Sofia and Penelope all made up
Here’s a quick one for the family: Sofia and Penelope in their Halloween outfits.
Craig Noone, chef/owner of Parlor Market passed away last night. He was involved in a fatal car accident.
I don’t do a very good job of keeping up with local news. The only reason I know about this is that yesterday I had wrangled a couple friends to go with me to Parlor Market today, and this morning one of those friends told me the news. I went to Parlor Market for the first time a couple weeks ago and had been working up a head of steam to go back a few more times, try a few different dishes, and report on the restaurant (not that it needed any publicity boost–it’s pretty popular already).
From what I’ve heard from friends and other people who are Parlor Market regulars, Craig really changed the game in Jackson. He was all about local and seasonal, which are big trends elsewhere but strangely not in Jackson until he opened Parlor Market. I’ve only met him once so I can’t speak to his character, but as far as the food scene in Jackson I know that he’ll be sorely missed.
Parlor Market is closed through the weekend. I don’t know what will happen to it but hope that it continues on.
Just goes to show how much I don’t pay attention to current events–the 2011 Jackson Restaurant Week (inaugural?) is October 2-8, 2011, and since it’s the 5th right now it’s already underway. There are a bunch of participating restaurants, and I think some are giving discounts while others are doing package meals of a special appetizer + entree + dessert for a nice price (although I’ve spotted a few that look like they might be regular price). You can also vote for your favorite local charity while at participating restaurants, and the winning charity will receive $10,000. Definitely at least check it out and see if anything piques your interest
Arrested Development
Firefly, Futurama, Family Guy, The Tick, Arrested Development… what do all of these have in common? They’re all shows cancelled by Fox. Just. Wow. Well at least now Arrested Development is making a comeback both on the big screen and on the small screen. Yes! Cornballers for everybody! And of course the chicken dance.
And in tangentially related news, Star Trek The Next Generation is coming to Blu-Ray! They said it couldn’t be done. Well they were wrong. Not only are they going to clean up the video quality, they’re going all the way back to the film negatives for both live action and recompositing of the special effects sequences. Sounds like they’re doing it right and I can’t wait for it to get here. Denise and I are enjoying the series again on Netflix now that they offer it through streaming, but having it in beautiful 1080p video will be amazing.
China Express Restaurant at closing time
Score another local find for Denise. A couple months ago she noticed that China Express Restaurant had taken up residence in the old location of the by-then-defunct Euphoria Smoothies and said that some Asian folks were eating in there. I remember her saying that but for some reason it didn’t register in my consciousness that this could be the first solid Chinese place in Clinton, so we didn’t go until recently after being reminded of its existence by a friend from church (thanks, James!). Maybe the name made me dismiss it right off the bat, but whatever the reasoning at the time I was sorely mistaken. Oh, China Express… please forgive me for neglecting you. I prone myself before you both begging for mercy and basking in your magnificence, for you are truly a marvelous restaurant–to my knowledge the first and only authentic Chinese restaurant in Clinton.
Moon cakes inna bag
I have to admit, despite being of ethnic Chinese background I’m very nominally Chinese. I speak and understand very little Mandarin and am almost entirely illiterate, and I don’t observe most of the customs and holidays. About the only thing I’m very Chinese about is food, and I crave moon cakes at least once a year. Problem is that they’re served on and around the Mid-Autumn Festival, which because of the lunar calendar upon which it is based the date always changes. As a result I’m always craving moon cake when none are available.
Fortuitously, because Denise signed us up to be a host family for a foreign student this year and we are hosting a student from China, this time around the Mid-Autumn Festival came up in conversation a day before it was to happen and as a consequence I was able to pick up some moon cakes before I missed them again. Thanks, Samuel! Yes, he got some too, entirely by serendipitous way of my own selfish craving.
Burrito Mexpress
“Burrito Mexpress”!? Really!? The name of this new restaurant in Clinton filled me with nothing but doubt. Thankfully Denise convinced me that we should try it, and because of that we’ve discovered the first authentic Mexican restaurant in Clinton and the best tacos in town.
Birthday snow cone
Sofia had her birthday party. This year’s theme: dinosaurs! The snow cone… er… the ice age. Yeah, that’s it!
Posting about Lula’s Cafe reminded me of this since they have similar food. Since my 1st post about Froghead Grill a couple years ago we’ve been back quite a few times. Good food and a nice variety–what’s not to like, right? Well, let me throw some caveats out there:
- The excellent calamari appetizer is dead. Deceased. Done for. Not on the menu anymore. Quite a shame, that.
- Speaking of items coming off the menu, they like to rotate items on and off the menu. As far as I can tell it’s not for reasons like seasonal ingredients or anything. Point is, don’t get too attached to anything as it might not be on the menu next time you go. Assuming their online menu is kept up to date, I’d check it before heading out.
- Service is slow and scatterbrained. If you’re getting food to go, be prepared to wait a long time unless you get there super early to beat the dinner rush. Then make sure you double-check your order because if they forget anything and you call them up they’ll offer to have the missing item(s) ready for you to come pick up yourself before begrudgingly also offering you a free dessert after you complain about leaving your hot food at home to pick up the item(s) they forgot.
Despite all that, I must say that if you’re dining in and have no particular attachment to any dish on their menu and you’re not in a rush, they do a good job with their food. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad meal there food-wise, so it’s still a good place to eat if you’re in Clinton.
Lula's Cafe
Working through some backlog items here. What can I say? I’m a prolific eater but not a prolific blogger. We had lunch at Lula’s Cafe a while back when they were just getting started. Lula’s Cafe is a Southern food restaurant in Clinton. They serve breakfast and lunch on weekdays (they weren’t open on weekends when we went, but call them to find out for sure). They’re a soup/salad/sandwich kind of place with a sprinkling of Southern dishes and a daily plate special.