tucson verve

Today I read an article about forced child labor in China.

Now I just purchased a new Logitech mouse (around $75 after taxes) because my 7 year old Microsoft mouse is getting old and cranky (his right button stopped working properly).

After reading that all of these mice are being manufactured using mostly female children who work 12-15 hours a day, 6-7 days a week, I cannot use this mouse that I purchased in good conscience.  They are basically slaves and slavery is wrong.  Outsourcing slavery for profit is wrong.

I will be returning my mouse tomorrow (hopefully I can find a suitable alternative)

My father was in town this weekend and since I have been very busy lately I used his visit as an excuse to actually go out and get a bite for dinner.  This will be a quick and dirty review with no pictures.  I haven’t had Mexican for awhile so we decided to hit up Casa Molina on Speedway and Wilmot.

We both had the iced tea to drink.  It was tasty.  I ordered the rellano.  Now, I am from New Mexico, and the rellanos there are different from the ones here in Tucson.  In NM, we have really hot chiles, usually stuffed with cheese (mostly yellow or white cheddar), battered and fried.  Here in Tucson the rellano is a Poblano pepper prepared in the same way, stuffed with cheese (a milder than cheddar white cheese), battered and fried.  The Poblano has a much different flavor, milder and sweeter.  They also included a topping sauce of stewed tomatoes.  Overall it was very tasty, and I would recommend the rellano.  My dinner also came with a side of beans, which were excellent.  The waitress claimed that the beans contain no lard, but that is a difficult fact to verify (Three times in a row at Poco and Mom’s we were told that the beans were vegetarian and the fourth time someone finally fessed up that the beans contained lard).

My dad ordered the Enchiladas de la casa.  These are rolled soft corn tortillas with sauteed chicken, diced onions, and green chiles smothered in a sour cream sauce, smothered in cheese.  Very, very tasty, but definitely not a healthy meal.

We also ordered the Sopapillas for dessert.  This was the only disappointing aspect of the meal, the Sopapillas were obviously made from a “boxed” mix, not from scratch.  I won’t be ordering them again at Molinas.

The Verve Recommends:

• Rellano
• Enchiladas de la casa
• Huevos Rancheros Burro

The Verve Rating :

Most places that I have tried eclairs at (which are many because I love desserts) in Tucson make them with whipped cream or a whipped cream blend.  This is not an eclair!  An eclair should have a rich, firm, baked custard that is not overly sweet!  Viro’s makes the “Tucson eclairs.”  The bread store next to Sunflower market makes “Tucson eclairs.”  Coffee Art has “Tucson eclairs.”  If anyone knows where to get a good eclair (the custard kind) please let me know!  I love the custard eclairs, and have never lived somewhere with such a dearth of good custard.

NOM!

I recently moved to Tucson from Albuquerque, NM to start my Ph.D. in optical physics at the top optics program in the country, the College of Optical Sciences at UA.

I have been an avid mountain biker for years, and recently became an avid commuter in Albuquerque (which I continue here in Tucson) as well.  I had the impression that Tucson was much better than Albuquerque for cyclists.  I have found that the reality is, however, different.

How Tucson is great for cyclists:

• The weather here is awesome.
• The bike paths are nice, and the lanes put to the left of the right hand turn lanes are great
• There are a lot of cyclists on the road, a lot more than Albuquerque
• There are more miles of bike friendly paths here, including MUPs
• Tour de Tucson
• Fantasy Island
• There is more cycling advocacy here

How Tucson is unfriendly to cyclists:

• Drivers here are worse.  They are more aggressive towards cyclists and seem to be less aware of them than in Albuquerque.
• Despite there being less physical infrastructure in Albuquerque, that infrastructure is designed much better for the safety of cyclists than the design here in Tucson.
• The police in Albuquerque are cyclist neutral.  The police here in Tucson are actively anti-cyclist.
• The laws regarding cycling here are crazy, and do not protect cyclists from negligent or criminal drivers.

So, in summary, I think Tucson is really no better than Albuquerque for cyclists, yet it is trying to be a top cycling city.  I was recently informed of HB2633, which will allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs.  There is a great deal of evidence showing that cyclists treating stop signs as a yield has no effect on safety.  If this bill were passed, it would improve the cycling scene in Tucson, and probably raise it above Albuquerque on the cycling scale in my eyes.

Tonight we went to Viro’s, which is close to our house. We had been there few times for desserts and pizza, and once before for dinner. Viro’s is an Italian deli with bread, pasta, take out, desserts, and gelato. We have been impressed by the quality and taste of the food that they make.

I ordered a Moretti beer and Erin ordered a Pellegrino to drink.  We then  ordered the Insalata Caprese, which came on a bed of chopped lettuce.  It was tasty and used the right kind of fresh mozzarella, with chopped basil.  The bed of lettuce, however, needs to go.  It was just a waste and detracted from the delightful flavors of the cheese, basil and tomatoes.

Before I continue with the review of the food itself, I want to comment on a few things about the service and atmosphere.  First, it is obvious that Viro’s is family owned, and that they are trying to transition to full restaurant status from a deli/lunch place.  The service is very bad.  Everything takes forever and the servers are, frankly, poorly managed.  If you want to go here (the food is worth it) expect the poor service.  The service is not malicious, they are nice and actually trying to do right by the customer, but the server’s just don’t know how to deal with a lot of customers.

Second, I see a lot of potential in the atmosphere.  As a lunch place, the decor and atmosphere are fine.  It is a kitschy 80′s style, with plastic grapes, gaudy wallpaper, and meditterean style menus.  As a dinner place, however, the atmosphere fails.  The decor remains while the waitstaff is dressed formally, and the restaurant makes an obvious attempt at being an upscale/formal dinner experiance.  Contributing to this clash of styles is the food presentation, which needs improvement.  The place needs to either  1) Run with the “home-style” theme and fully embrace it, or 2) Completely redesign the decor for a formal style.  If a good designer was allowed to change the decor and atmosphere for dinner, and the service improved to acceptable levels, this place would easily get 5 stars in my book.

Ok, back to the food!  Erin ordered the manicotti.  I ordered the ricotta spinach shells.  Both are baked dishes.  The portion sizes were just right, both Erin and I finished our portions without being overly full.  The ricotta had that hint of sweetness that went so well with the spinach and marinara.  It was excellent.  The manicotti was also to die for.  The fresh marinara was covered in a layer of melted mozzarella. Both dishes are Classic NY/NJ style Italian cuisine (Erin is from northern NJ, so this statement comes from authority).  For dessert we split a chocolate canoli with a scoop of rum coccrotti gelato.  The gelato was good, but the canoli, oh the canoli!  I think Viro’s has some of the best canolis that I have had, including the ones I had in NYC.  Viro’s has excellent desserts, except they make what I have come to name “Tucson eclairs.”

If you want excellent food but are willing to sacrifice some time and atmosphere, this is the place for you.  Viro’s is also reasonably priced.

The Verve Recommends:

• Ricotta Spinach Shells
• Baked Ziti
• Manicotti
• Any Dessert

The Verve Rating :