"Europa Bistro" written by Jbeatty on estrip.org

02/23/08 10:31 - 19ºF - ID#43434

Europa Bistro

Last night I went to this place for the second time and I have found it worthy of a good review. This is probably my favorite restaurant I have been to in Buffalo as of yet. It is a tiny little place on Elmwood, they have about 5 or 6 tables and a small bar that can seat about 9. Although it is a small place they have a pretty large beer and wine selection. They probably have more Polish beers than I have ever seen at a restaurant before. Excluding anywhere in Poland of course.

Their menu is nothing short of spectacular. They have traditional dishes from all over Europe but quite a bit of it from the Eastern part. Last night I had Cassoulet which is a French Stew made of pork sausages, duck confit, duck fat and the impossible to find Tarbais Beans. This is a labor intensive dish to make, especially if they are making their own confit. It was so delicious, but it was so large I couldn't even come close to finishing it.

Last week for lunch I had the Pork Rillets, which is another French dish which is usually made with pork belly and is spreadable on baguette. Theirs was a little different, they made it with pork shoulder and it was more like a very upscale pulled pork sandwich, but delicious nonetheless. They have some dishes that I love there. I can't wait to try all of them out. They also have daily dinner specials and soups. The only thing that doesn't sound good to me is the Lambic float for dessert. There is something kinda sketchy to me about mixing Gelato into my beer. Service there is very pleasant, quick and not even remotely stuffy. Prices are actually lower than I would have expected. Although the only other time I have ever seen Cassoulet on a menu was in NYC, the price was steep at $23. It is a bargain at Europa Bistro for only $13. Here is their website for further information although the menu is slightly larger and different than the one they have posted.

Permalink: Europa_Bistro.html
Words: 354
Location: Buffalo, NY

02/20/08 02:38 - 18ºF - ID#43402

Theraflu sucks

I have had what I assume to be the flu for the past 3 days. This theraflu crappola I bought doesn't make me feel any better and it tastes like piping hot bile. Being busy at school and work while being sick is so not fun. I have one more exam tomorrow and I will be thankful when it is all over. Today I had a quiz in my computer science class. This lady that sits next to me who I talk to sometimes actually asked me for an answer as I was on my way to turn my paper in. I mean c'mon, are you fucking kidding me??? There is no way in hell I am going to risk being booted out of school in order for you to know the correct answer to a true/false quiz question. You already have a 50:50 chance of being correct. I should have given her the wrong answer to teach her a lesson but I just told her I didn't know.

Permalink: Theraflu_sucks.html
Words: 168
Location: Buffalo, NY

02/20/08 09:11 - 12ºF - ID#43397

That was unexpected!

So my landlord called me last night saying he wanted to set up a meeting. I thought that is usually never good. Kinda like being sent to the bosses office. But I went in this morning and they wanted to talk to me about what happened Monday. Then he offered to knock some money off of my rent this month to say thanks! Whoa! I have never had a landlord that I remotely even liked much before. Sounds good to me though. I had to keep stressing to him that I wasn't really the one who discovered it so hopefully he takes care of my neighbor too.

Permalink: That_was_unexpected_.html
Words: 107
Location: Buffalo, NY

02/18/08 08:11 - 33ºF - ID#43385

Arson? and Sid Crosby

So this morning I was awakened by my neighbor ringing my doorbell. I missed her but I quickly noticed why she came over. There was a trash can on fire across the parking lot. I put some flip flops on and moved the can away from the building to the middle of the parking lot. It's not often I leave the house in only my underwear but I really figured my landlords didn't want their art store on fire this morning. It seems strange that a trash can filled with newspapers would just spontaneously combust. I have to wonder if somebody did it on purpose or if a lit cigarette was to blame. Oh well the fire department didn't really seem all that interested in investigating. In fact when they finally showed up one of them decided to warm himself by the fire.

It looks sort of unimpressive after the melted bin collapsed upon itself. I tried to put it out with my fire extinguisher but it kept starting back on fire.

Yesterday was somewhat interesting. I stopped into work to get my schedule and one of the waitresses was telling me Sidney Crosby was eating there. naturally I didn't believe her so I went to look for myself. crazy enough Sidney Crosby was eating in my restaurant. I didn't bother him but one of the girls asked for his autograph and he was really cool about it.

