Chris.Derecola

A few months ago, we went up to Baltimore to get away from the hustle and bustle of work, school and everything else that was going on. I’ve never really spent time in the city without my college buddies, so I wanted to take the opportunity to explore some of the things I’d never seen before. In an homage to my heritage, part of the visit included a walk through Little Italy. I hadn’t really intended to write anything about it, but my dad recently told me he was visiting for the first time so I thought it worthwhile to talk briefly about Vaccaro’s.

I’m always skeptical about Italian places and this place was no exceptions despite the ridiculous number of rave reviews online. My skepticism was unfounded; walking into this place actually reminded me of being at my grandmother’s house. The furniture and decor was aged, in only a way your grandparent’s can be, but for whatever reason it was comforting. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs so we made a go of a sampler platter of cookies and cakes as well as a few scoops of gelatto. Everything was pretty much on par with what I remember from my childhood. The pignoli and almond cookies were good and the cannoli were as good as any homemade ones I’ve had. I guess it’s really not that hard to do this stuff well, but I’ve eaten my share of crap over the years… so maybe it’s not that easy.

If you’re in Baltimore, be sure to check it out. Evidently they have two locations in DC, but I’ve never been to either. I’m interested in hearing the responses of anyone who has.

Before I write about the movie, I feel like I should offer a few words about Quentin Tarantino. There are many movie goers who think everything he touches is gold; I am not one of them. I have liked quite a few of his movies, but I feel as though I can judge his movies based on their own merit and not overvalue it because it’s one of his. He has definitely had his share of good and bad.

It’s worth noting that I was looking forward to Inglourious Basterds. I’m a big fan of period/war films, I think Brad Pitt is one of the best of his generation and sprinkling in some Tarantino always promises to make things… different. I try not to build up movies before I see them, if nothing else to prevent disappointment, but I had a hard time with this one.

Now that I’ve gotten all that disclaimer out of the way… this is the best movie I’ve seen since The Departed. It was not at all what I expected and that is actually a good thing. I don’t want to ruin it for those who haven’t seen it yet, so lets just say it was a far more artful, crafted piece than the previews would lead you to believe. If Spaghetti Western met French New Wave during WWII and had a baby, it would be this movie. Despite being a movie based around the exploits of military men, it’s the antithesis of something like G.I. Joe.

The dialogue, character development, cinematography and acting were all top notch. I spent a lot of the movie thinking to myself “How the hell is this scene going to end?” and in usual Tarantino style, tension is always at the forefront. Brad Pitt was good, Christop Waltz was outstanding (stole the movie, I think) and the best part is Tarantino didn’t appear in it. Despite a few slow parts, the 2.5 hours went by fairly quickly.

The film is certainly not for everyone but I’m pretty sure I’d like to go see it again.

My backlog of beers to write about has grown to somewhat significant proportions. The number of beers and the realization that people who read this blog probably don’t care about tasting notes has me considering slimming down what I say. I tend to use these entries as a record of what I like and don’t like, so I think I’ll go in that direction. If you’re really curious about what these beers taste like, check out Beer Advocate.