A Greene Man’s Blog

I’m NOT Addicted to Pete’s Fish & Chips

Originally uploaded by Daniel Greene

With all the “I’m Addicted to Pete’s Fish & Chips!” bumper stickers I’ve seen around the Valley, I would have thought I was missing out on a local legend (having never been to one myself).

I’ll tell you a little secret though: those bumper stickers are free! If people had to pay for them, I don’t think there would be so many.

I was starving after work yesterday, and here I was sitting in the drive-thru of Pete’s on 27th Ave & Van Buren, so I thought I’d take a commemorative shot of my first time at one of the legendary Pete’s. But I’m telling you the morning after driving the food home and eating it, it’s just a greasy mess! It’s not delicious or special or anything. It’s just over-greasy rectangular slabs of fried fish on top of over-greasy shoestring fries. So, I don’t love Pete’s Fish & Chips; in fact, I don’t even like them!

Is This Extra Extra Lettuce?

Originally uploaded by Daniel Greene.

I’d like a vote: is this what you would call extra extra lettuce on a BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato) sandwich?

I call it barely enough lettuce for a regular BLT. The first time I ordered one of these from the cafe in my office building, they served it with one thin piece of green leaf lettuce. So the second time I asked for “extra lettuce” and I got two thin leaves of green lettuce. The third time, I asked if they had any iceberg lettuce to make the sandwich wetter. They said no, so I asked for “extra extra” lettuce, and I got this: two or three leaves of thin green lettuce.

And don’t give me any guff about being a Jew and eating bacon and kvetching about the lack of lettuce when I said I’d try to complain less. This isn’t complaining, it’s critiquing. I’m a food critic now; haven’t you heard? Of course I’m grateful to have food to eat (God knows we live in a world in which people starve to death), but I still have my wishes, and I wish for a moist BLT with lots of lettuce. Yeah! =)

Impress Me With Your Espresso, Starbucks!

Originally uploaded by Daniel Greene.

I was curious to experience Starbucks’ espresso since their big shutdown yesterday for their espresso barista retraining. I walked in and said, “Impress me with your espresso!” I asked the barista if he’d attended the training last night, and he said, “No; that was just a retaining, anyway.” More like a publicity stunt, I’ll bet.

But I’m game! So I ordered a solo espresso. I tried it black but didn’t like it, so I added half a packet of Sugar in the Raw. I liked it pretty well with the brown sugar. I pretty much gulped it down in the traditional way after carefully composing this shot (I’m still working on composing compelling, iconic images that tell the story). I can’t say I really love the taste it left in my mouth, but it is still lingering now, 10 minutes later.

Do I think gulping shots of espresso is the future of “The Starbucks Experience”? I hope not. I’d rather continue to spend 15 minutes sipping on an iced venti soy latte; in fact, I think I’ll order one now. But I’d better make it a grande! (Buzz buzz buzz…