Review- Osprey Elroy pack

What is the perfect travel bag?  This question has driven me to spend a small fortune in an endless progression of packs.  I have come to view my pack menagerie as a team, rather than succession of tools.  Recently, I sought a bag that was more urban (less technical), and yet capacious enough to handle what normally goes into a daypack, to carry for brief periods.

My most recent analysis revealed that my Maxpedition Sitka is a bit too small, too technical looking for business, and too hard to put on/take off over a dressy coat.  That ruled out upsizing to the Maxpedition Kodiak, at least for this use.

The features of the Sitka I wanted included compartmentalization, and the ability to sling my pack from back to front for access on the go.  The feature which I wanted to depart from Maxpedition was appearance.  I was going to spend a lot of time in Paris and NYC with this bag.  So I ruled out backpacks, and focused on messenger bags, which are innocuous looking, easy to shoulder on either side, voluminous, and durable.

Search started with the standard, Timbuktu.  It is heavy!  But bulletproof, weather resistant, and has a feature that became a requirement- a quick cam adjusting strap.  But it was also just a big bag,  no organizing ethic, no computer section.  The other messenger bags were too small, too poorly constructed, too expensive, and too poorly designed.  Till I got to the Osprey line.  Messenger bags? You bet!

Osprey Elroy in Action

I have a bias toward Osprey packs, some of which are still sewn in Dolores CO.  Alas, not the messenger bags.  They are smart, have great features, have never failed me, and are light.  There are two bags, twins, one small, one large.  I went for the large size, the Elroy.

Padded computer sleeve, check- no need to add a case to the mix
Organizer pockets, check- not too many
Size, check- it is as big as the biggest when expanded
Strap cam, check
Strap pad that stays put when slinging it around, check
Durable, check
Lightweight, check
Post consumer recycled materials, check.
Smart zipper to access things without flopping up the flap, check

I am using it, and realized that I have not had a briefcase I didn't shoulder since the old Samsonite hard sides.  Why did it take so long to go messenger?  I guess because it took Osprey this long to make one.  It holds my needs, has room for extra clothes, protects my computer, is comfortable, and reasonably priced.  A winner that is ExecHobo recommended.

Duke's Chowder House

Airtravel from where we live entails a lot of planning just to get started. We sometimes stay overnight in Tukwilla and get parking bundled in. When we do that we couple a bit of Seattle side business.

Recently I visited the Southcenter Westfield Mall, which is always changing. Duke's Chowder House has been open for a few months, so I gave it a try.

I had plenty of time to study the decor as I waited for the hostess to appear. It is odd, clearly a. Attempt to be a fish house, but with rows of graphite rods as space dividers and rowing shells?

Once the hostess showed and looked at me till I mentioned I wanted to eat, I was pissed. She then tried to squeeze me into a table between two large groups. Nice. Now I took an attitude and asked to seat myself.

The server was pleasant and efficient so I settled down and stayed.

Duke's is a fish house/ brew pub. But the presence of beer is really muted. The menu reflects this duality. I stayed on the fish side.

I had a combo of fried Alaskan cod and clam chowder. The fries were good, seasoned and sprinkled with parm. The fish is battered AND panko breaded. A bit much I thought, but it was crunchy and crispy, not as thick as I feared. the chowder was really good, even if there was too much sand in the plentiful clams. The cole slaw was so sesame I passed on it. I like mine creamy, not Asian.

I will go back and bring Mrs. ExecHobo, a real fan of chowder.

Restaurant Review Row House

With our favorite sandwich place closed for vacation, we needed an alternative, fast. We pulled over to talk about our options. Just as frustration with our lack of a back-up plan was mounting, Mrs. ExecHobo looked up to see we were parked in front of a cafe. We went in.



The setting is an attached residence. A row house. Inside is decorated in rustic fashion. Clean and neat, with a good aroma, we committed.

Row House is a counter service operation, serving Illy coffee and wine. The menu is about half drinks, but the food section seems well thought out for this type of operation. The lunch menu revolves around grilled cheese sandwiches, with some creativity. The daily specials add a bit of flare.

We had black eye pea soup, warm artichoke salad and a sandwich called The Louvre. It is a grilled cheese, with Brie, raisin- pecan bread and orange marmalade.

The food we had was fresh, tasty and well conceived. My only, minor critiques- the artichokes (prepped from fresh) had a few fibrous leaves left on, and The Louvre really could use a fork, so golly it is.

Stop in when you go to REI, it's just around the corner.


- Exechobo

Anthony's Fish House

In the Pacific Marketplace at Seatac the food choices abound with local favorites. Anthony's is an institution. We enjoyed a very nice rockfish taco while gazing at a northwest panorama, the Cascades. The fish was grilled while we waited, so not fast food. The salsa was light and the slaw dressing was too. Good choice while waiting to fly. But avoid the chips and salsa, bad on three levels. Go for the clam chowder, it beats Ivers.




