Tootsie Yr2: Fayetteville, AR part 2
Jan. 23rd, 2023 08:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39So, on Thursday we had two shows.
It's kind of nice to have a two-show weekday, rather than back-to-back two show days on the weekend.
Makes Sunday just a little easier, and a little more relaxed.
I woke up semi-early this morning because I have wanted to eat at Hail Fellow Well Met ever since this tour started.
It was too far to walk so I called an Uber and waited in the lobby.
They are putting some stencil art on the floor of the lobby currently, so it's roped off.
Look how cool! These folks are carefully painting each part by hand. It looks like FUN work.
Anyway I got to the restaurant, which is just as pretentiously, aesthetically yuppie/hipster as expected from their Instagram posts.
The interior is all pale moss green and beige, with a sort of 70s vibe...curvy abstract furniture, plants here and there, mod lighting, etc etc.
(photo courtesy Halle)
I like to try new and exciting foods, but will usually avoid places that are so...how to put it..."See-and-be-seen", maybe?
But the menu really looked like something special, and I'm at a very YOLO point in life, so here we are this morning.
To my deep disappointment, they were OUT of the dish that I came all the way there to get.
"Monochromatic": otoro tuna with toasted hazelnuts, misc fermented root vegetables and fungi, avocado and edamame pearls, and a tea egg.
You guys, I wanted this dish so badly that I had planned for months to get it.
I had calculated the nutrition ahead of time.
I had called a day ahead to make sure they had it.
I took an $18 Uber to this restaurant, literally just to try this dish.
Only to have the server say, "Sorry, that one isn't available today!"
When preplanning is great, it's GREAT.
But today it was just a whole lot of research and time and money for absolutely nothing.
Had I been impulsive for once, I could have avoided disappointment.
Also, I REALLY should have called the day I was going there, not the day before. Lesson learned.
Instead I got the "Yogurt & Granola". The name is not pretentious...but look how pretentious, lol.
This is blue coconut yogurt with buckwheat berry granola, fresh berries, and honeycomb.
I'm guessing peaflower is what was used to get the blue color for the yogurt.
Details:
In addition to being very aesthetic, it also tasted VERY good.
Like, worth some extra money to have a new taste experience.
The yogurt was acidic and tart, definitely unsweetened. But it was also creamy and rich and light, like it had been whipped.
The buckwheat granola was earthy and just a little sweet, some of it had big crunch factor, and some was light and crispy.
The combination of crunchy buckwheat kernels with the super-smooth fluffy coconut yogurt was wonderful.
I was sure that the little honeycomb cube on top would be too much, but it was exactly the perfect amount of sweetness to take the edge off the tart yogurt without making the whole thing overly sweet.
I can tell that the chefs who work for Hail Fellow Well Met really care about the WHOLE dish.
The careful attention to plating, and the obviously thoughtful balance of flavors, showed skill and technique that was worth paying to experience.
It was very fun to eat!
Not going to lie, I was still salty that after all of my carefuly planning, I'll never get to try the other dish I'd had my heart set on.
But getting to eat herre at all is a huge privilege.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Back at the hotel I chilled out and had a light lunch before our 1:30 matinee.
My guts were angry with me...probably not because of anything specific that I've eaten, but due to stress and/or IBS, which usually likes to give me a hard time in the afternoons. For the most part I had to ignore it and feel uncomfortable, because when you're playing a show you can't just leave the pit when you want to. Plus our bathroom was up two floors this week.
During the break between shows, a simple dinner and some planning and checking on flights for upcoming layoffs.
Jameson and I also sent our portfolios out to a few production companies, neither of us expecting any sort of response.
These days it's a big ask to get even a stock response out of someone that you contact.
And then companies wonder why they get "ghosted". Because you get what you give, that's why.
The second show went well too, audiences continue to laugh it up which is great :)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday was a one-show day and the show wasn't until late.
I woke up "early", around 7:30 which is 8:30 EST so if my body is trying to revert to an east coast schedule I'm happy with that.
