the Foie gras terrine with fruit chutney and Gewurztraminer jelly. Our friends had the Le Cirque lobster salad with truffle dressing.

My escargots were phenomenal. I usually don't order them because my previous experiences have been mixed. I was at Le Cirque, so I had to trust them this time, and they didn't disappoint. They had the right balance of buttery goodness along with the herb and garlic finish that lasted on your palate. My wife concurred. Her Foie gras terrine was good, but we have that so often that it had to be outstanding for us to comment on it. We felt the chutney was overly sweet for our palate. It's hard to do outstanding terrine all the time, so no fault there.

For the meal, Our friends ordered the sea bass paupillete and the Rabbit prepared three ways over a bed of mashed potatoes. My wife and I ordered the rabbit and the tenderloin with Foie gras and asparagus, respectively.

I did not have a chance to taste the fish dish, but the consensus was that is was very good.

I tried the rabbit dish and it was very well executed. The meat was tender and the rabbit flavor was very good without being too overpowering. The ravioli version (it was three different preparations of rabbit) was particularly good.

The tenderloin dish was probably the best meat dish I've experienced to date. The meat was perfectly seasoned, and the seared Foie gras on top added that extra level of decadence one can only feel "okay" doing in Vegas. (side dish? asparagus?). It was a puff pastry short of a magnificent beef wellington. Frankly, it didn't need it. It was decadent enough as is :) To be honest, I usually ignore tenderloin because they lack in flavor. My preferred cut of ribeye. This dish was the first time I've felt this happy about ordering tenderloin. It was buttery tender and the seasoning was out of this world. It probably was just plain sea salt and pepper, but it made the meat just perfect. Every sip of the Pinot made a great experience even better. My wife had a taste, made essentially the same comment I did, and kept coming back for more :) Overall, a wonderful dinner experience.

Our other friends made it to the hotel in time to meet us for dessert. By the time they met us, we had the place to ourselves. The staff was so gracious to accommodate our new arrival in our table they made us feel great. They chose an ice cream bomb presented in an ice sphere that looked awesome. Their smiles and rolled eyes confirmed it :) My wife had the creme brulee (she must have it everywhere) and I had a crepe suzette prepared with a grand marnier sauce that was right on the money.

By the time we finished, everyone had a big smile on their face. My wife was so happy everyone made it that could not stop smiling. It was as perfect of an evening as we could have hoped.

The annoying part of Cabo San Lucas: What I DON'T like

After being and living together for 18 years, my lady and I decided to get married. We decided to go to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for our vacation/honeymoon. The experience was mixed at best.

we get out of the airport looking for the shuttle to the hotel. a nice man with airport credentials asks where we're going and directs us to a desk. When we researched the whole thing, we found that the shuttle services don't depart from the hotel (or the hotel cannot help us schedule it), so when this guy tells us he can arrange it, we feel a little relieved. What happened was we got roped into a time share promo for 60 dollars (same price as the R/T shuttle ride). Once the duh moment settles, we try to bail out of the whole thing, but instead wind up negotiating with the promoter for money instead of activities and all the other junk they offer.

The irony of it was that my wife was commenting how she might be interested in checking out the possibilities of a time share in the area. They say: "careful what you wish for", and boy, was it apropos this time!

The basic hook of these setup goes like this: They ask you for some deposit (varies all the time depending on how you get roped in) and ask you to go to a 90 min presentation. In exchange, you get free transportation to and from the place, breakfast or lunch, one or two tickets for activities, dinner certificates, and in our case, transport back to the airport. You need to bring an ID and a Visa or Mastercard because (supposedly) they're sponsoring the promotion. Sounds pretty harmless, doesn't it? Just listen to a sales pitch and that's it...

We go to the place and do the initial meet and greet. Somehow, we know this is going to be a bit awkward. We meet the sales guy (Ernesto) play along regarding questions, etc. and tell them straight up not buying. we're just curious about the process.

The easy stuff begins. We're explained the way this particular setup works. Shared ownership, not a time share, premium properties better than four seasons, ritz, etc. They show us the grounds and pitch their other properties (only in mexico and south america). How the owner is a mexican guy with oodles of cash and how they got an american corp from Texas to manage the place, etc. We go to the breakfast, which was good. So far, everything is going okay. we still mention that we're primarily curious about the experience, etc. One of the things I notice is that we're probably one of the youngest couples there (we're pushing 40, by the way), so we're felling a bit funny about that. The guy chats up about how successful they are about getting people to buy (50% supposedly), and how owners love their setup, etc. To me, it sounds like a load of crap, but that's mainly because I don't trust sales people especially.

Then, the fun starts: we go to what I like to call the kill room. This is where they sit you on a table with the guy that gave you the tour and talked you up, tell you all the other deals they have with other companies (so you don't feel like you're buying just mexican property), and all the other poo. The initial salvo gets tossed: You can buy 4 weeks with a huge apartment for 189K and you can easily start with a 17K deposit using your Visa or Mastercard.

Now, remember how Visa/MC supposedly sponsors the promotion? well, depending on how you look at it, it may be true. Considering that there's a percentage fee associated with credit transactions, you could say they're promoting the whole thing. I seriously doubt the CC companies have any direct involvement in this bullshit, but I give them an A on creative shit shoveling. :)

Back to the "present": we repeat that we're not buying anything. The price and options begin to drop, giving at least 6 or 7 more times to say "No". The guy's face begins to turn to frown... By the time we're done with him, the price dropped to something like 5K for a week, timeshare-like bennies, for a 600 Visa/MC deposit. We repeat: no, and now, I add the closing argument: "we're done".

In their last-ditch effort, they bring you down to do an "exit interview" with a no-pressure-like young man, now from the US, to ask you what was the reason you didn't buy and to tell you that your gifts will be ready in 10 minutes because there's someone ahead of you. I repeated the same thing, and told them their switch from friend to douche bag didn't help. He concurs, and proceeds to make us a final final effort to take our cash. At this point, I'm pretty pissed off, but I refrain from calling him out, so I conclude with "I'm not interested. We want to leave now".

By the time the whole thing's done, they load you in a van that brings you to the front of the property where you pick up your stuffs and taxi money to your place. Even then, after all that, the last person that handles the cab call and pay the driver to take you to your hotel tries to sell you some other non-descript shit. I felt like punching someone at that point.

On the way back, the Wife and I look at each other and agree that it was both an infuriating and enlightening experience. When we get to our hotel, they're doing the same thing, so we proceed to set them up straight fast. That didn't stop them from trying at least twice more to get us in. Come to find out: every hotel in the area work the same way. It was so disappointing!

I will finalize the rant about the vultures soon. If you're going to Cabo, the moment you step out of the customs area, skip the fist room and go to the next one to get a shuttle and/or taxi. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.

...However... If you have the stomach to withstand high-pressure sales turds and you enjoy making people suffer AND want to get free money and/or activities while there in exchange for about 2hrs time, then do stop by the first booth, negotiate for just about anything you want, then go get a free breakfast and piss of the sales people. Remembering that you can do this in every single place in Cabo, you can effectively eat and keep busy effectively for free. If I had the disposition and or necessity, I would clean these people out to the point of being black-listed. I just can't. My time is precious, and fortunately, I can afford to do the stuff on my own.

Apartment hawking notwithstanding, the town is effectively a tourist trap mainly designed for prototypical herds of tourists getting off cruise ships and timesharing people looking to golf and drink. Some activities like hiking fishing etc. are thee, but still designed with these people in mind. There's little to no character to the place. The locals are piss-poor and we're the best thing they have since we give them money all the time and tip well, even if it is in Pesos.

