Today it's a straightforward review of a restaurant here on LI, so if you're not from the area, or not interested, you might want to skip this post.
There's a new Mexican place in town! Well, a new 'sort of Mexican' is probably a better way to put it. Escorza Mexican Restaurant opened up on Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown in September, replacing 'Siciliana', an Italian eatery which had been there for a couple of years. Karen and I waited until the 'B.Y.O.B.' sign had been taken out of the window and been replaced with a neon 'Corona' sign before going to Escorza.
The restaurant is nicely decorated, simple and  bright, with nice wood floors, glass top tables with Mexican serapes on them, and a few wall hangings, but nothing as gaudy as you can find in some Mexican restaurants.
Over came the waiter for our drink order, Karen had Sangria, I opted for a Negro Modela, a nice dark Mexican beer. Out came a small steel holder with a paper cone in it with red, green, and plain tortilla chips, and two small containers of salsa, one a bright green citrus based blend with a hint of banana, very mild, and the second, more of a green salsa verde, with a little hint of heat, but still mild.
The menu seems to be a little bit all over the place for a Mexican joint. Appetizers included fried Avacado, a couple of different nacho plates, a 'Mexican' shrimp cocktail - all pretty much standard Mexican fare. But, they also had fried calamari, which seemed out of place. They had a nice selection of salads on the menu, and of course, black bean soup, which we ordered and shared. Good call on the share, 'cause it was a big bowl;

The soup was very good, with a nice taste. It had bits of roasted red pepper in it, as well as onion and garlic. A bowl of this, along with a salad or a plate of nachos, would make a nice meal.
The entrees offered were a little odd, as there were probably just as many, or more, 'non-Mexican' entrees as there were typical Mexican ones. They offer burritos and tacos, flautas and fajitas, which you would expect. But, the also have things like a grilled pork chop served with broccoli rabe. A few seafood dishes, and a steak or two rounded things out.
Karen had the 'mixed' fajitas, which came with steak, chicken, shrimp, and the menu claimed, chorizo sausage; 

They came out sizzling nicely, but we noticed there was no chorizo, so we asked the waiter about that, and he said they didn't come with it. When we said the menu indicated they did, he very nicely, and happily, went to the kitchen and brought us out a bowl of the chorizo meat. The fajitas were pretty good, like most places, the veggies weren't cooked quite enough, and both the meat and the veggies hadn't been seasoned. I don't understand how every Mexican place we go to can make fajitas and not season them! There are plenty of good seasoning blends available that can really make this dish 'pop', but nobody seems to use them. Odd. And, they served the fajitas with soft corn tortillas - which is just wrong - so we asked for a couple of flour ones, and they were happy to oblige us. Karen enjoyed the fajitas, but said if she got them again, she'd ask that they cook the veggies more.
I got the Shrimp LaDiabla, which was described as 'shrimp in a smoky jalapeno tomato sauce' - sounded yummy, and it was!

Six jumbo shrimp, nicely cooked, in a thick, spicy sauce. The waiter asked if I wanted it spicy, and they made it just as I wanted it - hotter than medium, but not all the way to hotter than hell. The shrimp were plump and well cooked, not at all chewy or tough, and the sauce was great, especially when I mixed my rice in with it. Each dish was served with a side of Mexican rice and black beans;

As we were finishing, the owner came over and introduced himself, a very pleasant fellow. The wait staff was very good, friendly and helpful - no request was met with anything other than a smile and 'certainly'.
Price for the evening was good, the portion size was good, the quality and preparation was also good, and overall, we enjoyed ourselves.
I don't know that I'd go here if I wanted a typical American 'Mexican' dinner, full of various tortillas and red salsa - for that, Pancho Villa's or Mangoes would be a better choice. But we will definitely come back, there are enough things for us to try, and enjoy on the menu.