Breakfast and some data entry, then I decided to do laundry because I'm almost out of concert clothes.
The nearest laundromat was closed despite what Google told me, so I ended up walking an extra half-mile to the next-closest, which for unfathomable reasons was packed with sorority girls doing a photoshoot while people were trying to do their laundry. It was surreal and annoying. There were maybe twelve of them, putting on and taking off clothing, squealing and cooing over each other, posing in front of washers and dryers that people were using, and spreading their stuff on every available counter. Luckily the washers and dryers were both 30 minutes so I only had to endure it for an hour, but the regulars were looking MIGHTY annoyed.
The experience made me pleased that I never for one moment considered joining a sorority.
I don't care what connections it would have gotten me (spoiler alert: in music, absolutely none).
So after an hour I brushed a pile of makeup and hairbrushes aside to fold my laundry, then walked to the co-op, leaving the gaggle of squealing, selfish sows behind.
At the co-op I got some fruit and nuts and coffee (I had run out of these), and ultimately couldn't resist a chocolate chip lavender scone.
Back at the hotel, lunch was chicken and stale bread, raw broccoli and pickled quail eggs (which were spicy and VERY good).
Watching anime, doing data entry until dinner time.
For dinner I walked down the big hill again to Arsaga's.
This time I was hoping to get their carrot gnocchi, which sounded amazing.
But then weirdness happened.
I got there at 4:55, a little early for dinner. So I said to the hostess, "I'm here for dinner but I'm a little early, is it ok if I just hang out until y'all are ready for dinner service?" and she said, "Sure!" So she seated me at a two-chair table. About five minutes later a guy came over dressed in normal street clothes--did not introduce himself as an employee or server or anything--and said, "Hi!".
I was like, "Hi, what's up?" at which point he declared himself a "host" and asked if he could start me with a drink.
I asked for a cherry soda since they make it in house, and said, "I'm just waiting for dinner service to start."
Here's where I think the miscommunication was. I think he didn't hear me, and made an assumption.
Because after that, I sat for 45 minutes.
And not once did anyone check on me, ask if I'd like a refill on the drink, take my food order, etc.
The cherry soda. It was very good.
Around minute 30 I started trying to make eye contact.
All the servers hustling around, eyes lowered to their food deliveries.
The host who got my drink order, back to me at the bar chatting with the bartender, never once looked over.
The hostess came by to seat a couple, and I got eye contact and smiled and opened my mouth to say "excuse me", and she whipped around and hustled away.
So I went to the bathroom to quell my annoyance and embarrassment, then went to the bar and asked to pay for the soda and leave.
Since the host was still there (with a mouth full of food) I asked him if it was especially busy today or something?
He looked at me, confused. No, why?
"Because I just sat there for 45 minutes, and no one took my order. And now I have to go to work without dinner."
He gulped and stammered, and said the soda was on the house. Oh gosh, thanks. I started to head out but the host asked if he could get me something to go, so I said, "Sure, if y'all can make it in 15 minutes. I was going to order the gnocchi."
He put the order in while I waited near the door (no point holding a table hostage during dinner).
The manager-on-duty (I have to assume because she never introduced herself) came over and sat next to me, and asked me to describe what happened. So I did. I was still pretty angry and embarrassed, and I'm sure that came across. She went to talk to the host, came back and apologized profusely and offered a gift card, which I declined because obviously I'll never get to come back here. So she gave me the dinner for free although I tried to insist on paying for it.
She told me that the host thought I was waiting to meet someone (which is why I think he must have misheard me or made an assumption when I said, "I'm waiting for dinner service to start".) Ultimately it was just a miscommunication. But had ANYONE AT ALL checked on me during those 45 minutes, even just to refill my glass of water, it could have easily been cleared up.
So I took my meal, which was supposed to be special but was now just embarrassing, and hustled back to the hotel, hungry and gasping like an idiot because I was taking the big hill too fast. I ate the food too quickly back in my room, and it was just ok.
