5 Nights in Bakersfield: Night #4

This was the toughest day of the week. D drove all the way out to spend time with me, take me to dinner, and I came back to the hotel from my training with feet like little footballs and my hair a veritable fright wig from all the dry heat. I was solely in the mood to lay on the bed and watch crap tv. Instead I rallied and he took good care of me. We started by taking a long drive through seedy downtown Bakersfield looking for a Thai massage place or a decent day spa. Do not do this.

I wanted to go to a wine bar/Thai restaurant I had read about online, but strangely, I needed to unwind by eating and drinking before I could enjoy my dinner. Don't ask. So we ended up here, at Prime Cut Meats & Eats and Butcher Shop. Best food I ate all week.



This is a New Orleans inspired restaurant, and it is not a chain. The decor is cohesive and professional looking enough that I thought surely this at least has aspirations on chainage. And maybe it will become one eventually. But for now it is one-off.



There is all kinds of amusing and thematic signage covering every usable wall space, but this Blues Brothers vinyl, taken good care of, impressed me.



We drank huge martinis and ate beautiful, fresh, cold, massive oysters on the half shell. I don't usually love the big ones, but these were not overly creamy nor were they too fishy.



We also shared a small bowl of gumbo. Best gumbo I have ever eaten, full stop. Spicy, savory, smokey, big chunks of fish, andouille sausage, and crayfish. I was wowed.



In retrospect, we should have stayed put. We were well tended and the food was wonderful.

Celebrity Night at Memphis

Walk down a long alleyway between a Mexican restaurant and a cyber cafe on Hollywood Blvd and you will find Memphis restaurant. Memphis is housed in the last remaining Victorian in Hollywood, Jane's House, and experiencing the structure and the decor is certainly worth the visit even if the food was nothing to write home about. It has been a residence and a school educating the children of Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks. It was refurbished by Guy Miller, a friend of the original owners and in 2006 opened as Memphis.



http://www.seeing-stars.com/landmarks/JanesHouse.shtml


The inside is decorated bordello-like in lots of red velvet, red flocked wallpaper, mirrors and crystal chandeliers. The many small rooms typical of Victorian homes make for interesting architecture for a restaurant. Lots of places to tuck away for a private cocktail, and separate rooms for celebratory dining.




Although the restaurant was far from crowded for a Friday evening, minor celebrities abounded. I typically do not pay attention to celebrity and rarely do I recognize one when I see one. However, being that the restaurant was quiet and the food was not outstanding, I thought it was notable. In the bar were several members of the Seinfeld cast. Upstairs in a semi-private dining room, Gabrielle Union was with a large group of friends and outside the restaurant we saw William Hung standing online to get in to a Halloween party with his mum! How cute!




I will just do a quick run down of the eatable but not memorable food we ordered and ate. I started with the tuna tartar. What used to be a delicacy on a menu has now become a standby. One can usually order this dish anywhere and get something fairly healthy and lite. Memphis' version was covered in a creamy sauce. Why? Just, why?



D started with the gumbo, which was tasty enough, but just ordinary.




As a main course I had the fried chicken. Now for me it is hard to go wrong with fried chicken. While I am not a fried food advocate by any means, fry me up some chicken and I am usually happy. I was surprised that, this being a Southern restaurant, the chicken pieces were limited to breasts. I expected a thigh, a wing or at the very least a drumstick. I always admire a chef who doesn't assume his patrons are afraid of the body parts of their meat.




The one sound endoresment they will get was for the martini. Due to the patio/nightclub/veranda setting outside the lounge area, it came oxymoronically in a plastic glass. However, it was the largest martini I have ever had in my life. Small multi-cellular organisms could do the back stroke in one of those suckers.