When a restaurant is named 'burger' its easy to guess what's on the menu

When I went to Santa Cruz a few weeks ago, I figured it would be a great opportunity to meet a one of my New Year's resolutions to eat at five new restaurants (Resolution No. 13.) Driving on Hwy. 1 toward Natural Bridges State Beach, I noticed a brick red restaurant along the road called simply Burger.

So after walking around to visit the monarchs and visiting the beach for a time, I was ready for a late lunch. As I drove back up Hwy. 1, Burger again got my attention. My boyfriend and I decided to stop there since we were pretty sure we knew what would be on the menu.

Burger has just that on the menu - plenty of burgers. But they also have a full dinner menu with a lot of other items. The burgers are just the typical cheeseburger, bacon burger or barbecue burger. The menu runs the gamut from burgers topped with unique items such as the Don Ho - garlic aoili sliders with a slice of pineapple on top - or the Bada Bing Boy - meatball sliders served with garlic fries. There were also vegetarian burgers, salmon burgers and turkey burgers.

In addition to the burgers, there are milkshakes on the menu and though we didn't try it, they even serve beer shakes and beer floats. There is a bar full of a variety of beers, although my boyfriend laughed that several of the TVs in the bar area were atypically showing something other than sports.

Customers order at a central cash register area and then are given a picture of a movie star instead of the typical number to let staff know where to deliver the goods. We got an '80s shot of Winona Ryder, pre-shoplifting charges. Other tables had Keanu Reeves circa "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" or other stars from yesteryear.

The bathroom walls had a monster theme, including werewolves painted in the bathroom.

More important than the decor was the fact that burgers were really tasty. The burgers are made with free-range beef. My sliders were tender and tasty. The hawaiian sweet bread complimented the tart pineapple well. The fries were crisp. The only complaint I had was that my meal came out well before my strawberry shake.

The sliders we order were reasonably priced and if we didn't have to drive home on Hwy. 17, I'm sure the drinks or beer would have been great, too.

Photo by Melissa Flores
The Don Ho sliders
The Bada Bing Boy sliders

Academy Awards noms get some right, some wrong

I see a lot of movies, but most years I don’t see a lot of Oscar nominated movies until after the awards ceremony or when they come out on DVD. But this year I managed to see eight of the 10 movies nominated for best picture.

Now first, I have to say that I still don’t really like that the Academy decided to open up the field from five nominations to 10. I understand the reasoning of doing it so that more popular movies have a shot so that it’s not just all about high-brow art movies that no one ever sees. But the truth is most years there aren’t even 10 good movies, let alone 10 that deserve to win a best picture award. So in some ways the increased number of movies nominated kinda dilutes what it means to be Oscar-nominated. Of course, we all know some of the movies don’t really have a chance.

Though I loved “Toy Story 3,” and I am happy to admit it tugged at my heart strings in a way that most movies don’t manage to do, I don’t really think it deserves a best picture nomination. As an animated film, its unfair to compare it to movies that have to deal with actually actors. Sure, the voices are great in “Toy Story,” but it’s really not acting in the same sense as say, Natalie Portman in “Black Swan,” or Jeff Bridges in “True Grit.

The two movies on the list that I haven’t seen yet include “127 Hours,” which is now in general release, and “Winter’s Bone.”

Of the best picture movies I have seen, my vote still goes to the one I thought should have won the Golden Globe. “The King’s Speech” was the best 2010 movie I saw, and perhaps I am biased because I’ve always loved Colin Firth in anything, but the movie was the one that seemed to tie everything together – acting, directing, screenplay – and so I think it deserves the win.

The one movie I did see that I really don’t think deserves the nomination is “The Kids Are Alright.” I know the critics loved it and all the reviews talk about how it was a movie that broke down the barriers of what it means to be a family or a married couple – but my big gripe with it remains that at its center I find it hard to believe that a lesbian woman (Julianne Moore) would just fall into bed with the first donor dad (Mark Ruffalo) that comes along. Really?

