Movie review: The Imitation Game

I don’t share our 16 year old daughter’s obsession with Benedict Cumberbatch (it would be difficult to aspire to those heights), but I do think he’s an excellent actor, so I was looking forward to seeing this movie, which stars the actor as Alan Turing, a brilliant British mathematician, who invented the predecessor to the modern computer (the Turing machine) and was instrumental in helping to decipher the German Enigma machine code and shorten World War II.

The movie did not disappoint. It covers roughly the time between when Turing starts work at Bletchley Park (with the rest of the codebreakers) and ends when he is undergoing chemical castration for his “deviant” behavior (being homosexual). Benedict Cumberbatch portrays him as someone who is clearly on the autism disorder spectrum–brilliant but unable to read social cues or relate to people. Keira Knightley co-stars as his female counterpart, although with much better social skills. She utters my favorite line of the movie when talking about the need for a team effort to break the Enigma code. (“If they don’t like you, they won’t help you.”)

Alan Turing’s end is tragic, as he ends up killing himself, unable to endure the side effects of his treatment. He was not issued a posthumous pardon until 2013. You see him suffering from the side effects of the chemical castration at the end of the movie but no more than that.

I do have some quibbles about the movie. For instance, it’s clear that the Keira Knightley character has been placed there for politically correct purposes. More importantly, the movie portrays the team of codebreakers as being entirely British, completely ignoring the instrumental role the Polish mathematicians played in breaking the code (not to mention the fact that it was the Polish resistance fighters who were able to smuggle an Enigma machine to Britain to begin with). But these quibbles in no way detract from the excellence of the movie. In fact, the movie was so compelling that I was “forced” to buy two books—one on Alan Turing himself and one on the codebreakers at Bletchley Park. Stay tuned (eventually) for the reviews of those.

I highly recommend this movie. Because there are no action scenes or massive explosions, it is a perfect movie to watch in the comfort of your home and the fine acting and interesting story line make it well worth the effort.

Restaurant review: Le Gavroche (London)

Really, there is no need to review this restaurant in the sense that it has received a 2-star Michelin rating, and therefore, needs no further endorsement. That being said, it’s been fun to look at their menu (that they kindly sent to us after we returned home) and think about what we ordered.

No photos, either. We didn’t want to look completely like uncouth Americans!

For hors d’oeuvres, we had the following:

Coeur d’Artichaut “Lucullus” (artichoke filled with foie gras, truffles and chicken mousse), which was voted the favorite appetizer at the table;

Escalope de Foie Gras Poêlée, Prunelles et Amandes (pan fried duck foie gras with damsons and marcona almonds);

Coquilles St Jacques Rôties, Choux, Rutabaga et Estragon (roast scallops with winter cabbage, swede and tarragon veloute); and

Consommé de Champignons et Salsifis Canard Fumé et Flan de Persil (clear mushroom consommé, roast salsify, smoked duck and parsley flan).

For the main course, we ordered:

Darne de Turbot Rôtie, Carottes, Navets et Radis Beurre Blanc à la Ciboulette (roast “T” bone of wild turbot, carrots, turnips, radish and chive butter sauce);

Filet de Veau Rossini (veal fillet with foie gras and truffle madeira sauce); and

Epaule d’Agneau de Lait Braisée, Olive Pimentées (braised shoulder of Pyrenean lamb with spiced olive crumb, roast potatoes and garlic).

There was no consensus here, but I think the lamb was the best dish.

And, finally, for dessert, we stuffed ourselves with:

L’Assiette du Chef (an assortment of the chef’s favorite desserts); and

Soufflé aux Fruits de la Passion et Glace Ivoire (hot passion fruit soufflé with white chocolate ice cream).

Naturally, there were also petit fours to end the meal with because the restaurant was worried you might not have eaten enough.

Service was efficient and impeccable and friendly (in the British way, not the American way). The food was beyond wonderful!  All in all, the 2-star Michelin rating was well deserved.

 

Le Gavroche is located at 43 Upper Brook Street in London (www.le-gavroche.co.uk).

Restaurant review: The Modern (NYC)

We went to New York in late February because we so love tromping around the city when it’s 10 degrees outside. Truthfully, we went to show our exchange student some of the highlights of New York. We did manage to go to the top of the Empire State Building and stopped and saw the Statue of Liberty and the 9/11 memorial (for about 3 nanoseconds each—it was freezing!).

Most importantly, we got to eat at one of our favorite restaurants in New York—the Modern, the Danny Meyer restaurant inside the Museum of Modern Art. Between the six of us dining there that night, we got to sample much of the menu:

For appetizers, we had the following:

Roasted pumpkin soup with candied hazelnuts and hazelnut sabayon

roasted pumpkin soup

roasted pumpkin soup

Lobster marinated with truffles with radishes and herbs

lobster with truffles

lobster with truffles

Branzino steamed in spinach with black trumpet mushrooms

branzino with spinach

branzino with spinach

Roasted beets and pear salad with sheep’s milk, rosemary, and oats

roasted beet & pear salad

roasted beet & pear salad

Tuna tartare cured in mustard with potatoes and egg

tuna tartare cured with mustard

tuna tartare cured with mustard

Foie gras with lemon

foie gras with lemon

foie gras with lemon

Sweet potato gnocchi covered in black truffles

sweet potato gnocchi

sweet potato gnocchi

My personal favorite was the tuna cured in mustard, but it was not a universal opinion (the foie gras received several votes as well).

