Restaurant Review: Byron Brings it Proper

Byron Proper Burgers

Don't let the sleek lines and clean design fool you, Princesshay's newest restaurant, Byron: Proper Hamburgers, is definitely about the food, and they're not messing around.  You see, the guys behind Byron are into American burgers - like really into them - and they've done their research. They've drawn from some of the States' finest establishments and most indulgent bun based cheekiness to inspire a menu with a few across-the-pond nods that you won't see at most other British burger joints. Delivered with style and ease, Byron is a welcome addition to the city centre dinnersphere.

Me and my meat eating wing man hubby popped in for an indulgent lunch, taking advantage of the best summer since 2004, for a little al fresco dining. Our friendly server greeted and seated us, and we got down to business.

Byron in the sunshine

We kind of went for it, starting out with the Tortilla Chips which came with a lovely fresh tomato salsa and a guacamole that might just be the best in the city - no really - both chunky and fresh. For the mains, I had the Veggie Burger of Portobello mushroom, goats cheese and Mediterranean veg with an order of courgette fries, and a glass of cloudy lemonade. And my carnivorous comrade had the Smokey burger with a portion of skin on chips and a side of macaroni cheese all washed down with a Brew Dog pale ale.

Lunch for two at Byron

For little old vegetarian me, my veggie burger was as good as any I've had, but the courgette fries(!) are something I only seen in the states and Byron were in fact BETTER than what I've had there. They were crispy, crunchy, perfectly seasoned and really worth the visit on their own.  My lemonade was just like mom used to make and, for research purposes, I sneaked a taste of the mac n' cheese and can attest to it being as rich as any of Uncle Sam's offerings. Vegetarians & vegans can also try the avocado salad or mix up the veggie burger with additional/alternative sides like sliced avocado, crispy fried onions and jalepenos as well as a selection of cheeses and sauces. 

The summer special: The Smokey

My partner also had high praise for his Smokey burger, saying that it fully lived up to its name with the taste of well...smokiness, coming through every bite.  All that smoked cheddar, smokey barbecue sauce, crispy bacon and crispy onions perfectly complimented his medium rare Scottish beef patty and made for some very happy dining. His beer was a light, deliciously malty, day time pale ale called Dead Pony Club by Brew Dog, part of a collection of quality craft beers available for on site.

And for puds, I had the brownie and he had the cheesecake. My brownie was hot and deliciously gooey and topped with a scrumptious drizzle of chocolate sauce. My husband's white chocolate cheesecake was an entirely different affair. This chilled cheesecake on a biscuit base, was decadently rich and well accompanied by the blueberry sauce.  A perfect end end to proper lunch.

And the kitchen were so quick as well.

Inside it's like a film noir set. Love the backlit factory windows.

Me and the Old Mac Visit Exeter's Apple Store

I've arrived here, the floor of the  Exeter Princesshay Apple Store, because of Ebay. This is my story in two parts. 

Source: Apple Store

iPart 

My husband knew that I was on the look out for a new computer and happened across a little Powerbook G4 for only £50 on Ebay. It's a sold as seen affair, but for £50 we'd figure we'd give it a try. The battery and airport successfully replaced, I began web surfing only to find that the version of Safari that I have is from about 2008 and can't really handle pages like Twitter, Facebook or the latest Hotmail. After trawling around the web for fixes, I decided to take the Mac to it's maker at The Apple Store.

I walk straight past the iPods and iPads and serenely sleek PowerMacs up to the much more realistic IT help desk that they call the Genius Bar. From here it's the bits of broken tech and confused faces that you'll see in any IT space or doctors surgery.

The place is packed and the head Genius in charge tells me that I should have booked an appointment. Which means that I'll have to wait for 30mins. Except there's no chairs. So here I sit on the cold hard stylish tile waiting for my turn.

Looking around, the whole space feels like the bit in your trip to Ikea when everything goes from lovely Scandinavian vignettes of idealistic middle class life, to the last scene Raiders of the Lost Ark where you have to 'find it yourself' like an Argos recruit.

Now my Old Mac and I wait.

iiPart

Five minutes after my scheduled appointment, my PC veteran scepticism is melted away by Rob, a charming techie who is familiar with the Powerbook and listens to all of my complaints with at sympathetic ear.

Seeing the other people around me, paying bits and pieces ont their box fresh tech, I was convinced that anything I'd need would be absurdly expensive. He explains that they don't really keep old hardware at the Apple store, but if I can get the parts, they'll help me out and install the best operating system a G4 can handle for free. Yep. Free.

Thanks Rob.

The whole diagnostic and conversation took about 10 minutes and as I stole away home, I could help but think, maybe there's life in the Old Mac yet.

To be continued....

Arts: The Red Ball Project comes to Exeter

Source: The RedBall Project Toronto by Rob Burke on Flickr

Exeter will be one of five UK cities visited by the internationally mysterious RedBall Project from artist Kurt Perschke this summer. I am extremely excited about this and hope to see it in town at one of it's installation spaces during the 3 day visit from Friday 15 June to Sunday 17 June. From what I can gather, it is just what is says on the tin, a big red ball, a really big red ball, placed in various locations around the city. It's been all over the world - Chicago, Toronto, Barcelona, Perth, Dubai and more - and everyone seems to agree that it's awesome.

Source: The RedBall Project in Norwich by Leo Reynolds on Flickr

Source: RedBallProject.co.uk

According to Perschke, The RedBall Project is about creating a 'catalyst for new encounters within the everyday. Through the magnetic, playful, and charismatic nature of the RedBall the work is able to access the imagination embedded in all of us.' And I can see exactly where he's going with that. There is something so universal about a ball - the fact that you just want to touch it or kick it or poke it or something - which brings an immediate sense of childhood and whimsy. The fact that it's SO big totally reinforces that.

The project is remeinscent of Carsten Holler's Test Site giant slide installation that was part of the Tate Modern's Unilever Series back in 2007. For that thoroughly successful installation, the artist built three giant slides in the turbine hall in order to capture 'the visual spectacle of watching people sliding and the ‘inner spectacle’ experienced by the sliders themselves, the state of simultaneous delight and anxiety that you enter as you descend'. The title of the project, 'Test Site', was an invitation for towns and businesses to integrate slides into everyday life. Though London did not permanently take him up on this offer, thousands of grown up visitors became part of the 'inner spectacle' of his artsy indoor play area.

Souce Duvet Dayz

And I guess that's what it comes down to. While I fully respect the statements of both artist here, with regards to 'imagination' and 'visual spectacle', this sort of art - installations based on exaggeration and recontextualisation of childhood experiences - is good because it's really about creating an opportunity for grown ups to do things that they should have grown out of years ago, in an intellectually acceptable space. Don't get me wrong, I think there should be more of it and I am extremely pleased that Torbay Council and Dartington Trust worked to get this project here in the South West. That said, I'm sure that intellectuals looking for something to deconsturct would get the same stimulus from putting a fun fair in the Tate or an adult only ball pool on the Cathedral Green, whether they called it art or not. And every music festival in the UK will have a similar 'installation' in place, not for the sake of art, but for the sake of fun. 

I love a good laugh and the colour red, so I'm planning to go along on Friday to the Guildhall for this very reason.