I usually play pickup hoops on weekend mornings, but I had a feeling I needed to DVR this year's Wimbledon final. That turned out to be a very wise decision as I was able to watch one of the greatest grand slam finals of all time from start to finish (with no spoilers). What stood out to me most was that even though one of the things that made it exciting was that it went the distance, it wasn't just an out-and-out slugfest war of attrition that many of the recent classics have been. With both Federer and Djokovic having increased interest in approaching the net, there was much more strategy/tactics involved in this final. You could hear it in the giddiness of John McEnroe's voice as he talked about things like Federer needing to get more depth on his chip-and-charge approach shots.
Of course, the new-found interest for both players in playing at the net was attributed to their new coaches, with both Stefan Edberg for Federer and Boris Becker for Djokovic being recent hires. While both got plenty of screen time from the occasional pans to both players' boxes, there wasn't much mention during the match of the fact that it was exactly 25 years ago when Becker beat Edberg in the finals of Wimbledon, the only time Becker won of the three consecutive Wimbledon finals that the two of them played each other in. Edberg's influence was the most noticeable, as Federer had 67 points at the net (winning 44 of them), and his wide serve looked to have more kick to it, which was one of Edberg's signatures.
Another thing that made this match special was that it captured different phases of the game in one match. It wasn't one-note like the old serve-dominated Wimbledon matches where a guy like Roddick would hit 40+ aces, nor was it purely a baseline slugfest like many of Nadal's matches. In the third set, Federer hit 13 aces, held serve at love 3 times, and still ended up losing the set! In the fourth set, there was a streak of five breaks in six games, which is pretty much unheard of at the highest level of men's tennis. Both players played at an incredible level throughout, as evidenced by the astonishing winner-unforced error stats: Djokovic 68 winners to 27 unforced errors, Federer 75 winners to 29 unforced errors.
There were also plenty of dramatic moments, with my favorite being Federer's comeback in the fourth set. Djokovic had been consistently attacking Federer's forehand in the middle sets. While Federer's forehand is generally stronger, you could see that he was hesitant to really go for forehand winners. At the same time, he was more consistent mixing in shots with his backhand, including looping topspin shots and slices which changed Djokovic's eye level. But down a break (and down 2 sets to 1) with his back to the wall, Federer finally ripped a huge forehand winner to break Djokovic. Djokovic held strong and broke Federer again shortly after, but I think that shot set the tone for Federer as he regained his aggressiveness and came back to win the set.
I also wanted to mention one general thing about Wimbledon. I had previously written a post saying that the many upsets at last year's Wimbledon reminded me of a typical French Open. There was once again many big upsets at this year's Wimbledon (more so in the women's draw). I'm beginning to wonder if this will start becoming a regular occurrence because of the change in the way the game is played nowadays. The French Open used to be the outlier, with the clay court favoring long baseline rallies. But as modern tennis has moved more and more to a backcourt game, I wonder if it is Wimbledon, featuring shorter rallies and favoring net players, that has become the outlier and ripe for more future upsets.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
2013-2014 NBA Finals Recap (sport, gambling)
Some people may have already forgotten about it, but the San Antonio Spurs won this season's NBA championship only two weeks ago! It capped off what might have been the biggest weekend in modern sports history when factoring in the importance of the events played, with the NBA Finals, NHL Finals, US Open (golf), and World Cup all going on. That was followed by more World Cup action, the start of Wimbledon, as well as one of the most hyped NBA drafts in a long time. June has just been an incredible month for sports, and I wanted to wrap up my thoughts on the NBA Finals before the the finals of the World Cup and Wimbledon come along.
The series was rather anti-climactic, so there isn't much to analyze in more depth. Let's start by looking back at my predictions from my NBA Finals preview.
That was pretty spot on. While last year featured an amazing back and forth chess match between the coaches, the Miami Heat just didn't have enough pieces for Spoelstra to fire back with.
The series wasn't really that even, but this value bet did cash as the Spurs had 9 players who consistently made significant contributions throughout the series.
The player who obviously stood out was Diaw, who made his way into the starting lineup midway through the series and almost had a triple double in one game. While Kawhi Leonard deservedly won the Finals MVP, Diaw stepping up was the key piece that solidified that the Spurs could handle whatever Miami threw at them. Wade played well to start, but he was clearly gassed towards the end of the series. Diaw was an effective defender against him, as his height and reach advantage bothered Wade while Wade couldn't overpower him like LeBron could. Like Wade, Lewis shot well to start the series, but didn't do enough to make San Antonio change what they were doing.
Legacies
Last year, I wrote that "A 5th championship would probably have cemented [Tim Duncan's] status as the greatest player of his generation." I still think that this is true, and even though most of the attention was on the Spurs' pretty offense and Leonard and Diaw, Duncan played his usual consistently excellent game, averaging 15.4 points and 10 rebounds in only 33 minutes per game in the finals.
But in my mind, the one person whose legacy was truly cemented in this win was coach Gregg Popovich. He finally managed to do the one thing that Bill Belichick hasn't yet been able to. Much has been made about the similarities between the two, from leadership style to adherence to fitting players into their "system", and their terse interaction with the media. But to me, there's one similarity that stands out and separates them from all the other top coaches in their respective sports, and that is their ability to win using two completely different approaches. Both coaches accomplished their initial dynastic run of championships with defense-oriented teams, but then each of their respective leagues began to adopt rules that were clearly designed to increase scoring and favor the offense. In my mind, the ability of both coaches to then create scoring juggernauts to win is truly remarkable. But only Popovich has managed to come through with a championship after radically changing his team's style, edging him above other venerated coaches such as the aforementioned Belichick and Pat Riley (who won with the showtime Lakers, but also took the physical, defensive minded Knicks to the NBA Finals).
The series was rather anti-climactic, so there isn't much to analyze in more depth. Let's start by looking back at my predictions from my NBA Finals preview.
"Both are excellent coaches, and while Miami has the best player in the series, the Spurs are much deeper and will be more pliable for different coaching strategies. I give the edge to the Spurs here just because they have more options and looks they can go with."
That was pretty spot on. While last year featured an amazing back and forth chess match between the coaches, the Miami Heat just didn't have enough pieces for Spoelstra to fire back with.
"Prediction: San Antonio 4-3
Possible bets: Bet San Antonio to win the series 4-1. Current price around +375, which represents pretty good value. While the series seems pretty even, I can see San Antonio winning easily if their league-leading bench outperforms at home while they steal one on the road."
The series wasn't really that even, but this value bet did cash as the Spurs had 9 players who consistently made significant contributions throughout the series.
"The Key Players (who will need to step up): Dwyane Wade, Boris Diaw, Rashard Lewis"
The player who obviously stood out was Diaw, who made his way into the starting lineup midway through the series and almost had a triple double in one game. While Kawhi Leonard deservedly won the Finals MVP, Diaw stepping up was the key piece that solidified that the Spurs could handle whatever Miami threw at them. Wade played well to start, but he was clearly gassed towards the end of the series. Diaw was an effective defender against him, as his height and reach advantage bothered Wade while Wade couldn't overpower him like LeBron could. Like Wade, Lewis shot well to start the series, but didn't do enough to make San Antonio change what they were doing.
Legacies
Last year, I wrote that "A 5th championship would probably have cemented [Tim Duncan's] status as the greatest player of his generation." I still think that this is true, and even though most of the attention was on the Spurs' pretty offense and Leonard and Diaw, Duncan played his usual consistently excellent game, averaging 15.4 points and 10 rebounds in only 33 minutes per game in the finals.
But in my mind, the one person whose legacy was truly cemented in this win was coach Gregg Popovich. He finally managed to do the one thing that Bill Belichick hasn't yet been able to. Much has been made about the similarities between the two, from leadership style to adherence to fitting players into their "system", and their terse interaction with the media. But to me, there's one similarity that stands out and separates them from all the other top coaches in their respective sports, and that is their ability to win using two completely different approaches. Both coaches accomplished their initial dynastic run of championships with defense-oriented teams, but then each of their respective leagues began to adopt rules that were clearly designed to increase scoring and favor the offense. In my mind, the ability of both coaches to then create scoring juggernauts to win is truly remarkable. But only Popovich has managed to come through with a championship after radically changing his team's style, edging him above other venerated coaches such as the aforementioned Belichick and Pat Riley (who won with the showtime Lakers, but also took the physical, defensive minded Knicks to the NBA Finals).
Friday, June 13, 2014
Shake Shack 10th Anniversary Special Burger: The Humm Burger (food)
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So, what's the verdict? Honestly, I'm not sure any food is worth a 7 hour wait. But this was an absolutely delicious burger. The perfume of the truffle whet the appetite while the gruyere bacon cheeseburger provided an excellent base. What really made the burger for me was the celery relish, which worked beautifully to both highlight the strong ingredients and to make them work together in harmony. If they took out the truffle shavings to lower the cost and served the burger regularly, I'm sure there would still be a long line to get it.
