text:
Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012 | 3:23 p.m.
Audio Clip
- Andrew Dice Clay, Rick Faugno
Audio Clip
- Human Nature, Rich Natole
Audio Clip
- Kats with the Dish
After some light blogging over the past few days (blame it on the chronicles of a European tour that is the cover of Las Vegas Weekly this week), it is high time to run the rake across the scene:
• Are you especially adept at milling about in a candid sort of way? If so, a casting director for the upcoming HBO movie "Behind the Candelabra" might be interested in hiring you as an extra for the film, which is shooting on location at LVH this month.
An open casting call is set for Sunday and Monday at LVH Ballroom C to fill roles for background actors in the film. The times are 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday and 2 to 6 p.m. Monday. The film shoots scenes in the hotel, where Liberace headlined in the day it was known as the Las Vegas Hilton, from Aug. 24-30.
No air date for the biopic has been announced, but the first photos of Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Damon as his longtime companion Scott Thorson have been published by the New York Daily News. Douglas is wearing a well-coiffed black wig, sizable shades and a yellow suit over a flower-patterned, button-down shirt. Damon's hair is long and blond and parted in the middle. Kind of a Shaun Cassidy-influenced look, actually. Both actors appear pretty convincing, suitably dated and well-attired.
The Liberace Museum has infused some authenticity into the project by lending cars and other artifacts from the late showman's collection at the closed-to-the-public Liberace Museum. But the Liberace Museum and Foundation has put the brakes on a formal endorsement of the film, noting (accurately) that the movie depicts a small segment of Liberace's life as told by a onetime confidant with whom the entertainer had an oft-stormy relationship.
• Waiting to be seated late Saturday at Peppermill (where you never know who you will spot), I ran into Andrew Dice Clay. For real. He was with a fairly large entourage, maybe 10 people (including his son Max), and said he was prepping to film his role in the upcoming Woody Allen film this month. Clay is shaking his head at his good fortune, with this out-of-the-blue offer from Allen and a role (playing himself) in the final season of "Entourage." Clay's audiences at the Riviera's Starlite Theater, where he performs monthly, have been filling strong -- packing the house, as he's pleased to report.
One thing I noticed after Clay slipped off his shades after being seated: He's wearing a black eye patch, looking like Captain Clay. Dice recently underwent minor surgery on his left eye. Nothing serious, and he'll be back at the Riv from Thursday through Sunday.
• Human Nature's reported frustration with construction work at the Linq project at Imperial Palace has led the Australian Motown act to seek a new venue on the Strip. All that racket is bad for business. Reps of the group are investigating a move to the Venetian. But don't rule out, yet, a move by Human Nature to a venue at a different Caesars Entertainment hotel. This is a hunch-inspired observation.
• The One Group's talks with MGM Resorts about a possible interactive, burlesque-themed nightclub in the Crazy Horse Paris theater at MGM Grand fizzled out several weeks ago. One Group is still pressing to open Bagatelle at Tropicana this month and the sports-themed restaurant Heraea at the Palms (which will replace Garduno's Mexican restaurant) at the Palms by Thanksgiving week. One Group and Palms also have been hammering out details on another venue overhaul at the Palms.
• The popular Celtic-rock band Killian's Angels has bid farewell to Brendan's Irish Pub, closing out their weekend residency at the Orleans nightclub July 21. This was the second exit for the five-piece band fronted by master mandolinist Beth Mullaney. The Angels, as they are often called by their fans, also cleared out of Brendan's in April 2010 but months later were invited back to fill occasional weekends. On the band's final Friday appearance, one of the city's most treasured musicians, violin great Sasha Semenoff, sat alone at a table near the stage to take in one of the band's last shows at the club. He had just cruised over from Lombardi's at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, where he works as a strolling violinist. He took $5 from my table, too, for a wistful rendition of "Volare." Semenoff has been a friend of the band for years. Updates on their whereabouts, post-Brendan's, are in process.
• Sin City Theater at Planet Hollywood is opening a few weeks later than proprietor John Padon originally planned. Nothing serious, just more of the same in the venue-construction process. Padon's lengthy attempt to secure proper construction permits coupled with a longer-than-expected plumbing project has moved the opening date back to late September at the earliest, with the grand opening of the club on the hotel's mezzanine level set for early October. The groundbreaking for construction at the club, which is to seat 300 and host a wide range of comedy and variety acts, took place today.
• Across the hall from that under-construction venue, at "Peepshow" theater, the guessing game is in full flourish as to who will replace Holly Madison in the show's lead role. It seems producers are going with a big name, someone who has some stage experience in Strip production shows, if all this talk about Carmen Electra is to be believed. That name keeps surfacing from those who know about the show. We'll see, eh?
• Writing about "Peepshow" prompts this wish of good fortune to Paula Castleton, the show's dance captain and swing performer who could fill any role (including the lead of Bo Peep, on one occasion). Castleton has left "Peepshow" to explore opportunities in New York. She's been one of the city's great performers and contributors to the local entertainment scene since she arrived. Castleton never made too much of a big deal about herself, but those in the show will miss her leadership and talent.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow "Kats With the Dish" at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.


