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| OPEN: JANUS FILE #0409
Okay, this is the last of the birthday offers that I have been receiving in my email recently. And the timing was pretty good for this one, too.
The offer was from Lenny's Sub Shop, one of a number of establishments specializing in fresh-made subs and similar sandwiches. It was for a free regular-size sandwich. And since the expiration date on this particular offer was today, I running out of time to use it.
After that whole little incident with the fire engine yesterday, I decided that it was as good a time as any to make use of the offer. Even by late afternoon, I'm not completely certain that my brain was back to functioning anywhere near what I would call normal.
I already had a good idea of what I was going to order before I walked in, and a quick glance at the menu only confirmed what I had in mind. I ordered the Deluxe Club Sub -- provolone, turkey, roast beef, and bacon -- on whole wheat bread. All of the sandwiches at Lenny's include "Onion, Lettuce, Oil, Tomato, Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Pickles, & Hot Pepper Relish," but I limited my toppings to lettuce, tomato, and pickles. Maybe some oregano, but nothing else. At least Lenny's isn't like some sandwich shops, where they drown the sandwiches in mayo unless you firmly tell them not to. Ew, ew, ew.
One thing about Lenny's is that while it falls into the category of a fast food place, if you're eating at the restaurant, they bring your order to your table, and they clean the table afterward. I remember the first time I ate there. After I had finished eating, I looked around for the trashcan, and I couldn't find one. I asked one of the guys behind the counter where the trashcan was, and he said, "Just leave it; we'll take care of it." It was something of a surprise, but I didn't worry about it the next time.
A few minutes after I placed my order, they brought my sandwich to my table. It was piled high with the various meats and toppings, especially the shredded lettuce. Various bits and pieces of my sandwich fell out of the bread as I ate, leaving me with still quite a bit to eat when I had finished the sandwich. Or at least the part that had remained trapped between the bread.
As is the case with a number of other sandwich chains, Lenny's bakes their own bread. There have been one or two times when I thought the bread wasn't as fresh as I thought it should be. This time, however, was not one of those times. The bread was at that right spot where softness and chewiness were perfectly juxtaposed -- just right for holding the sandwich together.
This particular Lenny's had a big screen TV, but according to one of the guys behind the counter, the only channel they received aired only infomercials. (I learned this after one infomercial ended, another had begun, and I asked something along the lines of, "Don't you have anything else?") And he said it in way that led me to believe that he had seen most of those infomercials several times over.
On the other hand, they also offer free Wi-Fi. After I finished eating, I wrote yesterday's entry there.
I'm sure I'll be returning. There are at least a few more sandwiches on the menu that I still want to try.
Lenny's Sub Shop
3942 Taylorsville Road
Louisville, KY
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0409 | | |
| OPEN: JANUS FILE #0408
First of all, I'm all right. I want to establish that before we go any further. I may be a little sleep-deprived, but I am all right.
That said, I had one hell of a strange morning.
It started around 01.30 AM. I was half-asleep, and trying to fully enter the realm of Morpheus, until I was suddenly awakened by my building shaking, which was accompanied by a very loud THUNK!
Actually, THUNK! doesn't even begin to adequately describe the sound. Not even in all caps, boldface, italicized, and accompanied by a plethora of exclamation points. But I suppose it will have to do.
My first inclination was to try to go back to sleep. That lasted less than five seconds, as it quickly occurred to at least part of my brain that it might be a good idea to learn what had caused said THUNK! I fumbled for my glasses and the flashlight sitting adjacent to them, turned on the lamp, and grabbed my sneakers before going out to investigate.
[NOTE: For the record, I should state that I sleep in sweatpants, socks, and a T-shirt.]
I wasn't the only curious one. Most of my neighbors had been similarly awakened, and were just as curious/concerned/worried as I was. I think it was safe to say that we were all thinking the same thing -- "What the hell was that?" The first thing we learned was that something was blocking the back entrance to the building.
We streamed out the front entrance, and made our way around the building, where we discovered the source of both the blocked entrance and the shake, rattle, and roll which had roused us.
A fire engine had crashed into the building.
