Restaurant discovery

With some of our favorite restaurants closing down, we were delighted to "discover" Jasper Restaurant in Downingtown. Last night we went for their weekly prix fixe dinner, and it was yummy. At $35 it wasn't TOO expensive, but more than we usually want to spend on a weeknight dinner. Here's the menu:

Avocado with champagne mango and micro cilantro - this was such a lovely combination of flavors, with a little citrusy dressing and flavorful olive oil. Light and simple. Those champagne mangoes are really delicious.

Grilled Eggplant, baked with fresh goat cheese, sweet baby pepper and coulis - another good combination of flavors, although Garrett and I agreed that our red bell pepper sauce we make with stuffed poblanos is even better.

Grilled coconut Shrimp over cauliflower puree - It's been great to discover that cauliflower can be so good when prepared properly.

Pork Medallion with blueberry chutney - really yummy, although I thought the pork could've been cooked a little less. The chutney was perfect with it though, not too sweet.

Chocolate Pate topped with toasted almonds - delicious, not too heavy. Could've used a little more raspberry coulis IMO.

Getting to know Barcelona

I chose my next book, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón in anticipation of an upcoming trip to Barcelona. Garrett and I tacked a short vacation onto a freelance assignment I had there in early February. So while I was learning about a planned EU-US collaboration on the prevention of Alzheimer's disease, Garrett was exploring this beautiful city. But I had already begun exploring it in this book, which I loved almost as much as I loved Barcelona itself.

The novel revolves around a book called The Shadow of the Wind and its author, the mysterious Julián Carax. It's 1945 and Daniel, age 11, is still mourning the death of his mother from cholera some 7 years earlier. His father, a bookstore owner also in mourning and struggling with how to reach his young son, takes Daniel to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books and tells him to pick out a book. This event presages everything that is to come, both in tone and atmosphere.

"This is a place of mystery, Daniel, a sanctuary. Every book, every volume you see here has a soul. The soul of a person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it...When a library disappears, or a bookshop closes down, when a book is consigned to oblivion, those of us who know this place, its guardians, make sure that it gets here. In this place, books no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day when they will reach a new reader's hands. In the shop we buy and sell them, but in truth books have no owner. Every book you see her has been somebody's best friend. Now they have only us, Daniel. Do you think you'll be able to keep such a secret?"

And that wasn't all:

"According to tradition, the first time someone visits this place, he must choose a book, whichever he wants, and adopt it, making sure that it will never disappear, that it will always stay alive. It's a very important promise. For life," explained my father. "Today it's your turn."

So begins Daniel's journey to uncover the story behind Carax's book, The Shadow of the Wind. Zafón's book encompasses many great themes: friendship, love, family, books, life under a fascist government, and especially, Barcelona. As Daniel's friend Fermin says:

"This city is a sorceress, you know, Daniel? It gets under your skin and steals your soul without you knowing it."

Outliers

Ok, now's the time for those of you who actual read this blog to add some of your own thoughts. I know at least two of you also read this book and I would love to have your contributions to the blog.

Outliers is Malcolm Gladwell's third book. I've really enjoyed all of them, but I think The Tipping Point was my favorite. That may be primarily because it was so fresh. Now Gladwell has used the same formula three times: he comes up with some interesting, provocative idea that explains certain aspects of human behavior that we can all relate to, and then he provides examples that "prove" his thesis. And even though they may not prove anything, his examples are always interesting.

In Outliers, he presents several "rules" that explain why certain people are more successful at whatever they do than others. People like Bill Gates, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the Beatles. Why Chinese are better at math. Why the best hockey players are born during certain months of the year and why some airplanes crash. The airplane crash part was particularly interesting in light of the pilot who landed his plane in the Hudson River two months ago.

I've read several negative reviews of this book, but even though it's fairly easy to pick apart some of his arguments, I thought it was extremely interesting and fun to read. Now I want to know what the rest of you think.

The Last Days of Dogtown

Anita Diamant's The Last Days of Dogtown is a book I would not have selected had it not been for my bookclub. The subject matter -- a dying town in Massachusetts in the early 1800s just did not sound that appealing. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the book. Diamant creates many wounderful quirky characters, somewhat reminiscent of Cold Mountain, which I also really liked.