La Casa del Mojito - a yummy cultural adventure

La Casa del Mojito

Categories: Cuban, Latin American

Neighborhood: Roosevelt
7545 Lake City Way NE
(between N 11th Ave & 75th St)
Seattle, WA 98115

(206) 525-3162

www.lacasadelmojito.com

A good friend of ours recommended this spot to us, and so we decided to bring a small group of people to try it out. We are in the middle of a religious fast right now, so a GOOD dinner is very appreciated, and I think overall, we got that.

First the atmosphere, it was SMALL, but cozy, quaint and bright. I am glad our group wasnt any bigger (9 people) because they had issues fitting us! This is where my review of the staff comes in. Our waiter (never new his name) was difficult. He had that "its all good" attitude, however he didnt seem to be able to handle very much and was a bit slow at times. Example: One member of our party was arriving late. So we ordered drinks, appetizers while we waited and said we would wait for him to order. You would think that would be enough. Apparently not, as he kept harrassing us to order. I understand they are VERY tight on space and like to turn over tables, but we were talking about no more than 20 minutes - and it seemed very rude.

Thankfully, the owner was very helpful and came to our table often to make sure we were taken care of - if it wasnt for him, the service rating would have totally failed. Even at the end of our meal - we wanted the bill split - and the difficult server couldnt figure it out. He said "Too many numbers for me". WOW.

So to the food. OVERALL the food was delicious. Here is a photo review of what we had:

Drinks: You must have a Mojito at the house of Mojitos right? Well none of us drink alcohol, so it was VIRGIN Mojitos to the rescue! They were quit tasty I must say.



Then onto the appetizers. We ordered Luam's platter and our friends ordered a shrimp dish. Our platter was 3 different types of plantains - and they were amazing. The shrimp was also very good, and well flavored.




Next up was dinner. It was served pretty timely - thankfully. Between us we ordered their famous steak dish "Parilla De Luigi", the Whitefish dish, the Flank stead and the kids all got cuban fried chicken with fries.

First Luigi steak dish. It was mouth watering. Served with rice, black beans and more plantains, it was amazing. Cooked how you request it - mine was perfectly medium rare and amazing. My only issue was that I had MORE plantains, being that I had SO many in my appetizer, it was a bit much. I was wanting some fries honestly lol.



The person with the white fish dish - said it was TASTY, however very "Fishy" tasting. Overall they gave it a thumbs up except for that.



Next to the Cuban Fried Chicken. Rave reviews on this - white meat, cooked perfectly, still juicy and seasoned so well but not too much.



One person had the most beautiful salad I have ever seen. Taste wise they said it was great, though a few of the fruits tasted a bit off with the combination.



Lastly the flank steak. This one wasnt as good as the rest. The person who ordered it says it lacked flavor, the meat was tough and the beans and rice unseasoned.



So besides our difficult waiter and the one not so good order - OVERALL this spot was amazing. The rest of the staff was friendly and the owner thanked us and walked us out, even let us snap a picture.

Two suggestions: 1) their website says they take reservations, but they DONT. They should take this off.

2) The one waiter in particular needs to work in the kitchen OR learn to serve properly.

Rating: *** 1/2 - Overall a great place to eat with yummy food!

Gomorra - a REAL Mafia movie, almost too real

Gomorra
Rating: R
Director: Matteo Garrone
Language: Italian (English subtitles)

Grand Prize winner at the Cannes Film Festival

For those of you who don't know me. I am Italian. 100% Italian. My family comes from Naples, Italy - where this movie was shot. This movie is about the mafia in Naples, Italy.

I have always had a fondness for mafia movies because of my heritage but also because its comforting. I know that sounds crazy, but the culture of mafia movies is comforting to me, the braggadocio of the men, the loud women, the cocky kids, the visions of food, cigarettes and liquor and corruption that lies between them all.