Then walked to the theatre for the show, where everything was going fine until a fermata was held longer than usual and some of us didn't notice and came in early, causing a sort of chain reaction of missed entrances. It was probably barely noticed by the audience, but as professional musicians we all definitely felt awful to make that kind of mistake.
The audience had a great time though, big applause.
I walked home feeling very cranky and disappointed with the whole day.
Hopefully tomorrow is better.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday morning, and Murphy's Law continued to dictate things for a while.
I woke up to no hot water whatsoever. Called down to the front desk and was told a pump had failed in the night, and to "just run the water in your room until the hot water gets up to your floor."
So I did, and it was a huge waste of water for about 45 minutes.
The first show went well. It was rainy and cold but otherwise nothing to report.
Between shows, dinner and working on the Foodie Finds sheet for West Palm Beach.
We are now far enough into the tour schedule that I'm having to redo a lot of the research.
Much of the info that I'd put down months ago is out-of-date, or did not include options around our hotels because at the time I didn't know where we'd be staying. I don't mind; discovering new places is a fun project!
The evening show also went well. I'm going to miss these audiences that find the jokes in our show so hilarious :)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, a standard morning of hot cereal and fruit and yogurt and coffee, followed by a walk to Little Bread Bakery just a block away.
It's a super cute bakery with loads of wonderful-looking croissants and quiches and pastries. I wanted everything they had!
But today all I wanted was a bagel to wrap up for travel tomorrow.
But my bad foodie karma came around yet AGAIN.
When I got back to the hotel, I stuck my hand in the bag to get the bagel and felt what I thought was raw dough.
The bagel was WET. Not just wet, it was soaked in OIL. It had soaked through the bag just on the short one-block walk.
So I took it back and showed them the wet bagel.
They looked surprised, apologized, and handed me another, and just by looking at it I could see it was the same.
Like I'm not exaggerating or being a "food prude", you guys, it was literally SOGGY with oil.
Have you ever had an OILY bagel? So oily that the dough felt raw? That ain't normal!
I pointed out that the one they were handing me was ALSO sopping wet, literally it dripped when I squeezed a bit of it. And they seemed super surprised again and offered me a refund since I guess all of their bagels were like that.
What IS it with this week!? I must have done something to invoke this.
I'm trying to have humility and accept the bad karma I've incurred, roll with it, and try to keep a positive attitude for the future.
Maybe it's because I bought that tiny fridge.
Anyway, ultimately none of this is worth more fuss...it's just so deeply WEIRD.
What an odd week it's been for food in Fayetteville.
The hotel has a little coffee bar inside, and they have English muffins, so one of those will be my travel food.
It looks like a normal English muffin. I have faith in it, lol.
Back in my room I packed and separated out some things to stash in the band box so I don't have to take them home for the layoff: winter coat, peacoat, video camera, some nonperishables, umbrella. Then packed my electric skillet and bag of unopened seitan to take home since it seems I won't be using them after all. Then some data entry and lunch before our final show in Fayetteville.
It was a great crowd again, with some people laughing so hard they started coughing!
Afterward I packed up quickly and wished everyone a nice layoff, then went to sign our wall tag.
This is my favorite wall tag art so far this year!
It depicts a line from the show where Sandy says she spent her night doing the 'Dirty Dancing' lift with her cat.
"Turns out...he isn't very strong!!"
On the way back to the hotel two different actors told me they'd visited restaurants on my Foodie Finds list and had a great time, which cheered me up. I'm looking forward to sharing more great foodie stops with everyone :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It's Monday morning and I'm up early to do some data entry before the airport shuttle comes.
I should get to Orlando around 8pm, then it's five days at home with Jameson.
It'll be a little chaotic because he's working, doing rehearsals, and his dad is visiting for half the week, then I leave again.
While home I'll be cleaning, doing data entry, making caramels for the crew this time, swapping stuff out of my luggage, shipping jams to family and friends, and doing all the little errands that need to be done before peacing out for another block of tour cities.
