REVIEW - The Coachman

After my falling out of love with the other notable British-themed restaurant in town - The Cavalier - we decided to try out recent newcomer The Coachman for an alternative.

While The Cavalier attempts a somewhat retro British look - hunting prints, wood, and subdued colors - The Coachman borrows from many styles, refreshingly un-British in its decor.  It did have - for at least the night we were there - a distinctly UK-centric soundtrack playing in the front third of the place, which is mainly taken up by a few tables and the open kitchen. The middle is occupied by a long bar, and the rear opens out into the main dining area.

That's where we waited - and waited - for the server, first to bring menus, then to come back and ask us if we wanted anything to drink, then to go away and order the drinks from the bar, then to come back and ask us if we'd chosen our meals, and so on for what seemed like an eternity. It would be easy to say that the "eternity" detracted from the overall experience. But the main detraction came from the food.

The chips and gravy, braised lamb, pork belly, cheddar, and fermented chili were sloppy, tasty, inelegant, and filling. A little too filling for us to complete our entrees: Ribeye (tough), Yorkshire pudding (overcooked, and greasy), and Mash (ruined by having too much parsnip); Lamb roast (fatty / chewy), curried aubergine, savory oatmeal, and roasted carrots.

All in all a not very good advertisement for British food.

RAVE - Nightcrawler

A Nightcrawler is a video cameraman who chases police crews investigating crime scenes during the night, shooting video he then sells to news stations.

Jake Gyllenhall plays a low-life LA resident who makes a meager living stealing chain-link fencing and man-holes from the street, selling them to scrap metal merchants. He happens upon a car crash and sees a guy capturing the scene on video as the police pull an injured woman from the wrecked car.

His instincts tell him there's an opportunity to make some money from this, so he trades a stolen bike for a video camera and police scanner, hires a down-on-his-luck Riz Ahmed as his navigator and scanner listener and the two begin their night-time activities: listening for the police radio codes signifying crashes, shootings, home invasions and other mayhem then driving to the scene pressing their camera into the (preferably) bloody action.

The film uses Gyllenhall's character's despicable nature and non-existent moral code, and TV News Director Rene Russo's equally despicable focus on broadcasting the nastiest of that mayhem to suck in audiences.

This makes for a pulse-pounding film that examines the motives and morals of the people behind the news we watch on TV.

RAVE - US Formula 1 GP

My good friend Bill and I made our annual pilgrimage to the US F1 Grand Prix in Austin, Texas this past weekend.

I have to say that I don't particularly like the Circuit of the Americas. I'm glad the US looks like it has finally settled on a proper home for the annual US leg of the F1 series. I just wish it was a bit easier to get to, a lot easier to park at, easier to get an affordable hotel within an hour's drive of the circuit, easier to get around the place once you've schlepped in from one of the parking lots, easier to see more than one corner of the track, and easier to get something healthy to eat.

Despite the unlikelihood of any of that list getting fixed, we'll no doubt be there again next year.