Urbanspoon Rocks!

I just came back from a road trip to New England. I used Urbanspoon all along the trip to find good restaurants in the cities we passed. I have to say that they were all hits. Not a single miss from the users of the site. I plan to blog about these in the next day or so.

I also love that bloggers can put their review on the site. It has helped me find other food bloggers in the Indy area. It also helps when travelling.

VOID: (or missed opportunity) There are a few areas that I feel that urbanspoon can grow their business/site. The first would be to allow users to post menu items and then choose their like/dislike option on various food items. It would be nice to see what the most popular items are so that I can be sure to order them. I would also think that restaurants would like the service to see which items they should dump.

I would also like to understand their "ranking" logic, but I understand that could be a trade secret. It would make sense to put a weighting on people's vote by how recent their vote was. The vote from a year ago would not be as strong as the one from last night. Restaurants constantly change staff and their business could get better or worse from even one change. A vote from a year ago should be considered as a fractional vote. (Again, perhaps they do this)

Finally, I would like to see the various cities better integrated. It would be great to see Indianapolis restaurants contained in the Indiana state site. It would also be great to see which restaurants at the national level are tops!

All in all, I love Urbanspoon and I will continue to participate in the site. Keep up the great work!

Ps. Does anyone know of similar sites for other services? Maybe hotels, attractions, etc... Just a simple Like/Dislike with a ranking?

Rick's Cafe Boatyard

Every summer we usually make it out to Rick's Cafe Boatyard for some drinks and food on their outdoor deck. The service is usually hit or miss the food is always great. (Although this time, not worth the price of admission) I also love the style of the building. It reminds me of the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego.

This past Saturday we decided to go for the first time this year. It's always nice to be outside, in the sun, enjoying the views of The Eagle Creek Reservoir. It wasn't very busy, but there were a few folks around the outdoor bar and everyone seemed to be smiling and having fun. As others have blogged about, the atmosphere is really why people come here.

We ordered some adult beverages and their Sashimi Tuna appetizer, which is a staple for us anytime we visit Rick's. The Tuna is always fresh and perfect. We are also big fans of the seaweed? salad that comes with the tuna. However, I have to say, the recession must be hitting Rick's. This time there were 3 small pieces of tuna for a $14 price tag. In years past the $14 price tag was worth it because the plate had plenty of the succulent meat....this year however it was lacking.

Because the appetizer portion was so expensive we decided that we should go elsewhere for dinner, however, we did stay for a few more drinks. :-)

THE VOID: (In this section, I describe missed opportunities)
The outdoor bar is large and people that go there are typically looking for a very lively environment. Although the cocktails were flowing, there was a HUGE atmospheric element missing.

Music!

They really seemed to miss the boat. It would be a draw if there were a Reggae band or better yet some steel drums being played to give you that Caribbean feel. I feel that this missed opportunity causes people to leave earlier than they would otherwise.

Fill The Void

I'm going to try a new concept on my blog. Let's hope I'm motivated to keep it up.

So many times I go out to eat, try a new service, attend an event, or what have you, only to think that they could have done something a little better.

Perhaps the restaurant is perfect but they lack the right "Je ne sais quoi?" I am going to try to highlight those things that I notice as a missed opportunity. Bad lighting? Mismanaged front desk? What ever it may be.

I also encourage you to write what I may have missed...or better yet, what is MY missed opportunity!

Fill the Void!

Farm Fresh Delivery

We love to cook. We are also big fans of fresh vegetables.

When we lived in Chicago there was a service, called PeaPod that delivered groceries to your door. While convenient, it also helped us to maintain a healthier eating lifestyle.

I recently read that when you are planning for the future, you lean towards your ideal. When you're planning for the moment, you live for the moment. Meaning if you were to be asked what you want for a snack at a meeting next week, you'll likely say fruit...but if asked, what kind of snack do you want right now, you'll likely choose something like a brownie.

Being able to place your order online helped remove the impulse shopping brought on by the sights, sounds, and smells of a grocery store. Also, you are more likely to buy the produce if it is made easy.

About a year ago, we were able to find a similar service in Indy. It's called Farm Fresh Delivery. While they do not have the full offerings of a grocery store, they do have almost anything wholesome you could ask for. Most of the produce is locally grown or organic and when it is conventionally grown, it is highlighted when you make your order.

They also have relationships with various local entities. You can get Indiana raised meats, fresh pastas, cheeses, etc... The best part of the service is that you can customize your order each week on their website. Don't like Cauliflower? Replace it with Jalapenos. Love Raspberries? Get 4 packages!

They have their home delivery service in Indianapolis and Cincinnati. They allow you to suspend delivery any day you need to. They also require no contract. I'd recommend the service to anyone looking to eat healthier.