What a wild life right now. But it sure beats being trapped at home circa 2020.
It's kind of nice to have a two-show weekday, rather than back-to-back two show days on the weekend.
Makes Sunday just a little easier, and a little more relaxed.
I woke up semi-early this morning because I have wanted to eat at Hail Fellow Well Met ever since this tour started.
It was too far to walk so I called an Uber and waited in the lobby.
They are putting some stencil art on the floor of the lobby currently, so it's roped off.
Look how cool! These folks are carefully painting each part by hand. It looks like FUN work.
Anyway I got to the restaurant, which is just as pretentiously, aesthetically yuppie/hipster as expected from their Instagram posts.
The interior is all pale moss green and beige, with a sort of 70s vibe...curvy abstract furniture, plants here and there, mod lighting, etc etc.
(photo courtesy Halle)
I like to try new and exciting foods, but will usually avoid places that are so...how to put it..."See-and-be-seen", maybe?
But the menu really looked like something special, and I'm at a very YOLO point in life, so here we are this morning.
To my deep disappointment, they were OUT of the dish that I came all the way there to get.
"Monochromatic": otoro tuna with toasted hazelnuts, misc fermented root vegetables and fungi, avocado and edamame pearls, and a tea egg.
You guys, I wanted this dish so badly that I had planned for months to get it.
I had calculated the nutrition ahead of time.
I had called a day ahead to make sure they had it.
I took an $18 Uber to this restaurant, literally just to try this dish.
Only to have the server say, "Sorry, that one isn't available today!"
When preplanning is great, it's GREAT.
But today it was just a whole lot of research and time and money for absolutely nothing.
Had I been impulsive for once, I could have avoided disappointment.
Also, I REALLY should have called the day I was going there, not the day before. Lesson learned.
Instead I got the "Yogurt & Granola". The name is not pretentious...but look how pretentious, lol.
This is blue coconut yogurt with buckwheat berry granola, fresh berries, and honeycomb.
I'm guessing peaflower is what was used to get the blue color for the yogurt.
Details:
In addition to being very aesthetic, it also tasted VERY good.
Like, worth some extra money to have a new taste experience.
The yogurt was acidic and tart, definitely unsweetened. But it was also creamy and rich and light, like it had been whipped.
The buckwheat granola was earthy and just a little sweet, some of it had big crunch factor, and some was light and crispy.
The combination of crunchy buckwheat kernels with the super-smooth fluffy coconut yogurt was wonderful.
I was sure that the little honeycomb cube on top would be too much, but it was exactly the perfect amount of sweetness to take the edge off the tart yogurt without making the whole thing overly sweet.
I can tell that the chefs who work for Hail Fellow Well Met really care about the WHOLE dish.
The careful attention to plating, and the obviously thoughtful balance of flavors, showed skill and technique that was worth paying to experience.
It was very fun to eat!
Not going to lie, I was still salty that after all of my carefuly planning, I'll never get to try the other dish I'd had my heart set on.
But getting to eat herre at all is a huge privilege.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Back at the hotel I chilled out and had a light lunch before our 1:30 matinee.
My guts were angry with me...probably not because of anything specific that I've eaten, but due to stress and/or IBS, which usually likes to give me a hard time in the afternoons. For the most part I had to ignore it and feel uncomfortable, because when you're playing a show you can't just leave the pit when you want to. Plus our bathroom was up two floors this week.
During the break between shows, a simple dinner and some planning and checking on flights for upcoming layoffs.
Jameson and I also sent our portfolios out to a few production companies, neither of us expecting any sort of response.
These days it's a big ask to get even a stock response out of someone that you contact.
And then companies wonder why they get "ghosted". Because you get what you give, that's why.
The second show went well too, audiences continue to laugh it up which is great :)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday was a one-show day and the show wasn't until late.
I woke up "early", around 7:30 which is 8:30 EST so if my body is trying to revert to an east coast schedule I'm happy with that.
Breakfast and some data entry, then I decided to do laundry because I'm almost out of concert clothes.
