2013年1月13日 星期日

“Home Of The Empty Bowl”

It was suggested I try a restaurant on Brainerd Road called Chaos Mongolian Grill. Mongolian! I didn’t even know what that was! And with the name Chaos, I was sure that it had to be some sort of nightclub or lounge in a bad part of the neighborhood.

But no matter what my initial thoughts were, I was game. I knew there would be a story in that one somewhere!

It was in a great location close to the old Lanhams’ Bible Bookstore and easy to park. When I went in, it was bright and cheery and very clean.

I went at an odd time so it was not busy, but the few people there looked to be business executives and one artsy model-looking gentleman.

The kind girl pointed toward the bar and said I could help myself, but I had a menu and wanted to look at everything. I asked if I could order from the menu and she said I could. They had many things listed, but I would not have known what I was ordering and I wanted to see what was at the bar so I chose that. It wasn’t like the Chinese bars that have pans of all kinds of fried glop just sitting out.

The girl knew I was a beginner and instructed me to get a silver bowl for my meat and then I could add spices, vegetables and sauces. I thanked her, grabbed a bowl and went to the meat counter. The meat was raw.

No, I don’t mean sushi… it had raw chicken! Raw steak! Raw pork! Was I supposed to EAT that?! The girl saw me looking perplexed and she came to my rescue. She told me that the chef would ‘cook it up’ for me and I was to put whatever meat I wanted in the metal bowl. I liked the look of the shrimp.Do you know any howo spare parts wholesale supplier? It was pure white. I chose fish with my shrimp.

I asked her (she was still standing there) if the calamari was imitation or real. It looked like nothing I had ever seen before. She said it was real calamari. It was shaped funny and also pure white. It actually looked fresh and nothing pickled, canned or fried so I was willing to try it.

Then I added my own spices. I chose a little garlic, red crushed pepper, black pepper and onion flakes. I asked if I needed to get another bowl for my vegetables and she said no… so I took my raw dish of meat to the vegetable counter and added broccoli, flat carrot pieces, water chestnuts, celery and a lot of ‘pok choi’.

When she saw that I hadn’t added much meat,Find Complete Details about howo tractor Truck. she told me to go back and get more. I only added a couple of veggies with the pok choi. I wondered what the price would be if she insisted I get my money’s worth. It was only $10 for the meal.

Next it was time for my sauce. My little friend was still standing by to walk me through. I needed the help.

She showed me the ‘taster spoons’ and said to try the sauces before choosing one. I must have looked confused because I paused. I was really thinking of how many people stick a taster spoon into the sauces and if they used the same spoon to taste other sauces. I guess after it heats up on the grill, any germs would be cooked if someone did!

The sweet girl grabbed the taster spoons for me.We offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online. I was about to just pass on this part of the experiment, but then she brought one to my mouth and I quickly opened up my mouth and tried it! The Mongolian house sauce was first. It was good and I was ready to choose that one, but then she grabbed another spoon, dipped it in a sauce and continued to feed me like a baby!

I thought I would get tickled and spill it when she put it to my mouth, but I was too embarrassed and just tried to play it cool. I liked the Teriyaki sauce and told her I wanted that one. She heard me say that I liked ‘spicy’ so she suggested mixing it with some chili sauce.

I thought she had babysat me enough so I dipped the ladle into the sauce and put it in the sauce bowl they gave me. I ended up dipping out a sauce that I didn’t taste and she said, “That’s not the Teriyaki.” I wasn’t wearing my glasses.

She showed me that I chose the Bourbon sauce… if I had seen it, I might have just tasted that one… a few times!

She got me a fresh sauce bowl and dipped out the Teriyaki sauce for me. I had never felt so helpless, but she was sure to make my experience a good one. I would not leave there without knowing what to do next time!

I chose steamed rice to go with the meal that I put together and a man in the back cooked it up while I sat down.