Today's post, or rant, or whine, whatever you choose to call it, is going to focus on "Classic Cars", or maybe "Classic Racecars" if you prefer.
Last night, here in Charlotte NC, we had the opening social for the NRPA Congress, and for once, it was at a place that I probably would have gone even if they weren't holding the social there - the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Located directly next to the Charlotte Convention Center, the Hall of Fame is a four story building filled with artifacts, displays, interactive challenges, and most importantly, loads of actual NASCAR cars from the past, and the present.
I really enjoyed some of the more technical displays, including a couple of cabinets filled with some of the more 'creative' ways that teams tried to fudge the rules. The old line 'it ain't cheating if you don't get caught' sure came to mind as I looked over the displays. Some were pretty simple; coil springs just a little taller than allowed; carburetors with their openings bored out a little so more fuel went in; body panels and windows shaved thin to save weight. But the best one I saw was really creative. A driver's drink bag, which is a totally legal device, usually hung on the left hand side of the car and filled with water or Gatorade, and hooked to the driver's helmet with a long tube; but this one wasn't filled with a drink, it was filled with lead! The lead filled bag, hung from the crash cage in the driver's compartment, gave the car more weight on the driver side and allowed it to 'lean' better into the turns. Just amazing!
Got a little bit of a whine to get out however. The Hall of Fame was cool, and honestly, I'd go back again if I'm in the area in the future, it's a great place.
But.....well, you know me, Mr. Mopar, I couldn't help but notice that although the Chrysler guys, both Dodge and Plymouth, won a ton of races, and a lot of championships, they were severely underrepresented here. I mean, come on, Richard Petty, 'The King', 7 time NASCAR Champion - in a Plymouth - and the only one of his cars you have is a '76 Chevy that he drove after Chrysler got out of NASCAR? There were plenty of Chevys and Fords, and even a Hudson that was driven back in the 50's, but the only MOPARS were these:

This one is the twin to Petty's famous #43 "Superbird" that won so many races (along with the Dodge Daytona), that NASCAR had to outlaw it because Ford and Chevy couldn't make a car to compete with it! These could be purchased at your local Plymouth dealer for about $4,000, and they'd easily do 190 mph right out of the showroom door! 

Here's the driver compartment of the Superbird. Notice how little there is inside; these were truly 'stock cars', manufactured on the assembly lines in Detroit, and modified to be run on the tracks. Compare that to current NASCAR rides, which are all custom manufactured as race cars, and which bear little or no resemblance to 'stock' cars. To me, that's one reason NASCAR has lost some of it's appeal. You can't tell a Chevy from a Ford from a (gasp) Toyota! My suggestion is that someone start a new circuit, called the Real American Stock Car League (RASCL - pronounce rascal), and the rules are simple:
Any rear wheel drive sedan is eligible to race. The car must come off of a mass assembly line and must be modified to meet certain minimum safety regulations. Other than that, it's run what you brung, all engine modifications and 'cheats' are okie dokie. Let's see who's really the best engine builder, the best suspension guy, and the best driver. Now...who's got a billion or two laying around to get me started?

And here's the second MOPAR, the #9 Dodge Intrepid, driven by the great Bill Elliott upon Dodge's return to NASCAR in the early 2000's. This one was special to me, because for the first time in many years, with Dodge in the game, I had a reason to watch NASCAR again. Unfortunately, Dodge again withdrew from NASCAR after the 2012 season, amazingly, just as they won the manufacturer's championship for the first time since the 70's. Well, you know Chrysler, there are some things that they just never seem to get right.


 

Monday, back on the road, just a short hop from Roanoke VA to Charlotte. I-81, which parallels I-95, but further west, is a nicer ride than 95 in some ways. First, there seems to be a little less traffic on this road. 95 is such an iconic route from NY to FL that it gets more than it's share of pinheads. Not that 81 doesn't have them as well, such as the 'gentleman' from South Carolina who moved across four lanes of fast moving traffic, from left to right, without so much as attempting to turn his head or signal, so he could fly up an exit ramp. Much better to do that, and endanger the lives of dozens of people, rather than go on to the next exit and carefully get off and come back to the exit you missed. Oh well....
Lunchtime! And what do we have here? Well, it's a "Cook-Out" shop!

Now, of course it wasn't night when I got there, this shot is off the internet. Cook Out is a fairly local chain which is carry out only, sort of like Checkers is. Nothing inside the building other than the food prep area. Picnic tables are scattered around the outside of the place, but most folks simply eat in their cars. Either walk up and order, or go through one of the two drive through aisles.

