Anyone who knows me, knows two things about me. I am extremely limber and I love secret passages. I mentioned in my post from earlier today that I would have a passage or a trap door in my uniquely designed house, and I meant every word of it.
At the same time, I have been gaining an affinity for wine lately. I don't really like the drink that much. I certainly appreciate it, especially a good Shiraz or a Port, but I am more fond of the culture. I very much like the look of a wine bottle on my counter or table. It's a classy drink, and I aspire to be classy. The epitome of class however is not merely having "a" bottle or "a few" bottles, if you want to be in the big leagues of classocity you need a cellar. That's right I wine cellar.
There are few things better than the ability to say phrases like,
Are we out of wine? Let me go grab another bottle from the cellar.
Or,
The wine cellar is looking a little bare, we better buy another case of that Cabernet you like so much.
Or even better,
We just had sex in the wine cellar.
Awesome, right?
Well, what if we could combine secret passage with wine cellar? Check this out.
Thank you FFFFound.com for showing me a picture of it, and thank you SpiralCellars for digging a whole in any room of my house and installing classiness and jealous friends into my life. Now expand to the US, so I can utilize your services.
After my beer post yesterday, i got to thinking about how terrible the packaging for the Hoppin' FrogB.O.R.I.S The Crusher is. For such a deliscious beer, it looks like it would taste like Frog crap and swamp water, and trust me the consitency of the beer doesn't help in relieving that concern either. It wouldn't surprise me if some would just pass it up just for that reason.
Now, mind you I am the type of person who chooses wine based on bottle design and label, not quality, age or grape. Not so much with beer, but sometimes I'll give a beer a try just because I like the design.
A perfect example is the above beer and its gorgeous packaging. The Howling Monkey Black and Tan is damn near perfectly designed all way down to the choice of bottle. The design firm Tuner Duckworth can take well deserved credit here for an amazing capture of a brand.
I can't wait to try this beer, and I don't even like black and tans. I mean I'll drink them if they are done right. This is what I mean by done right:
But what we have with Howling Monkeys and with any black and tan in one bottle is what a 8 year old me would call a "suicide". A "suicide" is essentially every flavor of soda from the fountain, including but not limited to Coke, Sprite, Orange, Root Beer, and Mr. Pibb (none of this Pibb Xtra bullshit... what's Xtra?... another post I guess). Just like a black and tan in a bottle it always tasted OK, but never as good as each flavor would have on its own. Especially if Hawaiian Punch came into play... never a good compliment to any other soft drink.
This kid has the right idea, and I can admit that he's a stronger man than I.
But I digress.
Here are some amazing packaging designs I have been seeing on this great site Lovely Package. Check them out:
Check out the site for some great inspiration, or just awesome products that probably aren't half as awesome as their packaging.
I'm putting forth a Non-Binding Resolution in the city of St. Louis. Are you ready?
Anyone within reasonable proximity (~30 sq. mi.) to the highly Italian American populated St. Louis Neighborhood known as The Hill should rule out every restaurant on The Hill before choosing a chain restaurant like, but not limited to, The Olive Garden, Carabas, Maggianos Little Italy or Macaroni Grill.
It baffles me that in a town with some of the best Italian food you can get in the country, many of my neighbors and friends choose fake stucco walls, ridiculous terra cotta roofs and whatever the hell an "italian margarita" is instead.
What possible reasons could one have for not choosing the experience you get on The Hill?
Maybe someone isn't into way better tasting Italian food, authentically prepared, and usually by someone who actually speaks Italian.
It could be that they don't think about the benefits of supporting the local community and helping to boost the St. Louis economy.
Some individuals might be self conscious about having to read from a menu that doesn't simplify the names of the items to begin with a well known Italian city and end with the type of meat or pasta in the dish. Tuscan Chicken. Sicilian Scampi. Florence Filet.
Or maybe someone from out of town gave them gift cards to one of the chains for Christmas. Which is exactly what happened to me this weekend. I actually got a really good compare and contrast. Saturday night I was on The Hill at Cunetto's House of Pasta for Valentines Day. Sunday I went Gift Carding at The Olive Garden. The experience only solidified my stance, and actually made it a lot more stedfast.
Winner is Cunetto's. Believe it or not, I take solace in the fact that probably 75% of people that were confronted with a three hour wait at Cunetto's stayed. It's a testament to the food and service, or maybe it was just the bar... either way.
Atmosphere: Cunetto's - Rat Pack | Olive Garden - Fake
Winner is Cunetto's. Don't get me wrong O.G. was beautiful, pristine, clean... all that. It was just fake. From the flowers, to the paintings all the way to the balcony seating for two that was not actually accessible by anyone. Cunetto's is dark and plain, but sophisticated. Not pretentious. The set decorator for The Sopranos couldn't ask for a better template.
Winner is Cunetto's. You knew where this was going. O.G. was good, and as I said friendly, but it was stereotypical chain restaurant service. Our waitress was missing teeth. Her missing teeth were not her fault, what can be faulted to her was the fact that she didn't know how to pronounce many of the items on the menu. And apparently neither could her counterpart serving the table behind us. The special of the day was Gnocchi (NYOH-kee), not NOTCH-ee, as both of them kept calling it from table to table.
Cunetto's server got everything right, though I probably didn't. The service was impeccable. Even during our wait, the busy hosts were patient with folks checking their status in the queue. And the best and most telling moment of the night happened when we were leaving (close to four and a half hours after arriving). The owner, who I had seen, but not spoken to throughout the night, thanked me by name, "Mr. Hutti," and then proceeds to assure me that the next time I am in he will, "Take care of me".
Awesome. Talk about a stereotype I am okay with being reaffirmed... great Italian service and class.
So, next time you're wanting Italian food consider The Hill first; maybe consider Cunetto's House of Pasta. If you can't get there and settle for a chain, I guess thats ok. I think MSG can taste really good with some Italian seasoning.
PS. I am against Olive Garden on principle also due to their rediculous comercials. See what I mean:
