Scenes from the Sidewalk: Installment Thirteen
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The Park River has been daylighted!
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Dish
By Kerri Provost, February 22, 2010 12:34 am
Very fancy restaurants tend to make me feel uncomfortable and provoke bad behavior in me, like imitating that scene from the Blues Brothers. Dish did not bring this out of me. When I showed up wearing jeans and a decidedly not fancy shirt, the restaurant staff were just as welcoming as if I arrived in an evening gown.
Months ago I read some review that said the decor was reminiscent of bondage.That was not really my impression, though it definitely felt industrial inside. There are chains hanging from the ceiling. There’s a water feature. Near the time we were getting ready to leave it sounded like karaoke had started on the other side of the restaurant. I don’t see karaoke listed on their website, so it may have just been a cover band.
To drink, I had sangria. You can not tell from the photo, but it was essentially a keg-sized glass. Continue reading 'Dish'»
Proposed Land Use for Hartford’s Neighborhoods
By Kerri Provost, February 15, 2010 10:48 am
The final community listening session for the Planning & Zoning Commission will be Tuesday evening at Rawson School. So far, there have been sessions at the Pope Park Rec Center, United Methodist Church, and Metzner Rec Center. Each session has focused on proposed land use for nearby neighborhoods.
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Day Off Downtown
By Kerri Provost, February 11, 2010 5:37 pm
Yesterday was a spectacular let down in terms of the lack of snow, but I went for a walk anyway.
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On Any Thursday
By Kerri Provost, February 6, 2010 3:36 pm
With Valentine’s Day approaching, and with a close friend going on a top secret date which led to discussion about what makes for a great or horrible date, and with an acquaintance asking me last night what I like about Hartford, I write this report on what I think makes for a (nearly) perfect night out.
Before riding my bicycle to the Wadsworth Atheneum, I began by having an impromptu conversation with my neighbor and was then joined by another resident on the block. There was a fire in a nearby house early Thursday morning, so we were all updating each other and feeling grateful that nobody was injured.
Upon arriving at the museum, I had my choice of parking spots: an entirely empty bike rack that meant my walk from parking spot-to-front door was under thirty seconds. After stashing my helmet and jacket inside one of the museum’s lockers, I grazed from the snack table and listened to the dj. When he was there a few months ago, I did not care much for his musical choices, but he had selections from an entirely different genre this time. Friends and friends-of-friends trickled in; among them included Jude, who writes about the MATRIX exhibit far better than I could. When I first began visiting the museum in the 1990s, the MATRIX was among my favorite sections of the Wadsworth. Continue reading 'On Any Thursday'»
Beer Pong is Essential to the Health of Downtown…Not
By Kerri Provost, January 30, 2010 7:34 am
Recently, the Courant reported that both Mad Dawg’s and Room 960 have been shut down for liquor license violations (i.e. serving minors and not having a license, respectively), but it seems they have stripped their website of all evidence that this article was ever published. It’s enough to make one wonder if this story was real, or just some shady, splotchy pseudo memory accompanying a bad hangover. Neither of the two bars have any mention of an hour change or temporary closing on their websites.
This demands the question of why.
Was the story incorrect or inaccurate? If so, providing corrections would have been more helpful and professional than simply removing the information from the newspaper’s online presence, as if pretending like it never happened would resolve the situation. I understand the practice of removing older publications, but when something is still fresh news, it seems more logical to update the information. Having just checked, I do not see any reference to the article in the Corrections section of the site.
Certain stories on the newspaper’s site allow comments and others do not. Sometimes, an article begins one way and is later changed. Do articles disappear for the same reason — pressure?
If anyone at the Courant has an answer regarding why entire stories disappear from their site, I would love to hear from them.
Tamarind Grill vs. Restaurant Week
By Kerri Provost, January 27, 2010 4:16 pm
Breaking a long drought of not dining out, I decided to satisfy my curiosity about Tamarind Grill during Taste of Hartford Restaurant Week, an event I would find more enjoyable if there were more vegetarian options and/or if the $20.10 price felt worthwhile for the existing veggie options. Since meat-free meals are generally less expensive, restaurant week usually means getting less of a bargain. It’s not that these restaurants have nothing vegetarian on their menus — they do. But if the goal is to get new customers via the restaurant week, they should have no problem catering to what is a sizable portion of the population. If a self-described steakhouse does not want to do this, there’s no love lost, but most restaurants do not fall into this category. A small salad, pasta, and dessert cost far less than $20 to prepare. If most of the participating restaurants added a glass or wine or a hearty appetizer to the vegetarian option, I would call it fair. Continue reading 'Tamarind Grill vs. Restaurant Week'»
Monday at the Museum
By Kerri Provost, January 18, 2010 4:34 pm
Free events that feature family activities make the Wadsworth Atheneum buzz with life. The museum was a good kind of busy. It was not silent like it usually is when I go mid-week. That’s uncomfortable, to be the only person on a floor, to have five security guards able to follow me at any given time. It was also not as busy as the larger museums in New York City that make the experience deafening and stressful. I don’t mind waiting for a few people to observe a painting and then move on, but I never want to wait in a line to catch a glimpse of something. Today’s WAMA population was a happy medium.
For the kids, there were hands-on art projects, like postcard creation. Maybe my timing was perfect, but while I was there, I was not forced to endure the screaming or crying of any kids (or their parents). The children seemed amused by the museum and the activities.
After checking out the Digging Deeper exhibit for the billionth time, I wandered off to explore the rest of the museum. I noticed that the mummy was moved. Not only was he removed, but his exhibit left some small holes in the floor. I was disappointed, mostly because it’s a tradition of mine to visit him and marvel at how the henna dye in his hair lasted thousands of years, but if I go to the salon and dye my hair, it disappears in weeks.
Bicycle Friendly Community Symposium
By Kerri Provost, January 13, 2010 11:00 am
I had been warned that the Bushnell Theatre lacks bicycle parking. I rode over anyway. It was a bicycle symposium. Was I going to drive to that? I approached the building from a side street, thinking that maybe a rack was located on the side where most patrons would not enter. When I came to the Capitol Avenue entrance, I shrugged my shoulders and accepted that I would have to be the jerk who locks her bicycle to an ornate fence. Just then, an older Bushnell employee opened the door and called out “Excuse me!” I took a deep breath, expecting to get hollered at about destroying property. Instead, what I got was a jolly invitation to wheel my bicycle right into the lobby, where it would be among other bikes, as well as under his watchful eye. His words: “I don’t see why not!” I don’t know if this is how the Bushnell typically deals with bicycles on their property, but I like the approach and wish more businesses and venues were that accommodating.
The symposium was sponsored by the Bushnell Theatre, Central Connecticut Bicycle Alliance, and the Capitol Region Council of Governments. Tom Maziarz of CRCOG and Anne I. Hayes of Central CT Bicycle Alliance gave a little background on their respective organizations, but the spotlight quickly went to Andy Clarke. The President of the League of American Bicyclists delivered a talk, “Bicycle Friendly Communities: The Benefits and a Road Map for Success.” Continue reading 'Bicycle Friendly Community Symposium'»
