Grilled Cheese Goodness!

We went out this afternoon for lunch at Melt with a couple of friends who had never gone before.  It's rather fun going down the list of sandwiches and pointing out all the ones that you have tried.  If you don't remember from my last review, Melt is a restaurant that specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches with many different combinations of ingredients. 

I had the Wake and Bacon, which is eggs, bacon, and American cheese.   They actually ask you how you want your eggs.  I went with over medium, that way the eggs wouldn't be all runny when I bit into the sandwich.

My husband had the Cleveland Cheese Steak.  It contains slow roasted beef, shaved thin, garlic wild mushrooms, sautéed onions & peppers, provolone cheese.  

My friend had the Wake and Bacon, but substituted ham for eggs (foreground sandwich).   It is similar to the former menu item, the Porky Cheese Sandwich.   The Porky cheese sandwich contained honey ham, bacon, and Swiss cheese.  I don't know how long it has been gone from the menu, but it was pretty good.  The sandwich in the background is the January sandwich special, the Hungry Hungarian Paprikash Melt.  It has pulled roasted chicken, homemade dumplings, creamy Paprikash sauce, and provolone cheese.

All of the sandwiches we ordered had french fries and cole slaw.   None of us were really cole slaw fans.   However, Melt will substitute extra fries instead.   I'll keep that in mind for next time.  The sandwiches are served on Texas toast and they are really generous portions.  Each of us boxed half of our sandwich to take home.   Each sandwich is definitely two meals.

Bell, Book, and Candle

We just got back from seeing Bell, Book, and Candle performed by the Cleveland Playhouse.  This is the play that inspired the television series Bewitched.  There is a community of witches living in New York City unbeknownst to their human neighbors.  When I was watching the play the main character, Gillian, describes witchcraft as taking shortcuts to desired outcomes.   I suppose you could call it life hacking.  People don't usually pay attention to the odd activities in the play because they dismiss it as a series of coincidences. 

Gillian basically decided to magic herself a little romance with her upstairs neighbor, Shep.  She casts a spell, and he falls madly in love with her.   When the spell is revealed, there is a lot of questioning about the nature of love.  Also, in the play's world, a witch loses her powers when in love, as well as gaining the ability to cry and blush.

I suppose I was expecting a more comedic play with lots of magic and trickery.   It was more of a philosophical play about the nature of love and the consequences of meddling with it.  I can definitely see how Bewitched could be imagined from this 1950's play.

Maggiano's Little Italy

Tonight after the show, we went to Maggiano's for dinner.  They have Italian cuisine with extremely generous portions.  The waiter was not shy at all about suggesting that my husband and I split an entree.  They even have this deal in which if you order one of their classic pastas, they give you another one boxed up to take home.  Apparently, the take out meal is cooked for less time, that way when you reheat it at home it turns out better.

Pictured above was Maggiano's current featured appetizer, Pepperoni Fondue.  It was cheesy with just a hint of spiciness, and the bread was crunchy and delicious. 

Our entree was Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia.  It was served on a bed of rice with spinach, tomatoes, sage, and capers.   It had a nice flavor.  It was almost the right amount of food for the two of us.  There was just a little leftover we could have taken home, but I didn't want it to sit in the car without refrigeration.  Between the appetizer and the entree, we didn't have room for dessert.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert

We saw Priscilla Queen of the Desert tonight.  It's an Australian musical about 3 drag queens crossing the desert in a bus in order to get to a new show venue.  It's campy, but it has real heart and extraordinary costumes, makeup, and a fun collection of disco music (with more than a dash of Madonna and a little bit of country thrown in).  I usually like to watch the movie version of shows before seeing the musical, but I wasn't able to obtain a copy in time for my review.  I guess I'll just have to do it afterwards.

The music relates to what the characters are going through at the moment.   A Greek chorus of sorts appears and disappears as needed, and they are always in dazzling costume.  This show features a stunning number of rapid costume changes.  Make special note to count the number of changes when the trio finally get to their destination in the second act.  Astonishing and just fabulous.

I brought some binoculars to the show today and was looking at the eye makeup.   The makeup changed just as rapidly as the costumes!  I think I've figured out how they did this.  Each time we see new makeup on the actors, it appears to be painted onto a facial appliance.   It might even be a mask.   Very cool that they could do such elaborate things that way.