The nearest laundromat was closed despite what Google told me, so I ended up walking an extra half-mile to the next-closest, which for unfathomable reasons was packed with sorority girls doing a photoshoot while people were trying to do their laundry. It was surreal and annoying. There were maybe twelve of them, putting on and taking off clothing, squealing and cooing over each other, posing in front of washers and dryers that people were using, and spreading their stuff on every available counter. Luckily the washers and dryers were both 30 minutes so I only had to endure it for an hour, but the regulars were looking MIGHTY annoyed.
The experience made me pleased that I never for one moment considered joining a sorority.
I don't care what connections it would have gotten me (spoiler alert: in music, absolutely none).
So after an hour I brushed a pile of makeup and hairbrushes aside to fold my laundry, then walked to the co-op, leaving the gaggle of squealing, selfish sows behind.
At the co-op I got some fruit and nuts and coffee (I had run out of these), and ultimately couldn't resist a chocolate chip lavender scone.
Back at the hotel, lunch was chicken and stale bread, raw broccoli and pickled quail eggs (which were spicy and VERY good).
Watching anime, doing data entry until dinner time.
For dinner I walked down the big hill again to Arsaga's.
This time I was hoping to get their carrot gnocchi, which sounded amazing.
But then weirdness happened.
I got there at 4:55, a little early for dinner. So I said to the hostess, "I'm here for dinner but I'm a little early, is it ok if I just hang out until y'all are ready for dinner service?" and she said, "Sure!" So she seated me at a two-chair table. About five minutes later a guy came over dressed in normal street clothes--did not introduce himself as an employee or server or anything--and said, "Hi!".
I was like, "Hi, what's up?" at which point he declared himself a "host" and asked if he could start me with a drink.
I asked for a cherry soda since they make it in house, and said, "I'm just waiting for dinner service to start."
Here's where I think the miscommunication was. I think he didn't hear me, and made an assumption.
Because after that, I sat for 45 minutes.
And not once did anyone check on me, ask if I'd like a refill on the drink, take my food order, etc.
The cherry soda. It was very good.
Around minute 30 I started trying to make eye contact.
All the servers hustling around, eyes lowered to their food deliveries.
The host who got my drink order, back to me at the bar chatting with the bartender, never once looked over.
The hostess came by to seat a couple, and I got eye contact and smiled and opened my mouth to say "excuse me", and she whipped around and hustled away.
So I went to the bathroom to quell my annoyance and embarrassment, then went to the bar and asked to pay for the soda and leave.
Since the host was still there (with a mouth full of food) I asked him if it was especially busy today or something?
He looked at me, confused. No, why?
"Because I just sat there for 45 minutes, and no one took my order. And now I have to go to work without dinner."
He gulped and stammered, and said the soda was on the house. Oh gosh, thanks. I started to head out but the host asked if he could get me something to go, so I said, "Sure, if y'all can make it in 15 minutes. I was going to order the gnocchi."
He put the order in while I waited near the door (no point holding a table hostage during dinner).
The manager-on-duty (I have to assume because she never introduced herself) came over and sat next to me, and asked me to describe what happened. So I did. I was still pretty angry and embarrassed, and I'm sure that came across. She went to talk to the host, came back and apologized profusely and offered a gift card, which I declined because obviously I'll never get to come back here. So she gave me the dinner for free although I tried to insist on paying for it.
She told me that the host thought I was waiting to meet someone (which is why I think he must have misheard me or made an assumption when I said, "I'm waiting for dinner service to start".) Ultimately it was just a miscommunication. But had ANYONE AT ALL checked on me during those 45 minutes, even just to refill my glass of water, it could have easily been cleared up.
So I took my meal, which was supposed to be special but was now just embarrassing, and hustled back to the hotel, hungry and gasping like an idiot because I was taking the big hill too fast. I ate the food too quickly back in my room, and it was just ok.