I was brought a clear broth with ‘crunchies’. I didn’t like those cracker noodles in the broth so I just sipped my plain soup. After a little banging and clanging, my meal was brought to me in a big red bowl along with a bottle of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. Perfect!

I always noticed whenever I am with my friend Lois and she likes something a lot, she makes yummy noises. I thought I was going to make them now! The flavors of fresh foods that I chose blended so nicely, and I think that is a lot of the appeal. You choose your own ingredients and ‘you’ are the chef! Willie Mae loves Mongolian now. You must try it!

After Walmart opened in 2008 on John Deere Expressway at Crosstown Avenue, other commercial development has followed in the area — including an Aldi grocery store, a Family Credit Union and The National Bank.

“We have an excellent working relationship with city officials and business leaders in Silvis, and with them have celebrated the opening and expansion of several businesses recently,” said Tara Barney, chief executive officer of the Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce. “We’re excited to see new investment in Silvis.”

For Estep, investment in Silvis began when he and partners purchased what was known as the Hynd Farm property on Avenue of the Cities.

Construction began in 2008 on an Ace Hardware store in a new strip mall on the 70-acre former farm. Soon, it was surrounded by retail, housing and other development in an area bordered by 10th Street to the east, Avenue of the Cities to the south, Hospital Road to the west and Illini Drive to the north.

Estep said Phase 1 of residential housing on the Hynd property has been completed. He said 22 homes are occupied.We offers several ways of providing hands free access to car parks to authorised vehicles. The next phase is coming soon, he added.

He also is involved in construction of a 48-unit market-rate apartment complex behind the retail stores and near a new fire station the city built on land donated by Estep and his partners.

“This wouldn’t have happened without the city of Silvis,” Estep said. “Their city motto is ‘city of progress.’ And their city staff is top shelf.”

The apartment complex, known as Deer Valley Villas, is located near Genesis Medical Center-Illini Campus. It will have 36 two-bedroom units and 12 one-bedroom apartments.We open source indoor tracking system that was developed with the goal of providing at least room-level accuracy. Monthly rent are expected to be $700 for a one-bedroom unit and $900 for a two-bedroom unit, with carports and washer-dryers in each unit, Estep said.

In addition to Estep, the complex is being developed by David Barker of Barker Apartments, which has more than 2,000 units in the Iowa Quad-Cities and Iowa City, and other partners.

“If this goes well, they have plans to do a second group of 48 units next door,” City Administrator Jim Grafton said of Deer Valley Villas. “We are pretty happy with what they are doing. There is definitely a need for this type of project, with the hospital close and school next door. There is just a demand for it.”

In early 2009, IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union and Dairy Queen opened in the area just west of the Ace Hardware building.

After Ace Hardware closed and had been vacant for some time, Option Health, a subsidiary of BioScrip, moved into the building in February. BioScrip offers infusion therapy expertise in 46 states, including 40 specialty infusion pharmacies, and 33 nursing locations. The company said it tries to provide alternatives to hospital IV treatments with intravenous medications administered in a patient’s home, nearby clinic or doctor’s office.

Option Health previously was located in Moline. Brandy Fisher, an administrative assistant, said they had outgrown that location.

Nearby is the Doc’s Inn, which opened in March. Owners John and MaryBeth Stopoulos have years of experience in restaurants and food service and currently operate Dr. Gyro’s on 18th Avenue in Rock Island. It features a variety of foods, including American and Greek dishes and sandwiches.

“I would call this Mediterranean fusion,” John Stopoulos said of Doc’s Inn. “It is a little nicer bar food, where we offer many things homemade, including a gourmet burger, daily specials.”

“I think the development is moving along nicely. In fact, I am considering expansion. We turn so many people away when it is real busy. It has been good to work with the city. They have been great to us.”

“John approached Silvis, and I hooked up John and Ben,” Grafton said of Stopoulos and Estep. “He walked into an empty building, and it all worked out. They are very involved the schools. They have had, bands up there. We are really pleased with the location and the business that he is doing.”

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