text:
My new article this week at Breaking Muscle is entitled, "The Top 4 Ways You Can Look And Act Like A Weightlifter Without Actually Having To Be One."
I'm both joking and serious … as usual!
Here's the intro:
One of the many things I love about being a weightlifter is that I get to be a part of a remarkably unique subculture. In my last article on How to Snatch in 10 Seconds I made the claim Olympic Lifters are elitists – in a good way, not a bad way.
In this article I'm going to take that a bit further and say weightlifters are just flat-out weird. Again, I mean this in a good way not a bad way!
Similar to those fun bumper stickers that say, "Keep (*Insert Your City*) Weird", I'm going to advocate that we Keep Weightlifters Weird.
I am currently going out of my way to popularize the sport and bring it closer to the mainstream. But I'd never want it to lose it's unique flavor and be watered down. That would ruin what I love about it. So instead of trying to make weightlifters more like everyone else, I'm going to see if I can get everyone else to be more like weightlifters – even if it's only on the surface.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
This week The Hundreds present a follow-up to last week's SF exclusive Adam Outline New Era fitteds, which were inspired by the strong team colors of two Northern California universities (Standford & UC Berkeley). Inspired by two huge rival SoCal universities – USC and UCLA, these will be exclusively available at the THLA retail location on Rosewood avenue here in LA. So LA residents get to choose between Trojan or Bruins colors, and support their favorite team to the fullest. USC and UCLA students with valid ID will each receive a 25% off discount on one of these limited edition fitted hats.
Available this Thursday exclusively at the THLA store.


text:
Let's Get Social!
Ask our members for help or assist others.You are all welcome at Acer Community!
The content on this page may be out-of-date or have been superseded by newer information, and links on this page to other sites may not work.
This page has been archived for future reference.
Visit our Product Forums for more current content.
my computer is set for resolution 1600 x 900 but when I checkonline it comes back 1004 x 565
It is helpful to let the community know the following:What computer do you have?What operating system is on the computer?Do you have any error messages?
Important Links: Global Support Pages | Knowledge Base ArticlesRemember to mark posts that resolved your issue with Accept as Solution. You can even mark multiple posts in a single thread. This will make it easier for others to find the same information. Use the Give Kudos button to offer a thumbs-up for good post content and a pat on the back to the author.
I have the same problem. Whenever I set the display resolution to 1600 x 900, the monitor resolution changed to 1280 x 960 after restart. The display resolution still shows 1600 x 900. It seems OK if I set to 1280 x 720.
OS WinXP Pro SP3
Display Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430, driver 22.214.171.1243
Monitor ACER S230HL
The opinions expressed on Acer Community are the personal opinions of the authors, not of Acer. By using this site, you accept Acer's Privacy Policy and the Acer Community User Agreement.


text:
We're all back from Berlin, in spite of the BA strikes over the weekend. Once again we had a great week – I always wish that every teacher I work with could accompany us to these Innovative Education Forums. The speakers this year were particularly inspiring, there were some useful workshops for teachers, and we even had the opportunity to tour some German schools.
The highlight for me this year was a keynote by Professor Sugata Mitra, of Newcastle. His "Hole in the Wall" project described 10 years of his research
that shows the capacity of kids in the slums of India (or indeed, kids anywhere) to teach themselves. He started with one computer, put literally into a hole in the wall in an Indian slum. He left the computer and came back months later, only to see that the kids had not only organised a system for sharing use of the computer (actually, the girls had organised this), but they had taught themselves how to use the computer and how to read the English user interface and English web sites. And they wanted more.
This was one of the most inspirational talks I've seen in years. You can catch a version of it on TED here. Our teachers all left the talk thinking about how Professor Mitra's talk would impact their teaching immediately.
All four of our UK teachers (whose projects are described in blog posts HERE and HERE), impressed us with the time and effort they put into their stands and presentations in Berlin. We saw some great work from other teachers around Europe as well – Sweden, Belgium and Northern Ireland all brought virtual classroom tours that particularly impressed us – and the judges.
At our gala dinner, we were extremely proud to have two of our teachers honoured with prizes. Jan Webb (below, right) received first prize in the Innovation in Collaboration category, and Simon Horleston (below, left) won third prize in the Innovation in Community category. As such, both will be accompanying us to the Worldwide Innovative Education Forum in Capetown, South Africa in October!
We're extremely proud of all of the teachers we brought to Berlin, and we're excited to meet a new group of teachers at our next Innovative Education Forum in the UK this autumn. Stay tuned for more information about your chance to attend that event, as we've already started planning it. It will be the lead-in to our next European Forum, in Moscow, this time next year!


text:
Designed and manufactured by RJS exclusively. Features no side adjustments to rub hips. Adjustable 18" to 60".Pit Stop USA offers RJS 3" Red Latch Type Lap Belt w/ Anti Slip Springs Installed 50502-4 at low everyday prices. Be sure to check out all of our products from RJS Racing Equipment including RJS Racing Equipment Latch and Link Seat Belts.
- RJS Racing Equipment
- Available
- Same Day Shipping!
- New
Shipping Information
- Item Requires Shipping
- 2.7 lbs.
- W6.3000" x H2.7000" x L11.5000"
- Ships from Michigan.
Customer Reviews
Total Reviews (0)
Write the First Review!
You must login to post a review.
- The Company Difference
- We're the ExpertsWe help you find a way to win!
- Huge SelectionOver 90,000 products from the top brands in motorsports!
- Free Shipping On driver safety gear over $99!
- Low Everyday PricesGet the best values in racing!
- Have a question? Ask the Pros
- Email UsGet answers from the pros
- 1-866-722-3432


