Taste of Troy

Located at 1236 Guilford College Road in the Guilford Crossing Shopping Center at the edge of Jamestown, Taste of Troy offers Greek and Mediterranean fare for lunch and dinner. Specials change weekly and takeout is available.

I am spoiled by having decent Greek and Mediterranean options within walking distance of home, but the recommendation of a (Turkish) former student led me to give Taste of Troy a shot. While it isn’t a place I would hurry back to, it made for a satisfying lunch.

Taste of Troy can be found on the side of the shopping plaza facing Piedmont Parkway. It’s a small space though there is enough signage to avoid passing it by. There are a few tables and some counter seating inside. It’s a cozy joint, but compared to blue-and-white appointments of Mythos and Mad Greek, it comes off looking a bit Spartan (pun intended).

The menu offers little in the way of novelty, but if you’re craving a gyro, kebab, or mezes (spanakopita, baba ganoush, etc.), you’ll find it here. I went with a gyro and a side of fries and did not regret it. The gyro was well-seasoned, the meat was flavorful, and the accompanying veggies (lettuce, tomato, and cucumber) were fresh. The thick-cut fries could have done with more seasoning, but at least they were crisp. The staff here are friendly, and the food arrived quickly.

If there is one area where Taste of Troy lags behind, it is pricing. The gyro runs $7.25 if you are willing to settle for chips as a side; fries are $1.75 more, and a small Greek salad is $3.95 more. By way of comparison, Mythos offers a $7.45 lunch combo that includes a gyro, fries, and a drink. The entrees are even worse offenders. Kebab platters start at $12.95 and top out at $16.95 for a mixed combo. Nazareth Bread’s mixed grill is listed at $11.99. Tasty as it may be, Taste of Troy’s food is not far enough ahead of the competition to justify what they charge.

Food quality and service make Taste of Troy an appealing option for those traveling along Guilford College Road, but the pricing is simply not competitive.

7.75/10

The Hateful Eight

In the middle of a Wyoming blizzard, Maj. Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), a former Union officer turned bounty hunter, happens across a stagecoach hired by an acquaintance, John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell), who is transporting Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to Red Rock so that he can collect $10,000 and she can hang for murder. The two are later joined by Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), an ex-Confederate militiaman who claims to be the sheriff-elect of Red Rock. With the snow intensifying, the party holes up at Minnie’s Haberdashery where they encounter Bob, the Mexican caretaker (Demian Bichir), Oswaldo Mobray, Red Rock’s well-mannered hangman (Tim Roth), notorious Confederate Gen. Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern), and stoic cowboy Joe Gage (Michael Madsen). The more time they spent snowed in, the more old tensions rise, and the more Ruth begins to suspect that one or more of the men is an imposter in league with Domergue.

More than two decades into his filmmaking career, and even the non-fan will likely know of Quentin Tarantino’s calling cards: stylized, unrepentant violence and profanity, dark comedy, elevated B-movie/genre film concepts, 60s-80s pop music (regardless of when the film is set), and clever nods to cinematic history. Suffice it to say, this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but even Tarantino’s detractors shouldn’t mistake him for a one-trick pony. The past decade saw him break from a personal revenge tale (Kill Bill) to examine the larger societal implications of war (Inglourous Basterds) and slavery (Django Unchained) in his typically excessive fashion. His latest offering, The Hateful Eight, changes trajectory once again, ditching an “issue” focus (and its attendant controversy) in favor of telling a story on a smaller scale. That he is able to get so much mileage (nearly three hours’ worth, and none of it dull) from such a staggeringly simple premise – a bunch of shady characters are snowed in together – is a testament to how much he has honed his craft.

Part of the reason The Hateful Eight works as well as it does is the fluidity with which it changes gears. The first third of the film functions as part classic Western, part seriocomic stage play. Legendary composer Ennio Morricone contributes a chillingly dramatic score and a Russell, with an epic moustache, channels his inner John Wayne. Meanwhile, every entrance into the stagecoach – and later, the lodge – begets a recurring joke. It’s hard not to laugh at a room full of louts clamoring for the door to be nailed shut to keep the cold out. But then, as the film moves into its latter half, the tension ramps up dramatically, the long-expected violence finally commences, and another influence emerges: the paranoid terror of John Carpenter’s The Thing. Unlike many movies that try to juggle tonal shifts, this one gets it right: when it’s funny, it’s funny, and when it’s grisly, it’s grisly. One does not undermine the other.