Eleven Madison Park: Spring 2014 Tasting Menu (food)
When it comes to recommending top tier fine dining restaurants, I find that the way a restaurant handles an overall seasonal theme is more important to me than individual dishes. Unless the dish is so spectacular that it becomes a "signature" item, the chances are not that high that one great specific dish reappears on a subsequent menu (although it'll probably appear later in a cookbook).
I also find Spring to be an especially difficult season to judge. It's not that the food is less delicious in the Spring. It's that when you're able to eat more luxurious ingredients during the fall and winter seasons, from truffles to foie gras to heartier proteins, it's easier to feel a sense of value. Not everyone appreciates that the costs for foraging and sourcing certain vegetables and herbs are expensive. As my friend over at www.donuts4dinner.com once wrote in her first review of Eleven Madison Park years ago,
I found the Spring 2014 menu at EMP to be truly special. Not only was it a celebration of the season from start to finish, it also managed to be both delicious and luxurious in a way that alleviated some of the aforementioned dissonance. I believe that this meal compared favorably to both my meals at EMP last year, and I highly recommend reading last year's Thorough Review of Eleven Madison Park posts first to get an idea of the foundation that they built and have improved upon.
ADDITIONAL THEME INGREDIENT
Interaction with the diner is one of the things they really enjoy doing at EMP. As the four of us sat down at the table, we noticed an envelope and a letter opener. Opening the envelope revealed four perforated chits featuring four different ingredients - cherry, coffee, celery, strawberry. It was then explained to us that we should punch out the ingredient we liked, and that ingredient would be featured multiple times throughout the meal. Since there were four of us, we decided to give all four ingredients a try, and I chose celery.
CHEDDAR - SAVORY BLACK AND WHITE COOKIE WITH APPLE
The first course was their savory take on a black and white cookie. I felt that this time the crabapple chutney was more pronounced, and played off well with the cheddar.
OYSTER - BAKED POTATO ICE CREAM AND CAVIAR
This could have been served as two separate courses, but serving both together was a brilliant touch that created a great balance. One of my main issues with single oyster courses (usually with some sort of mignonette) early in tasting menus is that it often leaves a mouthfeel that is too cold and/or too acidic while waiting for the next course. The baked potato ice cream and caviar managed to round out that bite of oyster, soothing the palate while still maintaining the chilled temperature of an early course.
MOREL - CUSTARD WITH MAINE SEA TROUT ROE
Between the morel custard, morel ragout, trout roe, and bonito broth, this was just loads of umami. There was great attention to detail with the use of borage flowers as garnish. The blue/pink color looked beautiful next to the brown and orange, which is not an easy color combination to make pretty.
ENGLISH PEAS - WARMED WITH MEYER LEMON AND EGG YOLK
Pure Spring in a little bowl. I love English peas and meyer lemon, so this was perfect. But even though it looked simple, it was a well-composed dish with great depth that also featured a lavender-pea puree, smoked fish gelee, miso cured egg yolk, and coriander and lavender flowers.
BEEF - PASTRAMI WITH RAMPS, RYE, MUSTARD, AND FLAVORED SODA
The first of the interactive courses featuring a tableside presentation. The pastrami was ridiculously good. Rich, tender, and beefy with the spices being noticeable but not overpowering. But what really made the dish for me as a whole were the condiments. It's common to have pastrami with rye and mustard and dill pickle, but the additional presence of ramp and dandelion greens in various forms (mayonnaise, relish, pickled) reinforced both the freshness and savoriness of Spring.
SODA - CELERY
I love Cel-Ray, and thought that this was the best version of it I've ever had. It was not as strongly carbonated, which I prefer, and contained additional hints of mint, apple, and lime. This course featured all the theme ingredients we chose at the beginning of the meal, and the coffee soda featured espresso powder, while the cherry soda had flavors of cherry, lemon, and apple, and the strawberry soda featured strawberry, lemongrass, and apple.
FLAVORED BUTTER
Similar to previous visits, the butter was flavored with drippings from our choice of main course, giving the butter additional warmth and lusciousness.
FOIE GRAS - CURED WITH ORANGE-CHAMOMILE, WHITE ASPARAGUS, BITTER ALMOND
As usual, there was a choice between hot and cold preparations of foie gras. I've always thought that EMP had the best seared foie in the city, but for the sake of completeness I opted for the cold prep (well, my dining companions all called dibs on the hot prep). Instead of horizontal layering, the layer of gelee was actually in the middle through the cross-section. It was interesting, but didn't really work for me. I tend to like foie for its decadence, and this just wasn't as rich as the one I had at Per Se.
FOIE GRAS - SEARED WITH FAVA BEAN MARMALADE AND SORREL
WALDORF SALAD CART
The second interactive presentation was accompanied by a brief discussion on the history of the Waldorf salad.
APPLE - WALDORF SALAD WITH CELERY, RHUBARB, WALNUTS
While the original version contained only three ingredients, the version made tableside included a variety of ingredients commonly associated with the Waldorf salad, including apples, celery root, mayonnaise, cranberries, walnuts, blue cheese, and fresh celery leaf. It was delicious and so refreshing, and made me rethink, "Wait, this is a Waldorf salad!?"
VELOUTE
But that wasn't all! The bowl opened up to their modern take on a deconstructed Waldorf with celery root-apple veloute, celery gelee, dehydrated and pickled apples, candied celery root, garlic croutons, chives, and chervil. It was also delicious and refreshing, but I think I preferred the salad version.
The gorgeous dinnerware with the double decker bowls and an ingenious nook to hold the spoon and keep its contents above the soup!
LOBSTER - POACHED WITH BEETS, GINGER, NASTURTIUM
Over the years, quite a few of chef Humm's lobster preparations that I've had have included a sweet vegetal accompaniment. The latest one involved the use of beets, and it added a wonderful extra dimension. There's an innate meatiness to beets, which were further explored here with the use of a citrus beurre blanc and bone marrow sauce.
EN VESSIE
More tableside fun as they bring over the asparagus for our next course, still poaching while encased in the pig's bladder.
ASPARAGUS - BRAISED WITH POTATO AND BLACK TRUFFLE
The black truffle and potato puree was rich and earthy, complementing the asparagus and completing the Spring theme of vegetable from the ground. But what was unique about this dish was how they took that singular asparagus, that vegetable main course and made it truly special with not only luxurious truffle, but also the tableside presentation using a technique that one doesn't get to see too often nowadays.
LAMB - BROTH WITH CURED LAMB AND WATERCRESS
LAMB - ROASTED WITH LETTUCE, GARLIC, AND ONION BLOSSOMS
The broth was made into a gelee and served on a rice crisp, fitting for the season as it was a lighter preparation compared with the hot broth from last year's winter tasting. The plated main course featured roasted lamb loin, brioche-crusted torchon, and confit lamb shoulder. It reminded me a lot of the chef's work during the earlier days of his tenure at EMP. The flavors were concentrated without being dull, and the texture on the lamb loin was ethereal, tender without being too soft, and reminding me of tendon during certain bites. Some of the best lamb I've ever had.
DUCK - ROASTED WITH RHUBARB, SHALLOTS, AND SCALLIONS
The other protein option was Duclair duck dry aged two weeks and glazed with lavender honey, sichuan peppercorns, coriander, and cumin. I'm willing to bet that the duck will always be an option and never leave the menu.
FRESH CHEESE - PRETZEL, PARSLEY, STRAWBERRIES
The whimsical picnic basket course is always a grab bag, and this time around there were refreshingly tart pickled green strawberries, as well as a delicious parsley relish with honey that went beautifully with the fresh cheese and pretzel baguette. I also preferred the brown ale to the previous pale ale, but that's a very subjective preference.
WHEY - SORBET WITH CARAMELIZED MILK AND MILK FOAM
The cool thing about this dessert was that they utilized the whey that was used in the cheese-making process for the previous course. Unfortunately, while delicious, it wasn't a very memorable dessert.
ALMOND - BAKED ALASKA WITH RUM, CARAMEL, AND ADDITIONAL THEME INGREDIENT
Continuing the theme of celebrating iconic New York foods, the Baked Alaska featured another nice tableside presentation. Even though the dessert itself had been around long before, the name "Baked Alaska" originated at Delmonico's Restaurant in New York City in 1876. Both the toasted almond ice cream and the cake were delicious, and the dessert once more featured our chosen ingredient from the start of the meal. While I liked this dessert more than the whey, I didn't think either of the two desserts were particularly novel or daring in combining flavors and textures.
PRETZEL - CHOCOLATE COVERED WITH SEA SALT
CHOCOLATE - SWEET BLACK AND WHITE COOKIE WITH MINT
The finishing sweet black and white cookie had a refreshing mint filling, providing one last note of Spring to send us off.