text:
Down and Dirty & The Family
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Down and Dirty / Brutti, sporchi e cattivi
Ettore Scola | 1976 | Italy | 35mm | 115m
Scola won Best Director at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival for this outrageous "satirical tragedy" about a sprawling extended family living in extremely close quarters in a one-room shack alongside a busy highway. In an extraordinary comic performance, the great Nino Manfredi stars as Giacinto, the grizzled old patriarch who has received a one-million-lire insurance payout for the loss of his left eye–money he refuses to share with any of the two-dozen children, grandchildren and assorted other relatives who share his cramped abode. However, he doesn't mind lavishing it on the obese prostitute whom he takes as a lover and brings home to live with him. Soon, the family members are plotting their revenge, only to discover that Giacinto has no plans of going gently into that good night. NOT ON DVD.
The Family / La famiglia
Ettore Scola | 1987 | Italy/France | 35mm | 122m
A decade after investigating the cramped lower depths of Italian society in Down and Dirty, Scola turned his attention to the more spacious environs of the haute bourgeoisie for this deft family saga set entirely within the confines of a single Roman apartment. In the sixth of his seven collaborations with Scola, Vittorio Gassman stars as both the family's patrician patriarch and, 80 years later, his own grandson, Carlo. In between, Italy and the world go through the seismic historical events of the 20th century–two World Wars, the rise and fall of Mussolini–while loved ones are born, grow old and life marches on. Featuring strong supporting performances by Stefania Sandrelli (as Carlo's wife), Fanny Ardant (as Carlo's sister-in-law, with whom he has an affair) and Philippe Noiret, The Family earned a 1988 Oscar nomination as Best Foreign Language Film, and received six David di Donatello awards (Italian Oscars) including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Gassman). NOT ON DVD.


text:
NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Popular searches on the Internet include Zynga ( ZNGA) as the social gaming company reported second-quarter earnings far below expectations. Zynga reported earnings of 1 cent a share on $332 million in revenue for the quarter, while analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report 6 cents a share on $344.85 million in revenue. Zynga also cut its fiscal-year 2012 forecast to earnings of 4 cents to 9 cents a share, below analysts' forecasts of 27 cents. Zynga cited a decline in its existing Web games due to a "more challenging environment on the Facebook web platform" as one of the reasons for cutting its forecast. The company depends on Facebook for a significant portion of its revenue. Zynga also said delays in new game launches and reduced expectations for its game Draw Something contributed to the reduced forecast.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide ( HOT) is trending as the hotel franchise posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, but net income fell from a year earlier. Starwood's said quarterly profit was helped by an increase in room rates. The company said revenue per available room rose 6.9% in the quarter. Net income fell to $122 million, or 62 cents a share, down from $131 million, or 68 cents, a year earlier. The company said it expects positive trends to continue through the rest of the year. Starwood franchises hotel brands including W, Westin and Sheraton.
Nomura Holdings ( NMR) is another popular search. The company's CEO Kenichi Watanabe has quit the investment bank, and Nomura has named Koji Nagai as his replacement.
- Log In
- Newsletters
Access insights and guidance from our Wall Street pros. Find the product that's right for you.
- Action Alerts PLUS
- Daily Swing Trade
- Income Seeker
- Quant Ratings
- Real Money
- Real Money Pro
- Stocks Under $10
- Top Stocks
- Trifecta Stocks
- Real Money Pro Portfolio
- Chairman's Club
- Compare All


text:
It's hard enough starting a strength training program if you're a beginner, having to deal with all the elements of a workout from the scheduling and preparation to actually doing the workout. Where things get most confusing is in actually creating the workout. What exercises should you do and how many reps? How much weight and what type of equipment?

One big question exerciser have is this: Are machines better for weight training or should you go with free weights? There are pros and cons for each type of equipment that can help you decide how you want to get started.

The Pros and Cons of Weight Machines

Weight machines can be a good choice, especially if you're just getting started with strength training.

The Pros

 Machines are supportive. If you look at most machines, they often have padded seats, padded back rests and handles that move on a fixed path. This can be ideal for when you're just starting out and need to work on form and coordination. You can also go heavier on the weights without a spotter.

 They're easy to use. Okay, sometimes the diagrams on machines are impossible to figure out, but at least they give you some idea of what the machine is supposed to do and what muscles you're working. And if you can't figure it out, you can always ask someone.

 They save time. It usually doesn't take as much time to change weights on machines as it would for many free weight exercises.

 They're less intimidating. Trying to figure out what to do with a bunch of dumbbells can seem impossible. With machines, you know exactly what muscles you're working and how to do the exercise correctly.

On the other hand, machines do have disadvantages.

The Cons:

 They're a little too supportive. Because you have so much support, you use fewer muscle groups at the same time. This means you burn fewer calories and work the body in a less functional way.

 They're limited. Most machines offer one exercise for one part of the body, which means having to use multiple machines for a total body workout.

 They don't allow you to work on weaknesses. Many machines require you to use both arms or legs to move the weight, so if one side is stronger than the other, that side may do more work than the weaker side.

 They don't allow the body to work naturally. Because many machines work on a fixed path, there's not much room for working the body throughout different planes of motion..

Of course, not all weight machines are created equally and many gyms now offer a variety of machines including plate-loaded, free motion and cable machines which can offer more variety and more functional training. These types of machines often have a higher learning curve and require more skill and coordination than the average machine.

The Pros and Cons of Free Weights

Free weights are probably my favorite way to strength train because they offer effective, time-efficient workouts. Other advantages:

The Pros:

 Versatility. Free weights can be used for a variety of exercises for the entire body, so you don't have to move from machine to machine to work different muscle groups.

 Functionality. With free weights, you're able to move the body through natural motions as well as through a variety of planes allowing you to mimic movements you do in real life like squatting, lifting things over your head and rotating the body.

 Building whole body strength. Because you're supporting your own body, you can work on specific muscles while involving smaller stabilizer muscles that can get neglected with machine training...this can also help you burn more calories during your workout.

Like machines, free weights also have some disadvantages.

The Cons

 They're hard to learn. Using free weights requires skill and coordination, so you may need some instruction when using them for the first time. Good form is harder to achieve without the added support from machines, so there's a higher learning curve with free weights.

