The Left Side of the Toolbox.

I was visiting the newly blog-rolled The Appleton Blog by Jeff Lindsay and his blog is pretty much straight-up life in Appleton. He is close the Hmong community and pays attention to the incidents in the field between the locals and the Hmong. This is as about as close to politics he comes.

However, he commented on the flap with Congressman Kagen and the congressman's comments.

Jeff says:

Without wishing to be political here, let me say that as a supporter of civility and politeness, the story troubles me. It's bad enough for politicians to be rude to their opponents - understandable, yes, but unfortunate. It's worse to physically threaten opponents or to be rude to their spouses. But to think that someone would boast about such rudeness, or fabricate it and then boast about it - well, something's pretty wrong there. Dr. Kagen, a lot of fine people voted for you and are hoping that you'll represent Appleton and Wisconsin well. I hope you can make the appropriate apologies and move forward.

Source: The Appleton Blog – Congressman Steve Kagen of Appleton and National Controversy over His White House Comments

Jeff's blog elicited this comment:

Wow, I was so excited to find a blog about Appleton. Instead, I found a blog that you're using to make posts that are political and seem only to further conservative interests. How disappointing! Hopefully visitors from other places don't assume that the majority of people in Appleton think the way you do.

Look for Kagen to tell his side of the story on the Colbert Report in February!

Source: The Appleton Blog – Commentary on Congressman Steve Kagen of Appleton and National Controversy over His White House Comments

Wow, Jeff writes one post about our Rep. asking Steve Kagen to conduct himself with class and Jeff becomes a right-wing tool. Its real funny about the comment hoping people coming to his blog don't assume the majority of people think like he does. I assure you, they are much closer to Jeff's position than yours.

Look for Steve Kagen to tell his side of the story on The Colbert Report. Oh, like he hasn't had the chance to tell his story. In any event, this whole thing IS STEVE KAGEN'S story, remember he told it freely to an audience and was caught on tape.

What a leftoid tool.

Added to the Blogroll

What happened? No new blogs. Anyway Jeff Lindsay runs a blog entiteld The Appleton Blog and focuses on the community and life in the community. It is a good blog and will give you a good idea of what Appleton is about.

Rooting for Ginger Rootz

What a glorious day! It is the birthday of the Wise and Benevolent (and beautiful) Empress of the Blogosphere! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

However, this is not about what a sweet and special woman The Empress is this is about where we dined tonight. The subject of tonight's review is a restaurant named Ginger Rootz on the northeast side of Appleton.

The Atmosphere

Is befitting a good restaurant. You walk in and you will know the establishment serves food worth reviewing and will prepare you for a treat. The ceilings are high and there is brushed aluminum that gives the place a modern artsy feel to it.

The Bar

The Empress and I were seated. I ordered a – ginnentonic and the Empress a rootbeer. The ginnentonic was flat but the Empress raved about her rootbeer. First, it was served in a glass without ice and secondly the rootbeer was cold and good. It was a rootbeer made in Monroe WI. My second ginnentonic was noticeably better but still the tonic water lacked the bubbles. However, the proportion of gin to tonic was about right, I could taste the gin but a lime was proper instead of an olive.

May I Take Your Order

Dale waited on us and he has waited on us previously. Dale has a good sense of humor, is engaging in conversation, and does what a waiter is supposed to do. I intended to tip him well but gave only the standard tip. I can calculate powerfully but not quickly.

The Food

In a word, excellent. I ordered two vegetable rolls and those were good. The hot and sour soup I had was very good as well. The dinners we ordered were the sea bass grilled and the XO shrimp and scallops.

Hmmm, sarap na! I ordered the XO shrimp and scallops. The menu claimed it to be a spicy dish and I found it wanting. However the sauce was assertive and it came with pea pods, green onions, and asparagus. I ordered a chablis with the dinner and the pairing was divine.

The sea bass came with two dollops of wazabi mashed potatoes. That was a touch spicy for the Empress but not for myself. Again, I found the spuds assertive in flavor but most Northeastern Wisconsinites should be able to handle it. The sea bass came grilled with a dark garlic sauce and I thought the sauce a touch overpowering in comparison to the sea bass which had a very delicate flavor.

Next time we go The Empress is going to order the sea bass again, but steamed with a soy based sauce instead of grilled. I think that sauce will better bring out the fish's delicate flavor.

