Restaurant Review - Nook Bistro

www.nookbistro.com

I heard about this place months ago and have been looking for an excuse to go. Color me excited that I finally found one.

Nook Bistro cracks me up, which is one of the many reasons why I like it. For one, check out their schedule - they're not open for lunch on Saturday. Monday through Friday you can go get some lunch, but not Saturday, the one day I can actually get over there. Oh well, just meant that they'd have to wait longer for my money.

I called up around 7ish on Saturday to see if they had any tables open. They don't take reservations after 7:30pm but we could go over there and see how long the wait is. I'm telling you, I'm loving this place more & more. We get there about 7:30ish and there are about 4 people ahead of us for a table. How about the bar? Oh yeah, baby, the bar it is.

Here's the set up: Its a small place, tucked into a corner of a minimall (hence the name). There are tables along 3 walls of the place, with a communal type of table in the middle, the bar which seats about 6 or 8 and then a small space to wait for your table. The bar only serves beer & wine and very comfy to eat at, so its rather obvious it was built with that in mind.

The waitstaff was friendly and witty and the food was quite yummy. They're friendly to carnivores and herbavores alike. Surprisingly, the prices match the food and the atmosphere. It would be a great date place but definately make reservations if that's your intention, same goes if you're going with more than one person. Otherwise, winging it does work.

Rant AND Rave: King Tut

Short Version: The exhibit is absolutely worth seeing. The people are not. If you can go on a VIP tour or at a time where the crowds would be thinner, I highly recommend it.

Long Version: I have a new topic: People are Stupid. Now, I'm not saying that I'm smarter than the average bear. I'm not. Basic math often eludes me, and if you read this blog you know that basic spelling is something with which I struggle. So its not that I think I'm better than anyone, I just can't handle stupid people.

I went to see King Tut. As I always do, I tried to obtain tickets for the earliest possible time. I'm that guy. I'd rather get up at 6am to get to the outlets by 9am than sleep in. I just can't be bothered hunting for parking and standing in line, and all that nonesense. I'd rather just be a wee bit earlier and skip all that.

Sadly, the 9am slot on the weekends was pretty much booked for Tut's entire run so I opted for 10am Sunday. As instructed, we arrived 30 minutes early and stood in the switch-backs. As we're standing there, behind us was arguably the dumbest family ever. I wanted to take my own life standing there listening to them. Luckily for everyone in the family, everyone was equally stupid so no one annoyed a fellow family member with their own stupidity.

Even after the explanation was made on how to operate the audio tours, they were completely lost. And when one person would figure out how to use it, they'd have to repeat it twice to each person, so that they could understand. And, while they listened to the device, they would repeat was Mr. Shariff was saying so that everyone else would know, eventhough EVERY person in the family had the audio tour.

Now we're nearing the entrance another family comes up beside us, in a shorter line. This undid the family behind us. Of couse they missed the fact that the person leading the family beside us was in a wheelchair. No, no, no, they were obsessed with the fact that another line MIGHT be faster than ours. Heaven forbid another family wait 3 less minutes than the rest of us. Oh the horror! The horror! And lets get all upset before we look at the entire family to see that the dad is in a wheelchair.

And I won't even talk about that poor little girl. You can ask me the story but I won't put her through the embarrassment of being described in this odd little blog.

Finally, after living through the dumbest family ever, we get to go in to see the artifacts from King Tut's tomb. I didn't know this but they also filled the exhibit with artifacts from tombs of his family, some of which were just facinating. There was this one chair made for a child that was simply amazing. It was new. There were 2 creases in the caning of the seat from where the child sat, but it was otherwise perfect. The carving and the detail was stunning; it looked newer than chairs in my house. Just to think that a child from the ruling family of what was at the time the civilized world sat there was --- the crowds and the pushing and the kids running around and the hands on the glass, sort of took away from the experience of seeing 3000 year old artifacts from a world we can only guess at, a time we can only wonder about.