In a city filled with some of the best restaurants in the world and a culinary world where "chef personalities" are dominating more and more, Eleven Madison Park's most endearing trait to me is its humility. It may be ranked the 4th best restaurant in the world, but there's no, "you'll eat only what I want to make" mentality here. There's clearly a concerted effort that every dish be enjoyable to eat, not just interesting, cool, or thought-provoking to look at. To that end, EMP gives me the impression that they want to make the enjoyment of their dining experience accessible to as many people as possible, and not just pandering to jaded foodies in search of the new and exciting or rich folks who don't care how much they spend on a meal.
I also find Spring to be an especially difficult season to judge. It's not that the food is less delicious in the Spring. It's that when you're able to eat more luxurious ingredients during the fall and winter seasons, from truffles to foie gras to heartier proteins, it's easier to feel a sense of value. Not everyone appreciates that the costs for foraging and sourcing certain vegetables and herbs are expensive. As my friend over at www.donuts4dinner.com once wrote in her first review of Eleven Madison Park years ago,
"When I think about the one thing that really, really gets my goat, it’s the sheer unimpressiveness of the ingredients we were served. Two of our main courses were vegetables."
I found the Spring 2014 menu at EMP to be truly special. Not only was it a celebration of the season from start to finish, it also managed to be both delicious and luxurious in a way that alleviated some of the aforementioned dissonance. I believe that this meal compared favorably to both my meals at EMP last year, and I highly recommend reading last year's Thorough Review of Eleven Madison Park posts first to get an idea of the foundation that they built and have improved upon.
Interaction with the diner is one of the things they really enjoy doing at EMP. As the four of us sat down at the table, we noticed an envelope and a letter opener. Opening the envelope revealed four perforated chits featuring four different ingredients - cherry, coffee, celery, strawberry. It was then explained to us that we should punch out the ingredient we liked, and that ingredient would be featured multiple times throughout the meal. Since there were four of us, we decided to give all four ingredients a try, and I chose celery.
The first course was their savory take on a black and white cookie. I felt that this time the crabapple chutney was more pronounced, and played off well with the cheddar.
OYSTER - BAKED POTATO ICE CREAM AND CAVIAR
This could have been served as two separate courses, but serving both together was a brilliant touch that created a great balance. One of my main issues with single oyster courses (usually with some sort of mignonette) early in tasting menus is that it often leaves a mouthfeel that is too cold and/or too acidic while waiting for the next course. The baked potato ice cream and caviar managed to round out that bite of oyster, soothing the palate while still maintaining the chilled temperature of an early course.
Between the morel custard, morel ragout, trout roe, and bonito broth, this was just loads of umami. There was great attention to detail with the use of borage flowers as garnish. The blue/pink color looked beautiful next to the brown and orange, which is not an easy color combination to make pretty.
Pure Spring in a little bowl. I love English peas and meyer lemon, so this was perfect. But even though it looked simple, it was a well-composed dish with great depth that also featured a lavender-pea puree, smoked fish gelee, miso cured egg yolk, and coriander and lavender flowers.
BEEF - PASTRAMI WITH RAMPS, RYE, MUSTARD, AND FLAVORED SODA
The first of the interactive courses featuring a tableside presentation. The pastrami was ridiculously good. Rich, tender, and beefy with the spices being noticeable but not overpowering. But what really made the dish for me as a whole were the condiments. It's common to have pastrami with rye and mustard and dill pickle, but the additional presence of ramp and dandelion greens in various forms (mayonnaise, relish, pickled) reinforced both the freshness and savoriness of Spring.
I love Cel-Ray, and thought that this was the best version of it I've ever had. It was not as strongly carbonated, which I prefer, and contained additional hints of mint, apple, and lime. This course featured all the theme ingredients we chose at the beginning of the meal, and the coffee soda featured espresso powder, while the cherry soda had flavors of cherry, lemon, and apple, and the strawberry soda featured strawberry, lemongrass, and apple.
Similar to previous visits, the butter was flavored with drippings from our choice of main course, giving the butter additional warmth and lusciousness.
As usual, there was a choice between hot and cold preparations of foie gras. I've always thought that EMP had the best seared foie in the city, but for the sake of completeness I opted for the cold prep (well, my dining companions all called dibs on the hot prep). Instead of horizontal layering, the layer of gelee was actually in the middle through the cross-section. It was interesting, but didn't really work for me. I tend to like foie for its decadence, and this just wasn't as rich as the one I had at Per Se.
FOIE GRAS - SEARED WITH FAVA BEAN MARMALADE AND SORREL
WALDORF SALAD CART
The second interactive presentation was accompanied by a brief discussion on the history of the Waldorf salad.
APPLE - WALDORF SALAD WITH CELERY, RHUBARB, WALNUTS
While the original version contained only three ingredients, the version made tableside included a variety of ingredients commonly associated with the Waldorf salad, including apples, celery root, mayonnaise, cranberries, walnuts, blue cheese, and fresh celery leaf. It was delicious and so refreshing, and made me rethink, "Wait, this is a Waldorf salad!?"
VELOUTE
But that wasn't all! The bowl opened up to their modern take on a deconstructed Waldorf with celery root-apple veloute, celery gelee, dehydrated and pickled apples, candied celery root, garlic croutons, chives, and chervil. It was also delicious and refreshing, but I think I preferred the salad version.
The gorgeous dinnerware with the double decker bowls and an ingenious nook to hold the spoon and keep its contents above the soup!
LOBSTER - POACHED WITH BEETS, GINGER, NASTURTIUM
Over the years, quite a few of chef Humm's lobster preparations that I've had have included a sweet vegetal accompaniment. The latest one involved the use of beets, and it added a wonderful extra dimension. There's an innate meatiness to beets, which were further explored here with the use of a citrus beurre blanc and bone marrow sauce.
EN VESSIE
More tableside fun as they bring over the asparagus for our next course, still poaching while encased in the pig's bladder.
ASPARAGUS - BRAISED WITH POTATO AND BLACK TRUFFLE
The black truffle and potato puree was rich and earthy, complementing the asparagus and completing the Spring theme of vegetable from the ground. But what was unique about this dish was how they took that singular asparagus, that vegetable main course and made it truly special with not only luxurious truffle, but also the tableside presentation using a technique that one doesn't get to see too often nowadays.
LAMB - BROTH WITH CURED LAMB AND WATERCRESS
LAMB - ROASTED WITH LETTUCE, GARLIC, AND ONION BLOSSOMS
The broth was made into a gelee and served on a rice crisp, fitting for the season as it was a lighter preparation compared with the hot broth from last year's winter tasting. The plated main course featured roasted lamb loin, brioche-crusted torchon, and confit lamb shoulder. It reminded me a lot of the chef's work during the earlier days of his tenure at EMP. The flavors were concentrated without being dull, and the texture on the lamb loin was ethereal, tender without being too soft, and reminding me of tendon during certain bites. Some of the best lamb I've ever had.
The other protein option was Duclair duck dry aged two weeks and glazed with lavender honey, sichuan peppercorns, coriander, and cumin. I'm willing to bet that the duck will always be an option and never leave the menu.
FRESH CHEESE - PRETZEL, PARSLEY, STRAWBERRIES
The whimsical picnic basket course is always a grab bag, and this time around there were refreshingly tart pickled green strawberries, as well as a delicious parsley relish with honey that went beautifully with the fresh cheese and pretzel baguette. I also preferred the brown ale to the previous pale ale, but that's a very subjective preference.
The cool thing about this dessert was that they utilized the whey that was used in the cheese-making process for the previous course. Unfortunately, while delicious, it wasn't a very memorable dessert.
ALMOND - BAKED ALASKA WITH RUM, CARAMEL, AND ADDITIONAL THEME INGREDIENT
Continuing the theme of celebrating iconic New York foods, the Baked Alaska featured another nice tableside presentation. Even though the dessert itself had been around long before, the name "Baked Alaska" originated at Delmonico's Restaurant in New York City in 1876. Both the toasted almond ice cream and the cake were delicious, and the dessert once more featured our chosen ingredient from the start of the meal. While I liked this dessert more than the whey, I didn't think either of the two desserts were particularly novel or daring in combining flavors and textures.
The finishing sweet black and white cookie had a refreshing mint filling, providing one last note of Spring to send us off.
In a city filled with some of the best restaurants in the world and a culinary world where "chef personalities" are dominating more and more, Eleven Madison Park's most endearing trait to me is its humility. It may be ranked the 4th best restaurant in the world, but there's no, "you'll eat only what I want to make" mentality here. There's clearly a concerted effort that every dish be enjoyable to eat, not just interesting, cool, or thought-provoking to look at. To that end, EMP gives me the impression that they want to make the enjoyment of their dining experience accessible to as many people as possible, and not just pandering to jaded foodies in search of the new and exciting or rich folks who don't care how much they spend on a meal.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
2013-2014 NBA Finals Preview (sport, gambling)
This is it. The NBA Finals rematch. This is the first rematch since the Lakers and Celtics battled it out in 2008 and 2010, and the first rematch in consecutive years since the Jazz lost to the Bulls back in 1998. Unlike last year, the Spurs come into this final with home court advantage. However, the advantage is smaller this year as the NBA has reverted back to a 2-2-1-1-1 format. Can the Spurs get revenge?