As for “Black Swan,” I have mixed feelings about it. I think Natalie Portman did a great
job as a driven ballerina, and she deserves the nod for best actress. But overall, I just didn’t really enjoy the movie. Maybe Darren Aronofsky’s deeper meaning was lost on me, or maybe I’m looking for a deeper meaning where there is none.

“The Fighter” is another movie that deserves the supporting actor nods for Christian Bale, Melissa Leo and Amy Adams, but overall the movie isn’t strong enough to win the best picture nod. It feels like a story that’s been told before.

“Inception” is a story that feels completely new, even though its heart it really is a story about a man trying to get over his heartache. This movie should win for best original screenplay and art direction, but it’s not as strong a contender as some of the other films. In a field of five, this more mainstream movie probably would not have been nominated.

“The Social Network” won the Golden Globe for best dramatic movie so it’s likely to make a showing at the Oscars. The movie was good, given that it was basically about two lawsuits filed against Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin took something everyone is familiar with and gave sort of an insider’s view of how it started. I think people – and critics – like the movie because of the juxtaposition that one of the biggest ways people stay connected with friends was founded by a guy who allegedly screwed over his friends. Personally, I think Facebook is overhyped enough without the movie winning a best picture Oscar.

“True Grit” was the last movie I saw in 2010, on New Year’s Eve, and it was one of my favorites. I guess I just like Jeff Bridges as a grizzly old man. I did enjoy newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross. I don’t like westerns, and I enjoyed this movie, so maybe that’s why I think of it as a favorite. But Bridges character might have been a little too close to his turn as the alcoholic country singer in “Crazy Heart” last year to edge this into the best picture win.

For best picture, my pick is “The King’s Speech,” though I think the Academy will go with “The Social Network.”

Some thoughts on other categories:
Lead Actor – I saw three of the two movies in which people are nominated. Colin Firth is the clear lead for his turn as a stutterer in “The King’s Speech.” Not only was his stuttering superbly painful to watch, but he also showed the way in which royalty can stunt one’s emotional growth.

Supporting actor – I saw four of the five movies nominated and I think if ever Christian Bale is nominated, the Academy should just cross out all the other nominees. I’ve never seen Bale turn in a bad performance and he changes not only his appearance, but all his mannerisms when he becomes a character. According to magazine reports, residents of Lowell mistook Bale for Dickie Ecklund, the jittery boxer turned drug addict he plays in the movie. I believe it.

Lead actress – I saw only two of the five movies in this category so it’s kind of hard for me to make an informed comment on this category. I didn’t really like “The Kids Are Alright” or “Black Swan,” the movies I did see. I give the edge to Natalie Portman over Annette Bening, though Bening won the Golden Globe and is probably a shoo-in for the Oscar.

Supporting actress – I saw four of the five movies and my vote goes to Helena Bonham Carter, in “The King’s Speech.” She proved that she can play a role that is not outlandish (as she often plays in Tim Burton films) and still be phenomenal. I like Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit,” but I just don’t like that studios can campaign to have an actor in the supporting actress role instead of lead so they have a better shot at it. Steinfeld was clearly a lead actress in “True Grit,” as a main character, but the studio campaigned for her to be in the supporting character because of her age. She is still unlikely to win.

Animated feature film – I didn’t see “The Illusionist,” and I probably never will since I tried once to watch “The Triplets of Belleville” from the same creator and I just didn’t like it. “How to Train Your Dragon” is a fun film, but it’s “Toy Story 3” that really has heart.

Art direction – I don’t really know what the academy members think about when they choose best art direction, but I think “Inception” was pretty damn artful in creating dreamscapes that feel real, but are just off enough to feel like an alternate reality. The thing that makes me vote for “Inception” is that it created so many different realities, including the heartbreaking world that Cobb longs for with his wife and children.

The winners in these categories, and all the rest, will be announced Feb. 27, at 5 p.m.

Golden Globes miss the mark with two 'best' categories

Award season is officially started with the Golden Globes, the awards ceremony put on by the Hollywood Foreign Press to honor work from the small and big screen.

Click on movie titles to read the movie reviews that ran in the Pinnacle newspaper.