Rant: Nobody can drive an SUV except me

This morning I had an early conference call with my NY office so I knew it would be a fun ride into work. I love running down Wilshire early in the morning when there are only a few cars & busses to deal with. Its fun. And, eventhough the lanes are just beautifully clear, I almost get side-swiped TWICE by what kind of car you're curious to know...an SUV.

Seriously, EVERY DAY when I drive to and from work, instead of having my hands on the wheel at 10 and 2 like a good little soldier, I have one hand at 2 and one over the horn. I'm not kidding. I know I drive a little car but its not Wonder Woman's invisable jet, its a Civic. And magicly when I drive I see all the little Focuses and Civics and such what not on the road.

Everyday. Everyday. On the freeways, on surface streets, even in MY quiet little neighborhood I have to deal with these people. I can't remember a day where I haven't almost been hit by an SUV trying to change lanes INTO me because they're too lazy or too stupid to check their blind spot and or mirrors.

I've decided I'm the only person in L.A. who can drive an SUV. And, I'm not saying that because I'm some fatastic driver. I'm not. I'm adequate at best. But its that adequacy that keeps me in check.

On occassion I've been known to borrow an SUV to take the kids to the vet or run a bunch of stuff to Out of the Closet (where everyone should donate their stuff BTW, screw Goodwill or Salvation Army, but I digress...) . On these happy outtings there are a few things I'm incredibly aware of: 1. SUVs have mirrors; 2. SUVs have blindspots; and 3. I usually have something in the back that obstructs my view (usually an unnamed male greyhound that refuses to sit down during a short car ride). Armed with my vast knowledge, when changing lanes, I signal, check ALL mirrors, and glance over at my blind spot.

*MIRACLE*

I've never even come close to side-swiping someone. I must be a GREAT driver.

Rave: Nike Run Hit Wonder Training Runs

I know, Jenna and Run should never be in the same sentance but, dear reader, they are. For the Nike Run Hit Wonder (www.runhitwonder.com), Nike is doing these training runs all around L.A. I'm not stupid, I know its all marketing. But, they give away free stuff *and* I just LOVE free stuff.) Besides, when you train in a group, you tend to work harder than if you're just on your own. So, I'm in.

I just wish I could run. All the cute boys are in the faster running groups. Oh well, walking a 13 minute mile isn't bad.

Rave: 26th Annual Samurai 5K Fun Run and Walk

http://www.niseiweek.org

This was a really fun 5k. I know, you're saying to yourself, aren't all 5k's pretty much the same. I mean, they're 5k's. Nah, not really, is my reply. The vibe of the Nisei Week activities in Little Tokoyo was very cool. And, it benefitted the Japanese American Optimist Club of Los Angeles youth projects. How do you go wrong with an Optimist Club?

And, it was pointed out to me that they had peanut butter. At most 5k's they'll have bagels and fruit afterwards for you to munch on. At this one, they had bagels and fruit AND creamcheese and peanut butter for the bagels. Those little extras made all the difference.

Oh, they had a beer garden too, but we skipped that.

Rave: Knitting Lessons

Ok, the kids moved out of the office, so I can't do random questions. And no one has asked me any good restaurant questions lately, so I can't do the restaurant review thing. Fine, force me to think of something else: Stuff I like.

In my apparent on-going quest to become old really, really fast, I decided I wanted to learn how to knit. I taught myself out of one of those "Teach yourself how to knit" kits but that really takes someone like me only so far. So I went looking for lessons. Boy, did I hit the jackpot.

www.sussdesign.com Turns out Suss is one of *the* knitters. She has a few books out, has her own yarn collection, and does all sorts of stuff for the entertainment industry. I took my two beginners classes from Billie and she just rocked. It was a great time. The two other girls in the class were very cool and we had a really nice time. And her store is just gorgeous. I know I'll never be able to make some of the things she has for sale in there...but, it does give you something to work towards.

Wish me luck with my shrug!