Three Latest and Best

Even with the heat, what's best about this time of year? The long evenings where everyone seems ready to cram in the best of summer the week before the kids go back to school. Most of us think of August as "the hot month", but even the weather seemed to take a back seat in the past few days as we enjoy the best the sunsets have to offer. Welcome to Three Latest and Best: Long Summer Nights edition.

Dinner at Ruth's Chris: What do I love most about being a grown up? Nights like four of us had on Saturday when an impromptu dinner (after a day at the pool) turned into a leisurely supper of cocktails, snacks, steaks, and fine wine. The filets were great (all ordered differently prepared -- hint: get the roasted sweet peppers), the mashed potatoes hit the spot, and the noble bread pudding that arrived swimming in sauce was the perfect end. The wine? A 2004 Caymus Cabernet -- Napa cab goodness.

Bread from Jungle Jim's: The weekend found me in Cincinnati for a quick commando raid on Jungle Jim's. (We didn't have much time.) It seems like I try something new every time I go there and this was the first time we'd raided the bakery. And oh, what a raid it was! The bread was so delicious looking, we opened it in the car! The best? The olive rosemary and the cheddar jalapeno. Tip -- have them slice it for you fresh before they bag your loaf.

Sunday Night at Bella Vita: I'm not a regular at Bella Vita by any means, but as far as restaurants on lakes go, this one can be pretty darn good. The food? Expensive but edible. The service? Surprisingly efficient although it wasn't crowded. And the deck? Perfectly suited for watching the comings and goings of life on Geist. It was pleasantly uncrowded which we attributed to weather, school starting, and the algae scare, but we enjoyed it immensely! Say what you will about the bars and "beach" (and those oh-so-tacky neon lighted palm trees), but we had a blast. (Yes, I did play corn hole. Try not to faint.) Here's a special shout-out to Jim Arnold and his lovely wife (and their entire party) who looked terrific in their summer whites! After dinner, we piled back in the boat and headed out to the lake to watch the spectacular sunset. Hail to long summer nights!

Three Latest and Best

Road Trip to Jungle Jim's: Yes, it's the most fun you can have in a grocery store. And it says a lot about how bored we were with the sleety weather last weekend. Three of us roadtripped to Cincinnati to make a Jungle Jim's run. I found all sorts of yummy tidbits including a gorgeous fingerling potatoes, an orange fig spread, and a six-pack of Hopslam.

St. Supery Cabernet: I had forgotten how much I loved the big, velvety, black cherry finish on this luscious California cab. In a flight tasting with the Honig and Clos du Val cabs, the St. Supery was the clear favorite after it opened up. The Honig was elegant coming right out of the bottle, but failed to change over time, and the Clos du Val suffered by comparison as its stiffer, French style was flat by comparison to the giant the St. Supery grew in to.

Sushi at Ocean World: I'd forgotten how much I liked this simple but delicious sushi place on the North side of the city. Serving a very traditional style, I've always enjoyed their bento box lunch special with a hand roll, another maki, a couple of pieces of nigiri sushi, miso soup and a salad (limp iceberg lettuce with a strange ginger dressing they've had there for years.) We splurged and ordered extra maki. My favorite? Their signature asparagus tempura roll.

Three-Courses at The Oceanaire: Ok, this is four, but here's one of the best kept secrets in town -- a three-course prix fixe menu at lunch for $17.95. You get two options for each course. Me? Oysters for starters, mahi mahi with rice and vegetables, and chocolate chip cookies with milk for dessert!

Two-Minute Warning: I've had it with PF Chang's. While I used to enjoy their lunch menu -- simple Mu Goo Gai Pan and Almond Chicken, not to mention the Crispy Honey Shrimp or Chicken, I can no longer stand the blandness. It's as if they decided any flavor at all is too much for midwesterners. Maybe they get a lot of complaints. Either way, I have to spend so much time doctoring my own dishes with soy sauce and rice vinegar that I might as well cook at home. Plus, they've changed their steamed white rice to a cheaper variety. While it's still some variation of slightly sticky rice, it's not the great Asian sticky rice it should be. Maybe it's corporate cost consolidation or the constant churn of the downtown location. Either way, I won't be back for a while.

Food News Round Up

Hey, kids -- other than a weekend road trip to Jungle Jim's, I've been buried in work. I hate it when that cuts into my eating time. Here are a few tidbits to tide you over until later in the week when the social calendar picks up a bit:

Red Sauce is In: Justin Timberlake may be bringing sexy back, but customers longing for simple comforting favorites are bringing red sauce back. From traditional Italian to upscale trendy, fresh and simple tomato sauces like marinara and pomodoro are back in style. Good -- and good for you! (From the Boston Globe)

Critics Being Sued? A recent defamation ruling against a food critic in an Irish court may have implications in the US. Have recent US court decisions eroded journalists protections to say how they really feel about a restaurant's food and service? Michael Bauer at the SF Chron weighs in on his blog.

The More the Merrier: Frank Bruni's blog, Diner's Journal, has now become a group blog featuring posts from several NY Times writers. Today, Marian Burros weighs in on her favorite French Italian restaurant -- all comfortably glowing in the winter. Look for the same great thoughts from Bruni including a post last week on how reasonable or unreasonable it is for restaurants to demand a credit card number from patrons and charge them for no-shows.

Cooking the French Laundry Cookbook: If you loved Julie and Julia, then you'll want to read the latest from French Laundry at Home, a blog by a woman cooking her way through the entire French Laundry Cookbook in her own kitchen. Complete with pictures and details, she just finished the cream of walnut soup! (via Megnut)

Zagat's Launches Discussion Boards: And from Slashfood, news that Zagat's (partnering with Yelp and Citysearch) has launched their own discussion boards. It's a smart move for the publisher of city-by-city restaurant reviews who doesn't review every restaurant in a city, can't publish books for smaller cities (like Indianapolis), and only updates their printed books each year. Right now the boards seem a bit more dominated by the Citysearch restaurant find feature than the very few discussion topics up and running. There are only local forums for NY, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.