San Antonio Spurs (1) at Miami Heat (2)
The Matchup:
Both rosters are pretty much the same as last year's, and it seems like none of the Heat's off-season moves look to have panned out. The Spurs matched up well last year, and it'll really come down to what lineups each team uses. Due to a rash of mid-season injuries, the Spurs have experimented with many different lineups, which should be very advantageous for them.
The Key Players (who will need to step up):
Dwyane Wade - Wade shot an impressive 55% for the Indiana series, as Indiana just let him do his thing in the paint so Lance Stephenson could focus on what he does best. The Spurs will focus on keeping him out of the paint, and it will be up to Wade to hit mid range jumpers, something he didn't do well last year when he wasn't as healthy.
Boris Diaw - Diaw should get a fair amount of playing time as he provides interior size while being more mobile than Splitter. Diaw did a fairly good job defending LeBron last year, but LeBron is an even better shooter this year, and it'll be up to Diaw to step up his ability to both clog the lane and contest shots. His versatility will be very important against Miami's smaller lineups. He posted up a bit against Durant when OKC went small, and while LeBron is a much bigger body and tougher defender, Diaw should be able to post up successfully if they switch LeBron over to guard Parker or Leonard.
Rashard Lewis - While he may not provide the defense that Battier does, he provides three point shooting without giving up interior size. I have a feeling that Spoelstra will just go with the hot hand as the series unfolds, but Lewis' size provides versatility similar to what Diaw provides the Spurs. A lineup with both Lewis and Allen would have plenty of three point shooting without really giving up rebounding size.
The Coaching:
It seemed to me that both Popovich and Spoelstra clearly outcoached their opponents in their respective conference finals series. Both are excellent coaches, and while Miami has the best player in the series, the Spurs are much deeper and will be more pliable for different coaching strategies. I give the edge to the Spurs here just because they have more options and looks they can go with.
The Intangibles:
The Spurs seem to be playing better as the playoffs have gone on, while the Heat haven't really been tested, even playing an Indiana team that seemed weaker than last year's. Miami's defense, however, is probably tougher than any the Spurs have faced so far in the playoffs, and the Spurs have only been 2-4 during the playoffs when they've scored less than 100 points.
Overall:
This series is really really close, and it'll probably come down to who has the hot hand. The upside lies with San Antonio in that case, as they have more options and scorers. The Spurs are also more likely to be able to adapt to whatever pace the games end up being played at, while I'm not sure Miami, especially their second team, can keep up with a high scoring pace.
Prediction: San Antonio 4-3
Possible bets: Bet San Antonio to win the series 4-1. Current price around +375, which represents pretty good value. While the series seems pretty even, I can see San Antonio winning easily if their league-leading bench outperforms at home while they steal one on the road.
Let's look back and see how my conference finals predictions went.
Overall Series Predictions vs Actual Result:
Prediction San Antonio 4-1, Actual San Antonio 4-2
Prediction Miami 4-2, Actual Miami 4-2
I think I did a pretty good job. I got both winners right, and nailed the Miami series exactly. If Ibaka didn't make a miraculous comeback from his calf injury to play (and play well), i might have nailed that series exactly too.
SAS to win the series. Win one unit.
Parlay Under and IND SU in MIA@IND games. 1-2 for the series, win +.7 units
Overall results: 2-2 +1.7 units
San Antonio Spurs (1) at Miami Heat (2)
The Matchup:
Both rosters are pretty much the same as last year's, and it seems like none of the Heat's off-season moves look to have panned out. The Spurs matched up well last year, and it'll really come down to what lineups each team uses. Due to a rash of mid-season injuries, the Spurs have experimented with many different lineups, which should be very advantageous for them.
The Key Players (who will need to step up):
Dwyane Wade - Wade shot an impressive 55% for the Indiana series, as Indiana just let him do his thing in the paint so Lance Stephenson could focus on what he does best. The Spurs will focus on keeping him out of the paint, and it will be up to Wade to hit mid range jumpers, something he didn't do well last year when he wasn't as healthy.
Boris Diaw - Diaw should get a fair amount of playing time as he provides interior size while being more mobile than Splitter. Diaw did a fairly good job defending LeBron last year, but LeBron is an even better shooter this year, and it'll be up to Diaw to step up his ability to both clog the lane and contest shots. His versatility will be very important against Miami's smaller lineups. He posted up a bit against Durant when OKC went small, and while LeBron is a much bigger body and tougher defender, Diaw should be able to post up successfully if they switch LeBron over to guard Parker or Leonard.
Rashard Lewis - While he may not provide the defense that Battier does, he provides three point shooting without giving up interior size. I have a feeling that Spoelstra will just go with the hot hand as the series unfolds, but Lewis' size provides versatility similar to what Diaw provides the Spurs. A lineup with both Lewis and Allen would have plenty of three point shooting without really giving up rebounding size.
The Coaching:
It seemed to me that both Popovich and Spoelstra clearly outcoached their opponents in their respective conference finals series. Both are excellent coaches, and while Miami has the best player in the series, the Spurs are much deeper and will be more pliable for different coaching strategies. I give the edge to the Spurs here just because they have more options and looks they can go with.
The Intangibles:
The Spurs seem to be playing better as the playoffs have gone on, while the Heat haven't really been tested, even playing an Indiana team that seemed weaker than last year's. Miami's defense, however, is probably tougher than any the Spurs have faced so far in the playoffs, and the Spurs have only been 2-4 during the playoffs when they've scored less than 100 points.
Overall:
This series is really really close, and it'll probably come down to who has the hot hand. The upside lies with San Antonio in that case, as they have more options and scorers. The Spurs are also more likely to be able to adapt to whatever pace the games end up being played at, while I'm not sure Miami, especially their second team, can keep up with a high scoring pace.
Prediction: San Antonio 4-3
Possible bets: Bet San Antonio to win the series 4-1. Current price around +375, which represents pretty good value. While the series seems pretty even, I can see San Antonio winning easily if their league-leading bench outperforms at home while they steal one on the road.
Let's look back and see how my conference finals predictions went.
Overall Series Predictions vs Actual Result:
Prediction San Antonio 4-1, Actual San Antonio 4-2
Prediction Miami 4-2, Actual Miami 4-2
I think I did a pretty good job. I got both winners right, and nailed the Miami series exactly. If Ibaka didn't make a miraculous comeback from his calf injury to play (and play well), i might have nailed that series exactly too.
SAS to win the series. Win one unit.
Parlay Under and IND SU in MIA@IND games. 1-2 for the series, win +.7 units
Overall results: 2-2 +1.7 units
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
The Cow Experience at Takashi (food)
It had been quite a while since I last visited Takashi , the West Village yakiniku restaurant focused only on beef. It seemed like as good a time as any to revisit when they recently launched both a cow platter featuring 16 different cuts which they dubbed "the cow experience" and a limited late night weekend ramen.
Doing both the cow platter and the ramen together seemed to me like an outrageous idea perfect for our foodie group, whose last few conquests included all the dim sum at Red Farm UWS and a whole lamb at Resto. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get a ramen reservation, and had to settle for the cow platter along with a la carte additions from the menu. In fact, I had a very unsatisfactory experience dealing with the front of house trying to sort out the ramen situation. If you're not interested, please feel free to skip the rant below and go on to the review of the food.
TRAVAILS IN RAMEN RESERVATION
So it all started about 4 weeks prior to when I wanted to schedule our group dinner. I showed up in person before dinner service figuring that speaking to someone in person would get me all the information I needed. I spoke with the hostess, who basically told me that noone had tried to do both dinner and ramen before, and that she wasn't even sure if they would have to kick us out during service change. She gave me further details about the cow platter (although one bit of information was wrong) and basically told me that the only way to get a ramen reservation was to go through the email process outlined on the website. Not completely satisfied with that response, I tried calling the restaurant a couple of weeks after and asked to speak to the general manager. The girl on the phone (probably the same hostess) suggested that she could answer my questions instead, but in the end basically repeated the same information.
So I accepted that I was going to have to go through the email process. The website said to submit reservation requests after 5pm on the Monday of, so I sent my email in at 5:01pm, explaining that I was trying to combine the cow platter with ramen. I was hopeful but realistic that reservations like these tend to go quickly. What I didn't expect was that I wouldn't get my reservation request rejected until 6pm the next day! I emailed back my frustration at the whole process and how I was now left with a 10:30pm reservation (and a midnight time limit) and I finally got to speak to the general manager on the phone.
It was finally explained to me that the ramen was treated as a separate business and so the hostess wouldn't really know much about it. It was confirmed that they would indeed have to ask us to get up as they changed service. It was also implied that the Friday midnight seating that I was trying for was actually their most popular, whereas I might have still been able to get something on Saturday night. It was too late by then, but I was finally given all the information that would have actually helped me make a reservation if I had been put in touch with someone knowledgeable on the matter to begin with!
