Review no. 2 (BIG restaurant review)

Dinner time! I saved all day. A bagel for breakfast and peanut M&M's for lunch. I was hitting the town for dinner.

When in Omaha, EAT MEAT! What kind? COW!

I don't remember how, but I found a place called Brother Sebastion's. The reviews were all positive, except one lady that said she got food poisoning two years ago.

The restaurant is actually in a very strange location. It's also in the end of a sort of low budget almost run down strip mall off a side street. It's definately not a location you would stumble upon. You have to know it's there to find it. It's not really even viewable from the main street.

The overall theme is a Monastary or a Mission. Very low keyed pseudo spanish style design on the outside with music you would expect to hear if you were in a monastary. On the inside, it's a cozy, segmented intimate design. Once you get into the restaurant foyer, there is a bar to the left and the hostess table to your right. Behind that is a glass enclosed wine room. Filled with cubes of wine from floor to ceiling. It's very dark inside, especially if you have come in from a bright day. It only take 10 or so minutes and your eyes will adjust, but at first it's almost a detriment.

I asked if I was dressed appropriately and the hostesses joked to each other (and myself) if they should let me in. They did and I thanked them for it. :)

The reason I asked is because the web site says "smart casual". I was dressed in tan colored jeans and a button down collared shirt. As I walked through, others were dressed from blue jeans to suits. (I didn't wear my hat though).

They walked me around the the wine room down a hallway. On either side you could see the outlines of doorways that were rooms. These rooms were the dining areas. One door to the right was a smallish room that had the salad bar. One room on the left had intimate booths with black leather buttoned bench seats that would fit four to a table. Each booth was seperate from the others by walls of red brick from the tops of the booth to the exposed wood beams in the ceiling. The only lights are the very low main lights, an over head stylish period light and a table top candle. The smller rooms only had six boths to a room. Like I said, very intimate. In a few of the rooms were gas fireplaces with very large flumes. This added physical warmth as well as ambiance. But it also made the booths even that much more intimate. So much that one could get a little risque with a significant other and possibly not be seen.......

Even though I didn't get a tour of the place. I could see another area that had a table for 6 to 8 and possibly 10 diners. In that same room was at least one table for two and possibly two tables for two along the wall. The walls were like I said, adorned with red brick in some of the areas. The medium sized area had the ends of stacked wine barrels so it looked like a winery barrel room. It was, very cool indeed.

Most of the wait staff wears maroon robes similar to what a monk might wear. (No hoods or rope belts, I am sure OSHA had to have their say in the uniform).

Another area across from the room I was in was larger and could possibly seat 20+ people in a few large tables. I didn't get a good look at it, but it sounded like a large crowd was already there. Another room had one wall as one of the other wine rooms. It too was stocked with wines floor to ceiling in cubes.

Now to the menu. It wasn't so full that you couldn't make a choice. Typical fare of red meat, fish, chicken and some pasta. They did have a lunch and a dinner menu. Of course I decided on a steak before I even looked at the menu. That's why I was there in the first place. My choice was a Stuffed New York Strip. They stuff it with crab and shrimp and side with hollandaise and asparagus. When I asked the waitress about her favorite (which was a Filet Oscar) it had hollandaise and asparagus. I mentioned I didn't like asparagus and wasn't sure what hollandaise was (REALLY!). I choose the NY Strip medium well. It took about 30 minutes for my meal to come. But before I get to that point, let's talk about the wine list. It was quite wonderful. Many many choices and at the time of my visit there were 155 wines in their list. I selected a German Beerenauslese from the Rhine region. It's a very sweet wine, normally sold in a half bottle and always twice as expensive. But if you like sweet wines, these are tough to not drink. The nice thing about the German wines, is they have enough acidity so they don't taste like cough syrup. This was one of them. I only had a glass ( I was the only driver) so it was an expensive "glass" of wine. I implored the waitress to try it since I was going to leave it. She should share it with others too so they can try something different.

After my foood arrived, I tried to open my baked potato, but it was incredibly hot. Right out of the oven. If they microwave them, you couldn't notice it. The texture was of a potato that had been cooked completely in the oven. I like that.

The NY Strip was a bit over cooked. Not by the chef, but by my order. I should have choosen medium, but in every other restaurant that means bloody. I like my meat barely pink and HOT. He he, insert joke here--->

This was just gray, with a slight hint of pink. Unfortunately it was over cooked, I really couldn't taste the stuffing. Again, it was my decision for the order. I am sure it would have been wonderful had I selected the right cooking option.

My steak did come with a hollandaise and broccoli on the side as well as sour cream and whipped butter for the potato. The pre dinner bread wasn't anything special. It was warm but very little flavor. The butter offered was also in the little foil packets and they were cold. Kind of a let down to have to tear into those stupid little things while your bread cools off. I would have preferred the whipped butter. It melts better.

After dinner I had a few options. Normally I order cheese cake. This time I had a strawberry shortcake. It arrived in a to go box (something I requested). It was a very nice sized serving that was VERY cold. The cake was layered with cream in the middle, whipped topping on the sides and the right amount of strawberries.

Something I learned a few years ago, I put to the test again. I had a bite of the strawberry shortcake then a final sip of the Beerenauslese ( remember, it's a sweet wine). Unfortunately, the BA was very thin when tasted after the sweet strawberries. Alone, it's fine.

But honestly, there is only one wine that has been able to stand up to a test like that and it was the Chateau St. Michelle 2001 Eroica, Single Berry Select. That, my friends is the best wine "I" have ever had. Many don't like it because of the sweetness. But it can stand up to a dessert or stand by itself.

