Baked

 

Located at 227 South Elm Street Suite B in Downtown Greensboro, Baked offers breads, pastries, and other baked goods. It is open 8-3 Tuesday through Thursday, 8-5 on Friday, 9-5 on Saturday, 10-4 on Sunday, and closed on Monday. There is no indoor seating, but limited outdoor seating as available. Decorated cakes can be ordered with one week’s notice, and specialty coffees rotate seasonally.

 

This small side alley spot off Elm has been home to a number of bakeries over the years, so here’s hoping that Baked manages to stick. From selection to quality to friendly service, Baked is a blessing.

 

While Baked is not the only place in town to offer croissants, it stocks several varieties, sweet and savory alike. Add to that homemade pop tarts, macarons, cupcakes, cookies, breads (day-old loaves are discounted), and coffee drinks, and you’d be hard-pressed to find something that doesn’t look good.

 

Across two visits, I’ve had a chance to try a number of Baked’s offerings, and there was nary a dud among them. For those wanting a classic French croissant, the pan au chocolat will deliver buttery, flaky goodness. The Full Monty (vegetarian sausage, cheese, and hasbrown) is a fantastic breakfast option and not nearly as heavy as it sounds. Even the Smores brownie was better than it had any right to be.

 

If you have the dollars to spend and the calories to spare, you won’t miss either after a trip to Baked. It's become a must for visits to Downtown Greensboro.

Kaya

 Located at 3925 Sedgebrook Street in High Point, Kaya offers Korean and Japanese cuisine. Lunch specials are available.

 

Tucked into a shopping center off 68 near the High Point-Greensboro border, Kaya hits a number of hidden gem checkboxes: it’s unassuming and easily overlooked, it’s family-run and popular among locals, and the food is, by and large, good. That said, I would hesitate to give this place a rave.

 

A no-frills establishment, Kaya is nevertheless quiet and clean. It offers a familiar selection of hibachi dishes, but Korean is the main draw here. A large, pictorial Korean menu greets you upon entry. For those seeking authenticity, dishes like spicy squid or braised pig trotters let you know that you are in the right place.

My wife and I opted to split a seafood pancake, a bimimbap, and a spicy pork. As expected, they came with an array of banchan, and portions were plentiful. Though food quality varied, nothing was worse than average. The spicy pork was delicious. It was served hot with onions and slathered in a delectable sauce. The seafood pancake’s dough-to-seafood ratio favored the former though it was still tasty. That said, the bimimbap was a mixed bag. I appreciated the array of vegetables included though it was fairly light on meat. It also was not served sizzling, but that was my fault for not realizing that I needed to order the dol sot (stone pot) version.

 

Staff here are polite, but they will leave you alone unless you specifically request something. Chalk it up to custom rather than any kind of intentional indifference. For what Kaya charges (entrees in the teens), the plastic silverware and styrafoam cups felt like penny-pinching.

 

The variety of Kaya’s offerings and the quality of the spicy pork alone make me want to give this place another chance, but I would probably opt for takeout rather than dine-in in the future.

Chez Genese

 

Located at 616 South Elm St. in Downtown Greensboro, Chez Genese serves French cuisine for breakfast and lunch from 8 a.m to 2 p.m. daily. Reservations are not accepted, tipping is not expected (the staff earns a living wage), and takeout may not be available during peak hours. Catering is available, and Chez Genese regularly hosts community events.

 

Like A Special Blend, Chez Genese provides employment to adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. While that is a commendable mission, a good story alone does not a good restaurant make. A tantalizing menu full of well-executed dishes is a powerful draw, however, and here is where Chez Genese shines.

 

One of the few area eateries to offer French fare, Chez Genese provides a strong representation thereof. Crepes, quiches, tarts, and charcuterie are all accounted for, the rotating daily lunch specials include things like bouillabaisse or beef burgundy, eggs come in everything from omelets to cocottes (cups) to tartines, and, of course, croissants and baguettes are available as well. Good luck trying to make a decision when it all sounds so good.

 

For our late breakfast visit, my wife and I ultimately went with lemon ricotta pancakes and a smoked salmon with dill crème fraiche omelet, respectively. We (thankfully) didn’t have too long a wait for our food, and what arrived at the table was plated beautifully. The omelet, though firmer than expected, was not overdone, and its flavors were excellent. Its accompanying fruit plate was fresh and varied, and a baguette offered a nice combination of crusty and chewy. We were concerned that the pancakes would prove too sweet, but the lemon notes thankfully added balance. A homemade blueberry syrup paired well with them.

 

“French” is often conflated with “fancy and expensive,” but that was not the case here. Chez Genese has a casual café vibe, and pricing proved fairly reasonable. Each breakfast dish ran in the teens and offered plenty of food. Servers were pleasant as well.