If you sign up, please put my blog address in the referred by section.

Spicy Cilantro Curry Rice - Naisa

Tonight we went to Naisa Cafe in Fountain Square. Naisa is Asian spelled backwards and this is not your typical Asian restaurant. The food is fresh, full of color, and very tasty!

This was our second time there. Our first time had been during a First Friday event back in May. Christina, the proprietor, greeted us at the door as friends mentioning that it had been a while since we had come in. She made us feel like a regular and it was only our second time! Amazing!

They seemed very busy but it also appeared that most of the (new restaurant) kinks had been worked out. There was music in the air, which was absent the last time we visited. The staff also seemed more at ease with the menu offering perfect suggestions and insight.

One item that I was particularly fond of during my last visit was the Spicy Basil Curry Rice. This is a delicious item and worthy of any foodie's appetite. However, upon arriving Christina had mentioned that they were out of Basil. However, being open to ideas, I suggested that she make it with Cilantro, which she eagerly tried. It came out as delicious as the original.

We also had their egg rolls and the Honey Sesame Chicken. By the end of the meal we couldn't figure out which we liked best!

I always rate a place by whether I could have made a better dinner at home. Naisa is worth the visit!

For all you downtown folks, they deliver!!!

Pizza in Indianapolis

I just read at Indy in the Kitchen, that Neal Brown is rumored to be opening a pizza restaurant in Carmel. If you never ate at Neal's L'Explorateur you missed out on some of the most spectacular tastes to cross your palette. Neal tried to use local ingredients in his cooking. It was adventurous and fun! I'm hoping his pizza is the same.

It's strange. I've lived in Boston, Georgia, Chicago and now Indianapolis and I have to say, Indy has some phenomenal pizzas places. Places that I would choose over anything I could get in those other places. Bazbeaux's, Jockamo's Upper Crust, Union Jack's, Some Guys....to name a few.

Not only is Neal rumored to be opening a pizza place, but also Martha Hoover is opening a new pizza pie restaurant. Martha's claim to fame is the Patachou brand, including one of my favorites, Petite Chou. (If you haven't had the Croque Madame, you haven't lived) Martha's place is going to be a Neapolitan style pizza, and I 'm sure it will be amazing!

Speaking of rumors, I've recently heard that Union Jack's may be opening a location close to geist. Let's hope so! I love that the Broad Ripple location is smoke free and has free WiFi! It's a great place to get some work done at the end of a busy day.

Finally, I made it to newcomer, ZA Pizza in Broad Ripple this past week. The pizza was ok...not great, which considering the high quality of other places in Broad Ripple and Indianapolis, "ok" is not good enough. It's positioned as a place to get a quick slice. What bothered me most about the experience was that our expectations were not set correctly. We were told that if we waited 7-8 minutes that we could try their BBQ pizza....literally 28 minutes later we got the slice. Also, two slices came to $9. We could have gone around the corner, back to Bazbeaux's and had a full pie. (I think I know what we'll be doing in the future)

All in All, Indianapolis seems to be putting pizza on the map. The style seems to always include fresh, high quality ingredients. Make sure you try some soon!

What's your favorite pizza place? in your city?

Also, be sure to add "Indy In the Kitchen" to your blog reader, she has the inside scoop on many restaurants...and some yummy sounding recipes.

What Would Google Do?

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. Work (and life) have been a bit crazy the past few months. However, I feel a bit of a new motivation...at least for one more post.

I just started reading "What Would Google Do?" by Jeff Javis.....okay, so what I mean to say is that I'm listening to it.

Due to my job, I spend a lot of time in my car. Historically, I've spent much of that time listening to talk radio, it was kind of fun during the election but now it just seems to make my blood pressure rise.

A few months ago, I decided to use the local Library. Since I pay plenty in property taxes and I don't have any kids, I might as well get something from all that money I give to the government. So, I started borrowing audio books. The Indianapolis library allows you to manage your account online, you can add media to a list, you can request them, and you can renew them all from the comfort of your living room.

This latest audio book, "WWGD" is already motivating me. I'm the type of guy that gets ideas of new business projects but I get intimidated and I don't execute on them. I also don't seem to have a lot of spare time to devote to these new ideas, so many end up being developed by someone else as I look on.

So, this renewed post is me acting on what I'm reading. We'll see if I keep it up.

The first thing I did...and I did it today, was to add Google Ads to my blog. It's free, it helps make Google smarter, and it could potentially help me make money. Now I just need to find something interesting to discuss.

From my previous posts, you can probably tell that I like talking about Food, but I also like talking about politics, money, economy, Indianapolis development, etc.. So that's what I plan to focus on as I move forward. I'm also going to try out some pet projects to see if I can get any of them to stick. You'll be able to read about these here.

Wish me luck.