Sushi c/o Akasaka and Music c/o Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

So L. was having a bad day a month or two back and I tried to lighten her mood by sending her this video, as I thought she might enjoy it...and boy howdy did she. Very quickly L. became quite the Macklemore fan, so much so that she went to slightly extraordinary lengths to find a way to see him/them perform live.  Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are definitely blowing up, so their Philly and NYC shows were long sold out...but their New Haven show was, at least at the time L. sought the tickets, not. So on Sunday after the craft show L. and I got into her car and drove the two hours to enjoy the sold out musical concert stylings of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Originally we were going to try Louie's Lunch, which claims to be the first maker of the 'hamburger sandwich.' Unfortunately they are closed on Sundays. Once this came to light I decided to do some research on sushi joints in the area because I had had a long-time hankering for sushi and thought this northerly jaunt would be the perfect excuse to fulfill that food impulse. Actually, I basically just asked L.'s friend S. for his recommendation, as he is from the area. And his suggestion was Akasaka. L. ordered gyoza to start and here they are.

I went hard on the sushi, ordering the sushi dinner, which included sushi and sashimi of many varieties. I added ikura to the meal because I am a glutton. To say that I was properly sushi satiated after this meal would be an understatement. Though now that I'm reliving it, I suddenly want sushi for lunch. That impulse I will fight.

Everything tasted great, was well presented and happy making. L. ordered toro at the midpoint of our meal...at first they said they didn't have any left, and then miraculously they did. Miraculously meaning that they had some frozen. L. let me have a piece and it had a strange bit of cartilage/was still frozen a little, so that was disappointing. She told me that the remainder of her plate actually was perfect, so while I had a bad bite, she had a number of good ones.

After dinner we made our way to Yale's campus and Toad's Place. They didn't allow me to bring my camera inside, which necessitated a walk back to the car. All photos from the evening come care of L.'s camera phone, as my phone was down to 15% battery life and I thought it wouldn't be responsible to waste that energy. The venue was good on the whole. Being surrounded by many college kids really makes me feel my age, but that's just how it goes I suppose. The opening acts were a bit longer than I, or pretty much anyone, would have preferred. And then there was a pretty significant delay between the end of the opening acts and the start of the main event. L. and I took up residence on the side of the stage...it was a sold out crowd and the center area was such a crush of folks that trying to stake out any claim to it was just too daunting to even bother with. So while I am griping about how old I am and the rather late start time, once they hit the stage it really was just a good show. Macklemore and his crew clearly enjoy performing and have worked on creating a great live event, which involved trying on members of the audience's thrift store clothes, crowd surfing, a live trumpet player and just a phenomenal amount of energy.

A very great show, a terrific performer with a great sound and overall life attitude. L. and I were just talking about how much we wish we were his friends/how I should marry him. One day Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, one day:)