For the most part, it is relatively inexpensive-unless you do the american thing and stick with american franchises which make about 90% of the places. The rest of the allure is drinking on the cheap and shopping on outlets at prices that are decent but not great in my opinion. Being foodies, it was disappointing to see such a meager dining scene. The main food is seafood. It's very fresh, but it is more of the same every time, so there's no major variety. For some bizarre reason, the main cuisine attraction seems to be Mediterranean and primarily Italian. That makes no sense to me, but I'm crazy like that...

We went off the beaten path and checked out a local taqueria that served typical bite-sized tacos for 10-20 pesos (0.80 to 1.60 US) Frankly, that was probably the best food we had there.

Besides the critiques, the weather was great. Sunny, not too hot, and great wait staff at the pool keeping us well fed and hydrated. Our last dinner experience at La Frida at a resort called Pueblo Bonito in the Pedregal region. We had considered this place when booking the vacation. It is a very beautiful place, but I'm glad we didn't stay there. It was very very seculded with an entrance way at least a mile long. When I got there, I even bet the wife that they'd offer us a 90 minute presentation before we leave. She didn't think they'd do it, but alas, she lost the bet...

The La Frida choice was a recommendation from one of the locals as authentic mex, but it was mostly a fusion place. The decor was hacienda style Mexican room. The most authentic thing was a chicken in mole given to us as a chef taste (not on the menu). The wife had sea bass (again) and I had a guajillo chile short rib that was good, but not authentic mexican in any way. The wait staff was wonderful and the live singer added an extra bit of romance to the place. Once again, I noticed we were the youngest people in the room. We were very happy until they took over an hour to deliver the final dish, which was extremely excessive in my opinion. Either the waitress messed up the order, or they were killing the cow for the rib and/or went down to the water to fish out the sea bass... That alone buzz-killed the experience for me. The prices were very high compared to the rest of the experience, so that was another negative.

Would I return to Cabo? Unlikely. The place is just another american-ready tourist trap with good weather. It's just another box checked on the list. My verdict? skip it unless you like the trap concept

A visit to Bina Osteria

My lady and I have been meaning to check the place out for quite some time now. We have been to another of the owner's places (Bin26 Enoteca) a few years back and enjoyed the experience. The place has a similar vibe, but on a larger scale since Bin26 is located on a very small place along Charles street in Boston. The choice was made even easier by the return of Restaurant week.

We started by Moseying over to the bar and having a drink. We had an interesting drink made with a bitter liqueur called Amaro. It was refreshing but it seemed a little pricey at $10 a drink.

We finally sat down for dinner, and as it is usually the case, one of us orders from the RW menu, and one orders a la carte. They had 3-course menus for both options, and the price difference was minimal between the two (an oddity in most other times we've done RW). I chose a chicken wing appetizer and the lady chose the Carne Cruda (Beef Tartar). The Carne cruda was excellent. The celery pesto was a bit strong but still paired well with the beef. The wings were a little bland. they sat in what looked like a celery puree, but I really could not tell. It in fact seemed to "suck" the flavor out of the wings making them taste even less of them. It seems odd, but I can't describe it any other way.

For the main dish, the lady selected the Bistecca (steak) with the creamed cauliflower, peppers and spinach, medium. I chose the Agnello (lamb), medium-rare with the vegetable caponata and grilled polenta with herbs. For wine, we chose their featured nebbiolo (can't remember the label).

For some reason, the kitchen messed up both preparations by at least two levels. Her steak was well done and my lamb was medium well. Neither dish was "destroyed", but they certainly missed the mark. It could be that they could not properly control the final rest temperature of the meats because of their small size. Mind you: I'm not complaining about the dish sizes-which were small but fine-but rather about the lack of attention to the resting temperature. The only saving grace was that somehow the dishes still tasted good enough to eat. I must have had the laziest lamb ever because it had none of the characteristic "gamey" taste associated with lamb cooked past medium doneness. The Polenta was excellent, and it helped in overlooking the meat faux-pas.

