Emmanuel Jose' at the Busy Bee Cafe

Jose's seven of hearts from his 2013 Sawdust Deck.

Okay, this is really about Emmanuel Jose's art exhibit at the Busy Bee Cafe, but actually when Marcia and I were down there on Saturday, Emmanuel was there having lunch. Fortuitous for me, because I was delighted to meet this artist that I have admired ever since I saw his exhibit  last year at Cup of Joe's.

In 2011, Jose created a transformation deck of cards by creating a different card each week.  At the end of the year he had a 52 card deck that he calls the Curator Deck.  In 2012 he created the Clipped Wings deck with a "bird" theme, and this year he is creating a deck called "Sawdust" (the circus).  I have the Curator Deck and am eagerly awaiting the release of the Clipped Wings Deck.  And I hope to buy some of his large prints--I'm just having a hard time deciding which ones I want.  So many of them are favorites. 

Five of hearts from the Clipped Wings Deck.

Five of clubs from the Clipped Wings deck.

The entire Curator Deck. (Photo from Jose's website.)

Seven of spades from the Curator Deck. (Photo from Jose's website.)

You must get down to see this exhibit.  His cards are so creative.  And while there, don't forget to have lunch.  The food there is outstanding.

Check out Jose's website .  You will find it absolutely fascinating. And check out this video too.

The Busy Bee Cafe in Downtown Raleigh

I read in the newspaper that Emmanuel Jose' has an art exhibit at the Busy Bee Cafe in downtown Raleigh during the month of May, and I am a fan of his.  So when Marcia and I headed down at lunch on Saturday to see his exhibit, we didn't realize what a treat we had in store.  This was our first visit to this restaurant. I knew the art exhibit would be interesting, but I had no idea the food would be so good.  I'll get two blogs from this gadabout---one about the food and another about the Jose' exhibit. First the food.

Marcia with the official downtown Ambassador.  And btw I just love Marcia's new bright yellow purse.

We parked in the parking deck (free on Saturdays) when my GPS indicated we were at the address but we hadn't actually seen the Cafe.  On entering the elevator to head down to street level, we had a pleasant encounter with an official downtown ambassador who knew where the Cafe is located and he guided us right to it.  Raleigh should be commended for having these roving ambassadors to help downtown visitors. 

The Busy Bee is best known for its extensive selection of beer (the best in Raleigh supposedly), but the food is not your usual bar food, it is outstanding.  It was hard for us to choose from the extensive menu, but we both finally settled on the bruschetta with pimento cheese and marinated tomatoes. A bargain at $7.00.

Bruschetta with pimento cheese and marinated tomatoes.

Although the bruschetta was quite filling, after looking at the dessert menu we decided we could handle a dessert.  In fact we could handle two desserts---one each which allowed us to sample both.

I'm especially fond of Meyer lemons so I chose the Meyer lemon chess pie, with vanilla whipped cream and elderberry syrup. 

Meyer lemon chess pie.

The waiter mentioned that the Left Hand Milk Stout brownie was their signature dessert.  Marcia chose that.  It was delicious topped with blueberry jam and cocoa nib brittle.

Left Hand Milk Stout brownie.

Actually we shared the two desserts and couldn't decide which was better.  They were both scrumptious.  And so low in calories too.  (Smile)

After the delicious lunch, I began to photograph the art exhibit, after all that's why I went to the Busy Bee Cafe in the first place.  I mentioned to two young men sitting at a table near where I was photographing that I really liked Jose' work.  One of the men said, "This is the artist here with me."  Sitting at the table next to ours was Emmanuel Jose' himself.  I was happy to meet him.  I had emailed him a year or two ago when I first discovered his work, and he remembered that I had posted a blog An Unusual Deck of Cards
about his work then.   Since then I have bought a couple of decks of his 2011 Curator cards.  And I'm eagerly awaiting the release of his 2012 second deck. 