 Risk of injury. Because there isn't a fixed path when using free weights, it's easier to put your body in the wrong position, which could lead to injury. There's also the risk of dropping the weights, especially if you're lifting heavy.

 Confusion. With machines, you know exactly what exercise you're doing and what muscle you're working. With dumbbells, there are so many exercises you can do, it's easy to get confused about where to start.

With strength training, a variety of tools is often the best way to get an effective workout. When choosing your own resistance, consider the following:

If you're a beginner: stick with machines until you feel more comfortable with the movements.

If you're in a hurry: go with machines. Workouts are generally more time-efficient when machines are used. If you have to wait in line, however, choose free weights.

If you're working out at home: stick with free weights. Machines are expensive, take up a lot of room and offer limited exercises. Free weights are cheaper, versatile and take up less room.

If you're rehabbing an injury: stick with machines since they offer the most support, but always follow your doctor/physical therapist's advice.

If you hate lifting weight: you might find machines are easiest to use.

To get the most out of each workout in the fastest possible time: stick with free weights. You can incorporate more muscle groups at the same time.


text:
" Prezzo provides great quality Italian food in a friendly and relaxed environment at affordable prices. We use the finest seasonal products available, many of which are imported directly from Italy. Our menu includes a wide variety of antipastic as well as pizza, pasta, risotto, grilled meats, fresh salads and frequently changing specials. "
Around as month ago now Rick and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary by having a weekend away in Bournemouth. Rick had researched a little to find the best places to eat there. We had discovered just a week or 2 before out trip that the annual 'Wheels Festival' going on whilst we where visiting and so we decided to up our game and we booked a place to eat.
Prezzo is a chain of Italian restaurants that is in the UK. The first restaurant opened in 2000 in London and over the past 15 years the company has significantly expanded to now have over 200 restaurants across the UK.
Arriving into Prezzo Bournemouth we were ignored for about 5 minutes before being seated as the staff all seemed busy and very flustered. Once we were seated our waited at first was extremely attentive taking our drinks order. It then became apparent that he was not so much being attentive as trying to get us out quickly because they were busy.
I ordered a chicken Caesar salad on a flat bread at £10.50. I wasn't so sure about wanting a flat bread but the waiter talked me into it. When my salad arrived looking at it I was instantly disappointed. The first thing that I noticed was the really back thick rings around the yolk of my eggs. To ear the eggs were soo tough and well cooked they were unpleasant. The tomatoes on my plate were not ripe and the lettuce just looked tired and not fresh or appealing. Then I got to the chicken, I don't think that it is unreasonable to expect fresh juicy chicken. What I got was really thin strips of cold dry chicken with loads of southern fried seasoning all over it. It was not advertised on the menu that the chicken had southern fried flavouring, in fact the menu said it was char grilled making me think it would be hot.
I think this is the first ever time I sent my food back. I felt embarrassed when talking to the waiter explaining that it was not fresh and definitely not tasty. I changed my salad for a bowl of chips as I just felt fed up and wanted something quick and easy. The chips I must say were nice.
Rick ordered Chargrilled chicken and mushroom with chips at £10.50. Rick was pleased with his dinner although said it was nothing special. In my opinion his chicken and mushroom was presented nicely and did look good. I had a taste and I agreed with Rick, it was basic food and not the best by far I had tasted but it was ok.
Prezzo appears to be a brand of restaurant that is well thought through. The menu is big and there seems to be something there for everyone. However, for me the food was incredibly disappointing as was the service.
A Prezzo restaurant opened locally to us earlier this yea and as a lover of Italian food me and my mum gave it a go very early on. We have been back several times after being impressed on our first visit.
I am sometimes wary of the chain restaurants as the quality of the food is often lost in the grand concept of the restaurant theme or ethos. It can become mass produced and tasteless. With this in mind we didn't have very high expectations of Prezzo when we first booked in. We were pleasantly surprised, from walking in we were met with a clean classic contemporary environment which was very welcoming. The host was very friendly and seated us quickly. The menu was interesting too with authentic Italian dishes, I particularly like the mix and match pasta where diners can select smaller dishes of 2 pasta meals! My favourites on the menu include crab cakes, chicken ravioli and the Italian burger. Having dined several times The service has always been consistently attentive. We have eaten here with children, the children's menu is fresh and nutritionally balanced. We haven't ever felt uncomfortable dining as a family which is great due to a lack of nice places to eat with children. I always find the atmosphere at their restaurants vibrant but relaxed, it is certainly a restaurant I enjoy my time at.
You can quite often pick up good offers whilst dining at Prezzo. They are part of the clubcard deals scheme, a member of Tastecard and run their own in-house promotions quite regularly if you sign up to their newsletter. This means that a family meal here can be considerable value for money. When you weigh this up against the quality of the food Prezzo is certainly a brand I will search out when I'm out and about. On a few occasions I have seen groups dining and I think it would be a lovely place for a family meal or a group get together. I can't imagine that you would find anyone who didn't like something on the menu.
I can see that we will become regulars at our local restaurant and have been encouraged to try other Prezzo's while visiting other parts of the country.
-- About Me --
We all have a different opinion as to what is expensive, at the end of the day it is relative to our lifestyle and location. I like to feel that I have received value for money when eating out. My wife is a vegetarian so when we go out as a couple we have to keep this in mind, so many places fail to offer a good selection of vegetarian food options.
When I eat out I wouldn't dream of spending more than £60 a couple or £30 a head excluding drinks. My average spend is nearer the £20 a head mark, that will always include a starter or a desert with the main meal.