The Golden Globes are no Oscars for a couple of reasons. First, they honor both television shows and films. Second, they divide up movies into two categories - drama and comedy/musical. It is the later with which I have some issues. I like the way the Oscars does it - all the best picture movies go into the same pool so there is only one best picture. With the Globes, you get two best pictures of the year, though one is almost inevitably better than the other. With the two categories, there are certainly movies nominated that don't really deserve the nod.

The two categories follow into the best actor, best actress, supporting and director categories, so again twice as many people are nominated as would be for the Oscars. The field would certainly be more narrow if there were just one category for all those - and though I loved "Easy A," I am not sure Emma Stone gave one of the best actress performances in 2010.

The one thing that miffed me the most at the Golden Globes is that many of the movies, actors or actresses nominated for comedy/musical didn't actually seem to be in movies that fit the category. The best picture winner was "The Kids Are Alright," a movie that critics seem to love but that I didn't really like all that much. The movie is much more of a drama, with its storyline of two teens raised by lesbians who decide they want to meet their donor dad. The donor dad disrupts the family in all kinds of crazy ways and the movie isn't very funny. If the movie had been nominated in the drama category it would not have won out.

The best actresses nominated in the comedy/musical category also seemed not to be in very funny movies. I enjoyed Anne Hathaway's "Love and Other Drugs," and it had a few funny moments but overall it was more of a melodrama than a ha-ha film. Two of the actresses (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) nominated were from "The Kids Are Alright," which I've already said I don't believe should have been dubbed a comedy. The other movies included "The Tourist" with Angelina Jolie, which I thought was an action film and the aforementioned "Easy A."

I saw four of the five movies nominated for best picture - comedy or musical and I think my vote would have gone to "Red" because it was the movie of the bunch that made me laugh the most. Helen Mirren sports semi-automatic weapons - what could be funnier than that.

For once, I saw all the movies nominated in the best picture - drama category. I enjoyed all the movies, except for "Black Swan," which I have to admit was a little "artsy" for me. Natalie Portman's acting was great, but I didn't really get or like the ending of the film. "The Social Network" won for the category and I can only imagine it was because everyone is so familiar with Facebook and hardly anyone knows someone with a stutter or a British monarch, the subject of the movie that should have won the honor. "The King's Speech" was the best of the movies I saw that were released in 2010. It turned a movie about the British monarchy and a man with a stutter into a taut movie that kept me engaged throughout. At least Colin Firth won the best actor award for his performance.

If I were to rank the best picture - drama nominees in order of my favorites it would be "The King's Speech," "Inception," "The Fighter," "The Social Network" and in a very distance last place "Black Swan."

I'll look forward to seeing how my favorite picks line up with the Oscar nominations, especially since he best picture field has been expanded to 10 since last year. I am sure a lot of the same movies will be nominated, but it will be interesting to see what of the actors/directors/actresses get dropped when the other categories drop down to only five slots.

Chewy chow mein - a new ingredient goes awry

I started off my resolution to cook with five new ingredients with a recipe for vegetable chow mein. The recipe served two purposes - the first was to kick off the new year by eating some more vegetables to make up for all the junk food I ate through the holidays - and the second was to try out a new ingredient, per Resolution No. 12.

I've cooked with plenty of noodles before, mostly the kinds of dry pasta available in the dry goods aisle. Angel hair, spaghetti, penne, ziti, orzo ... get the picture. I have never cooked with chow mein noodles, which are made with a different ingredients than pasta. I bought a couple packages of fresh noodles that were in the organic refrigerator section, near the tofu and organic polenta. The directions from the recipe and on the packaging were simple enough. I was supposed to add the noodles to boiling water, separating them and cooking for three to four minutes.

But when my mom and I put the noddles into the water, instead of separate apart, they clumped together into a ball of gooey mess. Or more accurately, several balls of gooey mess. I thought we might be able to salvage the noodles by tossing them into the saute pan with the vegetables and sauce. The noddles just stayed stuck together, but worse than that they were starchy and not very palatable. The sauce, which included ginger, garlic, hoisin sauce, chicken broth and soy sauce, and the vegetables tasted great so we just picked those out and left behind the noodles.