- Exechobo

Seattle Adventure Part 4

Via Tribunali is a little bar on Fremont. It is well done, and features a wood fired pizza oven at the entry, complete with stacks of generic pizza boxes. This cue indicated they may know pizza. As we were standing inside the door gawking, the bartender told us about the current happy hour- $3 Morretis and $5 pizza.

The pizza is a super thin Neapolitan style, but though I like this type of pizza scantily topped, this one was a bit extreme in it's parsimony. Tasty enough and a fair deal at $5, but nothing that compelled me to return.




- Exechobo

Seattle Adventure Part 3

Paseo makes us rethink geography. Why not, in the future, approach Seattle from the north via the Kingston Ferry so we can drive on Fremont and stop in?


Paseo is that good. Carribean cuisine is the second under-appreciated culinary profile worth learning.

We had a pork sandwich, and the flavors were remarkable. Jerk seasoning, cilantro, a flavorful aioli contributed to a memorable sandwich I will re-crave.

Nothing is perfect, and this little place missed on a couple of items. The bread is delicious. A sandwich sized baguette, and toasted, it is just a bit too toothsome for a sandwich like this. Bite after bite I had to reassemble the sandwich as it's innards popped out the sides. Messy is OK, but this was just not necessary. The other quibble is with the peppers. Jalapeños. OK, not imaginative but legit. The issue is with using pickled peppers. Lazy! Fresh would have been far better.

Even so, these issues won't deter us from taking a northern approach to Seattle so we can stop here again and again.
- Exechobo

Seattle Adventure Part 2

In which we visit Herkimer Coffee on the esteemed recommendation of @CoffeePedaler. It is a roastery coffee house keepin it 3rd wave.



The latte was done very well, and the great dairy they use smoothed out the shot so that it's honey notes were easy to appreciate. My espresso came with a shot of soda water to rinse my palate when done. Great little shop, great coffee. A place to stop at anytime we are on the north side of town.


- Exechobo

Seattle Adventure in 4 Parts

We are longtime and devoted REI customers. Often going to Seattle is a day anchored by a visit to REI. This week we wanted to replace a pair of boots that had self destructed.

They are Zamberlains, Italian made and about 9 years old. Just out of curiosity sew took them into REI to show them that the rubber midsole had deteriorated. To our surprise, we were given a refund! Naturally we spent it on a new pair. What a great retailer they are. The benefit is that we buy all of our outdoor gear there.


- Exechobo

Victrola Coffee

Recently corrupted while in NYC, we are now third wave coffee aficionados. Filled with a dangerous level of knowledge and Stumptown coffee we now find that Starbucks simply won't do. So when in Seattle we did a mini tour, looking for the beans to buy for our home espresso making. Naturally my espresso skills are hampered only by the bean! (the last thee sentences are in jest)

We were recommended to taste Victrola and so we did. We went up to 15th Ave, for I mistakenly though we could sip our coffee while looking into the roasting room. But alas no. So we simply sipped.

We immediately agreed the espresso they were serving was bitter. Maybe it was our palate, maybe the bean, a single bean Guatemalan, maybe the roast. But it is a very nice cafe in a hyper hip Seattle neighborhood worth a stop.


- Paul/ BlogPress/ iPhone

Honey Hole

Recommended by @CoffeePedaler, who has proven to be a discerning gourmand, we needed a light lunch while in the neighborhood.



During the long wait for our carryout order, I moved the car to keep from getting a ticket. On the way I reflected on how the Honey Hole might fare in NYC. At their rate of speed most fine dining places there would have the starter course down. And the line would be unmanageable, resulting in imminent closure as they struggled to pay the rent.

However, once we started to enjoy our sandwich, we actually had to say "Damn, that's a good sandwich!". Fresh, quality ingredients, good flavors, right balance of moistness, a'la minute prep, very good sandwich roll added up to be worth the wait and the money.

So even though Honey Hole fails the NYC test, it's good enough to excel in Seattle.

Time Square

Yes, yet another quintessential NYC experience. I like it cause it's Vegas in a few blocks, all I need. Always exciting, a must do for a visitor.


- Paul/ BlogPress/ iPhone

Eisenberg's

This is a classic NYC sandwich counter.


We had 20 minutes to kill and $3 in our pocket, so went in for a taste of corned beef hash. It was perfectly appropriate to the joint.

Along the counter the only thing that has change in the last 60 years is the ethnicity of the immigrant cooks and that smartphones have replaced tabloids.

- Paul/ BlogPress/ iPhone

La Boite en Bois

This was my first venture into the toney Upper East Side of Manhattan. With good reviews behind it, we went to La Boite en Bois for our 5th French meal, and were glad we did. After the depressing Les Halles experience, Ma Femme was determined to rescue the reputation of French cuisine. This was a good choice. Rustic and cramped, we arrived at the perfect time, early. We could see the monied blue hairs arrive and get used to the building noise level, while enjoying the pre-dinner attention of the staff. So we had good service.

