Reviews

A Restaurant Review and a Movie Review . . .

First, on Friday night, we found ourselves down one child (Phillip was on a sleepover) so we deposited Jameson at the Muellers and left MelodyJoy home with Jordan. Date night! But we had no idea what to do with our freedom. As we left our neighborhood, Jeannette spotted the newly renamed and reopened Bel Tramonto. I ate there in its former incarnation six years ago when I was interviewing at OIT, being told that it was Klamath Falls' nicest restaurant. Which some people would say isn't that high an honor. I wasn't that impressed but, then again, I was on a job interview so it wasn't exactly the most relaxing of scenarios.

So, on a whim, we pulled into Bel Tramonto. Without going into detail about each and every aspect of the dining experience, let me just say that there is no doubt in my mind that this is indeed the nicest restaurant in Klamath Falls and while not the "fanciest," perhaps the nicest restaurant I've ever eaten at. The service was very good. The food had fancy names but the service staff didn't come off snooty or superior as they explained the dishes to you. We ate light and it still was perhaps the most expensive dinner that we've ever had. We shared a vegetable and ham lasagna plate that was different than any lasagna I've ever had. Then Jeannette had a lobster dish with, of all things, a chicken sausage and I went for the steak, with awesome baby carrots on the side. Everything was very fresh, well prepared and delicious.

The restaurant grows some of its own spices and vegetables "right out back."

Even though it was a very expensive dinner, it was still very enjoyable and I'd gladly go there again, which is saying something. If you go, be prepared, though: A four course meal will easily hit $50 per person, without drinks. I'm sure we won't make a habit of dining there often but I'm looking for an excuse to try Bel Tramonto again before too long.

Second, today I took Jordan to see the new movie, World Trade Center. The reviews I had seen and read for it were very good. It's clearly not intended to be "entertaining," but at the same time, it is not a depressing movie or even particularly difficult to watch for the most part. I appreciated the fact that it wasn't melodramatic or overstated, nor did they try to paint the characters as larger than life or unduly heroic. For instance, when Nicholas Cage's character asked for volunteers to enter the Towers, his men hesitated and only a few stepped forward. The former Marine who found the two buried Port Authority cops was a little cartoonish, but I had the feeling that he was accurately representing his real life counterpart.

The heroes in this movie, in my mind, are the people who actually burrowed down into the rubble to drag the policemen to safety. I'm sure it was a situation where "you do what you gotta do," but it still had to take a lot of courage to crawl down there.

It's been a long time since I've been at a movie where the audience applauded at the end. In fact, I think the last time might have been at Rocky III, two decades ago. I'm not sure that this is a great movie but it's a good one and worth seeing, at least on video. I hope I can see United 93 soon and I suspect that I'll like it even better. World Trade Center will bring a lump to your throat more than once, though.