-- Location --
There is no parking unless you are disabled then you can park directly in front of the building. Prezzo Northampton is located at Unit 3 Wood Hill NN1 2DA it is what used to be the old HSBC building opposite the Market Square.
-- Ambience --
The restaurant itself is clean with a stylish and modern décor. When you first walk in through the door you have a feeling it is going to be twice more expensive to dine than it actually is. The toilets are clean and the staff are both friendly and polite.
-- Food --
For starters I had the Baked Mushrooms and my wife chose the Bruschetta. For my main course I went for the Carltoni Calzone and my wife had the Goats Cheese Al Forno and we shared a portion of fries.
For Vegetarians - There were four starters to select from EXCLUDING the salads, breads and olives. There were 6 pizzas and four other main dishes excluding various side options.
The food was exceptional and the portions were large, we were both feeling very full afterwards but as I have an extremely sweet tooth we decided to look at the desert menu.
The main desert menu is a little limited but then they are an Italian restaurant and I have never been to one yet with an extensive offering. What they do have though is a selection of mini deserts, they are smaller portions and they come with a hot drink of your choice. I had a coffee with a Chocolate Profiterole, my wife a coffee with a mini Vanilla Cheesecake.
Cost - Excluding drinks and without any discounts the total bill was £43.50
-- Summary --
Prezzo definitely has the edge over its competitors, the ideal place to take a loved one and make them feel special without costing the earth.
-- Tip --
Register online with Prezzo and you will receive a discount code at least once a fortnight. I have used them without any issues. So far I have used a buy one main course and get a second for free, buy a main course and get a desert for free and receive 25% off your entire bill excluding drinks. They are time limited, usually valid for a one week period.
Prezzo is an Italian restaurant chain owned by the prezzo restaurant group which now has over 150 restaurants in the UK. My home city of Nottingham now has two Prezzo restaurants one located on Forman Street and one on Low Pavement with both being quite centrally located in the city.
Both restaurants are very modern looking but still have quite a cosy feel to them. I am personally a fan of modern décor so find the restaurants very inviting and love the fact that you can see the chef's preparing your food in the restaurant on Forman Street.
My husband and I last visited the Prezzo on Low Pavement last month on a Monday evening. As we normally go to the Forman Street restaurant we thought we would have a change. I always convert my Tesco club card vouchers to restaurant vouchers and Prezzo is one of the restaurants which take part in this offer which allows you to change your club card vouchers for 4x the amount of restaurant vouchers. You can also often find offers for Prezzo online from the Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert. As Prezzo has promotions such as buy one get one free on a regular basis it definitely makes eating here much more appealing and great value.
When we arrived at the restaurant the matradee desk was located just inside the door. We were quickly greeted and shown to a table with the lady asking if we wanted to be near the front or the back of the restaurant, it was surprisingly busy for a Monday evening but it did look like most people were taking advantage of discount vouchers they had found online. As we were shown to the table we were also given menu's allowing us to start choosing what we wanted to eat and drink straight away. I found this really helpful as a pet hate of mine in restaurants is being left seated for a long time before anyone brings you even a drinks menu so to me this was very good service.
We were waiting only about 5 minutes before our waitress came over and took our drinks order and the drinks followed shortly after. We indicated at this time that we were in fact ready to place our food order and she quickly returned to take it. She was very pleasant and friendly and told us that if we needed anything else just to let her know.
On this occasion I opted for the Grilled Goats Cheese(£4.95), Goats cheese with plum tomatoes and caramelised onions on ciabatta bread with a balsamic glaze followed by Risotti with king prawns and oak roast salmon and petits pois in a creamy saffron sauce (11.95). My husband ordered the Mozzarella In Carrozza which is Mozzarella cheese deep-fried in breadcrumbs served with pomodoro sauce (£5.20) followed by Spicy Beef VIP pizza which is served on its on board with pizza cutter (£11.05). We also ordered drinks of one coke (330ml £2.25) and one San Pellegrion sparkling lemon drink (200ml £2.10).
Both of the starters came out together and were very well presented, we actually shared them and both were lovely and fresh tasting. The main courses followed around 10 minutes after the plates of our starters were cleared and also came out together and looked very presentable, my partner being glad that he did not order any side dishes after seeing how large his pizza was. My risotto was cooked perfectly and had a wonderful balance of flavours, they had also not scrimped on the prawns and salmon, the waitress also asked if we would like any parmesan cheese or black pepper which I opted for. My partner also enjoyed his pizza that had an even spread of topping, although it was rather spicy it was not overly powerful and it was easily possible to avoid the larger slices of chilli on the top if you needed too.
Our waitress did come over to us during our meal to check that everything was alright which it was. She also offered us the coffee and desserts menu after we had finished the main courses which we declined as we were both rather full already.
I did nip to use the toilet facilities during our meal and found them to be very clean, and filled up with plenty of toilet tissue and soap etc. There were also baby changing facilities for anyone visiting the restaurant with babies.
When I asked for the bill I presented the waitress with our Tesco vouchers which she happily accepted. The bill arrived and was all correct, I opted to pay by card and the card machine was brought over to the table to me. All in all it was a good quality meal with very good service. I can certainly recommend that you try a Prezzo restaurant if you are a fan of Italian food, they have a great selection of dishes from pizza, pasta, risotto, calzone and salads. As I stated we did not have a dessert on this occasion but have in the past and they have also been very good.
Also keep an eye out for discount vouchers by signing up to Prezzo's newsletter on their website.
