I have a mostly love relationship with Jennifer James 101.  My annoyance comes from technological factors, which I do for a living and therefore bugs the crap out of me when what I see as simple problems are not dealt with.

For example, calling JJ101 can be tricky.  Sometimes they don’t answer.  Sometimes the VM box is full. 

A much larger problem comes from their webpage.  It was dead in the water for nearly 10 months showing just a teaser banner, and now has “stuff” on it - but it is ALL images!  Guess what that means for their browseability on my smartphone?  Impossible to click on their phone number and call them, that’s for sure.  Hard for Google to index them, as well.  It means that my blog post from 11 months ago about them ranks #3.  That’s suicide in this era of “surfing the net for dinner”.

That being said, when it comes to the actual restaurant mechanics, they can do no wrong.  Wonderful food, friendly people, inventive flavors….  absolutely heaven.

And so, I post their weekend specials here now and then, mostly when I get around to it.  But please, ya’ll – fix that darn website!

WEEKEND SPECIALS 2/6–2/7
(subject to availability and change)
roasted atlantic monkfish (poorman’s lobster) in an aromatic tomato-saffron broth
topped w/ gremolata
grilled lamb tenderloin over whipped garbanzos, fried cauliflower tossed w/ fresh turmeric, dilled yogurt
sutcliff signature merlot–sexy & smooth
sutcliff chardonnay–slightly nutty and food friendly
chocolate pudding shots
british sticky toffee pudding

please call 884-3860 to reserve

Farina Pizzeria opened this weekend to preliminary rave comments.  The masterminds of Artichoke Cafe had planned this extension of their talents for well over a year, and it has finally made it to completion.

Due to the skills of Stew with his wine pairings and the cooking abilities of the entire staff, Terry Keene predicted even before opening that things would go well.

I certainly hope so, as I love a good chewy pizza crust, and I also love to see a small business succeed, no matter what the economic climate.

New sushi restaurant, that’s why!

It looks good, I’ve heard reports that it is pretty tasty, the interior is lovely, and the have happy hour every day from 4:30-7:30.  Now, how can you beat that?

By having really great quality fish, of course.  I’ll let you know…

Sushi Hana

How cool – there is yet another sushi joint open in the downtown area for MY mackerel eating pleasure.  It is called Sushi Hana (as opposed to the very good Sushi Hama in the Northeast Heights), and is located at 6th & Central, right in the pit of downtown bar scene.  I’m pasting right in their press release, which I received today:

“Kathy Chao, owner of Sushi Hana located on the northeast corner of 6th and Central would like to announce the restaurant’s opening to the Downtown community.

Come and try a variety of sushi roles and menu items for lunch or dinner all seven days of the week. Set in a Modern Asian atmosphere with bar and table service available, Sushi Hanna features the freshest product on the market, assembled by a team of experienced sushi chefs.

Open weekdays 11:00a.m-9:30p.m and weekends from 11:00am-10:30p.m.”

In another example of why it is, in some cases, risky to eat food from any restaurant, whether a large chain or a mom & pop place, not one, but two Duke City locations of IHOP have turned up employees with Hepatitis A.

They are warning the public that diners of the Wyoming or Montano locations should see a doctor if they feel ill.  It can be contracted by eating contaminated food and over time can do nasty things to your liver.

Ick!