This movie covers 4 parts of Neapolitan life that is tainted by the mafia. The director skips around a lot between the different stories, which makes it hard to keep up at times, but if you follow close, you can get it.

This is not your typical "Ah yo getthefuckoutta here" Mafioso movie. Hollywood tends to paint a very tough, cold picture in mafia stories. You see money, fine suits, cigars, women, drugs etc. This is not the case in Matteo's movie. This is real. Naples has GHETTOS and the mafia resides in them. The mafia has to watch over where they work - keep an eye on their people. Can't do that from the mansions on the hill.

At times you feel sad and sorry for certain made members - because of the constant struggle they face daily with keeping their bosses happy but never being able to get out of the mess they are in. One man, who pays off people who "know too much" is a frail older man, who is constantly roughed up or has a gun put in his mouth because his bosses change "the list" and those that used to get money, arent anymore because their info is no longer sensitive. He is abused by both sides of the gun, literally. By the end of the movie you really feel sad for him.

By far the two best characters of the movie are the two young men (on the movie poster) who WISH to be mafia made and will do anything to be part of things. The scene on the movie poster depicts the hilarious scene of them in their underwear, shooting guns they found in a mob stash. This eventually leads them to more trouble than they ever imagined, but I won't spoil it.

The cinematography is amazing. Documentary style, you often find yourself questioning if this movie is REAL or actors. The way the camera holds a little too long on peoples emotions, to make sure you feel them. Almost like imposing on their privacy in some way. The slums of Napoli are filmed so you can FEEL the dirt on your feet. The directors ability to capture the violence of a scene but then draw your eye to the impoverished area and scenery as well, its fantastic. I found myself scanning the landscapes, shocked at the visual he was able to create at times. His ability to convey the feeling of a typical lower class Italian home, was impeccable. Smoke filled rooms, loud TV volume, laughter, cards being played, food cooked, spit fire dialect being spoken at each other, sun rays coming through the shades, dirty animals in the halls. It reminded me of Naples 100%.

I won't divulge anymore into the storyline, in fear of spoiling. What I will tell you is this. If you have any love for Mafia movies - SEE THIS FILM. This movie is better than ANY Mafia film I have ever seen, because its real and because of how its filmed. There is nothing glam or Hollywood about it. Its gritty and bloody but at the same time sad, lovely and real. If Scorsese doesn't LOVE this film, I would be VERY surprised.

Rating: ***** Closest thing to a perfect mafia movie ever. IF you ever wondered what it was like in real life, real times - this movie shows you.

**Here are a few more movie photos

Teddy Bear BBQ - swing and a miss

Teddy Bear BBQ
1000 W. Main St.
Monroe, WA. 98272
TEL: 360-863-3131


Thanks to the phenom that is known as TWITTER...my husband had a craving for what most of the world knows as "Barbecue". Now as a north westerner, when you say, lets have Barbecue for dinner, I respond, Barbecue WHAT? Chicken? Beef? Burger? Hot dogs? My spouse who is from the south knows Barbecue as just one thing, Barbecue pulled pork.

So thanks to the ramblings of "qoolquest" (?uestlove of the Roots) via twitter (he was in the south having Barbecue and raving about it) I came home to a husband CRAVING Barbecue.

We recently had a BBQ place open up in town - so we decided to try it. He went to get the food to bring it home. 30 minutes later, a grumpy man came through the door. It wasn't an emotion I was expecting after purchasing his craving.

He explained that the owner was one of the rudest women he had ever met, and that he didn't care if you had to work all day, have some manners! He also said the entire dinner cost FORTY DOLLARS! This was 2 aprox 18 oz containers of pork, 4 types of BBQ sauce in small plastic containers (the size of a tarter sauce at Ivars), and 3 sides -- which were ridiculously small, and VERY expensive. Plus 4 hoggie rolls wrapper in foil. FORTY BONES was not worth what we got.