To be continued........  (Check out my next blog about Jose' and his art work.)  And you might want to check out the Busy Bee Cafe.

A Sandwich With Some of My Favorite Ingredients

Green Goddess grilled cheese sandwich. (Photo from tastespotting).

Recently I ran across a recipe for a sandwich that includes some of my favorite ingredients: cheese, avocado, spinach, and pesto.  I finally got around to making it for supper last night.  The recipe is from the blog Tastespotting.  I didn't make my own pesto and I substituted yogurt cheese for the mozzarella, but boy was this a good sandwich.

Adding pesto to bread.

Spread pesto on two slices of whole grain bread.

Add cheese.

Add a slice of cheese to one slice of the bread.

Add avocado.

Add spinach.

Add the avocado and the spinach to one side of the sandwich.

Add remaining slice of cheese.

Add the remaining slice of cheese.  Top with the other slice of bread.  And grill in a bit of olive oil until brown on each side.

Grill until browned.

After toasting, cut in half.  Dan and I each had half of the sandwich with a bowl of soup for a delicious supper.

Enjoy!

For the recipe go to the tastespotting blog.  Also check out her great photos of this sandwich.  I'm going to follow her blog.  She has amazing suggestions for healthy sandwiches.

A Few "Shots" at the UNC Hospitals

Aerial view of the Hospitals.  Main Hospital on far left and Cancer Hospital on far right. 

While Dan was a patient at the UNC Hospitals recently in Chapel Hill, I wandered around and took a few photos.  It's a lovely place, and he received excellent treatment,  We're happy he's home now and recuperating nicely.

View down the long lobby of the UNC Hospitals.

The various Hospitals share a long lobby with high ceilings--from west to east--The Main Hospital, The Children's Hospital, The Women's Hospital, Neuroscience, and The Cancer Hospital.

The ceiling of the lobby in front of The Children's Hospital.

Interesting wooden panels with triangular and circular metal inserts on walls of lobby.

There's a lovely little Chapel off the lobby in the Children's Hospital that looks out over a butterfly garden between the Main Hospital and the Children's Hospital.

Window in the Children's Hospital Chapel looking out over the Butterfly Garden.

A butterfly bench in the Butterfly Garden.

A fringe tree in the Butterfly Garden.

Pretty floral arrangement in Dan's room.

Dan recuperating back home now on his favorite sofa reading his favorite newspaper. 

If one must be hospitalized, UNC Hospital is a good place to be. 

More Fun Things in West Palm Beach

City Place, West Palm Beach.

To have had only two full days (not counting travel days) in West Palm Beach, my cousins and I managed to pack in a lot of fun things.  We spent part of one afternoon at John MacArthur Park along the beautiful sandy beach.

Beautiful beach in Macarthur State Park.

The beach was not crowded, and the sand seemed to stretch for miles along the ocean where the color of the water was reminiscent of that of the Mediterranean Sea.

Spoto's Oyster Bar.

Later that evening we enjoyed a scrumptious seafood dinner at Spoto's Oyster Bar.  It was difficult for me to choose from the extensive menu: maybe steamed mussels? but I love oysters too-- I finally decided on yellowtail snapper, and it was a fine choice.

Green's Pharmacy Luncheonette.

After we had spent one morning touring The Breakers, we lunched at Green's Pharmacy Luncheonette in Palm Beach. This place has been in business since 1938, and it seems like something right out of the 50s of my high school days.  I could not resist having a chocolate ice cream soda---soooo good.  And the grilled cheese and tomato sandwich hit the spot too.

Ice cream soda.  Yum!

After lunch we headed over to City Place to meet Elizabeth where we enjoyed an afternoon  movie, Sapphires. 

City Place.

The Parisian 20 Theater with a theme of Paris in the 20s. 

Three story lobby of theater.

Beautiful stairway in theater.

Sapphires was a good movie.

Indeed we packed in a lot of fun during our visit to West Palm Beach.