I was driving into town after Thanksgiving, and I looked up at Backstreets. I'm used to seeing the $6.99 lunch buffet sign hanging in the window, so when I saw $4.95 I immediately texted Molly and Olga. The previous sign had been there for months before our BC post. If you remember, while we love Backstreets we were not impressed with their lunch buffet. Coincidence that the price has changed since our post or not?
Just sayin'.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Too Early...??
Let's just say, not for the lunch crowd at El Rodeo. Or, "El Rods" as the kids are calling it these days.
Last Wednesday began with excitement as Olga, Molly and I ventured to Alpha Pizzeria for our weekly lunch date. Olga and I took notes from afar (the car) as we waited for Molly in the parking lot. Blinky neon sign, check. Greek pizza special, check. Festive Christmas cutouts on the window, check. I had written a full page of notes on my handy VT notebook before we realized that the pizzeria was indeed closed. Apparently it WAS too early for an Alpha lunch. Keep in mind this is a Wednesday at 12:30. Now, I get tired of chain restaurants and do appreciate the [attempted] authenticity of locally owned restaurants. However, there is no need to imitate the two hour lunch breaks and siestas of European culture, especially when you run a restaurant. That said, the pizzeria did look very promising, and I'm sure when we eat there it will be well worth the wait.
We arrived at El Rods in style; ready for salsa and incredibly loud Mexican music. I decided to try something new, the Chilaquiles. Olga got the same, and Molly chose the soft Chimichanga. Both were amazing, or should I say, “asombrar!”
While we talked about our dream jobs and future plans, we wondered if it was too early for a margarita… and then took a poll of the rest of the restaurant. Exactly half of the customers didn’t think so. Including a group of 30-something women at a table a couple booths behind us. We couldn’t see them, but we could hear them… This brought up what we will be like and where we will be in 10 years. We’re already wearing Christmas sweaters… I’m not exactly sure what that means for our futures.
Our mutual love of Cru videos came up in the conversation, so we ventured to the Comm lab to watch our favorites. In between Brad’s Cru Emcee video and Whit’s epic fall retreat promo, the other girl in the lab said to Molly and me (Olga had left the room), “Hey, aren’t you the Blacksburg Contessa girls?” Whoa. But wait, you say. Olga probably told her about it. No! According to Olga, she has never shown her our site. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a following. Congratulations on being part of something big.
Although our day didn’t go as planned, it couldn’t have been better. Apparently spontaneity is another love of the Blacksburg Contessa.
Until next time!
Last Wednesday began with excitement as Olga, Molly and I ventured to Alpha Pizzeria for our weekly lunch date. Olga and I took notes from afar (the car) as we waited for Molly in the parking lot. Blinky neon sign, check. Greek pizza special, check. Festive Christmas cutouts on the window, check. I had written a full page of notes on my handy VT notebook before we realized that the pizzeria was indeed closed. Apparently it WAS too early for an Alpha lunch. Keep in mind this is a Wednesday at 12:30. Now, I get tired of chain restaurants and do appreciate the [attempted] authenticity of locally owned restaurants. However, there is no need to imitate the two hour lunch breaks and siestas of European culture, especially when you run a restaurant. That said, the pizzeria did look very promising, and I'm sure when we eat there it will be well worth the wait.
We arrived at El Rods in style; ready for salsa and incredibly loud Mexican music. I decided to try something new, the Chilaquiles. Olga got the same, and Molly chose the soft Chimichanga. Both were amazing, or should I say, “asombrar!”
While we talked about our dream jobs and future plans, we wondered if it was too early for a margarita… and then took a poll of the rest of the restaurant. Exactly half of the customers didn’t think so. Including a group of 30-something women at a table a couple booths behind us. We couldn’t see them, but we could hear them… This brought up what we will be like and where we will be in 10 years. We’re already wearing Christmas sweaters… I’m not exactly sure what that means for our futures.
Our mutual love of Cru videos came up in the conversation, so we ventured to the Comm lab to watch our favorites. In between Brad’s Cru Emcee video and Whit’s epic fall retreat promo, the other girl in the lab said to Molly and me (Olga had left the room), “Hey, aren’t you the Blacksburg Contessa girls?” Whoa. But wait, you say. Olga probably told her about it. No! According to Olga, she has never shown her our site. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a following. Congratulations on being part of something big.
Although our day didn’t go as planned, it couldn’t have been better. Apparently spontaneity is another love of the Blacksburg Contessa.
Until next time!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
We're Getting Branded!
A Mr. Jonathan Newman is currently working on making us an official logo. We decided to enlist his services to help launch his career in graphic design. The publicity this project will create should land him with a swanky job in New York City. Since he has conned me for years he has offered his services free of charge. Soon you may even be able to by mugs, t-shirts, and stationary embellished with the mark of Blacksburg's favorite food critic.
Soon it will be even easier to follow The Blacksburg Contessa
Soon you will be able to follow us on twitter @TheLoveofFood and become a fan on facebook. Today you can email us at theblacksburgcontessa@gmail.com. We would love to hear your stories and thoughts. If we find them entertaining or applicable to our audience we might even publish them.
