Good place for dinner & drinks - Sidecar

Brian and I had dinner at Sidecar on College Street (College and Clinton) and are looking forward to our next visit.
Sidecar is a new sleek little bistro with fun drinks and delicious food.
We arrived on time for our 9:30 dinner reservation last Friday night and waited at the bar for a bit, enjoying our drinks - B had a whiskey sour, and I a Ginger lemonade. While we waited, we chatted with the owner/host/bartender who did a nice job taking care of us.
Soon we were moved to our table, and served by a very quiet (she spoke in a whisper!) and completely inexperienced server, the only negative of the experience.
We started with appetizers of tempura Shrimp and sesame crusted tuna. The tuna was seared to tender perfection, and the shrimp were huge and delicious.
For mains, we ordered the lamb shank and the sea bass. The waitress returned shortly to inform us that the sea bass was unavailable, so B ordered the oven roasted chicken. I had just told him that I had read somewhere that some foodie (either a critic or chef, can't recall) would order that dish at every new place he/she visited as it is difficult to do perfectly, but on most menus, and considered a standard. The chicken was perfect, amazing, juicy, yummy, even better than the lamb, which was quite good.
We were seated next to a large group, and we noticed they were all being served what looked like espressos, but turned out to be some chocolately concoction in espresso cups. I was quite satisfied, though, so didn't ask for a dessert menu.
Overall, we definitely want to go back, and hope they hire a new server, or that she improves. The food is delicious, and they had a small but varied wine selection. Make reservations! It is small and busy!

Josh Ritter at The Phoenix

We went to see Josh Ritter last night and it was a fantastic show. I strongly recommend listening to this guy. He was a great performer, lively, fun enthusiastic, and a really strong singer. He also didn't leave the stage for over 1 1/2 hours, so has a lot of energy too! It was great. The crowd got really involved, and we had a really fun night.
I also love going to shows at The Phoenix. It's a great venue, and for a relatively short person like me, I can usually get a good view on the floor. I am at the point where I pick concerts to go to based on the venue. I won't go to the Docks or Guvernment because of bad size and/or acoustics, and am always disappointed when a band/artist I like is playing at one of those locations. Conversely, when an artist I like is playing at The Phoenix, it makes me want to go even more!
Watching the concert last night, I realized Josh Ritter is going to be big. He's a great lyricist, singer and performer. Definitely check him out. His latest CD, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, is a great place to start.