 

That being said, Chez Genese is not terribly large, and it keeps quite busy. You could be in for a wait without much room to actually stand and wait. Though not uncomfortably loud, the ambiance here can best be described as “bustling.”

 

Should you be able to snag a seat, Chez Genese offers one of the best breakfasts in the area. I look forward to eventually trying them out for lunch.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

 

After helping to save the world, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), the Avenger known as Ant-Man, has settled into life as an author/speaker and a father to his teenage daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton). Inspired by her surrogate grandparents’ (Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer) adventures in the subatomic Quantum Realm, Cassie builds a device that can send a signal to it, which ends up trapping her and her family there instead. Once inside, they find themselves caught in a conflict between a motley group of rebels and Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), a despot exiled from the surface world who has a history with Janet van Dyne (Pfeiffer) that she has kept hidden, upsetting her daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly).

 

Up to this point, the Ant-Man films have been both fun and funny yet fairly disposable. They’ve boasted a likable performance from Rudd, a few laughs and exciting stunts, and precious little in the way of character depth or dramatic heft. The third entry in the series is a longer and darker affair, but much like Pfeiffer’s character, it cannot escape its past. The result is a film schizophrenically torn between trying to remain fun and trying to up the stakes, and while still quite watchable, it doesn’t really succeed at either.

 

Quantumania is, in a way, a victim of Marvel’s success and its own strengths. The Quantum Realm is a strange and colorful place, full of bright lights and bizarre-looking beings (and Bill Murray as a sleazy ex-rebel leader), which would be impressive had we not been entreated to the mind-bending visuals of the Doctor Strange films or the weird aliens of the Guardians of the Galaxy films. Majors and Pfeiffer give strong performances. The former is cold and cerebral yet still physically formidable, a man whose dominion over time has left him isolated while the latter is hellbent on not repeating past mistakes. Unfortunately, this makes the other performances seem weaker in comparison. Rudd nails affable everyman perfectly, but his angrily protective father never quite lands, and while Corey Stoll’s version of classic comic book antagonist MODOK (a giant-headed cyborg with a vast array of weapons) hits the character’s grandiosity but otherwise feels like a waste. Even the film itself seems to realize how ill-equipped it is for its ambitions. As Majors dismissively tells Rudd, “I am Kang. You talk to ants.”

 

So why watch it? Maybe Majors’s Kang is a big enough draw. Maybe Pfeiffer, Douglas, and Murray appeal to your nostalgia. Maybe you’ve enjoyed the Rudd-Lilly chemistry up to this point. Maybe you want to see what a third actress stepping into the role of Cassie can do with more screen time. Maybe you’re willing to sit through this chapter of the on-screen Marvel saga to get to the next. Or maybe, given Quantumania’s disparate nature, the half of the film that appeals to you is enough to make you overlook the half that doesn’t.

City Barbeque

 

Located at 4395 Regency Drive in High Point (with another location on Lawndale Drive in Greensboro), City Barbeque offers barbecue from 11-9 Sunday-Thursday and 11-10 Friday and Saturday. There is a drive-through window, and delivery, online ordering, and catering trays are available.

 

To be a barbecue chain in a state well-known for barbecue is to exist under a cloud of suspicion. City Barbeque seems well aware of this as even the very name (absent a “Kansas”) seems calibrated to lower expectations. Indeed, the walls are adorned with the approximate distance to better-known BBQ joints. All of this is to say that this place makes no pretense of trying to dethrone a local favorite, which is just as well as the meat quality here cannot touch the likes of Black Powder or Biscuits, Brisket, and Brews. What it lacks in bona fides, it makes up for in convenience though there is still room for improvement.

 

Enter City Barbeque, and you’ll be greeted by a hunger-inspiring smell and a large digital menu. There are salads and sandwiches though the meats are likely to be the main draw. You can do them ala carte, by the pound, or in a sampler platter. Should you save room for dessert, chocolate cake, cobbler, and banana pudding are available as well.

 

For our first visit, my wife and I split a City Sampler (4 meats/2 sides/1 bread) and a Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich. We opted for brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey, smoked sausage, fried okra, hush puppies, and Texas toast. We didn’t have long to wait for our food, and we found an impressive array of sauces (sweet, heat, vinegar, mustard, and more) to pair with it.

 

The food proved to be a decidedly mixed bag. The brisket was legitimately good, probably the best I’ve had at a chain. The Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich was tasty as well, offering mayo and creamy slaw to offset a less saucy chicken breast. Its heat + sweet pickle combination remains a winner. The turkey and hushpuppies held their own. On the other hand, the sausage, while flavorful, was very salty, the okra was forgettable, the pork was dry, and the “Texas toast” was only a hot dog bun.