Permalink: Arson_and_Sid_Crosby.html
Words: 240
Location: Buffalo, NY

02/11/08 08:34 - 12ºF - ID#43282

Fuck you parking nazi's!!!

Ugh, I'm going to have to start budgeting for monthly parking tickets. I have never had more than one parking ticket in the last 10 years. Since moving to Buffalo I am working on my third. It really irritates me that both times they have gotten me its within 15 minutes of the alternate side of the street going into effect. It's not like my car was really hurting anything. On the flip side the last storm we had there was a car completely blocking my neighbors driveway for a day and a half before they actually ticketed it. I guess they are more concerned with the Elmwood strip area than Allentown.

Permalink: Fuck_you_parking_nazi_s_.html
Words: 110
Location: Buffalo, NY

02/09/08 11:11 - 35ºF - ID#43257

Cafe 59...I have tried.

I have tried to give you guys my business on so many occasions. You certainly make it next to impossible with your crappy hours and broken espresso machine. When I went in for a delicious mocha in November and was directed to the "espresso machine broken" sign I was disappointed. But I figured today I would give you another shot at being my local cafe. When I walked in to see the exact same "espresso machine broken" sign I have walked out of your establishment never to walk in again. I can't fathom how you can run a cafe without an espresso machine for 3 months. Amazingly most people drink coffee in the morning. Opening at 9am is probably a tad too late to catch any of the people walking to the train station on their way to work. Seriously how do you stay in business? I love to support local businesses, but I guess I will stick to going to Starbucks on campus for when I want a mocha in the morning. Such a shame I thought you had potential.

Permalink: Cafe_59_I_have_tried_.html
Words: 180
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: politics

02/01/08 10:04 - 30ºF - ID#43126

Presidential Race

Not that I talk about politics much. I am really curious to see who is going to end up running with who. With the top two democrats being so cordial last night and Giuliani kissing Mccains's ass are we going to see a Clinton/Obama vs McCain/Giuliani election?

james writes at 02:57:22 02/01/08 - Comment #31179: Speaking of relics from the 60's, I was slightly saddened to find out that Obama was born on the last year of the baby boomers.

jason writes at 01:34:38 02/01/08 - Comment #31173: I'm done with the old blood. I just am. These sixties relics need to be put out to pasture. I don't want to hear anything about the 60's anymore. We have to define our own times on our own terms. Obama to me seems like the only one these days who isn't fundamentally full of shit about who he is or what he believes. If the Democratics are first in this respect, to turn the page, then so be it.

james writes at 01:30:34 02/01/08 - Comment #31172: While on the campaign trail Obama has been brokering a peace deal in Kenya. The man is not the most experienced member of our government in foreign relations, certainly, and will have a ton of people advising him on this and other issues. I am just saying this trope of 'he has no experience' is malarkey. But if experience were the sole qualifier for a president Biden or Dodd should have won the nominee. I am just tired of camp Hillary painted herself as having a ton more experience than he has. And sure, working for Barry Goldwater and Walmart must have been fantastic experience but man am I sick of her acting like her shit doesn't stink when clearly it is one of the stinkiest bits around.

Have I mentioned Joe Biden looks like a werewolf?

joshua writes at 01:04:14 02/01/08 - Comment #31167: James, suggesting that Obama has great foreign relations experience because he's spent part of his life overseas and now sits on the foreign relations committee as a freshman senator... I know you are an Obama fanboi but that is severely stretching it. Obama has many, many questions to answer if he expects to calm the people down who feel that he is underqualified - which I have to say is the case. If he gets elected he will likely have been the least qualified President to win the office since Grover Cleveland, and even Grover Cleveland was more qualified than Obama is, having served as NYS governor.