Normally when out and about and going for Italian, I like to go to Ask if looking for pizza/pasta places but thought for a change that when out over the weekend, my boyfriend and I would go to Prezzo in Kingston instead. We had tried to go before but told there was a 40 min wait one Saturday night so went elsewhere in the end. This time, we went straight in.
The waitress was very friendly, introduced herself and came and checked on us a couple of times whilst we were eating and was generally very smiley. We got a table though it was relatively busy.
The menu was reasonably varied, pizzas, pastas, grills, salads, light bites and so on. I thought I would try something I hadn't tried before and picked Chicken Ravioli. My boyfriend ordered a margherita pizza.
The food was brought to us relatively quickly, within about 20 minutes I would say. However, I was quite surprised to see that there wasn't that much to my meal, about 9 raviolli, I expected a bit more, it looked very pretty on the plate but I prefer a good meal to a work of art when I go out to eat. It tasted fine I admit, though there was only a very thin layer of chicken in the past. This was accompanied by some bacon and a few peas so it looked pretty I admit.
My boyfriend did not want all his pizzas so in the interest of comparing to other margerita pizzas, I had a small slice from his plate. I have to say it was really bad, the first mouth I took, I thought, this is not nice and the second confirmed it so I eat no more, the cheese was just so awfully plastic it made the whole pizza taste horrid, it's the sort of taste I would expect from a £1 pizza from a budget supermarket.
We didn't feel like dessert so asked for the bill. When I presented a Second Dish for £1 voucher, the man gave me a bit of annoyed look so that wasn't the nicest.
Overally, not overly impressed, might go there again for variety in the future but not one that is going on my favourites list.
Prezzo is a big chain restaurant specialising in Italian food and branches can be found up and down the country.
Similar to ASK and Zizzi, their restaurants have a nice informal feel whilst being in beautiful buildings with very stylish contemporary design.
The menu is very diverse - there is the standard anti-pasti and starters, pizza and pasts dishes as well as in some branches rotisserie chicken, which is good if you are dining out with someone like my Dad who thinks that pasta and pizza is foreign but can just about cope with the idea of eating chicken and chips!
There is normally a bar area where you are asked to wait for a table when the restaurant is busy and then a large dining area.
I've found that unlike their rivals ASK, the food can be a bit hit and miss depending on what branch you happen to be in but it is generally good.
My favourite dish is a pasta dish called Penne Con Salmone, which has oak smoked salmon and broccoli in a cream based sauce that has chilli in it - it is lovely, and just thinking about it now is making me hungry!
They also do a lovely garlic bread with balsamic glazed onions which is also very nice as a starter.
I don't think I have had room for dessert on most occasions that I have visited Prezzo but I have had the honeycomb smash cheesecake one or twice and i'd really recommend that!
A main course is about £9.00 so about the same as ASK or Zizzi, but you can normally find a voucher online to use most days (Saturday and sometimes Fridays being the only exceptions) to get 2for1 on main courses which is really good.
If you want good Italian food in a relaxed setting, Prezzo will do the job. Although if there is an ASK nearby, I think they just have the edge!
I was first introduced to Prezzo's when discussing where to go for a meal to celebrate my birthday. A couple of my friend's mentioned how good the Prezzo's in a town not far away from us , in Oswestry was , and so I took there word for it and went for it and fifteen of us had a lovely meal there . I enjoyed the experience so much that my friend and I went there again last week. I am going to base my review on my latest visit to the restaurant , which was last week.
First of all , for those of you who don't know ; Prezzo's is a chain of Italian restaurants in the United Kingdom. In fact , there are a total of one hundred and forty Prezzo's restaurants in this country ; the first which opened in 2000.
The restaurant we went to , used to be an old 'Toymasters' store". The restaurant is very "long" and is as though it is in three seperate sections ; the first section by the door contains some tables , as well as sofa (where you can wait by the bar before being seated ) and then a kind of middle section where you can dine , as well as 'the far end' section where you can also dine. We were sat at the back of the restaurant , and it is here , where you can see the chefs cooking. The way that you can see the chefs cooking behind a kind of bar/counter , reminds me of 'Little Chef' although more formal of course.
The restaurant itself , seems formal , yet informal at the same time. We were sat , a table or two , very near to other customers ; we had tables of two either side of us , and it didn't feel very private , because as we were talking , we could see the customers by us , looking at us and listening and so would have preferred a quieter table. Although , the restaurant was very busy on the night that we went , and working in a restaurant myself , I understand that at busy times sometimes in order to acommodate everyone , it's necessary to 'squash' a lot of tables.
* Food *
At Prezzos , there is so much choice! There are around ten choices per each course , so there is plenty to choose from. For starters , you could choose from soup , stuffed mushrooms , Goats Cheese , or items such as king prawns or chicken wings. For mains , there was loads more to choose from ; lots of pasta dishes , pizzas , risotto and steaks.
I love pizzas and pasta dishes , so I was confident that there was going to be something that I would like on the menu. Every time I go to a restaurant , I always go for the pasta dish , and so in Prezzo's , I had a slight dilemma ; which pasta dish to go for ; as they all sound so delicious. I am vegetarian , but there is so much choice ; pasta wise , there are meaty ones and no-meaty ones , so everyone's a winner.
For starters I had , "Baked Mushrooms stuffed with grana padano cheese , garlic , carmelised onions , mushrooms and breadcrumbs - £4.95. It consisted of six medium (not the baby ones , and not the large ones , the middle sized ones) sized mushrooms stuffed with cheese along with a delicious creamy garlic dip , as well as a rocket salad. To begin with , I really loved the mushrooms ,but after I had eaten three of them , I found that they became a little sickly , and so for this reason , although I thought it was great , that you had quite a lot for what you paid for , I think around three mushrooms would have done the job fine. I really liked the garlic dip ; it was delicious and complimented the mushrooms really well.