The Lady's dish suffered from the same ailment, sans the goodness of the polenta. The cauliflower was like a buffer between the caponata and the beef. It really brought nothing of note to the dish. If you've ever made cauliflower puree, you know that it needs a lot of help (especially when used as a replacement for mashed potatoes, which are nothing more than a delivery mechanism for butter, cream and whatever else tasty-but-bad you want to put in them), but alas, these had none :( Her steak was still quite good despite being overcooked for her taste, so that helped.

The dessert was the highlight of the meal. It was a simple dark chocolate gelato that tasted like it was made just before serving. The flavors were bright and fresh along with a great, intense dark chocolate flavor.

Meal preparation notwithstanding, the entire staff were extremely nice and our waiter was excellent. I only wished that the meal matched their enthusiasm.

Would I recommend Bina to a friend? I'm not sure. I guess I'd say the staff was great and the place is very nice, but I'd be wary of at least ordering meats there, since (based on my experience) they tend to overcook them. Considering their usual (high) dinner prices, I'd say go there for a nice drink and maybe an appetizer, but that's about it.

I do recall the waiter telling us that they usually carry two menus (inside/outside tables), so maybe the outside menu is executed better?

Later,

AOC: A good hangout in west LA

After yesterday's documented so-so foray, I was juggling between two choices: A comfortable choice like BLT Steak, or a new venture like AOC. I decided to take the one mile each way walk to AOC instead.
Being still in-between the east coast and west coast time, I showed up "early" at 7:30 for some eats and plenty of wine. They have a pretty good selection of wines by the glass, although I would have hoped a more extensive champagne offering and more mature vintages, overall the list is pretty good.

The place offers small sampler platters a-la tapas (many of them Spanish inspired) and they recommend about 3 per person. The prices are not exactly cheap, but definitely average for a typical tapas bar.

My starter was a fried squid, arugula, and radish salad with a garlicky remoulade that was actually quite good. I chose to have the Albariño (Cambiata), and it was a decent choice. The acidity and citrus notes worked well with the greens and even put up a fight with the garlic. I couldn't ask for more.

Next I chose to have a glass of a Cremant de Borgogne rosé (Parigot & Richard) offered in the sparking list. It was probably the first sparkling rosé I actually felt like I liked, For the most part, rosés are simply boring. They have a beautiful nose, but when it comes to flavor, they just don't seem to deliver. The next dish was roasted dates with parmagianno and bacon. I was shocked to see the cremant actually "survive" the dates. I've had a similar dish that is much stronger (serrano ham and cabrales cheese) which would have destroyed the rosé, but this one actually worked relatively well. A pleasant surprise.

Next was a half glass of Ribera del Duero (Valduero) that played okay with the figs.The structure and tannins actually stood up to the sweetness of the figs, but not as good as I hoped.

Next was a very good combination of tetilla cheese pan fried with membrillo (quince paste) and romesco. The cheese crisped very well almost to the point of making you believe it was bread. It gave you the illusion of a grilled cheese with all the other goodies. the romesco sauce seemed darker than I remember. I don't know if it bought anything to the taste buds, for overall the dish was good. I chose a Savigny les Beaune by Jean luc Dubois that had this nice floral nose and delicate flavor. The cheese actually didn't overpower it.

The waitress offered a suggestion of grilled mussel skewers with back fat (uncured bacon) that I chose to have with the rest of a rosé. She was nice enough to bring me a taste of a fumé blanc they had in the list that was amazingly good. Fumé blanc is not part of the wines I tend to request, but this one was a pleasant surprise. It had the strong mineral and petrol notes of a Riesling, but with a more pronounced citrus component. The acidity worked great with the mussels. The rosé had all the typical complaints: great nose, but average taste. I guess not for me :)

I had to push it and get dessert (good thing the place was a mile walk each way). I was really hoping they'd serve me a glass of Kracher #6, but alas, it was available only by the bottle. I had to switch gears and get a dark chocolate torte with a glass of LBV port. A very good match indeed. I would have hoped they had some Brachetto d' aqui(Rosa Regale), but no dice.