 

City Barbeque probably won’t be your first choice when a barbecue craving hits, but the ease of ordering, quick turn-around, and number of menu options mean that it shouldn’t be ruled out, either. Just the same, you’ll have to watch what you order here.

Rhyme and Reason Chocolate Company

 Located at 301-D State Street, Rhyme and Reason Chocolate Company offers bean-to-bar craft chocolate bars. The store is open from 10:30-6 Tuesday-Saturday, noon-6 on Sunday, and closed on Mondays. Online shopping is available.

 

Though North Carolina does not lack high-quality artisanal chocolate (see Black Mountain in Winston-Salem or Videri in Raleigh), Rhyme and Reason offers amazing concoctions the likes of which I have not encountered anywhere else. Their dark chocolate comes from two cacao sources: an Ecuadorian bean that delivers the familiar robust flavor and a rarer (stateside, at least) Thai bean that offers a naturally sweeter and fruitier taste. Rhyme and Reason’s take on a spicy bar stands out, too. Instead of cayenne, they use paprika, which offers heat toward the back end rather than hitting you right up front. Their other flavored bars include raspberry, orange, coffee, and rotating seasonal selections. All are good, and none imparts an artificial aftertaste. Speaking of artificiality, for those who’ve ever been disappointed by waxy, chemical-laden white chocolate, Rhyme and Reason’s version will be a revelation.

 

As expected, Rhyme and Reason’s offerings are not cheap though they are more affordable than I had anticipated. A bar will set you back $8. The quality of the products alone makes a compelling case for shelling out that much, and the people behind them only add to it. Engineer-turned-chocolatier Elizabeth Tully is the kind of exacting, benign mad scientist that we need more of while her partner is a good salesman who is generous with samples.

 

Whether you’re shopping for a chocolate gift or a snack for yourself, whether you like classic dark or milk chocolate or want to mix it up, Rhyme and Reason has you covered. You really can’t go wrong here.

The Menu

 

Margo (Anya Taylor-Joy) accompanies enthusiastic foodie Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) to the Hawthorn, an exclusive restaurant situated on a private island. They are joined by a food critic (Janet McTeer), a movie star (John Leguizamo), and other wealthy elites for an extravagant meal prepared by world-renowned chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). But as the evening progresses, it becomes clear that the only thing Slowik really plans to serve is revenge.

 

Directed by Mark Myold, The Menu is part thriller, part darkly comedic social commentary. It’s aesthetically impeccable with a handful of strong performances and several hilarious and unnerving moments, but Will Tracy’s script with its underwritten characters and clumsy messaging is tough to swallow.

 

The Menu’s opening – insufferable rich folks board a boat for an island getaway that blows up in their faces – will seem familiar to anyone who saw fellow 2022 release The Glass Onion. However, whereas Rian Johnson’s cast of scoundrels was amusingly audacious, this group is largely forgettable. There are the aforementioned critic and actor, a trio of Wall Street bros, a perpetually drunken older relative, etc. Leguizamo playing a boorish has-been actor doesn’t strain the imagination (interestingly he based his performance on horrible memories of working the Steven Segal) though anyone could have played this role (and it was actually written with Daniel Radcliffe in mind). Hoult’s character is an exception to this bland stereotyping as Tyler vacillates between giddy excitement and sociopathic indifference to the growing danger around him. He’s ultimately too pathetic to be truly disturbing, however.

 

The movie’s attempt at thematic resonance is another misfire. A straightforward eat-the-rich bromide, while tired, would have at least been coherent. The Menu, however, seems to want to both validate that message while simultaneously pushing its antithesis. In addition to being unhinged, Slowik is by his own admission complicit in everything he rails against.

 

Despite these flaws, The Menu is a far cry from a disaster. Fiennes is in peak form here, playing Slowik as both deranged and wounded, monstrous yet all too human. Though her character is hampered by the aforementioned script problems, Taylor-Joy is often the film’s anchor, acting as an audience surrogate by calling out the excesses all around her. Hong Chau also does good work as Elsa, Slowik’s maitre’d who follows him with steely resolve and cult-like devotion.

 

Moreover, for all of its muddled messaging, The Menu’s means of delivery is wickedly funny. Slowik’s acts of vengeance embody all of the pretension and visual spectacle we associate with haute cuisine. In one moment, guests are served tortillas with embarrassing moments printed on them; in another, a sommelier’s description of a bottle includes notes of regret. The dish descriptions that follow each of the movie’s “courses” are another pitch-black highlight.

 

The Menu is a satisfying main with an unpalatable side. Eat and enjoy what you can of it, ignore the rest, and hope that nothing gets stuck in your teeth.