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Here's to our health, if not our wallet
Feb. 8th, 2005 12:43 pmWe went out on Sunday night to Teatro Zinzanni for a dual celebration of house-buying and early birthday. The show occurs in a spiegeltent from the 20s, a collection of wood, frosted glass, and silks that comes together with no metal fittings to create a stage and seating for about 250-300 people. It was a full house, or near enough.
The format weaves food, skits, songs, and stunts together in a seamless progression throughout the evening. I won't summarize the show, but I must mention several elements that will stick in my memory. First (although it happened last in sequence), Matt Plendl's jaw-dropping hula-hoop routine was one of those things that forces you to redefine the possible. He had effortless control of up to 8 hoops (maybe 10?), on every limb, on four different horizontal planes, you name it. Astounding. Next, the Chef character, who brought audible groans with an array of truly horrible puns. Oh yes, as the performers frequently bring the audience onto the stage, I feel it is my duty to remind you, under no uncertain terms, that you do NOT know how to juggle. Finally, two words: yodeling dominatrix.
The house band rocked. Tragically, I was in the washroom during the theremin solo :(
The food was quite well done. I had a cioppino that was marvelously constructed, with dungeness crab, prawns, several shellfish, and I think snapper or sea bass. A. had an equally well-made steak, with a divine peppers and squash side that was barely coated with some smoky sauce we couldn't identify. We decided to bring along one of our holiday gifts to drink rather than make a pricey guess from their wine list. As it turned out, the Chateaux Magdelaine 2000 we brought was the envy of the staff. A truly exceptional wine, and one that sadly I may never see again-- apparently, it was sold out before it even shipped, and that year already has a superb reputation, so they will are scarce. Oh well, if you can't drink your best wine when you buy a house, when exactly would you drink it? Clearly, more research into the wines of the St. Emilion region is warranted.
The whole evening was somewhat pricy, but if you consider it a 3+ star restaurant meal plus about half-a-Cirque, it doesn't seem that unreasonable. As Mr. Zinzanni himself put it, "We know that when it comes to burlesque musical comedy dinner theater circuses, you have a choice." Har har.
The format weaves food, skits, songs, and stunts together in a seamless progression throughout the evening. I won't summarize the show, but I must mention several elements that will stick in my memory. First (although it happened last in sequence), Matt Plendl's jaw-dropping hula-hoop routine was one of those things that forces you to redefine the possible. He had effortless control of up to 8 hoops (maybe 10?), on every limb, on four different horizontal planes, you name it. Astounding. Next, the Chef character, who brought audible groans with an array of truly horrible puns. Oh yes, as the performers frequently bring the audience onto the stage, I feel it is my duty to remind you, under no uncertain terms, that you do NOT know how to juggle. Finally, two words: yodeling dominatrix.
The house band rocked. Tragically, I was in the washroom during the theremin solo :(
The food was quite well done. I had a cioppino that was marvelously constructed, with dungeness crab, prawns, several shellfish, and I think snapper or sea bass. A. had an equally well-made steak, with a divine peppers and squash side that was barely coated with some smoky sauce we couldn't identify. We decided to bring along one of our holiday gifts to drink rather than make a pricey guess from their wine list. As it turned out, the Chateaux Magdelaine 2000 we brought was the envy of the staff. A truly exceptional wine, and one that sadly I may never see again-- apparently, it was sold out before it even shipped, and that year already has a superb reputation, so they will are scarce. Oh well, if you can't drink your best wine when you buy a house, when exactly would you drink it? Clearly, more research into the wines of the St. Emilion region is warranted.
The whole evening was somewhat pricy, but if you consider it a 3+ star restaurant meal plus about half-a-Cirque, it doesn't seem that unreasonable. As Mr. Zinzanni himself put it, "We know that when it comes to burlesque musical comedy dinner theater circuses, you have a choice." Har har.