All in all, the ambiance, the staff, the food are all time and money well spent. I wish I was there with someone else, but it was still a worthwhile visit. If you are ever in Omaha Nebraska, I would wholeheartedly suggest a visit to Brother Sebastion's. Without the wine, the dinner was about $45.00. Slightly spendy, but still a nice place for dinner.

Just don't stay at a Holiday Inn, if you want the Internet to work (well).

So close

After work today we headed out for a family dinner at a Japanese restaurant. They sit 8 to a grill (large griddle) and the chef takes center stage. It's a fun place since they chop and flip the food in front of you. If you get something with onions, they will separate the rings and make it into a volcano and light some oil or something and it caramelizes, flames and smokes. It's quite entertaining.

I was the last to arrive and there was already a couple on one end and the rest of our family across the other short end and the long side. I sat next to the other couple.

They were younger than us. A little quiet. Then I show up and ended up paying more attention to them than my own family. I have to say, I was hoping I was going to be able to get them to pose for a portrait.

We talked about their jobs in the social work field and recycling industry. Both were quite intriguing. I had a nice conversation with them and was happy they were willing to reciprocate.

My son was taking some pictures and they asked about photography. Since the subject was breached I mentioned that I was doing a project for organ donation awareness. One was a donor and the other wasn't.

To me, there was a bit of tension in the air at that point. I had to reiterate that I don't care about the decision. All I want to do is bring about an awareness and elicit a conversation. I tried to talk about other subjects, but it's tough. I sometimes get tunnel vision when I want something really bad. Like a portrait. But it's very important to see the forest for the trees and not press too hard for a portrait.

Dinner was about done and we finished with some small chat. Then as they were getting ready to leave she said she would keep us in our prayers but would have to pass on the photo.

While I was bummed. I felt I had a nice conversation with someone I would have never met otherwise.

Someday, some of the people I meet will actually call me or email me to have a portrait taken. Until then. It's business as usual.

High's and lows

19:45 hrs
There isn't much here in Plano Illinois now, but it looks like the place is growing very fast. Give it a little time, and it looks like Plano and Yorkville will be really nice.

I went to a restaurant here that had a now open sign up. Even on the night of the college football championship game, it was essentially empty.
Inside was a very nice modern rustic design. Exposed stones, wood floor and a fireplace in the corner of the pub. I didn't see the dining area, but I assume it would be as nice.
The menu was decent. I decided on Atlantic Salmon and a baked potato. It took a while for it to arrive but the waitress was pretty attentive.
When it arrived it looked good in the dimmed lighting. As I cut into the baked potato, you could feel it was sitting in a luke warm oven for quite some time
but never actually got cooked and they finished it off in a microwave. Oh, yuuummm. Then the salmon had so little color I thought it was a white fish.
The seasoning they had was good, but that's all I could taste. But I got lots of chances by chewing on the rubber sold as salmon.
At least the water was clear. I will give them one mulligan in that they had a birthday party with a party of 20 or so. So the lateness of my food can be attributed to that.
But if it's the BCS championship game I would have thought they would have enough kitchen staff to cover a few more people than extra. I think my food probably sat under the heat lamp
for way too long. It just messed up the potato and salmon.

Once I was done, I was walking out and noticed the girl at the front with little to do. So, of course I asked if I could take her picture for my organ donation awareness project.
She was tentative at first, but I explained the reason for my self initiated project. She went ahead and agreed. I think I got about 5 pictures of her that were nearly incredible.
She had just had some pictures done recently and her poses were perfect. Great head tilt. She flashed the smile and held it. I was actually intimidated by her composure.

Then the manager came in. She of course was on the defensive right off the bat. Understandably. It's her place. She took the business card from my hand and wanted to know what I was doing.
I explained, knowing full well that it wasn't gong to end in my favor. She went on to say that this isn't something that should be happening and that the subject was a minor
(which she wasn't) and this is a place of business.

Well, I know it's a place of business, that's why I just spent $25.00 on something passed off as food. How else will I take pictures of people in my course of daily activities unless I
actually visit businesses.

I conceded. Packed up my gear and walked out. I feel sorry for the girl. She was put on a spot and I am truly sorry for that. This photo project isn't supposed to create confrontation
but invariably, it will. The manager had a right to protect their employees and business. I appreciate that. But after getting a couple of really good pictures I cannot and will not use them.

Thank you for the time, sorry for the fuss.

Cuz it's good for the neighborhood

We went out for a family dinner tonight since I wasn't going to wait for dinner to cook itself and I was heading to Chicago tomorrow.

At the restaurant there weren't many opportunities from first glance. After we ordered, I decided to ask one of the wait staff if I could take her picture. She was incredibly attentive and gracious with her time. But the low light and the speed at her movements was almost too much for my camera. I really don't like shooting with a flash, especially in a confined space like a restaurant. But it seems that I had little choice.
She had finished taking an order and was entering it in their system and I headed back to catch her in the act so to speak.
We talked a little about the donation process, what brought me to this project and about flash photography. Then as I understood it, she had asked generally about actually donating to someone. Which would be called an altruistic donation. Where you donate to who ever can use what ever you can donate as a live person. Which would be a liver, partial lung and a single kidney.

"T" since you do "believe it's a good thing to do". Please check out my links here on the blog or send me an email and I can point you in the right direction of you still want more information.

You were so gracious in your time and were really at ease in front of the camera. I truly appreciate it. The rest of you can see her picture here http://www.flickr.com/photos/oneaday2007