The cast is comprised mostly of recurring Tarantino players (Jackson, Roth, Madsen, etc.) with a few new faces, and by and large, they are a great fit. Jackson gets one of his best roles in years as the ruthless, cunning Warren, made likeable only by the targets of his wrath. Goggins supplies hillbilly exuberance, Leigh is captivatingly vile, and even poor James Parks, as a put-upon stagecoach driver, handles his role well. If there is one weak link here, it’s Channing Tatum: though his character speaks multiple languages, his Southern accent is distractingly bad.

Even with all it has going for it, there are moments where Tarantino’s dedication to excess is a liability. Did he really need to repeat dialogue in exaggerated slow motion? Did he really need to insert himself as a previously-unheard narrator in the middle of the film? Did he really need that much vomiting? One might point to this as Tarantino being Tarantino, but one might also expect a 52-year-old to steer clear of antics that would earn him a high-five from a 15-year-old.

Despite this, The Hateful Eight is immensely watchable. The dialogue is sharp, the score and casting are inspired, and with nothing resembling a hero in sight, you’ll find yourself rooting for one or more of the bad guys.

8.25/10

Sona's Indian Cuisine

Located at 1568 Highwinds Boulevard in Greensboro, Sona’s Indian Cuisine offers Northern Indian, Southern Indian, and Indo-Chinese dishes for lunch and dinner. There is a lunch buffet, alcohol is available, and delivery is offered through Dining Dash.

With Agni, Tandoori Junction, and now Sona’s joining the mix, Greensboro has seen an influx of Indian during the past two years. As is the case with the others, Sona’s reception has been hit and miss. If you are partial to a local favorite like Saffron or Tandoor, this newcomer is unlikely to win you away. But those without any such allegiances may find it a serviceable, if not superlative, alternative.

Housed in a shopping center near the Fresh Market off of New Garden, Sona’s is housed in a clean but simple space. It’s not unappealing, but don’t expect decorative wall art or music from the subcontinent.

I opted for the lunch buffet for my first visit. At ten or so items, it isn’t the biggest buffet in town, but the assortment was certainly decent. Quality tended to vary from dish to dish. Both chicken dishes that I sampled – tandoori and tikka masala – were excellent. The meat was juicy, and the expected flavors were there. Speaking of flavors, Sona’s deserves praise for keeping some spiciness in its buffet items, a move that several competitors have been too risk-averse to make. On the other hand, a few of the dishes seemed off. The goat biryani, for instance, contained an unexpectedly colorful rice and very little meat while the palak paneer had some firm, almost rubbery triangles of paneer. Lastly, while the dessert halwa was not bad by any means, it left me missing kheer or mango custard.

The service here is friendly and attentive – I never had to go long without water – but the pricing leaves a bit to be desired. The buffet ($10.99 Monday-Thursday, $12.99 Friday-Sunday) isn’t a bad deal provided that you avoid the weekend, but even their vegetarian entrees start in the mid-teens.

Overall, Sona’s is a mixed bag, offering some things (Indo-Chinese dishes, for instance) that you won’t find elsewhere while falling short in other areas. It may not emerge as your go-to place for Indian, but the service and the chicken alone make it worth at least a try.

7.5/10

ex_machina

Programmer Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) is chosen by Nathan (Oscar Isaac), the CEO of the Bluebook software company, to spend a week at his isolated estate administering a Turing test to Ava (Alicia Vikander), an artificially intelligent robot that Nathan created. Though Caleb is at first excited by the opportunity, the more time he spends with Ava and Nathan, the more he comes to question the latter’s true motives, and he begins to wonder who is testing whom.

Written and directed by English sci-fi vet Alex Garland (28 Days Later), ex_machina is part paranoid thriller, part character study, and part philosophical reflection on the nature of humanity. It’s an intriguing film that keeps you guessing and leaves you thinking until the end, but it also leaves quite a bit of untapped potential on the table.

