Hop on…Hop o !

could easily constitute a full meal, and a really good one at that, maybe with a salad.

Fried Calamari is the standard Triad dish, lightly crusted, with flavor coming primarily from the crust, augmented by an arrabiata sauce (garlic, tomatoes, and dried red chili peppers), plus Meyer lemon aioli. The red sauce is fairly spicy, the white aioli pleasantly mellow. Everyone at our table liked them both.

For main courses, we were especially drawn to the pasta dishes. There are plenty of them!

The main ingredient in Chicken Piccata is sourced from Joyce Farms — a superior bird — and placed in capellini pasta with a light application of capers, plus diced shallots, tomatoes, lemon zest, and garlic butter. Classic Italian, well executed.

Lulu Lasagna is the meatiest version of this perennial favorite I have ever encountered. Chunks of beef short rib meat, sliced Italian sausage, and bits of pork cheek lurk between layers of sheet pasta, oozing ricotta, mozzarella, and asiago cheeses, in a sweetish tomato sauce, from San Marzano tomatoes. A killer!

Carbonara uses bucatini pasta, kind of a thick spaghetti, which conveys flavor from the other ingredients. This concoction includes salt-cured egg yolk, pulled chicken, guanciale (cured pork cheeks), shiitake mushrooms, and pea shoots, blended with pecorino romano cheese. A luxurious assembly, indeed.

Beef Short Rib is a particularly rewarding ingredient, both for chefs and diners. Cooked low and slow, the meat is fork-tender, emitting solid depth of flavor. In this case, it is hosted by firm cavatelli pasta, plus shallots, carrots, chunks of heirloom tomatoes, leaves of spinach, and ricotta and parmigiano cheeses, in a chianti bordelaise sauce. It’s complex in flavor, abundant in quantity. Leftovers from my wife’s serving fed us both the next night.

We found just as much pleasure outside the pasta list.

This kitchen makes Osso Bucco with lamb shanks, for a really robust result. The braised meat can be pulled away from the bone with a fork, it’s so tender. It has been

FROM PAGE 6 simmered in Chianti wine, which is reduced, the meat topped with micro amaranth and parsley gremolata, and plated with roasted sliced carrots and cubed potatoes.

Sixty South Salmon is grilled to a light brown crust, decorated with fresh herbs, and placed over romesco sauce (made with red peppers and almonds). Cubed roasted potatoes rest alongside, asparagus spears underneath. The fish is moist and tender, the vegetables a good match. Blackened Scallops are seared dark brown on top, but still tender inside. They are topped with bright green basil pesto aioli, asparagus spears, and cubed potatoes alongside.

This is summer, so we skipped desserts.

Kylie Walley, Jeremy’s wife, is General Manager. Dylan Price manages the front of the house.

If you look to the right of the hostess stand when you enter, you will see a framed review that I wrote quite some time ago. The rating was very favorable. These visits sustained those positive impressions. !

JOHN BATCHELOR has been writing about eating and drinking since 1981. Over a thousand of his articles have been published. He is also author of two travel/ cookbooks: Chefs of the Coast: Restaurants and Recipes from the North Carolina Coast, and Chefs of the Mountains: Restaurants and Recipes from Western North Carolina. Contact him at john.e.batchelor@gmail.com or see his blog, johnbatchelordiningandtravel.blogspot.com.

WANNA go?

Lulu and Blu

2140 N Main Street

High Point 27262

336-886-1077 luluandblu.com

Hours: 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

Appetizers: $6-$17

Salads: $11-$12

Soups: $6-$8 bowl

Flatbreads: $17-$18

Entrees: $19-$44

Desserts: $7-$10

Most recent visit: July 25

BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Saw That Coming

... or not. At 11:55 p.m. on July 22, a speeding boat with eight people aboard left the water at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri and crashed into a home along the bank. KMIZ-TV reported that Adam Ramirez, 47, was driving the boat when the accident happened. After the boat hit the home, it overturned and ejected all eight passengers, who were taken to a hospital, six of them in serious condition. Two people in the home at the time were uninjured. Ramirez was charged with boating while intoxicated. Travis Coleman with Tow Boat US Lake of the Ozarks said crashes on the lake are common, and alcohol and darkness can play a large role.

Nature Gone Wild

A bird rarely seen in the Northern Hemisphere dropped into Pebble Beach, California, on July 21, KSBW-TV reported. The Nazca Booby, which at this time of year is usually living and breeding in the Galapagos Islands, was delivered to the SPCA of Monterey County; o cials there said it was emaciated, cold and injured.

Beth Brookhouser said the bird had to be kept in an incubator and fed through a tube while it recovered. It had wounds on its back that appeared to be from fishing hooks. Once the bird has healed, the SPCA hopes to reintroduce it to the wild.

Unconventional Weaponry

Police in Tilden Township, Pennsylvania, are going bananas trying to figure out who was throwing frozen bananas from a truck on July 24, WFMZ-TV reported.