For entrees, the choices were:

Turbot roasted on the bone with petits pois à la Française

roast turbot

roast turbot

Chicken stuffed with pistachios served with celeriac and foie gras

chicken stuffed with pistachios

chicken stuffed with pistachios

Duck en chartreuse with apple and green cabbage

duck en chartreuse

duck en chartreuse

Beef glazed with bone marrow

beef glazed with bone marrow

beef glazed with bone marrow

My favorite was the duck (but I’m biased, as my favorite is usually the duck). The chicken, even though it sounds pedestrian, was superb as well.

And, finally, for dessert (since we were obviously still starving):

Citrus Pavlova with crème fraîche mousse and Meyer lemon sorbet

citrus pavlova

citrus pavlova

Ricotta cannoli with Earl Grey sorbet

ricotta cannoli

ricotta cannoli

Nutella ice cream and hazelnut

nutella ice cream and hazelnuts

nutella ice cream and hazelnuts

Carrot cake with toasted coconut sorbet

carrot cake

carrot cake

A favorite dessert depends entirely on whether you are a chocolate or non-chocolate dessert person. The citrus pavlova was probably the best non-chocolate dessert that we ordered that night.

The Modern is located at 9 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019 (www.themodernnyc.com).

Full disclosure: we have a (very) small investment in The Modern, but delicious food is still delicious food!

 

 

Product review: Pilot Frixion pens

Pilot Frixion pens

Pilot Frixion pens

I am even more high maintenance about my pens than I am about life in general (which is saying something). I like fine points, and I like pens where the ink flows smoothly out of the pen for a rich writing experience (no scratchy pens for me!). I have tried everything from Bics to Mont Blancs and many pens in between.

The pens that I like most (as of April 2015) are the Pilot Frixion pens, fine point (0.7mm, which is actually fine point by American standards but not by Asian standards). The pens come in a multitude of colors and in sets. And they are erasable (a friend whom I introduced these pens to insists that I mention that).

But the characteristic that sets these pens apart from all other pens is the glorious way they flow smoothly across the paper. The pens are so smooth that writing with one of these pens makes writing a rich, almost creamy, experience. The color is rich and vibrant, and you never catch yourself snagging the pen on the paper or failing to loop or dot your letters where you want. The Pilot Frixion pens belong, in other words, to the royal family of all pens.

And on the right kind of paper, they write even more gloriously, but that is the topic for another blog post…

Book review: The Leper of St. Giles by Ellis Peters

The Leper of St. Giles (Cronicles of Brother Cadfael, #5)The Leper of St. Giles by Ellis Peters

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am a huge fan of the Brother Cadfael novels, but this one deserves special attention. The plot itself is rather weak in comparison to the author’s previous Brother Cadfael mysteries as is the love story and the characterization of the secondary characters. The reason I like this particular book so much is the author’s description of how leprosy was dealt with in the Middle Ages. Her descriptions of the leper colony and how lepers were treated are fascinating and lend a depth and majesty to the book that it would otherwise not deserve.
One of the reasons I like historical mysteries so much is that when well written, they allow you to painlessly absorb historical detail. “The Leper of St. Giles” may not be the best written of the Brother Cadfael mysteries from a mystery standpoint, but its historical detail about lepers, leprosy, and leper colonies is what makes this book so memorable.

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Book review: Foundation by Mercedes Lackey

Foundation (Valdemar: Collegium Chronicles, #1)Foundation by Mercedes Lackey

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoy Mercedes Lackey’s books, especially her early Valdemar books (the Herald-Mage series and the Oathbreakers series). I so wanted to really like this book and, while I do like “Foundation,” it has some serious flaws that prevented me from enjoying the book as much as I would have liked.
To begin with, this book takes place shortly after the Herald-Mage series and before all of the other Valdemar books. The writing is vintage Lackey–she writes fluidly and the characters are well drawn. The plot is generally good, but it’s with the plot that I have the biggest issues.
Clearly, this series was plotted out as a multi-book series from the beginning. As a result, rather than having a self-contained plot within the book with a narrative arc that reaches beyond the one book, there is no self-contained plot to speak of. Or, rather, the plot leaves the reader hanging, with many unanswered questions and unexplained plot points that are presumably answered in subsequent books.
I am a curmudgeonly enough reader not to want to read the subsequent books because of my annoyance at being left hanging. I like multi-book series well enough, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask the author to make each book in a series stand on its own as well.

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