I think the first thing resembling a coherent thought that filtered through my mind was, That's something you don't see every day, This was followed in rapid succession by Holy crap!, Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish!, and a few other similarly colorful turns of phrase. It took a few more seconds for What about the firefighters? to slowly filter its way to rational thought. I carefully picked my way to the front of the engine, stepping around some fallen trees, and the engine door that had been ripped off in the crash. It looked like the driver was slumped over the steering wheel, and I asked if anyone needed any help. They said no, so I moved out of the way.
I had a chance to see some of the damage from the inside. I followed several of my neighbors to the unit that appears to have received the most damage. The resident had been in the unit at the time, although fortunately nowhere near the impact. To say that he was not happy was an understatement. He let us take a peek inside, and I could see why he was just a little upset. The fire engine came close to giving him a drive-in window.
[I later heard that the fire engine was responding to an emergency call when, for some reason, it lost control and crashed into my condo complex. I'm going to be keeping an eye out for the investigation.]
I stood around talking with some of my neighbors for a while, and eventually the journalism major in me finally kicked in. It occurred to me that this definitely fit the definition of newsworthiness, and I went back to my condo. I called the newsrooms of all of Louisville's TV stations. I don't think there was anyone at WDRB's newsroom, but I did get through to the news departments of WAVE, WHAS, and WLKY -- after getting recorded messages on all of them. I gave a quick rundown of what happened. The most amusing exchange happened when I called WAVE. The woman who answered my call asked if I could get any photos, and I told her that I had neither digital camera nor cellphone.
This kind of surprised her. "Oh, so you're calling from a landline!"
WAVE and WHAS both sent reporters, although the police and fire departments wouldn't let them shoot anywhere near the fire engine. It made me wish that I did have a video camera. They did shoot from a distance, as well as a brief interview with the fire chief.
Part of me wanted to go back to sleep, but I knew that wasn't going to happen until things died down. That wouldn't happen for several hours. I spent some time in the complex's clubhouse talking with some neighbors who had gathered there. Most of the time, though, I was just walking around, doing something -- anything -- to keep myself awake.
I think it was around 04.30 when a tow truck finally pulled the fire engine back onto the road. That was when we finally got a good luck at the damage. One unit's balcony had been completely destroyed. Someone said that the residents were on vacation. On the good side, no one was there to get injured. On the less than good side, they are going to be in for a BIG surprise when they return home.
It was a little after 05.00 AM when I finally turned off the light and went back to sleep. And I'm really surprised that I even woke up when my alarm clock went off at 07.00. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have turned it off. As it was, I shut off the alarm, and went right back to sleep. It was 10.00 AM when I woke up again.
I had a better view of the carnage in the light of day. At least three or four trees lining the sidewalk had been taken out by the fire engine when it crashed, and it came way too close to taking out a utility pole as well. The back entrance to my building has been roped off with "FIRE LINE -- DO NOT CROSS" tape. As I was going to the library, I saw a car for a restoration/remodeling service in the parking lot, so it looks like they're trying to get things back to normal as possible.
I'm sure this falls into the category of "Man Bites Dog." I would be happy if it happens somewhere else next time.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0408 | | |
| OPEN: JANUS FILE #0407
This is yet another FoodQuest Rerun stemming from a birthday offer. This time, it was Red Robin that was giving me a birthday present, as part of their rewards program. Their present was a free burger, and I went to Mall St. Matthews for another late lunch or early dinner, depending on your point of view.
As was the case on my last visit, the restaurant was not all that busy, which meant I didn't have to wait for a seat. Once I was settled, I took a few minutes to take a careful look at the menu. The one thing I knew for certain was that I wanted to try something different from my first visit.
I decided that I was also going to get an appetizer, and I went with the Guacamole, Salsa, And Chips. This was a basket of tri-colored tortilla chips -- red, white, and blue. (Very patriotic, don't you think?) A red corn tortilla had been formed into a cup, and it was filled with the guacamole. A similar blue corn tortilla cup held the salsa. And as I discovered after the server brought the basket to the table, there were also a couple of chips made from jalapeno-cheese flour tortillas.
The salsa, as I mentioned on my previous visit, is on the mild side. The guacamole had more of a kick to it. It was close to the way I like it, with the right mix of creaminess and chunkiness. It contained tomatoes (which I don't put in my guacamole when I make it at home -- I prefer straight avocado), and what I think was just the right amount of spice. I think the best way to describe it would be to call it an afterkick; the spice would sneak up on you after you had taken a bite. Not hot by any means; just spicy.