We tried a variety of fish dishes, each one distinct, thoughtful and skillfully prepared. It was a fun, tasty and costly dinner. Bring your gold card! You can do better for balance, but face it, if your prowling the Upper East Side you aren't bargain hunting. So La Boite en Bois is not a place to avoid.


- Paul/ BlogPress/ iPhone

#LesHalles Bistro

Culinary bad boy Anthony Bourdain lends a certain level of intimidation as celeb chef at large here. This may make up for the mediocre food. Here is our story.

We were happy to go to this landmark on Park Ave. The menu is replete with classic French dishes. We settled on chacroute garnis, pork rilletes, porc mignon, and confit de canard. Here is how they turned out: the chacroute was beautiful and delicious in every way. Better than France. The rillettes were presented in a traditional way and were also very good, if bland and slightly mushy. The porc was not cooked as suggested and requested, mid-rare, but well done. It was delicious if dry. The duck is where things got pear shaped. It was very dry. Like the bits along the bottom of the drumstick on a Thanksgiving turkey. Very chewy and dry. Like thick jerky. Tasty though. We sent it back, an unusual step for us. The maitre came to the table and let us know that the chef said it was all like that. A tactful comment. We agreed to move on to the Poulet roti. It was a good chicken, and was delicate. Not great.

So we were now two of five. Not a good enough average to generate another visit. But when you have a celebrity chef, do you really need to be concerned about guests?

A comment on the service. We were a disappointment to our server. No wine, no apps, and a complaint to boot. It was late in the evening so we were his last turn. No need to lavish any extra attention on us. No need to respond to our signal we wanted to go ( waving our charge card around). They were decent enough to comp the lowest priced item on our bill, the rillettes, I guess as a statement that we had our head up our ass regarding the confit. No simple gesture of a complimentary dessert, just a big fat disappointing meal with family and friends.

Of course the confit we have enjoyed in our family's home in Paris or in the Perigord Noir should not be allowed to taint our expectations. I did a bit of research to see if I am too harsh, and found the much decorated food critic for GQ had similar observations: http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-q/2008/03/kitchen-inconsequential.html

- Paul/ BlogPress/ iPhone

#Balthazar

The devilishly clever name is just the start of the Faustian experience. Hyper cool, hyper expensive in hyper hip Soho.





But the food is divine. Am I the first to make that devilish pun?






Uh-oh, wait a minute- Balthazar is not another name for Beelzebub. Balthazar was the third Magi. Not related to the devil. Sorry. It seemed so right at the time.

- Paul/ BlogPress/ iPhone

Ace Hotel IV

Okay, there are a few little things that need improving here. The cute, homey faux industrial age pedestal sink. It means my ditty zip-lock (thanks TSA for simplifying my luggage), sits in a puddle of soapy water under the cool little hand soap on a rope.

And with no place to store anything, we are at the mercy of housekeeping for toilet paper. Kinda makes you think about the coming Armageddon and what you need to stock up on.

The gym is nice. The lobby is fun when not so loud your chest vibrates. They run a kind of table service in the lobby/hang-out club. Cool idea. But inconsistent enough so that no one has to feel like servers. Kinda French really.

BBQ in NYC

Sometimes fugedaboudit means forget about it. This is the case on 26th St in Manhattan. There are a couple of barbecue bars there. Forget about them. They are pretenders catering to people with no scruples about cue, or trying to make a business taking advantage of those like us, filled with naive hope.


- Paul/ BlogPress/ iPhone

World Trade Center

Work on the site is showing progress since our last visit here 8 months ago. This is the 9th anniversary of the horrible attack. I can remember it clearly. The local news is running stories on the continuing aftermath.


This is the beginning of the new tower on the site.



And this is where the water pool will be. One can only hope it all turns out well enough to make us all proud.

- Paul/ BlogPress/ iPhone

Ace Hotel III

The lobby of the Ace is hard to capture on a phone camera, even one as good as the iPhone. Dark and cavernous, it looks like a club, even in the morning. Better to check it out in person, cause it's full of great design details.





This design carries through to the restaurant, Breslin's, where the food is really good, especially the fries, bit the portions are minuscule, except for the lamb burger, and the focus is on offal. That's right, sweetbread, head cheese and pigs feet. Enjoy.

iPhone in the Big Apple III

Well there it is. I tried to use my iPhone as a phone today. Three calls. Two dropped. AT&T would make me an Android user on Verizon or a BB user on TMo if I had to live here.

This problem also impacts battery life because the phone works it's tiny brain trying in vain to find and hang onto a signal in the maze of buildings.

- Paul/ BlogPress/ iPhone