Olives and Jumper

Last Friday night we went out to eat with Alisa, Corey, Taryn and Ryan. Afterwards Alisa and Corey went to a party and Taryn and Ryan went to a movie with us.

First a note on Olives: To check out the restaruant go to this website click here: Chef Todd English

Here are my opinions of the place. I ordered the Bucati and Jonas Maine Crab. It was a pasta dish lightly coated with a tomato basil pasta sauce. The dish was full-flavored. The spiciness of red pepper collaborated well with the crab and basil flavor. It was a well-balanced dish. The presentation was decent. However, I noticed that Patrick's skirt steak and Alisa'a chestnut ravioli had much superior presentation. My only complaint is that my portion was too big. I believe that portion size is an art. The meal should leave me satisfied but not over-full. I was unable to finish my meal. There was simply too much food. When I go to a restaurant with that much acclaim I expect the chef to have mastered the art of portion size. I know I ordered a pasta but I have seen it correctly in the past with much richer dishes such as gnocchi. By the time I was finished with my pasta I was tired of the initially unique and inventive flavor combination. On a scale of one to ten I give it a 7.

Then I ordered the Vanilla Bean Souffle. One word here... wow. It was the ideal texture that a souffle should be it was light. The reason that we went to this restaraunt was Kristy's description of the souffle as "Heaven in my mouth". I must say it is the best dessert I have had since coming to Boston. The vanilla, cream and egg were well balanced. The vanilla did not overpower the composition of the dessert. And I must say the presentation was impressive. It takes a master to get a souffle to rise that high out of the ramekin. it was served piping hot with a dollop of vanilla ice cream in the middle. I love the sensation of hot and cold together in a dessert.

Lastly, as is my custom, I ordered chamomile tea. Here is my real complaint about the restaurant. It came in a mug. What is that? The cuisine is described as American Gourmet... if this is true then a mug dropped unceremoniously on my table is entirely inappropriate. I need a plate. As my friends said at dinner last night... a plate is just so much more civilized. I need a plate for my tea cup. I thoroughly enjoyed dinner. It sat well in my stomach. That is the true test of a good meal. I had a comfortable satisfied feeling.

Then we hugged Alisa and Corey goodbye and Rushed off to see Jumper. Here is the preview. You may have to cursor down to the bottom of the page and turn off the music to hear the preview.



Anyway, I loved other movies by the same director. (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) I also love special effects. I thought that the effects were awesome. The only problem was the plot holes. I know about as much about the plot after seeing the movie as I did when I just watched the preview. I don't know who the bad guys are, really why they are going after the main character, who the big supporting male character is, if the bad guys or good guys won. It is amazing that I am so easily entertained that I can say that I enjoyed the movie although I have almost no idea what it is about.