I didn't have time to finish all of the chips, because my burger came out close on the heels of the chips. I was in a guacamole kind of mood, so I decided to go with the Guacamole Bacon Burger. With a couple of slight changes. No onions, and definitely no mayo. In case I haven't mentioned it before (and even if I have), mayo is Evil White Slime. There is nothing worse than discovering that they didn't hold the mayo. But I'm getting a little offtrack, aren't I?
Besides the obvious guacamole and bacon, the burger also came topped with Swiss cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. It made for quite a substantial burger. The blend of flavors was enjoyable, but it might have been better from one viewpoint if it had only come topped with the guacamole and applewood smoked bacon. At times, it was kind of hard to distinguish all of the different components of the burger as I ate it.
As is the case with all of Red Robin's burgers, it came with bottomless steak fries. I think I ended up getting three baskets of fries, and I took basket #3 and part of basket #2 home with me, as well as a good portion of the tortilla chips. I did finish off both the guacamole and salsa.
Red Robin does serve alcohol, so as I had done yesterday when I went to Hooters, I asked if they could make a Spayed Gerbil. Short answer -- no. No Campari. Well, at least they were honest about it.
I think I have one more birthday offer, and I think I'm running out of time to use it.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0407 | | |
| OPEN: JANUS FILE #0406
Like my recent FoodQuest Rerun entry on Moe's, this entry was at least partially inspired by a birthday offer I received in my email. I received several similar offers recently, and it occurred to me that these would be good reasons to write about return visits. I have a limited time in which I can take advantage of these offers, so these entries are going to come rather quickly.
The first of the email offers -- well, the first that I redeemed after the Moe's offer -- was from Hooters. Their offer was for a free plate of 10 wings, and it had to be redeemed within a week of my birthday. I didn't have anything else to do today, so I decided to go to Hooters to receive my birthday present.
Like my first visit to Hooters, I went in the later part of the afternoon. This time, I know that I didn't have to wait to be seated, and I found an empty table. It may have even been the same table I had on my previous visit. I sat my backpack down in one chair, and I quickly rummaged through it to find the email printout for my free wings.
My server this time was a young lady named Danielle. She was about 5'7" tall, and had dark brown hair and brown eyes. I had just found the printout as she came to my table, and when I showed it to her, she asked, "Do you want to go ahead and start with this while you're deciding what else to order?" That sounded like a good idea to me. I wanted to go with a different sauce this visit, and I ordered a plate of boneless wings with the barbecue sauce.
I already had a fairly good idea of what I wanted to order besides the wings, and it only took a quick glance through the menu to confirm my decision. I stuck to the appetizer section of the menu, and ordered the Fried Pickles and "Lots-A-Tots." I was ready to order before Danielle could bring the wings to the table.
There was nothing out of the ordinary about the barbecue sauce. It was a good barbecue sauce; just the right amount of tang and spice. It complemented the chicken quite well. If I ever feel the urge to indulge in the all-you-can-eat wings at Hooters again, I will probably get at least one plate with the barbecue sauce.
The Fried Pickles were pickle slices that were lightly breaded and then deep fried. They came with a dipping sauce, and I had to admit that the taste of the sauce was both interesting and unusual. I wasn't quite sure what it was, so I asked Danielle about it. She told me that it was ranch dressing and hot sauce that was blended together at the restaurant. From the way she described the process, it sounds like they make it in five-gallon batches. Well, I suppose that it would be easier to make it in that large a quantity. It sounds like it would be easy to make at home; the trick would be in getting it to taste right.
Lots-A-Tots are Tater Tots covered with bacon, cheese, sour cream, and chives. Not too dissimilar from a plate of cheese fries or potato skins that I've had at other restaurants. Just a slightly different version of potato as the base. The Tater Tots were nice and crispy -- a lot crispier than I'm ever able to get them when I make them at home. I tried at least a couple of them in the dipping sauce, but I think I ate most of them just the way they came to me.
As on my previous visit, I came at a slow time, so the service was great. Danielle kept my water glass filled, and came by several times to ask if I needed anything else.