For main course I had a pasta dish ; "Fusilli Al Pesto - Asparagus spears , field mushrooms , roasted peppers in a basil pesto sauce - £7.95. Again , a very generous portion which is great if you have a large appetite. I really enjoyed this ; the pasta was a perfect texture and I loved how all the ingredients went to well together and how there was so many delicious tastes ; from the pasta sauce , to the asparagus to the peppers. The only thing was that I couldn't eat all of it , as I was still quite full from the starter. I also had some home-cooked fries , which were so tasty ; so moreish!
We were too full to have a desert ; not like us at all! I have always got to have a desert no matter what , but this time I had been beaten! There was a great selection of sweets available from sticky toffee pudding , to milk chocolate fudge cake and ice creams! Perhaps next time I wouldn't have a starter , but would have desert instead.
* Service *
Considering the restaurant was so busy , we had a great service , even if we did have around twenty five minutes to half an hour wait for our mains , although you could see that the chefs were working very hard and so we didn't mind waiting. I like the fact that you can see the chefs preparing the food ; it makes the dining experience seem more 'real' if that makes sense. The staff were efficient , friendly and professional , which again added to the experience.
* The Bill *
Luckily , my friend who is a regular Prezzo's customer , and loves a bargain , had printed a voucher off the Prezzo website. The voucher entitled us to ; buy one main course get another for £1 , which I thought was fantastic , and so we got the cheapest main course (which was mine), for £1 , although , we split the bill. Together we had two starters , two main courses and four cokes between us and came to a total of just over £31 , which I thought , "wow! that's a lot!" but then , after I thought actually that's not that much at around £15 each! So all in all , well worth the money.
I would definately recommend Prezzo's to everyone! If you love Pasta and Pizza then you will love this place! I think next time , I might try a pizza for a change! It's also not to expensive which is great if you're on a budget! Look out for any special offers on their website!
Thanks for reading!
July 23rd 2010
xd-o-n-z-x (also posted on ciao under xdonzx)
Ever since having my daughter over a year ago, I have been dying for the opportunity to go out for a meal, just me and my hubby, like the good old days and I finally had my chance last night.
As you can imagine I probably would have been grateful to eat anything, or go anywhere, but luckily I didn't have to as we had a reservation for dinner at the East Grinstead branch of Prezzo.
Prezzo is a chain of Italian restaurants with several branches across the UK, and it prides itself on producing authentic pizzas, pasta, fish and meat dishes.
I have eaten there several times over the years and have never been disappointed, however I appreciated the experience so much more yesterday since it is now a rare treat to get out without our lovely baby in tow.
On first impressions, Prezzo in East Grinstead is a very classy looking restaurant. It is housed in a gorgeous, grand building in the historic end of the high street, and has lovely floor to ceiling windows which are always opened on a balmy summer evening like last night.
The interior is minimalist, set on two levels with smart leather look chairs and simple yet modern furnishings. The kitchen is open so you can see the chefs preparing the food.
I have never eaten in another branch of Prezzo but there are quite a few in our wider area, and a lot of them are housed in beautiful, historic buildings which adds to the ambience.
Prezzo gets very busy, yet the staff are excellent and have the got the right balance between being attentive, but not overbearing. They are polite, friendly and professional.
The menu is extensive which can make choosing difficult as there is a lot of choice and everything looks so nice. It is divided into sections as follows; bread and olives, starters, pasta, al forno, risotto, grills, pizza, salads and side orders.
There is a separate drinks and dessert menu and a children's menu is also available.
As we never get out these days, we decided to go all out and have three courses so I opted for garlic bread with mozzerella, spaghetti carbonara and raspberry panna cotta.
My husband went for crab cakes, tiger prawn risotto and toffee and banana cheesecake.
The portions were generous and the food delicious. Words can't describe how much we both enjoyed this meal, and savoured every tasty morsel. It arrived quickly and was very fresh and piping hot where applicable.
Price wise, Prezzo is competitive. A main course ranges from around £6 - £12, and a three course meal for two, with soft drinks cost £50, which I think is fairly average.
There are also good deals available which can be found on the website or via google. These include the current special offer which is a a starter, main course and rink from the set menu for just £10. The set menu is quite good and includes a nice selections and we almost availed of this offer as like most people, money is tight these days.
I will definately be going back to this fantastic restaurant the next time I can bribe someone to babysit my child!
This review is about the Prezzo in East Grinstead.
Prezzo Serves Italian food such as pizza, pasta and risotto.
You can also enjoy favorites like chargrilled chicken or a simple salad.
This prezzo has a contemporary feel. Its no the done up and is a nice place to eat weather the occasion be a birthday or just nothing in the freeer.
The staff are always quick to see you and seat you, but i would recommend a reservation as there ALWAYS full. The staff are always polite and smiling, and that its self makes the experience a lot more enjoyable.
I think the longest ive waited for my meal here is roughly 15minutes. Thats amazing considering my local mc donalds often takes longer.
I signed up to the monthly prezzo offers. They bring out a £10 meal deal each month where you get a starter, main and drink for only £10! Only problem is you get a set menu so if you dont like anything on there you can use the offer. They also have another offer where with every main meal you order you get another for just £1. This is on every main meal so theres something for everyone.
The menu is amazing for the quality of the food. Pizzas start from around £6.75 and go upto about £9.75. This is great considering all food is freshly cooked.
The menu is a perfect size. I can stand it in places where the menu is so big you cant decide. They have a bread and olive section, starter, pasta, al forno, risotto, grills, pizza, salad and side order. Each section is not huge and has about 10 items. They have a separate wine menu and separate desert menu. Other drinks can be found of the back of the main menu. They also have a separate childrens menu.