Then walked to the theatre for the show, where everything was going fine until a fermata was held longer than usual and some of us didn't notice and came in early, causing a sort of chain reaction of missed entrances. It was probably barely noticed by the audience, but as professional musicians we all definitely felt awful to make that kind of mistake.
The audience had a great time though, big applause.
I walked home feeling very cranky and disappointed with the whole day.
Hopefully tomorrow is better.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday morning, and Murphy's Law continued to dictate things for a while.
I woke up to no hot water whatsoever. Called down to the front desk and was told a pump had failed in the night, and to "just run the water in your room until the hot water gets up to your floor."
So I did, and it was a huge waste of water for about 45 minutes.
The first show went well. It was rainy and cold but otherwise nothing to report.
Between shows, dinner and working on the Foodie Finds sheet for West Palm Beach.
We are now far enough into the tour schedule that I'm having to redo a lot of the research.
Much of the info that I'd put down months ago is out-of-date, or did not include options around our hotels because at the time I didn't know where we'd be staying. I don't mind; discovering new places is a fun project!
The evening show also went well. I'm going to miss these audiences that find the jokes in our show so hilarious :)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, a standard morning of hot cereal and fruit and yogurt and coffee, followed by a walk to Little Bread Bakery just a block away.
It's a super cute bakery with loads of wonderful-looking croissants and quiches and pastries. I wanted everything they had!
But today all I wanted was a bagel to wrap up for travel tomorrow.
But my bad foodie karma came around yet AGAIN.
When I got back to the hotel, I stuck my hand in the bag to get the bagel and felt what I thought was raw dough.
The bagel was WET. Not just wet, it was soaked in OIL. It had soaked through the bag just on the short one-block walk.
So I took it back and showed them the wet bagel.
They looked surprised, apologized, and handed me another, and just by looking at it I could see it was the same.
Like I'm not exaggerating or being a "food prude", you guys, it was literally SOGGY with oil.
Have you ever had an OILY bagel? So oily that the dough felt raw? That ain't normal!
I pointed out that the one they were handing me was ALSO sopping wet, literally it dripped when I squeezed a bit of it. And they seemed super surprised again and offered me a refund since I guess all of their bagels were like that.
What IS it with this week!? I must have done something to invoke this.
I'm trying to have humility and accept the bad karma I've incurred, roll with it, and try to keep a positive attitude for the future.
Maybe it's because I bought that tiny fridge.
Anyway, ultimately none of this is worth more fuss...it's just so deeply WEIRD.
What an odd week it's been for food in Fayetteville.
The hotel has a little coffee bar inside, and they have English muffins, so one of those will be my travel food.
It looks like a normal English muffin. I have faith in it, lol.
Back in my room I packed and separated out some things to stash in the band box so I don't have to take them home for the layoff: winter coat, peacoat, video camera, some nonperishables, umbrella. Then packed my electric skillet and bag of unopened seitan to take home since it seems I won't be using them after all. Then some data entry and lunch before our final show in Fayetteville.
It was a great crowd again, with some people laughing so hard they started coughing!
Afterward I packed up quickly and wished everyone a nice layoff, then went to sign our wall tag.
This is my favorite wall tag art so far this year!
It depicts a line from the show where Sandy says she spent her night doing the 'Dirty Dancing' lift with her cat.
"Turns out...he isn't very strong!!"
On the way back to the hotel two different actors told me they'd visited restaurants on my Foodie Finds list and had a great time, which cheered me up. I'm looking forward to sharing more great foodie stops with everyone :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It's Monday morning and I'm up early to do some data entry before the airport shuttle comes.
I should get to Orlando around 8pm, then it's five days at home with Jameson.
It'll be a little chaotic because he's working, doing rehearsals, and his dad is visiting for half the week, then I leave again.
While home I'll be cleaning, doing data entry, making caramels for the crew this time, swapping stuff out of my luggage, shipping jams to family and friends, and doing all the little errands that need to be done before peacing out for another block of tour cities.
What a wild life right now. But it sure beats being trapped at home circa 2020.