Family Fears and Food
First week back blogging:
This week we went to Lefty’s Main Street Café. The place was filled with old locals. The menu was extensive with a long list of specialty sandwiches that all sounded great. After much deliberation we ordered. Katherine went with the Philly cheese steak with onion rings, Olga got a barbeque sandwich, and I got a grilled ham and Swiss. I am having a difficult time recalling the details of this lunch not because it was mediocre but because life got in the way of eating.
While Katherine and Olga were joyfully chatting over our exceptional meal I was concentrating hard on eating my sandwich. I looked up unsure if I wanted to pull them into what was upsetting me. Yes we are the Blacksburg Contessas and outside of recreationally eating we have lives that bring us joys and hardships.
I was not myself that day because I was scared for my father’s health. Skin cancer runs rampant in my family and has taken the lives of many of my relatives. Over break, I found out that my dad had a mole on his back that was so precancerous looking he wouldn’t show my mother and me. I had first noticed it two years earlier and he still hadn’t gotten it checked out. During lunch thoughts of being the girl whose father was dying of cancer were running through my head.
I was so overwhelmed with fear that I started crying. Olga and Katherine were stunned. My tears had come without warning. Long story short my father is perfectly healthy. Actually he is better than before. The scare of cancer caused him to stop smoking and all of break he flooded my mother and me with questions about what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He told me recently over the phone he wants to be a changed person and have his life be glorifying to God.
My Lefty’s Café scare was just another testament to how fully God is in control and how mysteriously he works. If it takes a week of fear for me, my mom, and my dad to get my father to see that God wants to be the focus of his life I am all right with that.
I strongly recommend Lefty’s for lunch. Also the wait staff seems to know how to handle emotionally distraught customers.
I am pretty sure you have noticed by now but this blog is about more than just food. It is about the lives of a Blacksburg Contessa. This week Alpha's Pizzaria!
This week we went to Lefty’s Main Street Café. The place was filled with old locals. The menu was extensive with a long list of specialty sandwiches that all sounded great. After much deliberation we ordered. Katherine went with the Philly cheese steak with onion rings, Olga got a barbeque sandwich, and I got a grilled ham and Swiss. I am having a difficult time recalling the details of this lunch not because it was mediocre but because life got in the way of eating.
While Katherine and Olga were joyfully chatting over our exceptional meal I was concentrating hard on eating my sandwich. I looked up unsure if I wanted to pull them into what was upsetting me. Yes we are the Blacksburg Contessas and outside of recreationally eating we have lives that bring us joys and hardships.
I was not myself that day because I was scared for my father’s health. Skin cancer runs rampant in my family and has taken the lives of many of my relatives. Over break, I found out that my dad had a mole on his back that was so precancerous looking he wouldn’t show my mother and me. I had first noticed it two years earlier and he still hadn’t gotten it checked out. During lunch thoughts of being the girl whose father was dying of cancer were running through my head.
I was so overwhelmed with fear that I started crying. Olga and Katherine were stunned. My tears had come without warning. Long story short my father is perfectly healthy. Actually he is better than before. The scare of cancer caused him to stop smoking and all of break he flooded my mother and me with questions about what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He told me recently over the phone he wants to be a changed person and have his life be glorifying to God.
My Lefty’s Café scare was just another testament to how fully God is in control and how mysteriously he works. If it takes a week of fear for me, my mom, and my dad to get my father to see that God wants to be the focus of his life I am all right with that.
I strongly recommend Lefty’s for lunch. Also the wait staff seems to know how to handle emotionally distraught customers.
I am pretty sure you have noticed by now but this blog is about more than just food. It is about the lives of a Blacksburg Contessa. This week Alpha's Pizzaria!
3 week Hiatus
This past week is the first time the contessa’s were able to meet in quite sometime. We would like to apologize to our readers for taking such a long break from recreational eating. Do not fret the Blacksburg Contessa is back.
First week of no blogging:
Katherine and I went to Cabot fish taco. While Olga had to stay home and finish her letter of intent for Teach for America. Since that letter of intent, she has had a phone interview and visited TFA class rooms. Her daylong interview is scheduled for February. With her native Spanish speaking skills and her genuine love for helping others I am certain she is the best thing TFA has going for them this year.
It was hardcore raining out for this lunch endeavor. Which might explain our somber mealtime conversation. We decided to chat about where we were when we found out about the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Which led to us talking about other times we had been afraid. As if conversation wasn’t enough of a buzz kill we were disappointed with Cabot’s lunch spread. The menu was no different than what they offer for dinner. There were no specials and we were basically the only people in the dimly lit restaurant. Cabot is great for dinner not so much for lunch.