At this point I thought -- ok - this pork better be lined with flipping GOLD at this point. Not close. Pieces of soft nasty fat in the pork (if its gonna be there, which I don't mind, make it cooked and crispy!) and because you had to add your own sauce - it tasted like pulled pork that had been garnished, not BBQ that had been soaked and cooked in it.

We were more than disappointed in the service, quality and taste of this BBQ place. I don't need my ass kissed at a restaurant, but if I am gonna drop 40 bills on some meat, we at least expect kindness. Here is a pic:



My rating: * (it was a major disappointment)
I would have rather spent my $40 on McDonalds, and thats sayin something...i hate that place....

One PUSH can change everything

Push
Director: Paul McGuigan
Starring: Djimon Hounsou, Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Cliff Curtis and Camilla Belle

I will start out by saying, this movie wasn't at all what I was expecting, going by the trailer. So throw your preconceived notions out the window before seeing it.

I like to compare movies with other movies after seeing them, to give people an idea of what to expect. To me this film was like a cross between The Matrix, Oceans 11 and the X-men.

I am a firm believer that there are people on this earth with "abilities" that are beyond the abilities of the average human being. That is what this movie is about.

For all of the comic nerds out there (who I am not ashamed to say I wish i was) this movie is from a comic book and carries over to the movie quite well. The abilities and powers are explained in the beginning of the movie. Its done very quickly with flash backs, quick edits and electronic music - obviously made to get your heart beating faster.

Here are the different types of abilities that are in the film, along with the actors playing them.

PUSHERS: Characters Kira Hudson and Agent Henry Carver (Camilla Belle from Practical Magic and Jonas Bro videos and Djimon Houndsou from Amistad) play the movies main Pushers. Camilla is brilliant as her character changes as she pushes. First she is soft, coy, but frightened and confused, but in a blink of an eye, she can pull out a story, with assertiveness and manipulation of her voice and push it into someones head to try to save herself. Djimon's character is "The Man" everyone is trying to get away from because he is trying to control all the people with powers - he does a great job of using his powers to make GIGANTIC stories and lives literally change in an instant. His powers are bigger than you realize at first. If I could have any abilities, it would be this one - very manipulative how they portray it on the screen - and when they are "pushing" someone, their eyes go solid black. They are potentially the most dangerous of all agents, these individuals can "push" specific thoughts, memories and even emotions into their targets. This technique can be used to gain a subject's trust, or have them perform any action, thinking it was their own agenda. These transplanted thoughts can last a few hours, days or even years. Experienced pushers have a trademark "back story" that they have honed over the years, to quickly inject large amounts of information into their targets. Division (gov organization in charge of these people, or would LIKE to be) trains all its agents to defend themselves against pushers, but the technique has proven largely ineffective in the field.

SHIFTERS: Character "Hook" Waters (played by New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis of Whale Rider fame) plays the movies shifter. I love this actor and he does a great job of being the "big bro that's been there" role, and helps the group with things they need along their journey. These individuals can temporarily shift patterns of light on any object to create illusions to the naked eye. They work mostly on a touch basis, but once the illusion is established, it remains with the object for short periods of time. For example, a Shifter could momentarily touch a one dollar bill, altering its light pattern to appear as a one hundred dollar hill for hours until the effect expires. The length of the shift is based on experience and ability.

MOVERS: Nick Gant (played by Chris Evans of Fantastic Four fame). Because he is "second gen" mover, his abilities are rusty and he works on them throughout the movie. Movers can manipulate inanimate objects at varying distances. The actual technique is known as kinetic signature control, where the mover is trained to hear and identify the specific atomic frequency of any given material, and alter the gravity wave around it, usually producing the nearby air to appear "warped". Advanced movers can work at a molecular level creating protective shields in the air around them.

