New Years Eve 2009/2010

One day in October, while we were in L.A., we passed by the Disney Concert Hall.  Max noticed that Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (BBVD) was playing New Years Eve.  So we made plans for what is normally a quiet evening, off the streets away from the out of control revelers.

First, we had dinner at Ciudad which is a restaurant in downtown L.A., across the street from the Bonaventure hotel.    The restaurant is owned by the radio personality duo called the Too Hot Tamales, offering recipes and other cooking advice here in L.A.  The food is Mexican with a modern, haute cuisine fare.  The New Year's dinner was a set 5 course menu with a couple of selections for each course.  The meal started with lobster caviar with radish and pomegranate.  For the appetizer, I had an Asian pear salad and saffron risotto.  Well, so far it doesn't sound Mexican, but it is and perhaps it was the way the food was seasoned.  I had Roasted Pasilla Chile Relleno for the main course and Max had the Sirloin Steak.  He said it was ok, but it didn't compare to my pan-seared Rib Eye.

Ciudad offered a limo service to the theatre, but we opted to walk back since it was such a nice evening and we had plenty of time.

What can I say about the concert?  In one word.  Cool.  Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is simply cool.  They have been together since 1989 and play the big band music such as Minnie the Moocher or Calloway Boogie.  If you look on iTunes, you can also find their music under Jazz and considered a contemporary swing band from Ventura, just north of L.A.  I thought after a few songs they would sound alike, but no.  The 2 hour show went by so fast and totally entertaining.  They helped ring in the New Year with a lot of toe tapping, finger snapping, hand clapping cool tunes.