Second Week of no blogging:
This week the contessa’s did not meet because I had three 8-10 page papers due. I averaged about four hours of sleep a night. Thursday at 9:30 am was when I turned in my last paper. To celebrate our week of torture I picked up Olga on campus. While listening to John Mayer’s new album we decided to revisit Hokaido Buffet. At the Buffet we were seated in the Asian only room. Most likely because they were pleased with the Contessa seal of approval we gave them the weeks prior. Olga and I proceeded to feast on all things mysterious and Asian.
On Friday Katherine and I visited Gillie’s for Lunch. We both ordered focaccia pizzas and planned out the rest of the semester’s Contessa outings. We decided for the last couple of weeks we wanted to have guest appearances. We thought it would be funny if our blog invited The Tour de Blacksburg to lunch while he was on tour. We giggled over the thought of our blogs blogging about each other.
Third week of no blogging:
This may come as a surprise but the contessas parted ways for Thanksgiving break. Olga went to Franklin County to celebrate with the Reed's, Katherine went to Atlanta to dine with the Bruder's, and I ventured to Richmond to mingle with the Donohue’s.
Dinner with the Donohue’s was entertaining as always. This seems to be fairly common in family circles but the same three stories are told every year at dinner. The first story is about the time my 24-year-old cousin was attacked by “Monster Ponies”. As usual he neglect to mention that he was inebriated during the said attacks and proceeds to be irritated that we call the beastly horses that crushed his cooler and tent Ponies. This story always leads into my dad talking about the “Great Beaver” and how the beaver built the floodwall. Everything about this story gets more exaggerated every year. We then start talking about Christmas presents and how we need to steal Uncle Jim’s keys so that we can take a couple cds out of his trunk to give him for Christmas. Uncle Jim keeps American flags, bullets, and easily a hundred CDs in his trunk he has yet to realize his son’s steal his presents every year.
The food was excellent even though I had to enjoy it from a bread plate. But my favorite part was when the family discovered that my eldest cousin had soaked the turkey wings in hot sauce and proceeded to eat them like hot wings dipping them in ranch. During post dessert coffee that same cousin tried to persuade me to put an oven mitt on my foot. All the other cousins joined in. I nearly gave into the peer pressure but I am glad I maintained my dignity.
First week of no blogging:
Katherine and I went to Cabot fish taco. While Olga had to stay home and finish her letter of intent for Teach for America. Since that letter of intent, she has had a phone interview and visited TFA class rooms. Her daylong interview is scheduled for February. With her native Spanish speaking skills and her genuine love for helping others I am certain she is the best thing TFA has going for them this year.
It was hardcore raining out for this lunch endeavor. Which might explain our somber mealtime conversation. We decided to chat about where we were when we found out about the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Which led to us talking about other times we had been afraid. As if conversation wasn’t enough of a buzz kill we were disappointed with Cabot’s lunch spread. The menu was no different than what they offer for dinner. There were no specials and we were basically the only people in the dimly lit restaurant. Cabot is great for dinner not so much for lunch.
Second Week of no blogging:
This week the contessa’s did not meet because I had three 8-10 page papers due. I averaged about four hours of sleep a night. Thursday at 9:30 am was when I turned in my last paper. To celebrate our week of torture I picked up Olga on campus. While listening to John Mayer’s new album we decided to revisit Hokaido Buffet. At the Buffet we were seated in the Asian only room. Most likely because they were pleased with the Contessa seal of approval we gave them the weeks prior. Olga and I proceeded to feast on all things mysterious and Asian.
On Friday Katherine and I visited Gillie’s for Lunch. We both ordered focaccia pizzas and planned out the rest of the semester’s Contessa outings. We decided for the last couple of weeks we wanted to have guest appearances. We thought it would be funny if our blog invited The Tour de Blacksburg to lunch while he was on tour. We giggled over the thought of our blogs blogging about each other.
Third week of no blogging:
This may come as a surprise but the contessas parted ways for Thanksgiving break. Olga went to Franklin County to celebrate with the Reed's, Katherine went to Atlanta to dine with the Bruder's, and I ventured to Richmond to mingle with the Donohue’s.
Dinner with the Donohue’s was entertaining as always. This seems to be fairly common in family circles but the same three stories are told every year at dinner. The first story is about the time my 24-year-old cousin was attacked by “Monster Ponies”. As usual he neglect to mention that he was inebriated during the said attacks and proceeds to be irritated that we call the beastly horses that crushed his cooler and tent Ponies. This story always leads into my dad talking about the “Great Beaver” and how the beaver built the floodwall. Everything about this story gets more exaggerated every year. We then start talking about Christmas presents and how we need to steal Uncle Jim’s keys so that we can take a couple cds out of his trunk to give him for Christmas. Uncle Jim keeps American flags, bullets, and easily a hundred CDs in his trunk he has yet to realize his son’s steal his presents every year.
The food was excellent even though I had to enjoy it from a bread plate. But my favorite part was when the family discovered that my eldest cousin had soaked the turkey wings in hot sauce and proceeded to eat them like hot wings dipping them in ranch. During post dessert coffee that same cousin tried to persuade me to put an oven mitt on my foot. All the other cousins joined in. I nearly gave into the peer pressure but I am glad I maintained my dignity.
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