My only small "beef" is that all wines by the glass were quite young. I wish they had some mature offerings. Considering the price of glasses, I think it wouldn't be too bad of a stretch.

I even broke a sweat walking back to the hotel, but it felt good. I felt satisfied with the service, the food, and the ambiance. It was not a cheap dinner by any one's standards, but it was definitely fun. I could only wish my lady were here with me to enjoy...

On the way back, I waled by a sushi bar packed with Japanese people waiting to get in. Now, that sounds promising!

Later,

Comme Ça: so-so

It's been a while since I felt the "need" to share stuff about what I like. Mainly, it's been due to what I mentioned before (broken hand), and some due to the economic situation. Well, things are starting to get back to "normal", so I have been able to indulge in the occasional dining out foray.

This time, I'm back on the west coast on some business around west Hollywood where there's a restaurant in practically every corner. I am going to try my best to sample as many interesting places as I can.

Today, I searched the web and some local mags for some suggestions. This place (Comme Ça) popped up on the list as a french bistro fare, and google maps put it a few blocks away, so I decided to give it a try.

The place is on Melrose avenue in a nicely decorated place that attempts to give you the feel of a french bistro in what feels like an American way. There's a nice bar as well as a cheese "bar" close to the maitre d' where a lovely lady was working on cheese platters.

I ordered a glass of '04 Bordeaux that I cannot remember the name (it was just OK), a roasted beet salad with goat cheese for the starter dish, Duck confit for the main course, and decided to finish with a raspberry breton for dessert.

The salad was reasonably well executed. I would have hoped the beets were warm, but they were nonetheless good. The dressing worked well with the vegetables as well as the herbed goat cheese.

The main dish was rather strange: The menu said Confit leg of duck with roasted potatoes and caramelized onions. I got the aforementioned ingredients, but with a bizarre (to me) addition: a mound of cold, regular run-of-the-mill cole slaw between the duck and the roasted vegetables. I even had to ask the waiter if they had put the slaw there by mistake. He claimed that is was "a new preparation". That it was...

If you happen to enjoy duck confit as much as I do, you can think of many things that could complement it. KFC-style cole slaw isn't one of them!

Imagine beautifully roasted vegetables covered in a coating of lukewarm mayonnaise and mustard dressing. Or how about the terrible texture of lukewarm cole slaw against a very hot piece of meat that is not:

a) BBQ
b) Fried chicken

I like cole slaw. It has its place- and duck confit is not one of them! I could even forgive a fancy sweeter slaw with a flavor profile similar to a currant reduction or some other duck complimentary fruit, but not fracking mayonnaise!
you can tell I have a very strong opinion about this

I proceeded to move the slaw as far from the actual stuff as possible. The rest of the items were very well prepared. The confit was crunchy and falling off the bone; the potatoes were roasted perfectly as well as the caramelized onions. It paired pretty well with the Bordeaux, although the tannins interfered a few times. An otherwise fine dish, except for the KFC offense...

The dessert was good. The berries were fresh and very juicy. The shortcake was a little too cold, which tended to mute some of the other flavors. This dish also had a superfluous addition of smoked salted nuts. They were relatively good, but it didn't seem to add anything to the dessert (except more questions)

The wait staff was actually pretty good. I got there relatively early in the evening, so the place was less than 1/2 full. The staff paid good attention to me throughout the meal. Everyone was pretty friendly and offered suggestions when prompted, which is great.

I don't know: maybe I caught the chef in a special mood and paid the price for his faux-pas. If that's the case, then I can understand. But if this is the normal way of things at Comme Ça, then I'd hate to think of them appropriately "so-so".

Let's hope tomorrow brings a better experience.

Later,

Been off the air for a while

I've been on the D/L since I broke a hand and ran into other fun problems. I will start posting more regularly once the whole situation gets back to "normal"... whatever that is :)