Since it was the birthday of the Empress noodles were mandatory. Ginger Rootz has a noodle bowl menu where you can order your favorite noodles with a sauce, vegetables, and a meat (or tofu). The Empress ordered a bowl of those and that was a meal in itself.

The Bottom Line

While it was not a cheap date I found the prices more reasonable here than in our previous restaurant experience. Ginger Rootz has a wide range of prices. A couple can get by for $50.00, but our meal of the sea bass, the shrimp and scallops, the noodle bowl, two ginnentonics, two glasses of chablis, the root beer, and the tip set us back about $90.00.

Executive Summary

I have been to Ginger Rootz in the past and continue to visit. I highly recommend Ginger Rootz if you are looking for a good sit down general Oriental restaurant.

Very simply just go and enjoy!

The Best General Appleton Blog

Not on an officer but a good blog on Appleton Wisconsin.

A certain Jeff Lindsay has taken quite a bit of effort to document Appleton for the benefit of those on the WWW. He has many pictures, restaurant reviews, descriptions, and writing that gives you a good feel for what life is like here in Appleton Wisconsin.

Sir, May I Visit Siroccos Again?

The Empress and myself visited Siroccos in Appleton tonight. See Jeff Lindsay's review at: The Appleton Blog after you finish your meal here.

Some background first. The Empress and I lived in the Middle East (UAE). She for over 12 years and six years myself. So when it comes to Mediterranean food I know something about which I write about tonight. However, note this is based on Levantine & Gulf Arabic cuisine (i.e. Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian etc) and Mediterranean food is larger than just Arabic but there were teases of Arabic food in the menu and in the description the waitstaff gave us.

First Impressions

As you can google and find out on your own Siroccos is downtown Appleton in what used to be Peggy's Cafe (formerly owned & ran by a friend of mine). Enter it and you find yourself in an old brick building the interior slightly dark. Its a building that reveals little about what is inside without looking in it could be a lower flat of the local cat lady or an upscale restaurant only the likes of recently elected congressmen can afford (yes, this is a political dig). Walk in and you will find it close enough to the later for most people's liking. In fact the bar screams upscale (well scream is little extreme but the bar and its decor says haute cuisine in the quiet way one would say haute cuisine). It was about 5:00 pm when the Empress and I walked in and we were seated immediately.

Second Impressions

We were given menus and a listing of the soups and our drink orders were taken. I ordered my standard (rail) ginnentonic and The Empress ordered a lemon-lime soda with less ice. However, full ice must have been–full as her glass came filled about half with ice. My (rail) ginnentonic was excellent; the tonic crisp and the gin ginny with enough gin so the gin made its presence well known but not too much gin to require an olive instead of a lime slice.

Pro-Choice

Looking over the menu I was somewhat disappointed. I was hoping for a stronger Arabic contribution, unfortunately the number of pork dishes was high (not bad but not a typical Arabic menu, but recall this is a Mediterranean restaurant not an Arabic one) and only one or two items looked like they would belong on the menu of an Arabic restaurant. Malesh (nevermind) and I started looking over the rest of the items.

Here was our order. I ordered the stuffed pork tenderloins and The Empress ordered the ham wrapped scallops. In addition I ordered a black bean soup (with lime? with wine?). The soup was brought in a huge bowl with a piece of toasted bread. The soup struck me as a soup from the Middle East. It was good!

Dig In

Then our dinners came. The Empress was struck by how small the serving was. She was hoping to bring some leftovers to work the next day. However, when we dug in and ate we were satisfied with the taste. The food was definitely prepared with three senses in mind and all three senses were happy (sight, smell, and taste). When we were done we were full and satisfied, but disappointed we could not continue the experience tomorrow (and in the case of The Empress tease her colleagues in the break room).

Sticker Shock

Haute cuisine it was, haute pricess too. Our meal which consisted of one 7-Up (or Sprite whatever), two (rail) ginnentonics, one bowl of blackbean soup, one order of stuffed pork tenderloins, and an order of ham wrapped scallops came in at $65 (then add in a tip).

Overall

I liked the food and the service, but the pricing & serving size will keep us away. There is no shortage of restaurants in Appleton. I really do not see ourselves returning. If you are in Appleton for a show and want an elegant meal and are willing to pay for it then Siroccos should be on your short list otherwise go somewhere else.