Brookfield Wannabe

I have had a crush on Johnny Depp ever since watching my first episode of "21 Jump Street," and now, it has been officially announced that he and Christian Bale will be in Wisconsin to film the movie "Public Enemies." 

Unfortunately, Brookfield will probably not be on the list of filming locales.  Sigh. 

Although I try not to indulge in my favorite "tall, non-fat, easy-whip mocha," after 2:00 p.m., due to the sleepness night that will inevitably follow, for those of you who like your Starbucks in the evening, you only have about another hour left today to get one.  All Starbucks operated stores across the country are closing for three hours, beginning at 5:30 p.m. local time, for some "barista re-education". 

I've been wondering when Cafe Manna, a new restaurant in the Towne Centre, was going to open.   I was particularly interested in what kind of cuisine was going to be featured.  Well, apparently it had its official opening on Monday, and it is a vegetarian restaurant.

Other than Beans and Barley on the East side, I can't think of another vegetarian restaurant in the area.

If any readers have tried Cafe Manna already, feel free to comment. 

Although I've been a registered voter since the age of eighteen, yesterday was the first time that I voted in a primary election for president.  Frankly, I haven't really cared much before, at least at this initial level, but this election excites me on many different levels.  I wanted to do my part to help my pick get on the ticket.  I hope you did too.

As The Spouse constantly likes to point out to me, I am drawn to people who have "presence" on the platform.  That is why I was particularly intrigued by a recent article at nytimes.com, The Charisma Mandate.

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As I was watching the election returns last night, I noticed that John Edwards, Ed Thompson, and, Rudy Giuliani all received votes.   I don't understand that.  Are they votes to signal dissatisfaction with the current slate of candidates?  Aren't you just "wasting" your vote when you cast it for someone not even in the race?

On a recent drive down Bluemound, I noticed signs for two new Asian restaurants: Umami Moto and Fujiyama.  Both restaurants are now open

Umami Moto occupies the same building as the now defunct Monsoon restaurant.  I had lunch at Monsoon only once and wasn't very impressed by the "Asian fusion" cuisine.  So, it was with some surprise that I read that Umami Moto will be featuring the "new" concept of Asian fusion.  If Monsoon was supposed to be a Chinese restaurant, this Asian totally missed that.  I'll give this new restaurant a try though, when it finally stops snowing!!

As an aside, if you want great, authentic Chinese food and don't want to drive to Chicago, send me an email and I'll give you the name of my fave Chinese restaurant in the Milwaukee area.  Alas, it is not in Brookfield.  Just click on the "Email author" tab at the top of my blog.

Fujiyama is in the same strip mall as the wonderful Indian restaurant, Saffron Bistro.  I've eaten at the Fujiyama in West Allis.  As I remember, it had a great selection of dishes, decent size portions, and reasonable prices.

But should we say sayonara to sushi?  

It seems that every other day I read an article that says something I do, inhale, or ingest is one day going to kill me.  I discovered the Public Investigator, a local blog, just recently.  As I scrolled through their recent entries, I read an article that is making me rethink my sushi eating.

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As I drive the snow-covered streets of Brookfield and points west, I long for a neon sign at the top of my minivan that flashes two different messages, depending on the situation:  "Slow-down you idiot!" or "Clean the ENTIRE car for pete's sake!"