I love Joe Biden - he is by far my favorite Democrat. He is a bit arrogant at times but the past few years he has mellowed out. I think he would be a very, very shrewd pick as VP. I still can't help but imagine him as the Demo's answer to puppeteer Dick Cheney though. God bless Joe Biden but everybody knows that he thinks he knows best.

drew writes at 11:19:32 02/01/08 - Comment #31153: I think Obama/Clark would be good. or Obama/Biden.

james writes at 10:27:16 02/01/08 - Comment #31146: I think Obama has great foreign relations experience. I mean, the man has lived abroad in a developing nation and he sits on the foreign relations committee. Though if he were to pick someone in that field RIchardson would be a good choice as Obama is weaker on the Latino vote, though his support there is growing. Defense experience would be ideal. Obama has been running on love and togetherness and junk. He needs someone a little more hawkish to not seem like Mike Gravel-lite. I would like to see Joe Biden or RIchardson as the pick.

Clinton needs someone who is not a Clinton. Republicans and Independents don't like her for being a Clinton and with center loving (despite a conservative record) McCain in the mix she needs someone with centrist appeal. But I don't like her so I haven't given any one a thought.

McCain needs to energize the GOP base. Huckabeee would get the Evangelical base but not the fiscal conservative base. Romney should serve that function but he has pissed off everyone else in his campaign by flopping on issues like a fish. McCain is damaged goods and ne needs someone to fix that, but I am not sure who is looking for work.

If Romeny gets the nomination... well, he can pick Jesus Christ as his running mate and he would still lose.

jim writes at 10:15:38 02/01/08 - Comment #31144: I am not sure if there is room for two Clintons and an Obama in the Whitehouse. Obama is more charismatic the Hillary - and she already has to contend with Bill Clinton's looming figure. And if it's Obama doing the picking, he really needs someone with foreign policy or military experience (Richardson again, Wes Clark maybe?), but maybe for unity's sake he'd pick Hillary. Tough call!

McCain and Guiliani both have sever problems with their party's base - McCain on campaign finance reform and immigration and Guiliani on social issues, and neither one is particularly religious, so the VP slot on the Republican side is almost definitely going to someone who loves Jesus and guns and who hates the gays and Mexicans. McCain & Guiliani together would keep too many voters at home.

Permalink: Presidential_Race.html
Words: 49
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/31/08 05:16 - 23ºF - ID#43115

Jobs and such

Today I was called off of work. This is the second time in two weeks. So I decided to make good use of my time off to apply for a new job. I dropped off my resume at 4 of the 6 sushi bars that I know of in the area. I have no idea if any of them are even looking for waitstaff, but I need to get a new job. I avoided O because I didn't really like it all that much, and Kibirashi because they have had problems with the tax man. I have never been to some of these places to eat, but I figure its all pretty much the same minus the strange specialty maki that places prepare. Obviously some places are busier and serve fresher fish. I really hope I hear something back soon.

As a reward for not killing anyone when I was called in I checked out the new beer store VBM on elmwood. I think it opened this week. The shelves are partially stocked with some delicious brews. The guy working there told me they intend on stocking over 1000 kinds of beer. They have about 8 taps to fill growlers. I was shocked to see that they have Delirium Tremens on tap, but at $24.95 a hit I opted for a sixer of Dogfishhead Raison d'etre instead. They certainly aren't winning any awards for being the cheapest beer store in Buffalo, but they will still get a good majority of my business. Besides beer they also have a small deli, some expensive looking prepared foods, a small selection of cheese, hot sauces and some foo foo crackers. I'm guessing the markup on the beer isn't good enough to sustain the business? Despite the prices I am really excited that this store opened. This means I can walk to get good beer!!!

Permalink: Jobs_and_such.html
Words: 306
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/24/08 01:35 - 20ºF - ID#43011

Too excited!

I just bought my plane tickets to go to Budapest!. I have no idea exactly what I'm going to do yet when I get there but I guess thats half the fun. I still can't believe how cheap the tickets were. I almost waited a few days to see if they would go down but then the price of $707 from Buffalo came up and I had to take it. I really hope the dollar doesn't get any worse between now and then.

Permalink: Too_excited_.html
Words: 82
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/22/08 12:03 - 28ºF - ID#42984

I need help!!

Ok computer savvy peeps, I really need to find out the best or at least the cheapest way to run a windows application on my mac. I know absolutely nothing about any of this and I figured somebody here probably did. Do I need to buy a copy of windows? Because I would really rather not. Does anyone know of a free download that will do this? All I can seem to find is stuff for intel macs, which I don't have. Please help!