Seat 6D

Artesian Pizza in Downtown KC

I had lunch today in downtown Kansas City at Pizza Bella. I had been hoping to eat at 1924 Main, but it turns out they are only open for lunch on Fridays. One of the staff their pointed us to Pizza Bella just a few blocks away, and it was outstanding. 

Pizza Bella is a small restaurant specializing in artesian pizza with a wood fired oven. On nice days (like today) the entire front of the restaurant is open giving you a nice outdoors feel while still being somewhat set back from the sounds of the street.

I started with Crispy Brussels Sprouts which were served with pancetta, almonds, cranberries, romano cheese and a nice vinaigrette. For my pizza, I ordered their leek pizza. This is a tomatoless pizza that is served with leeks, pancetta, roasted onions and goat cheese. The crust comes through as thin but with a nice chewey texture. We walked in right at 11am, and the place was almost empty. By 11:30, it was packed, with what appeared to be mostly regulars.

In short, if you are in KC, and want a break from BBQ, give this great little pizzeria a try.

Further Thoughts on DIA

Musings about Denver International Airport

I’m sitting in concourse C at Denver International Airport after 20 minutes of trying to connect to their alleged “free” wifi. I absolutly could not get a connection working off of Internet Explorer from the perspective of getting the redirect to allow me to agree to behave. I fired up Firefox, and finally got that redirect so I could agree to the appropriate Terms & Conditions (legalese for fine, whatever, just let me in). It turns out that you are given free wifi following a 30 second advertisement. That’s cool, I can deal with that. The problem is that once you are in, they hijack your browser to use adjuggler to place a 1/5 frame across the top of the page to constantly show ads during your session. I’m noticing now that I’m in Tumblr, that everytime the add changes, it causes problems and delays on the text I’m typing in the tumblr frame. I don’t mind the up front ad, but the continual ones are more annoying than not having any wifi. More and more, I’m considering a wireless card for my laptop.

Denver International also has the Clear line at the TSA. I wrote earlier about my experiences with Registered Traveler programs, but I did end up renewing this year (as a convenience they renewed me before I got around to canceling). For those of you that don’t travel through DEN, there are two main security checkpoints for all gates; North and South. I went to the North checkpoint where I learned that that Clear checkpoint is only open Sun-Tues from 5am to 7pm. Since this is Wednesday I was redirected to the other end of the airport to the South checkpoint. First class checkin was wide open, so I could have taken that, but I wanted to see how Denver handled Clear. I walked to the other end of the airport, found the Clear line, and presented my ID, Clear Card, and Boarding Pass. I was then able to put my ID away, but kept the other items out. I walked down to a concierge, and presented my card. They put it into the machine, and I was then able to put that away. Following that, she gave me the bins, I uppacked my laptop, put that in a bin with my jacket and shoes and walked over to the security line where we cut in front of everyone to go through the actual checkpoint.

Overall, I saved no time over using the First Class line, at least at the time I was there. I’m sure at busy times, that changes. I still have to remove my shoes, and while the concierge carried the bins, I still took my own suitcase.  I find it very hard to justify this at $124 per year, but if it was available in Minneapolis where First Class lines are still 20-30 minutes, I might think differently.

Yesterday, I was in downtown Denver, and had lunch at the Rialto Cafe. I had a variation of a BLT with Mozzerella Cheese, and it was quite good. For dinner I decided to go to the Rockies game. Coors Field is just a fun ball park, and it is located in the heart of LoDo, meaning that there are plenty of places to stop in for a beer following the game. If you have a chance, I recommend Coors Field for a game.

Not Your Typical Diner

Recently I had the opportunity to spend a couple of evenings at Buckhead Diner in of all places the Buckhead portion of Atlanta. Prior to walking in, I had not read any reviews of the place. It just looked interesting from the outside.

I was traveling with Ben, and having just come from the airport, neither of us were dressed for, or in the mood for an over the top evening. Plus, I had just flown in from a wedding in Orange County where we had enjoyed maybe one or two cocktails so I was in serious recovery mode. The place looked like a fun upscale diner, lots of shiny chrome on the outside. Turning into the parking lot, we discovered the valet, and decided this might be a bit too upscale but we were there so why not give it a go.

Walking in the door, the entryway is filled with framed clippings of reviews and awards they can see. Looking through into the dining room, immediately in front of you is a large cooler filled with wonderful fresh, colorful fruit. The  waitstaff is dressed in what I’ll call the traditional steakhouse butcher jacket and tie. I have to say Buckhead Diner really pulls this off well. The feel is upscale, but yet very casual from the customer perspective. 