I took advantage of the Wi-Fi while I was there, which was helpful when I decided to test Andrew Offutt's theory of good bartenders. One time when Danielle came by, I asked if they could fix me a Spayed Gerbil. I had already brought up a site that had the recipe by way of Google, so when she asked me what was in it, I showed her the website. Unfortunately, they didn't have Campari, so I couldn't get a Spayed Gerbil. On the other hand, this does lean in favor of the staff at this Hooters being good bartenders.
All in all, it was a pretty good (delayed) birthday present to myself.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0406 | | |
| OPEN: JANUS FILE #0405
I suppose I have Joe Manning to thank for this particular FoodQuest entry. If he hadn't been such a colossal douchebag, I probably wouldn't have chosen Panera Bread for this month.
And I think a little background is necessary at this point. Manning is a columnist for LEO, a local publication I usually refer to as the "Liberal Excrement Output." Because for the most part, that's what their output is -- liberal BS. (One of the few good things about it is that they run "News Of The Weird," but I'm digressing.) When Panera Bread opened their latest location in Louisville, Manning used his column for a rant of the "How dare they?" variety. The location was previously the site of a Louisville institution, Ear X-Tacy, and he was absolutely outraged that just another branch of the corporate world would have the temerity to defile what he apparently considered to be sacred ground.
Guess what? The owner of the property didn't see it that way. To the owner, it's a prime piece of business real estate. Panera Bread saw it as a good place to add a location, and apparently they and the property owner came to an equitable agreement on a lease. After a few weeks of remodeling, Panera Bread has a new location open for business.
Now, I know I've been in at least one other Panera Bread location. During the holiday seasons I worked for Hickory Farms in Mall St. Matthews, the Panera Bread location there had the nearest restroom to the Hickory Farms kiosk. I know that my co-workers and I would make quick runs there when necessary. But other than a cup of coffee, I don't remember getting anything there. So, I figured it was still fair game for a FoodQuest entry.
Late last month, I went by the Bardstown Road location. I wanted to take a look at the menu, and in the process, I picked up a Panera Rewards card. I also said to one of the people behind the counter, "You have Joe Manning to thank for my coming in." She gave me a rather puzzled look, and I added, "It was his being such a douchebag in his column that inspired me to come in." I think I may have made her day with that comment. While I was there, I picked up one of Panera's rewards cards, and not long after that, I registered it online.
This morning, I decided on brunch at Panera before going to the library. Among other things, it was on my way. I got off the bus about a block or so earlier than I usually would, which put me right across the street from Panera.
I already had a good idea of what I wanted to order when before I walked in, and a quick perusal of the menu board only solidified my decision. I ordered broccoli cheddar soup in a bread bowl, and coffee. I was told that I had a free pastry on my rewards because I had registered it, so I selected a cinnamon roll.
Let's start with the coffee. I first filled up my cup with Panera's dark roast. It's an eye-opener, to say the least. Now, I love a good coffee buzz, but I have a feeling that I may be buzzed just a little longer than I expected when I selected my coffee. When I went for a refill, I chose half dark roast, half light roast. I think it may take me a few times to get the right ratio. I like my coffee sweet, and one thing I like about Panera is that they have both honey and raw sugar available. I used a combination of the two in both cups.
The bread bowl for my soup was a freshly-baked round loaf of sourdough bread. A big plug had been cut out of the loaf, and was placed to the side of the bowl. The bread had a firm, chewy crust, perfect for containing the soup. Under the crust, the bread was fluffy, and had a delightfully tangy flavor. The soup itself had a mild cheddar flavor, and plenty of broccoli and carrots throughout.
The cinnamon roll was definitely used something other than the sourdough bread. It was a sweet dough, and the filling had plenty of cinnamon in it. The roll was great, but it could have used a better icing. Unfortunately, the icing was only average.
Panera also offers free Wi-Fi, and i took advantage of it. I pulled out my laptop, and checked my email (among other things) in between bites. In fact, I almost lost track of time, and had to hustle just a little to shut down, get everything repacked, and make it to the bus stop in time to catch the bus.
I'm definitely going to be going back to Panera. There are several other soups I want to try, and yes, the thought that patronizing this particular location would piss off Joe Manning gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Panera Bread
1534 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0405 | | |
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