SHADOWS: "Pinky" Stein (played by Nate Mooney of Sunny in Philly fame) plays the main Shadow. Shadows are trained to block the vision of other clairvoyants such as Sniffs, making any subject within their target radius appear "dark". Experience will enhance the size of the area they can shadow and the intensity of their shielding effect. Shadows need to be awake to perform their ability, and it is common for a details of two Shadows to operate in shifts while protecting a person or object for extended periods.

WATCHERS: Cassie Holmes (excellently played by Dakota Fanning)and "pop girl" (The enemy watcher wonderfully played by actress Lu Lu). Dakota does a wonderful job playing this cocky, loner kid who's learned about her powers as she goes. Her adversary just known as "The Pop girl" is always sporting a lolly pop and notebook, and constantly teasing and threatening Dakota's character with her sight of her future death. These rare and mysterious agents are trained to self-induce visions of the future, very much like a prolonged sense of deja vu. The technique of following the future, either of a person or object, is called subject tracking. A Watcher's skill is primarily rated by how far they can see into the future. The Temporal Alteration Phenomenon (TAP) was the term given to unforeseen changes and disturbances that cause a future prediction to lose its integrity. Some say that even talking about the future can create enough TAP to change it.

WIPERS: Wo Chiang(eerily played by Biu Law Che)is the lone Wiper in the film. With his river front fisherman's warf-like working space, we see him early on the film, but don't realize what he does until later in the film. Wipers are skilled at either temporary or permanent memory erasure, an invaluable asset in espionage. Experience will dictate the accuracy of their wipes, though the danger is always present that they will eliminate a desired memory.

Bleeders: These were by far the most frightening characters of the film. Known just as Pop Boy 1 and 2 - they literally BLEED you to death. Graphically they become so scary as they exhort their powers - their eyes "POP" out and become CAT like, and their mouths grow gigantic. At times the screaming attacks made me laugh because they almost came off as in a B movie. Unique to Chinese government psychic abilities, Bleeders are trained solely for assassination purposes. They have the ability to emit high-pitched sonic vibrations that cause ruptures in a target's blood vessels. In recent years, synthetic materials have been surgically implanted in their eyes to slide upwards and protect the delicate ocular tissue that would otherwise be damaged by their own sonic vibrations. Before the implants were perfected, reports of a Bleeders eyes popping out during an attack were common, earning the nickname "Popboys".

Stitcher: Teresa Stow (played by Maggie Siff) played the Stitch. She appeared as a person from Cassie (Dakota's) past. You could not tell if she was bad or good, at any point of the movie, because stitchers go back and forth. She arrived to "heal" Nick at one point, but them turned on him later. Stitches are psychic surgeons trained to quickly reconstruct cells to their previous or healthy state. Using only their hands, they can heal and even "unheal" whatever they have done. For more detailed work, Stitches use a silver based cream on their hands which acts as a conductor to their ability.

And Lastly...

SNIFFS: Emily Hu (played by Ming-Na of ER fame) plays the Sniff forced to help the group trying to prevail over the Agents. I love this actress and she does a great job of playing the forced assistant. Her powers are strong and amazing and she has created her own business to use them to help the average citizen, which sometimes seem like shady deals. Sniffs are highly developed clairvoyants who can track the location of either people or objects over varying distances. Like psychic bloodhounds, their tracking ability is increased if they have tactile access to an object that has been in direct contact with the subject. Sniffs receive information based on images, not specific addresses, which is why unidentifiable landmarks help increase their effectiveness. Sniffs prefer to track their targets with personal items like toothbrushes as these items tend to keep "psychic residue" for great lengths of time.

The reason I toke the time to give you all of that information, is that I think I would have enjoyed the music more if I was CLEAR on all of the abilities and names of the abilities. I am such a nerd for these types of movies as of late, that i found it not only entertaining, but something I wanted to investigate further after the movie.

I would say the only problems with the movie were the speed at which the audience was expected to keep along. Like I said, if you are into movies with intricate maze-like conclusions - this is your kind of movie. But if you are easily lost and need your hand held and things explained - go see something a little easier.