“We had five vehicles traveling eastbound on Hex Highway,” said Sgt. Peter Witman. “People traveling westbound threw frozen bananas and struck windshields and other car parts.” One driver had her window down and was struck by flying banana debris. “It’s extremely dangerous,” Witman said. “This could injure, or worse, you could cause vehicle crashes by doing this.”

News You Can Use

Trader Joe’s announced on July 21 that it is recalling two types of cookies that may have rocks in them, National Public Radio reported. The Almond Windmill Cookies and Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond cookies have been removed from the grocery chain’s stores and destroyed, the company said, but those who had previously bought them can return them for a refund. “Please do not eat them,” they urged customers. The company didn’t specify how the rocks came to be in the cookies.

The Golden Age Of Air Travel

In late July, a woman on a Spirit Airlines plane hit her limit, the New York Post reported. “The plane is stopped ... I cannot hold the pee!” she shouted in a video as she pulled down her pants and squatted in a corner to relieve herself. “I need to (urinate), two hours ... you close the (bathroom) doors,” she said, telling a crew member she should “blame yourself.” The video was posted on July 20, but it is unclear where the incident took place.

Nope

You might not have it on your calendar, but Aug. 5 is National Mustard Day! Rather than celebrating with a hot dog or a burger smothered in the yellow condiment, the French’s company wants you to try Mustard Skittles, NBC New York reported on July 25. “Skittles is always looking to inspire moments of everyday happiness and deliver unexpected ways for fans to experience the brand,” said Ro Cheng, marketing director at Mars. The new flavor “combines their tangy mustard flavor with our iconic chewy texture to deliver this unique summer treat.” Adventurous mustard-lovers can try to win a bag of the candy through an online sweepstakes.

GREAT ART?

Hankering for a high-dollar auction rush? Sotheby’s has you covered — or at least your feet. A pair of white sneakers from the 1990s, branded with the rainbow-colored Apple logo, will start at $50,000, Sky News reported. The shoes were distributed to employees at sales conferences and are among “the most obscure in existence,” Sotheby’s said. “Highly coveted” on the resale market, the sneakers are in their original box and are in a condition “consistent with age.” And bonus! They come with an extra pair of red shoelaces! Sold! !

Across

1 Didn’t move any closer

11 Swedish retail giant

15 Frets

20 Book you can’t stop reading

21 Pupil’s book

22 Palmer of golf, to fans

23 Additional person called on to peruse something

25 Ebbed and flowed, as water

26 Premaritally named

27 Rarity in golf

28 Curative stuff

30 Fills with a crayon, say

35 Feel hopeless about

38 — Grande

39 Bring to ruin

42 Authorize to

43 Tony winner Bernadette

44 Longtime “Masterpiece Theatre” host

49 Increases

50 Corporation combination

51 Malicious

52 Start for historic

53 “I’m outie!”

57 Practice exam, maybe

59 Legendary title figure of a 1999 horror film

63 Granola bit

65 Invalidate

66 Bards’ Muse

67 Some schoolkids’ judged constructions

75 Startle

76 D.C. VIPs 77 Outback bird

78 Bit of jewelry with a single diamond

83 English class concern

89 Skirt borders

90 Hagen of the stage

91 Egg, in Paris

93 “Lawrence of Arabia” star

94 ‘60s hallucinogen

95 “Main Street” novelist

98 How silverware is often sold

102 Hip-hop producer Gotti

103 String after J

104 O’Hare abbr.

105 Times of trouble with tresses

108 Has a helping of humble pie

112 Explosion fragments

113 Qty.

116 Pi-sigma link

117 “I — Say No” (song from “Oklahoma!”)

118 State flower of Iowa

126 Sporting site

127 — about (circa)

128 Foldaway bed or table, e.g.

129 — -arms (old soldier)

130 Gps. such as Oxfam and CARE

131 Ducted cooling system (and what nine answers in this puzzle have)

Down

1 UV ray-blocking stat

2 Sticky sealant

3 Cake candle count

4 Like some simple questions

5 Old anesthetic

6 Swindles

7 Lingerie top

8 Darth Vader, as a boy

9 “Juno” actor Michael

10 McDonald’s honcho Ray

11 Suffix with Gotham

12 Essential

13 Off the hook

14 Really baffled

15 Lampoons

16 Ribbed cloth for dresses

17 Option for bitter greens

18 Frankfurter

19 Jewish feasts

24 Nourished

29 Ladle

30 Runner’s pain

31 OPEC vessel

32 Tours’ river

33 Dictator Amin

34 Average

36 Wapiti

37 Witness

40 “Rhyme Pays” rapper

41 Ark “captain”

45 Mil. bigwig

46 Masters peg

47 Fiery felony

48 A unified goal for the future

49 Mentalist Geller

52 GI’s chaplain

53 Mag. sales stat

54 “Leave — that”

55 Doesn’t delay

56 “Well now!”

Camera part

CPR teacher, maybe

Service cost

Rainy mo.

“U can’t b serious!”

Hearer of court evidence

Fire residue

Texas capital

“— be a pleasure”

Guitar part

Aquatic bird

Ocean off Fla.

A Stooge

It