Aesthetically, ex_machina makes great use of both setting (the Norwegian landscape makes for some breathtaking exterior shots) and set design (the innards of Nathan’s multichambered estate give the film an appropriately claustrophobic feel). The electronica score by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury makes for a fine accompaniment.

The real lure here, however, is the interplay between the characters. Aided by a talented cast, Garland is able to use ambiguity and misdirection to complicate an overly simple premise. As Nathan, a nearly unrecognizable Isaac hides his cunning behind a drunken jock façade, but even after the audience (and, eventually, Caleb) realizes there is more to him than meets the eye, his true motives leave viewers guessing. Is he a visionary who utilizes some shady tactics to everyone’s ultimate benefit, or is he a manipulative, selfish control freak who uses science to cloak his sociopathy? This uncertainty extends to his creation as well. Vikander convincingly portrays Ava as self-aware and worthy of Caleb’s (and the audience’s) empathy but enigmatic as well. How much of what she says and does reflects an autonomous will and how much is simply whatever Nathan programmed her to say and do? Of the three leads, Caleb is the least interesting. Though his requisite tragic backstory gives him something going on beneath the surface, he is, for most of the film, a nice guy who appears to be in over his head. Ordinarily, this would make for a disappointingly bland protagonist, but Caleb functions reasonably well as an audience surrogate. At any rate, contrast the characters played by Gleeson and Isaac here with their roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and you’ll get a good idea of their impressive ranges.

The tensions between these characters build toward an ending that, while foreshadowed previously, still manages to catch viewers off-guard. It also leaves questions unanswered and fudges some continuity details. Despite this, ex machina is a film that lingers, not because of it indulges our appetite for the fantastic but because it grants an unsettling look toward a plausible future.

8/10

Osteria

Located at 1310 Westover Terrace in Greensboro, Osteria offers Northern Italian cuisine for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Specials change regularly, the wine menu features Italian grapes, and private dining is available.

Though Greensboro has no shortage of Italian eateries, few can boast what Osteria has to offer. More upscale fare with spot-on execution, efficient service, and higher prices to match make this a departure from the classic red sauce joint, but rest assured, you’ll be glad you went down this divergent road.

My fiancée and I made this our New Year’s Eve destination and put in a reservation well in advance. Since others had the same idea, this proved to be a prudent maneuver: Osteria was mostly full upon arrival. The inside of the restaurant is well-appointed with red leather booths and wine bottles on the walls. It is, however, rather small, and the fact that I was nearly elbow-to-elbow with a gentleman at an adjacent table crosses the line from “cozy” to “crowded.”

Spacing issues aside, the rest of our experience was very enjoyable. Travis, our server, was knowledgeable, confident, and poised, and the wait for the food was reasonable-to-quick given the aforementioned volume. Osteria’s standard menu is somewhat limited – a few salads, a few pastas, a few entrees – but the specials at the time of our visit made for some tough decisions. Everything from chicken Florentine to stuffed fish got our attention, but in the end, we went with a calamari arrabbiata starter and two pasta dishes: maltagliati (wide noodles with a wild boar ragu) and pappardelle (with salmon, spinach, and sundried tomatoes).

The food was consistently excellent. The calamari was among the best I’ve ever had: there was no chewiness, and the sauce had just enough heat to complement it without drowning out the flavor. The salmon was also well-prepared, as were the house-made pastas. The boar ragu was sweeter than expected but still hearty and satisfying. We wrapped everything up with a scoop of tiramisu gelato that captured the richness and cocoa notes the dish is known for.

Given the quality and portion size – the pastas were plated generously – pricing leaves little room for complaint. Our starter, which fed two, was $10 while our pastas were $18 and $16. Granted, several of the entrees are priced higher, but they include a side of pasta, among other things. Only the $5 for a scoop-sized portion of gelato seemed like a stretch, but the tastiness made up for it.

With so many eateries plagued by mismanagement or inconsistent execution, it is a relief to find one that has both the front of the house and the back of the house in order. What Osteria lacks in size, it more than makes up for in both food quality and service.

8.75/10