The hostess took my name and found us a table within 5 minutes. No buzzers here, when the table was ready the hostess came and found us, addressed me by name and took us to the table. One element I found rather interesting is that when she seated us, she removed my white napkin and placed a black napkin in my lap. Later when the waiter arrived, he also addressed my by my name, so this may be a subtle signal they use to indicate to staff who the host of a party is. If so, a very nice touch that I’ve not seen before.

I had the grilled scallop salad for dinner, with a Bloody Mary (recovery mode if you recall). The scallops were grilled to perfection, well seasoned and the salad was excellent. One of the worst things in the world is an overdressed salad, and this one was perfect. The cool fresh greens with a light vinaigrette blended very well with the warm scallops. This is definitely a meal I would have again.

The next night we were back, with an additional person. The staff remembered up from the night before. We spent some time at the bar this time, and had an excellent bartender that actually does know how to make a martini (don’t laugh, that’s a dying art). As we chatted with him, he was personable, and as we delved into a discussion of various gins and vodkas proved his product knowledge. All three dinners were again excellent and the staff as friendly and professional as the night before. 

Without a doubt Buckhead Diner goes on my list, and I will be returning there whenever I have the opportunity while in Atlanta.

For those of you wanting some additional reviews of this great restaurant, here are some links:

•  CitySearch
• Frommer’s
• Virtual Tourist

It's All About Your Fellow Traveler (Me)

Please, please for the sake of your fellow travelers, think before you fly.

I’m sitting in the President’s club at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport, thinking back on my most recent TSA experience. For a chance, I can’t fault the TSA at all. Arriving at the line, I had only two people in front of me, and the TSA was being fast and efficient. If only I could say the same about all the passengers.

The person at the front of the line, made it through no problems. The person right in front of me was NOT a frequent flyer. Having taken one try, he piled everything into that tray. TSA told him the laptop had to be in a second tray, so he went back and got one. He then tried to go thru the line, and TSA told him he had to put his items on the belt to pass thru the scanner. They had to do this three times, once for each tray and once for his suitcase as he tried to pass thru the detector after each item was on the belt. Finally, he made it to the detector himself, and of course set off the alarms as he still had full pockets, watch, etc.

I now present for those of you that don’t fly, and can’t apply common sense or read signs, a simple method of getting through TSA quickly and easily.

Before You Leave for the Airport:

• If you fly often, it makes sense to get a second set of toiletry items to keep in your suitcase. I suggest stick deodorant, stick hair product and Effident tooth powder instead of paste. These changes will keep you from having to pull out your toiletry items as you will have no liquids, gels or pastes. If you can’t do that, remember that dopp kits are old hat and you now want to invest in 1 quart ziplock bags. Everything must fit in one (1) bag, and each item must be 3 ounces or less.
• Wear a jacket or travel vest. I always wear a travel vest now with lots of pockets for phone, ipod, ear buds, etc. Put all metal items in the jacket or vest.
• Think about wearing loafers or slip-on shoes as you will be taking them off.
• Check-in from home and print out your boarding pass. This will save one line at the airport.

At the airport:

• Since you already have your boarding pass (you did check in at home didn’t you?), you can go right to security. Get in line, and don’t use this time to chat on your cell phone. Instead, open up your laptop case, so you can easily remove your laptop, and get your toiletries ready to remove.
• Make sure you have ID (Driver’s License, Passport, etc.) and boarding pass out when you get to the checkpoint. Hand them to the TSA agent. When he gives them back, put your ID away, but keep your boarding pass with you. A shirt pocket works great for this.
• Get the appropriate number of bins. You will need one just for your laptop, and a 2nd one if you have a video camera. When I travel, I grab two, one for the laptop, and one for shoes and vest.
• Take your shoes off, place them in a bin, remove your coat/vest and place them in the bin. Put your toiletry bag on top if you have one.
• Put your laptop in the next bin.
• Put your laptop bag on the belt right behind your laptop.
• Put your suitcase on the belt last. This way if they do have to check the bag, you can still be getting dressed and putting your laptop away.
• Once all items are on the belt and entering the beast (Scanning machine), step in front of the detector and wait for TSA to wave you through. Step through without touching the sides or pausing, and hand your boarding pass to the agent if requested.
• Get your stuff, quickly dress and move away to avoid blocking the line. Stack your bins as you empty them.

I know this sounds pretty elementary, but having seen far too many travelers be confused by a simple process that should take no more than 1-2 minutes total, I hope these simple steps will help.