In the end, we moved the dinner reservation up to 9:30pm, and confirmed that our whole party of 6 would do the cow platter. But this story doesn't end until I finally got to Takashi and had an exchange that completely epitomized my front of house experience up till then. After confirming that we were here for our reservation, I asked the host, "Is [name of GM] in tonight?" to which he replied, "Yes." And nothing else. ~Awkward silence~ As if I was just doing a survey and had no interest in actually speaking with the guy. Then again, I never did get to speak with the GM in person that night.
FOOD
THE COW EXPERIENCE (photos courtesy of Katie at www.donuts4dinner.com)
For $30 per person and a minimum of 3 people, the platter comes with 16 different cuts (1 piece per person) arranged on a platter that is the shape of a cow. I don't remember all the cuts, but there was tongue, cheek, shoulder, meat from in between the ribs, oxtail, sweetbreads, heart, liver, skirt steak, short rib, belly, two or three of the cow's four stomachs, and the large intestines. Like all of Takashi's offerings for the grill, you are offered a choice of Takashi's marinade or simple seasoning. Since we had 6 people, we actually had two of these platters, one with the marinade and one without. I don't know if they're willing to do it, but I would highly recommend the marinade for the chewier offal, such as the stomachs and intestines, while the meat and larger organs had cleaner flavors that worked well with simple seasoning.
While the cow platter had 16 cuts, it wasn't quite a complete nose-to-tail cow experience, so we added a few dishes. I will edit the photos back onto this blog post as soon as I have access to them.
CALF'S BRAIN CREAM IN TUBE W/BLINIS AND CAVIAR ($28)
The brain cream was very smooth and a bit mild in flavor. It was basically cream cheese with a very faint mineral beefy taste, and went well with the blinis and caviar. I did wish that it was seasoned more. I often find (in this case as well) dishes in restaurants where the chef assumes the caviar will provide enough salt for the dish but it ends up under-seasoned as a whole.
TESTICARGOT ($12)
No whole cow (well, bull) experience would be complete without the balls. The garlic shiso butter was delicious, although I would have preferred a hint of brightness (citrus). The texture was like eating grilled scallop coral, although a bit chewier. I enjoyed this dish quite a bit, although some diners in our group took a pass.
BONE MARROW AND CRAWFISH DUMPLINGS W/HONG KONG STYLE HOT PEANUT OIL SAUCE ($16)
No idea what about the sauce was "Hong Kong style", and I frankly didn't care for these. The crawfish flavor was evident but felt dull as opposed to fresh and sweet. Some of the diners in the group loved these, so it could be a matter of taste. I also thought they were very overpriced at $16 for two meatballs/dumplings.
FOIE GRAS STUFFED MINI KOBE BURGER W/CHOCOLATE BBQ SAUCE($24)
This thing was more like a mini meatball than a mini burger. It was so small I was surprised they actually managed to stuff something in it. The flavors weren't bad, but the chocolate bbq sauce, which they poured all over the "burger", muddled the flavors. If the sauce had been applied sparingly to the foie, and allowed the meat to still stand out for contrast, it would have been much better.
SQUID INK RICE & MISO-MARINATED SWEETBREADS WITH SPICY YUZU AIOLI, SERVED ON A MAGNOLIA LEAF ($20)
This, to me, was by far the best of the small bites/appetizers that we had. The small pieces of sweetbreads had a perfect crunchy chewy creamy texture, while the rice was full of umami from the squid ink. I'd never had squid ink with such short grain rice, but it worked beautifully, all cut with a bit of citrus in the aioli.
US KOBE MARBLED CHUCK-FLAT STEAK (6OZ, $35)
This is probably the best cut of meat that they offer at Takashi, and a must get. The only thing is that they cook it and slice it for you at the table as opposed to letting you cook it yourself.
MEGA SPARE RIB w/ BOURBON-FLAMBEED BARBECUE SAUCE (MARKET PRICE BY WEIGHT)
This was a special that night (they only started the night with three or four ribs) and definitely worth getting if it's available. I don't remember the exact cost, but we ended up with a 300g (bone-included) portion that felt reasonably priced. Just like the chuck-flat steak, they cook and chop it up for you at the table. The bourbon was very noticeable in the sauce, and once again I found the sauce ok but not necessary. At least this one wasn't poured all over it like the mini kobe burger.
SERVICE
Although I wasn't thrilled with my reservation experience, I did find service at the table to be quite good. The only issue I had was when we ended up with more calf brain cream than blinis and we asked for two more blinis. They brought them but didn't tell us the supplement cost for them. Not only that, they didn't even itemize them separately on the bill, but instead charged us $30 for the calf's brain cream (it says $28 on the online menu, which I assume is the actual price without extra blini).
OVERALL
It was a good thing that we managed to move up our reservation time a little. Despite the supposed two hour limit, we didn't end up leaving till around 12:30am. I do not recommend going with a group of 6 if you want a full yakiniku experience. You end up with the same grill as you would with 2 or more people, so while 6 people sat comfortably, they weren't all really able to grill their own meat. As far as the cow platter is concerned, it's a great way to try all the cuts they offer without spending too much money. But once you've tried all of them and have your favorites, I would recommend just ordering your favorites on subsequent visits. I found the appetizers/small bites to be very hit or miss, but the good ones were really good.
Overall, I would recommend Takashi to those who want to eat high quality grilled beef offal (either ordered separately or with the cow platter). I would also recommend them if you want high quality local beef for your yakiniku, but it probably works best if you have a small appetite or a big wallet (some of us ended up going to Grom after). By the way, since we left so late, we saw some of the ramen clientele. Most of them seemed to be Asian (Japanese specifically) and fairly chatty with the chef and staff as though they were regulars.
Takashi
456 Hudson St
Manhattan NY 10014
Doing both the cow platter and the ramen together seemed to me like an outrageous idea perfect for our foodie group, whose last few conquests included all the dim sum at Red Farm UWS and a whole lamb at Resto. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get a ramen reservation, and had to settle for the cow platter along with a la carte additions from the menu. In fact, I had a very unsatisfactory experience dealing with the front of house trying to sort out the ramen situation. If you're not interested, please feel free to skip the rant below and go on to the review of the food.
TRAVAILS IN RAMEN RESERVATION
So it all started about 4 weeks prior to when I wanted to schedule our group dinner. I showed up in person before dinner service figuring that speaking to someone in person would get me all the information I needed. I spoke with the hostess, who basically told me that noone had tried to do both dinner and ramen before, and that she wasn't even sure if they would have to kick us out during service change. She gave me further details about the cow platter (although one bit of information was wrong) and basically told me that the only way to get a ramen reservation was to go through the email process outlined on the website. Not completely satisfied with that response, I tried calling the restaurant a couple of weeks after and asked to speak to the general manager. The girl on the phone (probably the same hostess) suggested that she could answer my questions instead, but in the end basically repeated the same information.
So I accepted that I was going to have to go through the email process. The website said to submit reservation requests after 5pm on the Monday of, so I sent my email in at 5:01pm, explaining that I was trying to combine the cow platter with ramen. I was hopeful but realistic that reservations like these tend to go quickly. What I didn't expect was that I wouldn't get my reservation request rejected until 6pm the next day! I emailed back my frustration at the whole process and how I was now left with a 10:30pm reservation (and a midnight time limit) and I finally got to speak to the general manager on the phone.
It was finally explained to me that the ramen was treated as a separate business and so the hostess wouldn't really know much about it. It was confirmed that they would indeed have to ask us to get up as they changed service. It was also implied that the Friday midnight seating that I was trying for was actually their most popular, whereas I might have still been able to get something on Saturday night. It was too late by then, but I was finally given all the information that would have actually helped me make a reservation if I had been put in touch with someone knowledgeable on the matter to begin with!
In the end, we moved the dinner reservation up to 9:30pm, and confirmed that our whole party of 6 would do the cow platter. But this story doesn't end until I finally got to Takashi and had an exchange that completely epitomized my front of house experience up till then. After confirming that we were here for our reservation, I asked the host, "Is [name of GM] in tonight?" to which he replied, "Yes." And nothing else. ~Awkward silence~ As if I was just doing a survey and had no interest in actually speaking with the guy. Then again, I never did get to speak with the GM in person that night.
FOOD
THE COW EXPERIENCE (photos courtesy of Katie at www.donuts4dinner.com)
For $30 per person and a minimum of 3 people, the platter comes with 16 different cuts (1 piece per person) arranged on a platter that is the shape of a cow. I don't remember all the cuts, but there was tongue, cheek, shoulder, meat from in between the ribs, oxtail, sweetbreads, heart, liver, skirt steak, short rib, belly, two or three of the cow's four stomachs, and the large intestines. Like all of Takashi's offerings for the grill, you are offered a choice of Takashi's marinade or simple seasoning. Since we had 6 people, we actually had two of these platters, one with the marinade and one without. I don't know if they're willing to do it, but I would highly recommend the marinade for the chewier offal, such as the stomachs and intestines, while the meat and larger organs had cleaner flavors that worked well with simple seasoning.
While the cow platter had 16 cuts, it wasn't quite a complete nose-to-tail cow experience, so we added a few dishes. I will edit the photos back onto this blog post as soon as I have access to them.
CALF'S BRAIN CREAM IN TUBE W/BLINIS AND CAVIAR ($28)
The brain cream was very smooth and a bit mild in flavor. It was basically cream cheese with a very faint mineral beefy taste, and went well with the blinis and caviar. I did wish that it was seasoned more. I often find (in this case as well) dishes in restaurants where the chef assumes the caviar will provide enough salt for the dish but it ends up under-seasoned as a whole.
TESTICARGOT ($12)
No whole cow (well, bull) experience would be complete without the balls. The garlic shiso butter was delicious, although I would have preferred a hint of brightness (citrus). The texture was like eating grilled scallop coral, although a bit chewier. I enjoyed this dish quite a bit, although some diners in our group took a pass.
BONE MARROW AND CRAWFISH DUMPLINGS W/HONG KONG STYLE HOT PEANUT OIL SAUCE ($16)
No idea what about the sauce was "Hong Kong style", and I frankly didn't care for these. The crawfish flavor was evident but felt dull as opposed to fresh and sweet. Some of the diners in the group loved these, so it could be a matter of taste. I also thought they were very overpriced at $16 for two meatballs/dumplings.
FOIE GRAS STUFFED MINI KOBE BURGER W/CHOCOLATE BBQ SAUCE($24)
This thing was more like a mini meatball than a mini burger. It was so small I was surprised they actually managed to stuff something in it. The flavors weren't bad, but the chocolate bbq sauce, which they poured all over the "burger", muddled the flavors. If the sauce had been applied sparingly to the foie, and allowed the meat to still stand out for contrast, it would have been much better.
SQUID INK RICE & MISO-MARINATED SWEETBREADS WITH SPICY YUZU AIOLI, SERVED ON A MAGNOLIA LEAF ($20)
This, to me, was by far the best of the small bites/appetizers that we had. The small pieces of sweetbreads had a perfect crunchy chewy creamy texture, while the rice was full of umami from the squid ink. I'd never had squid ink with such short grain rice, but it worked beautifully, all cut with a bit of citrus in the aioli.
US KOBE MARBLED CHUCK-FLAT STEAK (6OZ, $35)
This is probably the best cut of meat that they offer at Takashi, and a must get. The only thing is that they cook it and slice it for you at the table as opposed to letting you cook it yourself.
MEGA SPARE RIB w/ BOURBON-FLAMBEED BARBECUE SAUCE (MARKET PRICE BY WEIGHT)
This was a special that night (they only started the night with three or four ribs) and definitely worth getting if it's available. I don't remember the exact cost, but we ended up with a 300g (bone-included) portion that felt reasonably priced. Just like the chuck-flat steak, they cook and chop it up for you at the table. The bourbon was very noticeable in the sauce, and once again I found the sauce ok but not necessary. At least this one wasn't poured all over it like the mini kobe burger.
SERVICE
Although I wasn't thrilled with my reservation experience, I did find service at the table to be quite good. The only issue I had was when we ended up with more calf brain cream than blinis and we asked for two more blinis. They brought them but didn't tell us the supplement cost for them. Not only that, they didn't even itemize them separately on the bill, but instead charged us $30 for the calf's brain cream (it says $28 on the online menu, which I assume is the actual price without extra blini).
OVERALL
It was a good thing that we managed to move up our reservation time a little. Despite the supposed two hour limit, we didn't end up leaving till around 12:30am. I do not recommend going with a group of 6 if you want a full yakiniku experience. You end up with the same grill as you would with 2 or more people, so while 6 people sat comfortably, they weren't all really able to grill their own meat. As far as the cow platter is concerned, it's a great way to try all the cuts they offer without spending too much money. But once you've tried all of them and have your favorites, I would recommend just ordering your favorites on subsequent visits. I found the appetizers/small bites to be very hit or miss, but the good ones were really good.
Overall, I would recommend Takashi to those who want to eat high quality grilled beef offal (either ordered separately or with the cow platter). I would also recommend them if you want high quality local beef for your yakiniku, but it probably works best if you have a small appetite or a big wallet (some of us ended up going to Grom after). By the way, since we left so late, we saw some of the ramen clientele. Most of them seemed to be Asian (Japanese specifically) and fairly chatty with the chef and staff as though they were regulars.
Takashi
456 Hudson St
Manhattan NY 10014
Sunday, May 18, 2014
2013-2014 NBA Playoffs Conference Finals Preview (sport, gambling)
Even after all the overtime games, game 7s, and controversial endings of the first two rounds, we end up with the top 2 seeds in both conferences.
Oklahoma City Thunder (2) at San Antonio Spurs (1)
It's really hard to predict what will happen in this series with all the recent injuries. Ibaka was key during the regular season series, averaging double digit points, rebounds, and 4 blocks a game. They especially needed his rebounding as the Spurs were the best team in the league in opponent backcourt rebounds, which is one of Westbrook's strengths. While the Collison and Adams duo can probably pick up the slack in rebounding, it'll be hard for them to provide the same rim protection. But that might not even be necessary if Parker is also sidelined, as Mills and Ginobili run the offense very differently with fewer drives to the hoop. The Thunder swept the regular season series, but three of those games came early in the season when San Antonio couldn't beat a single good team, and the last one came on a back-to-back when Ginobili was being rested and key starters had minutes limited. This one is just too hard to predict, but I have a feeling OKC was both physically and emotionally spent in that Clippers series.
Prediction: San Antonio 4-1
Possible bets: Bet San Antonio to win the series. Current price around -220.
Miami Heat (2) at Indiana Pacers (1)
The Heat and Pacers split the regular season series, with both teams winning at home. The one player that stood out the most in those box scores was Roy Hibbert. In Indiana's two wins, he scored 24 and 21 points, while in their two losses, he scored 5 and 6 points. If Hibbert really is going to be the key to Indiana's success, the Pacers are in a lot of trouble. The Heat have clearly been preparing for this, as Chris Bosh took more 3 pointers this year than his five previous seasons combined. Atlanta showed how much Hibbert can really struggle against a three point shooting center, as he didn't have a single good game in that series. Indiana has also lost the first game of each of their playoff series this season, and they can't afford to do that here. I expect Miami to steal one of the first two road games, and then hold court at home.
Prediction: Miami 4-2
Possible bets: Parlay the under with Indiana winning outright in every game at Indiana. Indiana's best chance is to slow the pace down to a defensive, interior struggle where they have the size advantage.
Let's look back and see how my second round predictions went.
Overall Series Predictions vs Actual Result:
Prediction Portland 4-2 or San Antonio 4-3, Actual San Antonio 4-1
Prediction Oklahoma City 4-1, Actual Oklahoma City 4-2
Prediction Washington 4-2, Actual Indiana 4-2
Prediction Miami 4-1, Actual Miami 4-1
I went with a couple of underdogs and neither of them panned out. The betting results were even worse as I didn't make a pick in the only series that I predicted correctly.
POR to win the series. Lost.
OKC to win the series and parlay OKC with the over in each individual game. Overall 2-5 and -1.4 units for the series.
Over in every WASvsIND games. 2-4 for the series.
Overall results: 4-10 -4.8 units
Oklahoma City Thunder (2) at San Antonio Spurs (1)
It's really hard to predict what will happen in this series with all the recent injuries. Ibaka was key during the regular season series, averaging double digit points, rebounds, and 4 blocks a game. They especially needed his rebounding as the Spurs were the best team in the league in opponent backcourt rebounds, which is one of Westbrook's strengths. While the Collison and Adams duo can probably pick up the slack in rebounding, it'll be hard for them to provide the same rim protection. But that might not even be necessary if Parker is also sidelined, as Mills and Ginobili run the offense very differently with fewer drives to the hoop. The Thunder swept the regular season series, but three of those games came early in the season when San Antonio couldn't beat a single good team, and the last one came on a back-to-back when Ginobili was being rested and key starters had minutes limited. This one is just too hard to predict, but I have a feeling OKC was both physically and emotionally spent in that Clippers series.
Prediction: San Antonio 4-1
Possible bets: Bet San Antonio to win the series. Current price around -220.
Miami Heat (2) at Indiana Pacers (1)
The Heat and Pacers split the regular season series, with both teams winning at home. The one player that stood out the most in those box scores was Roy Hibbert. In Indiana's two wins, he scored 24 and 21 points, while in their two losses, he scored 5 and 6 points. If Hibbert really is going to be the key to Indiana's success, the Pacers are in a lot of trouble. The Heat have clearly been preparing for this, as Chris Bosh took more 3 pointers this year than his five previous seasons combined. Atlanta showed how much Hibbert can really struggle against a three point shooting center, as he didn't have a single good game in that series. Indiana has also lost the first game of each of their playoff series this season, and they can't afford to do that here. I expect Miami to steal one of the first two road games, and then hold court at home.