I would try the recipe again without the noodles, or perhaps using dry noodles. I might even stop by an Asian food store in hopes are finding something better than I can get in the limited section at the grocery store.

One ingredient down, four to go.

Photo by Melissa Flores

Chow mein includes a mix of vegetables.

Trying to find some balance in the pilates studio

Since last year I've wanted to take pilates. Last summer for my birthday my parents actually gave me a gift certificate to do some pilates lessons with a trainer at Snap Fitness, the gym where I work out. But I ended up using it for the first of many boot camp sessions and since I liked the boot camp, I stuck with that.

The trainer I work with opened a yoga and pilates studio a few months ago and I had been meaning to check out one of the classes at her place, Invoke Yoga and Pilates Studio, in Gilroy. The classes are $15 each for drop in, or $130 for 10 prepaid classes. But I still didn't manage to stop by to try out either the yoga or pilates classes. So I had it in my head that I should make it a New Year's resolution to at least try one of the classes out (Resolution No. 1.)

Then around the holidays my trainer offered me a free session on the reformer, the machine that was originally adapted by Joseph Pilates to help WWII soldiers recuperate from injuries. And then the same week, my company offered employees a choice of membership at several local gyms or fitness centers as our annual Christmas gift. Invoke Yoga and Pilates was one of the options to take a class once a week for a year. It seemed like I had no excuses left.

So last Thursday I made a point to stop for the pilates class at 6 p.m., to be followed by a one-on-one hour session on the reformer with my trainer. I wasn't sure what to expect of the class, but I dressed in my regular gym clothes and brought a bottle of water. The yoga mats were provided and there was only one other person there for class which made it less stressful for a first session. For class, we did a variety of stretches and exercises from a standing position and lying down on the mat. The only equipment we needed was the mat and some rubber bands to add resistance to some of the movements. Some of the exercises were familiar from my boot camp class, since it is with the same trainer. I had no problems with the ab work or the arm work, though I was surprised at how much some of the simple movements could make my muscles tired without lifting any muscles, just due to the number of repetitions.

My biggest challenge in the class were some of the balance exercises. I am not very coordinated and I am not very good at anything that requires balance. So when the trainer had us get into downward facing dog pose, I was fine - until she asked us to lift one foot off the ground and then one arm ... It was about then that I started to topple over. There was one other pose with arms out and one leg lifted that was also tough for me. But I am confident if I keep going to the class every Thursday, I will see the same improvements I've seen in the exercises I do regularly in boot camp. And perhaps the best thing about pilates is that the slow, controlled movements are much more relaxing than the high-energy boot camp. It's a nice way to workout in the late evening.

So after my classmate departed, the trainer pulled out the reformer. The machine has a bench that slides back and forth, as well as some straps that can be wrapped around the feet or hands. Underneath the bench are different springs that can be adjusted to increase the resistance. It's kind of hard to describe, but this video shows some examples of exercises that can be done. I went throw several sets of exercises for legs, arms and the core. The best thing about the reformer was the ability to get some really good stretches that are nearly impossible to get on my own. It did feel a little weird doing some of the exercises because I was not quite sure how the machine would move, even though the trainer demonstrated each exercise for me. Overall, the two hours left me exhausted, but I wasn't really too sore the next day. I did have a little bit of a dull ache in most of my muscles the next day, the sign of a good work out.

The trainer offers one-on-one sessions with the reformer but for now I am going to stick with the class. I can't wait to go to class again this Thursday.

Another year, another round of resolutions

Until last year, I was never one for resolutions. But when I sent out a bunch of goals for myself last year - mostly ones that would be fun to complete - it was kind of cool to have something to work for all year outside of work stuff.

