The Pope at Midnight

Hello readers! This is the first post from what i hope will be a weekly news letter of reviews of all things i may experience and have an opinion on. Expect a lot of restaurants (mostly located in Rio de Janeiro), albums, movies and the ocasional book on those months that i remember that I in fact know how to read. Enjoy!

Pope

This weeks culinary adventure was at Pope, a restaurant in Ipanema with, you guessed it, a Pope theme. I went for lunch with my mother and we sat at a table for two on the side balcony, the space was lovely as we had a view of the street just outside and the breeze coming in but still a roof above our heads to protect us from Rio's November Sun. The color palette was warm but fresh, with lots of white, light greys and a lot of wood. The walls have exposed concrete that mimics stone, there are big dripping candles decorating some of the tables and you can see the kitchen from the main room. It's not that big but the open space and it's many windows make it seem that way and make for the perfect place for lunch on a sunny day

.The restaurant's Pope theme comes through, well, in the Italian cuisine, but also in the bathroom, a cabin with very dim lighting that comes from the confessionary window on the wall, the mirror, painted with a drawing of Christ and the bill, that comes in a red velvet pouch, like the ones used by the college of cardinals to choose the new leader of the Catholic Church. It all makes for a really beautiful, and fun experience. Plus, if you have some sins to confess in between meals it's also very practical

.Now to the food. First, i shared with my mom the saffron arancini trio, filled with goat cheese, balsamic of Modena cream and raspberry. Delicious. I believe you can never really go wrong with goat cheese and, once again, I was proven correct. Even though these are fried rice balls filled with cheese they don't feel heavy at all, the quantity was just right for two people, and our respective apetites, the sweet but subtle touch of the raspberry balances everything out perfectly.

Then, for the main course I went with the pumpkin ravioli with goat cheese (i keep being right), sage butter, grana padano and toasted nuts. Incredible, again. The waiter advised us that pasta was the house's specialty and he wasn't wrong. Again, the quantity is just right, I speak as someone who doesn't really eat that much and often struggles to finish large meals, all the flavors balance each other out perfectly, the sweet of the pumpkin, the strong taste of the goat cheese, the crunchiness of the nuts. Everything is just right.

To finish our afternoon we both order an espresso and our little red velvet pouch to choose our next Pope and pay the bill.

Midnights

Taylor Swift's new album Midnights was released a couple weeks ago but i didn't have a newsletter than so let's review it now. I can't say i like it. There are some good songs, my favorite would have to be You're On Your Own, Kid, a nice pop track with Taylor's signature writing of heartache, longing, girlhood and amazing bridges. Tracks like Anti-Hero and Would've, Could've, Should've also have good writing, exploring interesting themes and show a lot of vulnerability on Swift's part but, to me, all that gets drowned out by the dated instrumentals that seem to have come off straight from 2013 Pop Hits with no new twist to it. There are parts in this album that you truly have to stop and ask yourself “Are Jack and Taylor serious?” like the beginning of Midnight Rain with Swift's deep voice or the painfully millennial “eyeliner sharp enough to kill a man” line.

I believe Taylor is at her best when she's on a stripped back track being vulnerable abou her feelings and experiences (and at her cringiest when she is trying to deliver a “woke”take) and, unfortunately, musically, with this album she is going on the opposite direction.

I'll continue to stream Folklore and Red (Taylor's Version) religiously and wait for her next release.