Prediction: Miami 4-2
Possible bets: Parlay the under with Indiana winning outright in every game at Indiana. Indiana's best chance is to slow the pace down to a defensive, interior struggle where they have the size advantage.
Let's look back and see how my second round predictions went.
Overall Series Predictions vs Actual Result:
Prediction Portland 4-2 or San Antonio 4-3, Actual San Antonio 4-1
Prediction Oklahoma City 4-1, Actual Oklahoma City 4-2
Prediction Washington 4-2, Actual Indiana 4-2
Prediction Miami 4-1, Actual Miami 4-1
I went with a couple of underdogs and neither of them panned out. The betting results were even worse as I didn't make a pick in the only series that I predicted correctly.
POR to win the series. Lost.
OKC to win the series and parlay OKC with the over in each individual game. Overall 2-5 and -1.4 units for the series.
Over in every WASvsIND games. 2-4 for the series.
Overall results: 4-10 -4.8 units
Monday, May 12, 2014
TV 1H 2014: Hellos and Goodbyes (tv, entertainment)
As we enter finale week of May sweeps, I want to comment on a couple of new and ending shows from this year. Some of these shows ended a while ago, but the Olympics kind of blurred February sweeps for me.
Thank you and goodbye:
How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM)
At its best, HIMYM was one of the best comedies on TV. Great story-telling through interwoven flashbacks from different points of view, deeper characters than your usual group-of-friends-in-NYC sitcom, continuity through frequent callbacks to earlier plot points, and the occasional just plain awesome outrageous moments such as The Naked Man, Robin Sparkles, and many more. The middle seasons did, however, drag on, and they repeated too many jokes. I was ok with the Barneyisms but got tired of the Canada jokes really quickly.
The final season was kind of in the middle of those two extremes, but overall quite enjoyable. There were glimpses of greatness (eg. How Your Mother Met Me) that reminded me of the earlier seasons, while there were all sorts of callbacks that served as a thank you to fans who stuck with the show to the end.
Of course, no discussion of the final season is complete without talking about the controversial ending. I was ok with the concept of the ending as it neatly wrapped up the narrative. It explained why a story about how Ted met the kids' mother was mostly focused on him and his group of friends. What I thought was unnecessary, was that if this was where the producers were always going with it, why did they have to make the mother so damn loveable? Cristin Milioti absolutely killed it as the mother, and was the best thing about the final season.
That pretty much sums up my view of the series as a whole. If it had been a shorter show, maybe 5-6 seasons of its best stuff, it would have been right up there with the very best sitcoms of all time. Instead, there was just too much that was unnecessary. It was legen- and then they waited too long to make it -dary.
Psych
While the usual descriptions of Psych often start with mentions of The Mentalist because of the basis of the plot, the show that it reminds me of most is Castle. It's basically a procedural that revels in its silliness. It's fun, simple, and easy to pick up. Psych took pop culture themed episodes (like Castle's sci-fi, zombie, vampire, etc. episodes) and took them up a notch, doing special Xmas episodes and changing the language of their theme song and opening credits. It was a "let's all have fun together" show, rather than "here's how smart we are, look at all these plot twists and turns", and I will miss it dearly. For now, at least there's still Castle, that is when they're not doing the overly dramatic episodes.
Hello and come again:
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD
This show is, by itself, an excellent, action adventure that reaches across sci-fi, spy thriller, and other genres. But what separates it from other shows that have come before it is how it has been woven together within the bigger Marvel cinematic universe. The constant callbacks to the Marvel movie franchises such as the Avengers, Thor, and Captain America give the story a grander perspective and the viewer a sense that they are watching something that is an integral part of a epic adventure. It also offers a sense of security that the producers know where the story is going and that it will actually come to a satisfying conclusion.
Hi, bye:
Growing up Fisher
I feel that this is the comedy that NBC hoped for when they brought on Michael J Fox. An endearing, feel-good family comedy that features a main character coming to grips with and overcoming his disability, which in this case is blindness. It has some genuinely funny moments, whereas the Michael J Fox show was slow and boring from start to finish, and barely touched on his Parkinson's. It's unclear whether the show's handling of the dad's blindness will continue to be funny for a longer stretch, but for now this is as good of a traditional (one) family comedy as I've seen the past few seasons. It's appalling to me that this is getting cancelled while that unfunny but more heavily marketed comedy About A Boy gets renewed.
Rake
I really liked this show, and am sad that it's not returning. Kinnear did a good job playing the biggest degenerate on TV since Greg House. It had its completely outrageous moments, and the courtroom stuff reminded me of Boston Legal. I don't really recall many degenerate gambler lead roles in TV, so it was fun to have an antihero to root for. I think the show might have had a better chance if it had been on the edgier FX instead of Fox.
Thank you and goodbye:
How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM)
At its best, HIMYM was one of the best comedies on TV. Great story-telling through interwoven flashbacks from different points of view, deeper characters than your usual group-of-friends-in-NYC sitcom, continuity through frequent callbacks to earlier plot points, and the occasional just plain awesome outrageous moments such as The Naked Man, Robin Sparkles, and many more. The middle seasons did, however, drag on, and they repeated too many jokes. I was ok with the Barneyisms but got tired of the Canada jokes really quickly.
The final season was kind of in the middle of those two extremes, but overall quite enjoyable. There were glimpses of greatness (eg. How Your Mother Met Me) that reminded me of the earlier seasons, while there were all sorts of callbacks that served as a thank you to fans who stuck with the show to the end.
Of course, no discussion of the final season is complete without talking about the controversial ending. I was ok with the concept of the ending as it neatly wrapped up the narrative. It explained why a story about how Ted met the kids' mother was mostly focused on him and his group of friends. What I thought was unnecessary, was that if this was where the producers were always going with it, why did they have to make the mother so damn loveable? Cristin Milioti absolutely killed it as the mother, and was the best thing about the final season.
That pretty much sums up my view of the series as a whole. If it had been a shorter show, maybe 5-6 seasons of its best stuff, it would have been right up there with the very best sitcoms of all time. Instead, there was just too much that was unnecessary. It was legen- and then they waited too long to make it -dary.
Psych
While the usual descriptions of Psych often start with mentions of The Mentalist because of the basis of the plot, the show that it reminds me of most is Castle. It's basically a procedural that revels in its silliness. It's fun, simple, and easy to pick up. Psych took pop culture themed episodes (like Castle's sci-fi, zombie, vampire, etc. episodes) and took them up a notch, doing special Xmas episodes and changing the language of their theme song and opening credits. It was a "let's all have fun together" show, rather than "here's how smart we are, look at all these plot twists and turns", and I will miss it dearly. For now, at least there's still Castle, that is when they're not doing the overly dramatic episodes.
Hello and come again:
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD
This show is, by itself, an excellent, action adventure that reaches across sci-fi, spy thriller, and other genres. But what separates it from other shows that have come before it is how it has been woven together within the bigger Marvel cinematic universe. The constant callbacks to the Marvel movie franchises such as the Avengers, Thor, and Captain America give the story a grander perspective and the viewer a sense that they are watching something that is an integral part of a epic adventure. It also offers a sense of security that the producers know where the story is going and that it will actually come to a satisfying conclusion.
Hi, bye:
Growing up Fisher
I feel that this is the comedy that NBC hoped for when they brought on Michael J Fox. An endearing, feel-good family comedy that features a main character coming to grips with and overcoming his disability, which in this case is blindness. It has some genuinely funny moments, whereas the Michael J Fox show was slow and boring from start to finish, and barely touched on his Parkinson's. It's unclear whether the show's handling of the dad's blindness will continue to be funny for a longer stretch, but for now this is as good of a traditional (one) family comedy as I've seen the past few seasons. It's appalling to me that this is getting cancelled while that unfunny but more heavily marketed comedy About A Boy gets renewed.
Rake
I really liked this show, and am sad that it's not returning. Kinnear did a good job playing the biggest degenerate on TV since Greg House. It had its completely outrageous moments, and the courtroom stuff reminded me of Boston Legal. I don't really recall many degenerate gambler lead roles in TV, so it was fun to have an antihero to root for. I think the show might have had a better chance if it had been on the edgier FX instead of Fox.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Only Two Weeks Left for Live Jazz Upstairs at the NoMad (food, entertainment)
One of the great things about the restaurant in the NoMad hotel is how the space is divided into unique rooms (library, bar, atrium, parlor, fireplace) each with its own ambiance and charm. Every Thursday for the past couple of months, they've also managed to transform a meeting room on the second floor of the hotel into a fun venue for drinks, snacks, and live jazz. There are only two weeks left right now to experience live jazz upstairs at the NoMad, but it should return after the summer.
A regular meeting room gets done up simply but effectively.
The complimentary bowl of nuts is perfect for drinks, the best being the round ones with a crispy coating, described to me as like "those Japanese snacks".
As there isn't a full kitchen or bar to work with on the second floor, only a limited number of drinks and snacks are available, with about 5 of each to choose from. The fruits de mer platter is not available due to the temperature constraint. The menu has changed as the spring season has settled in, but the silky smooth chicken liver mousse and the beef tartare with a nice kick to it were excellent snacks to enjoy with a couple of drinks.
If you are lucky enough to snag a reservation, you can in theory have the table until they are finished for the night. The band plays throughout the night, but most of their guests tend to settle in for about an hour or two, usually as a pre- or post-dinner kind of thing.
A regular meeting room gets done up simply but effectively.
As there isn't a full kitchen or bar to work with on the second floor, only a limited number of drinks and snacks are available, with about 5 of each to choose from. The fruits de mer platter is not available due to the temperature constraint. The menu has changed as the spring season has settled in, but the silky smooth chicken liver mousse and the beef tartare with a nice kick to it were excellent snacks to enjoy with a couple of drinks.
Monday, May 5, 2014
2013-2014 NBA Playoffs Round 2 Preview (sport, gambling)
What a ridiculously entertaining first round of playoffs it has been. Hopefully that continues.
Portland Trailblazers (5) at San Antonio Spurs (1)
Both teams feature pretty much the same types of players at all five starting positions. A driving point guard who can spot up from anywhere. A sizable shooting guard capable of getting hot and making a lot of threes. A lengthy small forward who can do everything including shooting threes and playing great defense. An all star power forward and an active, hustling center. Portland's individual stars are slightly better though, as both Lillard and Aldridge have better range than their respective counterparts. The Spurs, however, have the best bench in the playoffs, and it will come down to how far Portland can ride their starting five. With four of their five starters averaging 40 minutes a game in the first round, Portland's best chance is to win 3 of the first 4 games and make it a short series.
Prediction: Portland 4-2 or San Antonio 4-3
Possible bets: Bet Portland to win the series. Great odds at around +300.
Los Angeles Clippers (3) at Oklahoma City Thunder (2)
I thought the Clippers would show some signs of an improved defense in the first round against the Warriors, but that wasn't the case. Couple that with Chris Paul, their best individual defender, playing hurt, and I don't see how this series will be particularly competitive. Memphis was able to slow down the Thunder with their grit and grind approach and a resurgent Tony Allen defensive performance on Durant. If this ends up being a nightly race to get to 110 points first, I don't see how the Clippers can keep up with the Thunder.
Prediction: Oklahoma City 4-1
Possible bets: Bet Oklahoma City to win the series. Good odds at around -200. Also parlay OKC spread with the over every game. If the Clippers can't get their defense to come together, the Thunder will win games very easily.
Washington Wizards (5) at Indiana Pacers (1)
This is another nightmare matchup for the top seeded Pacers. Even though Gortat and Nene aren't three point shooters, almost every player in the Wizards' top 7 (inc. Booker and Webster) can shoot to some extent, and that should create enough spacing to render Hibbert ineffective once again. The Wizards' backcourt is even better than the Hawks' one, which Indiana had plenty of trouble dealing with.
Prediction: Washington 4-2
Possible bets: Bet the over in every game.
Brooklyn Nets (6) at Miami Heat (2)
It's hard to gauge how well the Heat are playing as Charlotte was not very competitive with their best player hurt. The Heat kind of just let Lebron do his thing, and there was only one game (game 3) when Miami's aggressive trapping scheme in the backcourt really seemed to have its act together. But I don't think the Heat will need to be anywhere near their best to dispose of this Brooklyn team, one of the few remaining playoff teams who really can't take advantage of Miami's weak interior presence.
Prediction: Miami Heat 4-1
Possible bets: Nothing really jumps out at me.
While we're at it, let's see how my first round predictions for the Eastern and Western conferences went.
Overall Series Predictions vs Actual Result:
Prediction Indiana 4-1, Actual Oklahoma City 4-3
Prediction Miami 4-0, Actual Miami 4-0
Prediction Toronto 4-1, Actual Brooklyn 4-3
Prediction Chicago 4-3, Actual Washington 4-1
Prediction San Antonio 4-0, Actual San Antonio 4-3
Prediction Oklahoma City 4-2, Actual Oklahoma City 4-3
Prediction Los Angeles 4-0, Actual Los Angeles 4-3
Prediction Portland 4-2, Actual Portland 4-2
Under in the first ATL@IND games, then over in the next IND@ATL games. 1-3 for the series.
Under in every BKNvsTOR game went 3-3-1, while Toronto to win the series was a loss. 3-4 for the series.
Taking the underdog every WASvsCHI game worked out really well, winning 4 of 5 for +4.9 units.
Over in every DALvsSAS game. 5-2 for the series.
Under in every GSWvsLAC game. 2-5 for the series.
While I correctly predicted the PORvsHOU result, I was also right that it was too close of a series and that the odds on Portland didn't represent much value.
Overall results: 15-15 +.9 unit.
Portland Trailblazers (5) at San Antonio Spurs (1)
Both teams feature pretty much the same types of players at all five starting positions. A driving point guard who can spot up from anywhere. A sizable shooting guard capable of getting hot and making a lot of threes. A lengthy small forward who can do everything including shooting threes and playing great defense. An all star power forward and an active, hustling center. Portland's individual stars are slightly better though, as both Lillard and Aldridge have better range than their respective counterparts. The Spurs, however, have the best bench in the playoffs, and it will come down to how far Portland can ride their starting five. With four of their five starters averaging 40 minutes a game in the first round, Portland's best chance is to win 3 of the first 4 games and make it a short series.
Prediction: Portland 4-2 or San Antonio 4-3
Possible bets: Bet Portland to win the series. Great odds at around +300.
Los Angeles Clippers (3) at Oklahoma City Thunder (2)
I thought the Clippers would show some signs of an improved defense in the first round against the Warriors, but that wasn't the case. Couple that with Chris Paul, their best individual defender, playing hurt, and I don't see how this series will be particularly competitive. Memphis was able to slow down the Thunder with their grit and grind approach and a resurgent Tony Allen defensive performance on Durant. If this ends up being a nightly race to get to 110 points first, I don't see how the Clippers can keep up with the Thunder.
Prediction: Oklahoma City 4-1
Possible bets: Bet Oklahoma City to win the series. Good odds at around -200. Also parlay OKC spread with the over every game. If the Clippers can't get their defense to come together, the Thunder will win games very easily.
Washington Wizards (5) at Indiana Pacers (1)
This is another nightmare matchup for the top seeded Pacers. Even though Gortat and Nene aren't three point shooters, almost every player in the Wizards' top 7 (inc. Booker and Webster) can shoot to some extent, and that should create enough spacing to render Hibbert ineffective once again. The Wizards' backcourt is even better than the Hawks' one, which Indiana had plenty of trouble dealing with.
Prediction: Washington 4-2
Possible bets: Bet the over in every game.
Brooklyn Nets (6) at Miami Heat (2)
It's hard to gauge how well the Heat are playing as Charlotte was not very competitive with their best player hurt. The Heat kind of just let Lebron do his thing, and there was only one game (game 3) when Miami's aggressive trapping scheme in the backcourt really seemed to have its act together. But I don't think the Heat will need to be anywhere near their best to dispose of this Brooklyn team, one of the few remaining playoff teams who really can't take advantage of Miami's weak interior presence.
Prediction: Miami Heat 4-1
Possible bets: Nothing really jumps out at me.
While we're at it, let's see how my first round predictions for the Eastern and Western conferences went.
Overall Series Predictions vs Actual Result:
Prediction Indiana 4-1, Actual Oklahoma City 4-3
Prediction Miami 4-0, Actual Miami 4-0
Prediction Toronto 4-1, Actual Brooklyn 4-3
Prediction Chicago 4-3, Actual Washington 4-1
Prediction San Antonio 4-0, Actual San Antonio 4-3
Prediction Oklahoma City 4-2, Actual Oklahoma City 4-3
Prediction Los Angeles 4-0, Actual Los Angeles 4-3
Prediction Portland 4-2, Actual Portland 4-2
Under in the first ATL@IND games, then over in the next IND@ATL games. 1-3 for the series.
Under in every BKNvsTOR game went 3-3-1, while Toronto to win the series was a loss. 3-4 for the series.
Taking the underdog every WASvsCHI game worked out really well, winning 4 of 5 for +4.9 units.
Over in every DALvsSAS game. 5-2 for the series.
Under in every GSWvsLAC game. 2-5 for the series.
While I correctly predicted the PORvsHOU result, I was also right that it was too close of a series and that the odds on Portland didn't represent much value.
Overall results: 15-15 +.9 unit.
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