So this year, I wanted to set out to complete another batch of resolutions. Some of them are the ones I didn't get to last year, such as learning to make gnocchi or cleaning out the garage. Others are ones that I completed successfully last year, but that I'd like to try again such as cooking with new ingredients and eating out at new restaurants. It was a nice touch to get me to try new things, since I tend to be a creature of habit. The first part of the list are new things I'd like to do this year, and I am sure I will continue to add to it in the next few weeks. But for now here is the list as I start out with 2011.

1.) Take pilates.

This one should be easy enough to complete since my company's Christmas bonus to us is a membership to a yoga/pilates studio where I can take one class a week for a year. Plus, the instructor of a boot camp class I take at my gym, who happens to work at the pilates studio, is offering me a free session of pilates. I'm hoping to add pilates in as a regular part of my workout routine.

2.) Work up to a five-mile run.

I successfully completed a 5K run last year and went on to run in two more throughout the year. I love the challenge of trying to beat my time each time and I would eventually like to work up to a 10K. But for now, I will try to get past the 4-mile mark, which is the furthest distance I've ever run at one time.

3.) Plant a new type of vegetable in my garden.

I don't really have the greenest thumb, but I'd like to try growing something in addition to tomatoes and basil. I'm not sure what I'll put in, but when spring comes around I will check out what kind of transplants are available at local stores.

4.) Take a day trip to San Francisco.
I've lived in the Bay Area all my life, but I rarely make it up to San Francisco. There are things I've never done there, such as visiting Alcatraz Island or seeing the museums in Golden Gate Park so this year I'll make a point to get up to the city more often.


5.) Learn to make gnocchi from scratch.

This is a resolution left over from last year and hopefully I will complete it this year - as soon as my aunt is free to teach me how to make the potato gnocchi that is the family recipe. I'd also like to learn to make a basil potato gnocchi my cousin made for the holidays.

6.) Watch all the Academy Award best picture winners.

I didn't make any progress on this one because I was too busy watch old TV shows on DVD and Netflix instant play. I vow to start watching some of the best pictures this year - before another one is added to the list with the 2010 Academy Awards.

7.) Clean out the garage.
I didn't work on this because, well, cleaning out the garage is just not an attractive chore. But I would still like to make some progress on getting rid of some of the things in my parent's garage this year and de-clutter the house a little bit.

8.) Write a short story.
I wrote a few things that could count as short stories, but nothing really felt complete to me. I'd like to continue to write some fiction stories since it's something I really enjoyed when I was younger.

9.) Scan old photos of family and friends.
We have storage bins full of photos in my house and I'd like to scan them - not necessarily to post on Facebook. It just seems like a good idea to scan some of the old photos before the quality degrades anymore and it would make it easier to share them with people.

10.) Read 10 new books.
I finished off this resolution easily last year, but I did enjoy reading a lot of different things in 2010. I actually read two more books after completing the resolution. This year, I'd like to make a point to read some lighter fare since a lot of what I read last year seemed to be pretty serious and dark. Perhaps I'll try out some New York Times bestsellers.

11.) Take a class.
Last year I took a cupcake decorating class. This year I'd like to take something else, though I am not sure what. I might check out other cooking classes offered through the local community college or Sur La Table, which offers classes on the weekends.

12.) Cook with five new ingredients.
This resolution last year helped me discover a few things I really like, such as roasted root vegetables, and some things I really disliked, such as quinoa. But all in all, it was a great chance to try some new things and I'd like to do it again. I haven't identified what new ingredients I want to use, but I am sure I'll be able to find five things I haven't used before since I am such a picky eater.

13.) Eat at five new restaurants.
I really liked trying out new places last year and found some restaurants I really liked - though some are far-flung in Indiana or San Diego. I did find some new places nearby that I liked and I am hoping to visit a few new places in 2011.

14.) Keep up the gym routines.
I did really well with keeping up my gym routine -which included running, weight training and other exercise machines five or six days a week, yoga three times a week and walking the dog in the morning every day of the week. I even signed up for a boot camp class at my gym that meets twice a week and pretty much kicks my butt. For the last two months, I know I've gotten a little lax with my workouts because of the holidays, a prolonged cold and spending time with someone, so now that the holidays and the cold are gone, I'd like to refocus on the routine.