 Cook Out boasts that their food is 'grilled', and their logo actually features a spatula made out of flames, indicating, I guess, that the food is cooked on a fire of some sort. I opted for the #1 tray, 2 hot dogs, fries, cole slaw and drink. As you can see, for $5, you get a pretty good value, just enough to fill you up without going over the top. The dogs are smallish, like the Oscar Meyer ones you'd get at the grocery - small enough so that they don't quite fill up the bun. They're not your typical bologna dogs, they have a nice smoky taste, with a little garlic and spice to them. Nothing like the King of dogs, Nathan's, but better than most. The bun seemed especially fresh and soft, and had a nice flavor to it. The fries are thicker than most of the shoestring variety you see at McDonalds and the rest of the usual places, and they were cooked to a satisfying brown, served hot, and with just enough salt on them. No ketchup was needed. The cole slaw recipe must be from the same person who invented sweet tea - got my sugar rush for the day from this stuff! Chopped up similar to KFC slaw, nothing but white cabbage and a VERY sweet, thin liquid at the bottom of the cup. Too sweet for my taste, it needed a shot of vinegar for sure!

And here's the reason you go here - check out the grill marks on the dog. They actually do cook over a flame griller; probably gas fired, but nonetheless, it does impart a nice charcoal flavor to the food. Washed it all down with a Mellow Yello (what can I say, it's a Coke house), and it was a decent, quick lunch.
On to Charlotte!

Rainy day near Roanoke, VA, so a good time to do a little catch up from the trip to Portland, and get in the mood for the next few days in NC.
I got to Portland last Sunday afternoon, and stayed until early on Thursday. Real early. I was there for a CPO Instructor School, something I've been doing since 1999, and which I really enjoy. We had a large class, 50 students, including 15 Spanish speaking students from Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Colombia. For those who don't know, this is a very unique educational setting. Students are split into groups of five, and spend their two and a half days with the same people at their table. Instructors rotate through the tables, so each student has close up interaction with four different instructors. Students have to do four chapter presentations, and are evaluated on their knowledge of the subject matter, ability to communicate, to answer questions, and on their presentation skills and general classroom ability. Additionally, there are several presentations made to the entire student body by different members of the Instructor Committee. Overall, a very intense time for the students, but positive and supportive at all times. I am very proud to have been asked to participate in these schools, and am always very impressed with the students, and even more impressed by the rest of the Instructor Committee!
While we were in Portland, we mostly stayed in the hotel, which was a Doubletree, with a nice restaurant, good meal service at our functions, and a nice Lobby Bar, with several interesting beer selections. The 'usual gang', was assembled there as I checked in, so I just took my things to the room and came back down. Portland has a plethora of brewpubs and other craft breweries, so it's a good beer town. We tried a beer from the Deschutes brewpub, Black Butte, a nice porter, which was creamy smooth, with a nice little nutty/smoky/chocolate taste, and no bitter end at all. That's what we settled on for most of the week.
Since we were pretty much being fed during the Instructor School, we didn't get out to eat but once, for dinner on Tuesday. A happy group of 14 of us went to the Deschutes brewery, home of the aforementioned Black Butte. We nibbled on some cheese fries, and a big fat 'German' pretzel with a very nice cheese dip. To drink, most of us went for a slightly darker Porter than the Black Butte, which they called Obsidian. This version was even closer to a Stout than the Butte was, but once again, it was very tasty, with a nice finish, and it went very well with the 'Black and Blue' steak salad I had.
After dinner, some of us popped over to "Rogue" brewery, just a few blocks away from Deschutes. Both are located in the "Pearl District" of Portland, which seems to be a very popular restaurant/pub area. At Rogue, Brian and Michelle each had a 'hoppy' brew, while Wayne and I were intrigued by, and ordered, the house brewed Root Beer. And it was a good choice, it was cold, creamy, had nice overtones of licorice and anise, and really refreshed.
Portland seemed to me to be similar to Seattle in some ways. Lots of very nice people, many of whom have that upper left coast tree hugger attitude, and lots of places to poke around. Unfortunately, it is also like Seattle in that it's cloudy a lot, and it rains a lot. I'd go back, but I'm not sure I'd just head there for a vacation.
Home on Thursday, caught up on emails and such on Friday, ran errands on Saturday, and back on the road on Sunday! This time, it's off to Charlotte for the National Recreation and Park Association Annual Conference. I stopped in Roanoke, VA for the night, and will get to Charlotte around lunch time on Monday. Got to Roanoke around 3:30, and decided to get a late lunch.
Sometimes, you take one for the team. Today's lunch choice was made strictly due to advertising. Little Caesar's (who actually makes a reasonably edible deep dish pie), has been advertising a pie with a layer of cheddar sauce underneath the mozzarella and pepperoni, and a 'buttered & salted pretzel crust".

