The morning sky can be so interesting.
Do you ever look at the sky and see pictures in the clouds?
It’s nice being outside and watching the sun come up. This morning I ran my last 16 miles before the Philadelphia Marathon next weekend. It went well except for my left hamstring. My pace was faster for the long run, averaging 8:53 for 16 miles. I’m not sure that means I’ll ever achieve my goal pace for 26.2 miles but either way, however long, I’ll make it to the finish line. If you want to follow, go to:
Realtime Race Tracking (You would enter D Joanne Willcox)
Live Results Leader Board for the race will be available on the Philadelphia Marathon Face Book page.
Sign up for Text / Social Media Message Signup, Live Results tracking and Map Tracking system to follow marathoners graphically along the course map. Click here.
Pier’s & Blake Steakhouse
Old downtown Utica has recently attracted attention. There used to be a huge hardware store which had EVERYTHING you could imagine, not just hardware. That meant it was fun to visit even for the not so handy woman. Doyle’s Hardware closed years ago. The building sat vacant for a long time before an entrepreneurial spirit got hold of it. Today the building is the home of a restaurant lounge which grows monthly in popularity.
Ted and I have been driving past Pier’s & Blake every Friday wanting to enjoy our weekly night out in the restaurant. The place has been packed until this weekend. We lucked out!
You enter Pier’s & Blake through a very discrete doorway. No light. In fact, if you miss the large banner at the very top of the tall building facing the parking lot, you may not even know the restaurant is there. Once inside, there is a long bar with tables along the wall. There is a small room between the bar and restaurant with sofa’s and lounge chairs for long conversations over a relaxing glass of wine, beer, or drink of choice.
When Ted and I arrived at P & B, to be honest I was in a BAD mood. It was cold and rainy outside. My hamstring was aching and I was feeling extremely drained from the work week. As we approached the door, two guys were scurrying in (like RATS!) and let the door go right in front of me. Hmmm… ok…there’s another door, let’s see what happens the second time. The first guy goes through then the second, really short, squatty, balding guy and don’t you know, Short & SQUATTY lets the door go AGAIN! Guy #1 tries to catch it and apologizes for his friends rudeness. Shorty ignores the situation. I didn’t say a word and B-Lined to the opposite end of the bar. DON’T YOU KNOW, THAT LITTLE NEMATODE WENT RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME AT THE BAR! Seriously, I was ready to ask him to pose for a photo and post it announcing that I had found the BIGGEST A- Hole in UTICA! However, I was hearing my name being called. It was Ted who was talking to someone at the bar. I was in no mood to don a smile. I wanted BLOOD! Calm down…… it was Phil, our quality mgr. at work. Still trying to breath deep and let go of my anger, but not being very successful, we talked for just a few minutes. Phil was so kind and wanted to buy us a drink but we declined. I would have chugged it right there and asked for another. It wouldn’t have given Phil a very good impression of the person he works for.
Enter… The Restaurant.
A big open room and not all the tables were filled. We sat in the corner by the window so we could watch the ins and outs of the bar across the street “The Cage”. Sounds like fun, right?!
We noticed the street lamps outside the window were going on and off. Amusing, somewhat annoying but still, we played a game with the lights and Ted ended up timing them. 43 seconds ON and 2 minutes OFF. I think the city was trying to save on their National Grid bill, allowing The Cage to light the streets.
Anyway, dinner was so good. The wait staff was very personable and attentive.
We began with a small garden salad. Ted had the special Sea Bass in a ginger beurre blanc sauce over caramelized fennel with a baked potato on the side. I had the cedar plank roasted salmon with a corn relish and steamed broccoli.
Ted INHALED the potato. His comment before I saw it disappear was “They put everything on this potato, butter, sour cream and BACON! I never have it loaded like this. It’s so good!”
VANISH POTATO!
Then it was the bathroom discussion. Ted came back from the bathrooms and said “You have to go to the bathroom”. I said “How would you know and, by the way, No I Don’t!” He said “Really. Check out the doors. They go all the way to the ceiling and you gotta wonder if you’re going to be able to open it.” Ok…I’ll go to the bathroom. The things you do.. right?!
Yep. Big door. Very tall. Very draconian. Inside the bathroom, it was expansive, like the rest of the restaurant. So glad I went. 
We wrapped the meal up with a cup a jo that wasn’t hot enough but it was smooth, not bitter. Since the flavor was so smooth, we didn’t miss the fact that they had no Splenda and we drank the coffee with only cream.
Wrapping up: Pier’s & Blake Steakhouse is HIGHLY recommended. The prices are typical of Utica high end restaurants. The salmon was approximately $17.00 and Ted’s dinner was approximately $25.00. Very good service. Very good food. Interesting bathrooms 
If you’ve been to any new restaurants lately, what was your favorite memory of the place? The food? The décor?
