Gaudy Asian Restaurants

     Page One Hundred Ninety-Five.
    You know what I've been craving for the last few years? I've really, really been wanting to go to a terribly gaudy and garishly decorated Asian restaurant. Do you remember those places that were decorated mid-20th century with large fountains, larger plastic plants lit with colored floodlights, red stuff everywhere, Tiki gods, hanging paper lanterns, and sometimes real flames coming out of the food? Of course you do. And if you're too young to know what I'm talking about, I'm truly sorry.

Cleveland's Kon Tiki Restaurant

     These restaurants were a direct result of WWII and the return of GIs from the South Pacific who had fond memories of the food, drink and tropical feel of all those islands. The most famous Ploynesian style restaurant was called Trader Vic's and it, in fact, all but invented the look. I was too young to really appreciate the theatricality at the time, but like I say, I've been going through a thing lately where I just really want to eat some florescent food in a comic book version of a 1940's Polynesian Island. And for the record, who cares what the food tastes like?      

     Cleveland, being working class with zillions of former GIs, had many of these extravaganzas. I think our most famous was the Kon Tiki Restaurant in the Sheraton Hotel down on Public Square. Apparently, the Kon Tiki chain was slightly higher end than Trader Vik's, but I'm not sure. Really though, every Chinese restaurant in America had to have some of that decorative flavor going on by 1960 or so. It was simply de rigueur. 
     And I'll tell you something else, I suspect I'm not the only one who's craving that decor again.  In the last few years, Trader Vic's has begun expanding its world-wide locations after decades of financial losses and subsequent restaurant closings. I wouldn't be surprised at all if in the next few years we see New York Times style section articles about how the "look" is back. Tiki is simply fun, lighthearted and warm; the opposite of sterile, clean, understated and simple; read: boring. Also, of course, it's reminiscent of the styles of the jet age. Styles which are definitely back.

Just a Typical Day In The Life Of A Male Nanny

     Page Sixty-Four.
     I'm writing this blog while sitting with Grandma as she's folding shirts.
     I'm at work with the family I nanny for and have stuck the chicken in the oven but I have a while before the boys get home. I arrived a little early today actually. I wanted to get the chicken started so it would be ready in time for three ravenous preteen males and now I have nothing to do but work on my blog.
     Grandma came over in 1957 from Germany and she often tells me stories of the old country. Even though she's German Protestant by lineage, she was still technically a holocaust survivor; she was in a prison camp though not one of the Jewish ones. It's a long story, but her ancestors emigrated some generations earlier to a German colony in Romania, therefore, she was "the enemy" during WWII as Romania was a Russian ally. 
     Grandma is eighty-five and lost her husband about twenty years ago. They came to America together and became a success story. They were very blue collar upon their arrival, in fact Grandma did housecleaning and cooking to help pay the bills. But they had one daughter and sent her to medical school. "Doc" would become mom to the three boys in question (and one daughter who's away at college). So nowadays, Grandma lives here and still helps tremendously with the daily life of the home. In fact, when I was brand new on this job, in February of 2011, she told me that Doc and Son-In-Law initially hired me to help her with the children. (But as I have a history of being rather assertive, rewriting my job description and doing my own thing,  it really wasn't too long before we were coexisting on parallel planes and divvying up the work load.)
     At the moment though, the big drama in this house is Billy-Bob-Joe's birthday which is tomorrow. He'll be eleven and he's the pickiest eater in the house. So cooking special for him is always a challenge. But, he wants the same thing as last year: a fondue dinner. I mean he wants fondue everything. We actually did that last year, I have the three fondue pots to prove it. But this year, I convinced him to mix it up a little. Instead of the cheese fondue we'll start dinner with a cheese platter of his favorites: Camembert and St.Andre (both of which I introduced him too) plus Havarti, which he's never had. And also on the platter will be a little caviar that he loves (I introduced him to that also). Then, we'll have a spinach salad followed by the actual fondue of beef chunks in one pot and onion rings in another. (I know that onion rings are hardly a typical fondue fare, but really, the kid is eleven. So screw tradition.) They adore my onion rings in this house too: they're always a big sell. Then for dessert: an ice cream cake. I think he'll be very happy.
     (Incidentally, to make the best onion ring batter, thoroughly mix 1 & 1/2 cups beer with an equal amount of flour. Then let it sit out on the counter for two hours. Dip the rings in that then fry up. It's great.)