"A Family Company", says the box, complete with very cheesy graphics. Open it up and..

Wowza Yowza, that's a happy looking pretzel pie! And a real bargain at $7 and change! Like most of the national chains, it's certainly not a big pie, maybe 14 inches in diameter, as opposed to a typical NY large pie, which is usually 18 - 20 inches. Take away a good 2+ inches in diameter for the pretzel edge crust, and it's a pretty small pie. 

And here's two slices - thin as a frozen pizza might be; and you might think it IS frozen, but no, Little Caesar's mixes up the dough fresh in each store each day. This dough has a lot of cornmeal on the bottom, and I think it's given a little baking soda wash to give it that pretzel look and taste. Taste....well, the crust is pretty bland, but does indeed have a pretzel like flavor, especially the edge with the butter/salt on it. I couldn't really get much of the 'cheddar sauce' flavor, it was pretty overwhelmed by the mozzarella and pepperoni. As far as that goes, not bad. The sauce is not as sweet as Domino's or Papa John's is, and although the pepperoni is sliced as thin as a kleenex tissue, you can taste it. Overall, for what you pay, not a bad snack - but it's nothing like a real NY pizza. I'm not sure I'd get it again; I prefer their Deep Deep Dish pepperoni pie,  but I give 'em credit for trying something a little different. I can see this reappearing on the menu each October, that would make sense to me. Dinner tonight, I think, will be something light, perhaps a small salad from Hardee's or Bojangles.
Tomorrow, off to Charlotte!

Okie Dokie gang, time to hit the road again! Off to Portland, OR, for a CPO Instructor School this week. Due to time constraints, I'm taking the 'friendly skies' this trip, so all the posts will be Portland based.
Not looking forward to the flights, you all know by now how I feel about air travel. Fortunately, I got decent flight times, and reasonable stopover times. Denver stopover going out, and ugggh, O'Hare on the way back, and having the trip broken up into two relatively short trips beats the 6 hour nonstop run.
Now, I've not been to Portland before, I had a chance to go there back when I worked for Mid Atlantic, and we represented products by Columbia Cascade, which is based in Portland. Had a conflict on the trip dates and couldn't go, and was told "you'd really like Portland, it's a real 'hippie city'. Now, why anyone would think I would enjoy a 'hippie' anything is a mystery to me, but I'll play along. Fortunately, one of my buddies who works for the Swimming Pool Foundation has spent a lot of time in Portland, and we'll have him to guide us while we're there. Looking forward to some good meals and craft brews.
I'll say so long to Portland on Thursday, come home, and have a quick turnaround before heading out next Sunday for the NRPA Annual Congress for Parks, which is being held in Charlotte, NC. No time issues on that one, so the Bluecuda and I will take I-81 south and enjoy the fall scenery on the trip down and back.
NRPA is always a good conference, I usually find a couple of good educational sessions to attend, I run into people that I've known for a long time, and the exhibit hall is always fun to walk through. I'm giving a session on Wednesday the 15th, and heading back home on Thursday. NRPA has some good socials planned, including one at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, so I'm hoping to get some good posts up from NC. And, of course, there will be some fun food posts as well - and yes, for those who are wondering, I will be within the sphere of influence of Jack In The Box; and you all know what that means!
So keep your eyes peeled for the blogs, I'll let you all know on Facebook when a new post is up.