Rating: *** 1/2* Great movie, would see it again!

Sundance documentaries with a Vision and a Voice

I wanted to go see a movie - but discovered two amazing films on the Sundance Channel that night instead. These films are not new, but they are unknown to many - and I would love to help shine light on them, because they both affected me deeply.



For the Bible Tells Me So
Directed by: Daniel Karslake
Featuring:
Bishop Gene Robinson
Imogene & Victor Robinson
Brenda, David and Tonia Poteat
Jake and Britta Reitan
Chrissy, Jane and Dick Gephardt
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Reverend Peter Gomes
Rabbi Steven Greenberg
Reverend Jimmy Creech

This film opens by introducing us to 5 Christian families. They document each families experience with their son or daughter coming out as Homosexual in a Christian home.

We hear the family history, of church practices, of hard core Christian values being instilled, and on the "Horror" the parents went through when their son/daughter came out of the closet for the first time. Feelings are raw and real, and at times very hurtful and disturbing. The parents are candid and so honest with their initial feelings. At times it was hard for me to think of any parent treating their own child so horribly.

As you watch - each family of course handles it differently. Beautifully woven in the mix are clips and interviews with Protestant and Jewish theologians - and film clips of fundamentalist preachers and pundits and news clips of people in the street. There is tons of discussion of the literal translation of the bible and how easily it is misunderstood (which is true in SO many situations).

At one point of the movie, there is a hilarious cartoon (very similar to the sarcastic political type cartoons in Michael Moore's movies). Here is the cartoon:



The two families that touched me the most in this film - was a single mother, Mary Lou Wallner, one of the staunchest advocates of gay rights in the movie, became a political activist after her daughter, Anna, committed suicide — the result, Ms. Wallner believes, of the letter she wrote to Anna rejecting her after she came out. Mary Lou was raised and lived her life according to the books and teachings of James Dobson (Focus on the Family - Gay conversions).

The other is the Gephardt family. The openly gay daughter of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, talks about how her parents dealt with her news with unconditional love and support and how her father invited her to join him on the campaign trail when he ran for president in 2004.

This movie does a beautiful job of stressing the inclusion of all, and the message that God loves everyone. The hateful condemnation and abuse of the right wing fundamentals on this subject is both embarrassing and horrifying and makes you want to go out and do something about it. This movie was eye opening and a must see for anyone who considers themselves a champion of Justice for All.

Rating: **** amazing




The Grace Lee Project
Director: Grace Lee
Starring: Various Grace Lee's

I have to say the first 30 minutes of this movie are the best part. The movie is about Korean/American director Grace Lee - who grew up in Missouri in a small town. She was the only "Grace Lee" she knew of. Upon leaving her town and becoming an adult, she found that almost everyone she met knew "another Grace Lee". She began to inquire what all of these different people, with her same name, were like.

Most people had the exact same responses "demure, quiet, sweet, intelligent, reserved, played some instrument well etc". Grace was disturbed at first that she seemed so different than these other Grace Lee's.

The films director begins a search - desperate to find OTHER Grace Lee's like herself, that don't fit the "Asian Grace Mold" that seems to be the majority of the Grace's she had heard about.

She puts a call out to all Grace Lee's in the US - and filters through them to find a great cross section of women - who are leading amazing and different lives. Grace Lee, the 80 year old social activists for African Americans, to a young girl in California who is an artist who enjoys drawing "dark art".

The director self narrates and should be a comedian, her wit and dry humor on the subject of her name and her heritage is a frank and honest taste of America's Asian generalization problem and how even in her own culture, she is lost in the mix.

I found it enlightening, creative and humorous. The only thing I would have liked is to get to know THE Grace Lee a bit more, the director. She spent so much time on other Grace Lee's - when in reality, in hearing her humor and antidotes - she seemed almost more interesting at times.

Rating: **** wonderful movie