Ive never experienced any problems here. Everything is perfect and of high quality.
Last night I did something that I never do I left a tip! I was really happy to leave a tip as well as I couldn't fault a thing (well only really daft things!) so let me share my experience of Prezzo Oxford.
............Restaurant Background.........
Prezzo is an Italian chain of restaurants that's ethos is to serve great value Italian food in stylish and contemporary surroundings.
They offer a wide selection of Pasta's Chicken Dishes, Pizza's, Risottos and salad's
(Prezzo in Italian means Cost)
The restaurant I am reviewing is Prezzo Oxford located in the Oxford Castle Complex at number 2 Oxford Complex and is a contempory modern building.
Oxford Castle complex is located a short walk from the Westgate Car Park or if you are a Disabled badge holder there is parking right outside the complex.
There are as you would expect of a major city excellent bus services from outlying towns and villages mostly run by Thames Travel.
I have looked at their website and Prezzo does seem to have Restaurants in most of the country to check your area go to www.loveprezzo.co.uk .
You can book via the website however I am a bit of a techno phobic so used the old fashioned way of telephoning plus I wanted to check they were not Child phobic! I am glad that we booked as the restaurant was almost full for the 2 hours we were there only 1 table for two at one point!
I am notorious for not finding much to suit as a vegetarian often only finding one or two items our difficulty was in narrowing down our options!
We chose Mushroom Arancini which was Crispy Risotto balls filled with field mushrooms and Mozzarella with a tomato and chilli dip. He choose Tiger Prawns cooked in a tomato chilli and spinach sauce served with focaccia which eventually he stated was delicious!
I thought that all the starters sounded lovely and there was a good selection from Crab Cakes to Minestrone soup and no less than five vegetarian options! All priced between £4.65 and £5.50.
After another lengthy struggle we managed to decide on Penne con Buffalo which was penne pasta with mozzarella roasted cherry tomatoes onions garlic and basil in a tomato sauce and which was intense in flavours with a beautiful velvety sauce. (£7.50)
My Husband went for Pollo Carbonara(£9.50) and again until he had eaten about half not a murmour was heard!
We also order a mixed salad which was beautifully presented and contained Tomatoes, mixed leaves, cucumber, red onion, olives and peppers.(£3.50) Plus we also had Garlic Bread with cheese.(£3.20)
I mentioned the children earlier well I have to admit this is what impressed me the most they got for £4.95 a starter of either Garlic bread or Garlic bread with cheese which was the same size as a normal portion which costs £3.20! They also have the choice from Children's Pizza, Spaghetti with meatballs, penne or spaghetti with tomato, Bolognese or carbonara sauce or oven roasted Chicken wings. Followed by a scoop of ice-cream and including a glass of squash!
Both my girls choose Pizza the eldest had a margherita and the youngest pepperoni when they arrived I was gobsmacked at the size of these (a normal dinner plate) and as is every parents duty we tried a piece and the pizza was delicious a really lovely thin base which tasted as if it had been cooked in a proper Pizza oven I was also amazed as the children pronounced them delicious and after the eldest had said it was too much managed to eat all bar two slices!
Desert Well the menu looked great indeed with my favourite chocolate fudge cake but as he wouldn't share and I was really full it had to be abandoned , however the children's Ice cream was a good quality one with pieces of chocolate / strawberry in.
I felt that the portion sizes were very generous and that the value was excellent we also added two cokes to our order at a cost of £2.20 plus two glasses of wine at £3.95 and £3.75 Drinks were the most pricey aspect of the meal however having looked at other places they were fairly standard. In total or bill came to £56.15 for the four of us which I feel for good quality food and dining experience was excellent even better was that I paid in Tesco club card vouchers so I only had to pay for the drinks!
.................Overall presentation and dining experience..............
Well as mentioned We were dining with children and often although this supposedly acceptable it isn't really here the children were treated with respect asked for their opinion and were listened to a really nice change and led to a relaxed dining experience for my husband and I! I would have to say that although this is a chain it felt like a family run place we spent a hour and a half in the restaurant the service was good the food was great it was prompt but not hassled and although very busy it didn't feel that way indeed I noticed that all conversation ceased when food arrived!
Yes yes yes it was great experience and if you go to their website they have a deal for £10 which is a starter, main and a drink which sounds excellent value, or if you have any club card vouchers then exchange them for Prezzo vouchers every £2.50 equals £10.00 and if you buy a bottle of wine at £15.00 still a great deal. My family cannot wait to go again we have even chosen what we are having!
I cannot even think of any bad points which is really unlike me so give it a try.
Prezzo is a popular place for me and hubby to eat out as it is relatively cheap (you can also get some great voucher offers online if you have a look, such as two main courses for the price of one, or dine for £10), and the food (while not haute cuisine) is of decent reliable quality. We mainly use the Weymouth restaurant and the service in there is generally excellent with the staff actually remembering us and what we have to drink even though we are not what I would consider regulars! The Prezzo restaurants I have been in also appear to be very well designed and contemporary.
The menu is Italian of origin and includes pasta, pizza, oven baked dishes, salads and even burger and chips (!) for those who are not big italian food fans. The desserts are generally average, consisting mainly of cheesecake and ice cream dishes (although the hazelnut cheesecake is a winner), gone are the tiramisu and crumble dishes which were an old favourite of mine. The wine list is fairly average and could be better, with the prices fairly expensive as is often the case in restaurants such as this.
My boyfriend and I have always wanted to try Prezzo but we always go to the less expensive restraunts as we dont have much money but I managed to save my Tesco club card vouchers which you can quadruple so I managed to have £50 in vouchers and we love it, we have recently saved another £50 in vouchers and went straight to Prezzo again.
The Prezzo near me is situated in an old building. As soon as you walk in you are greeted by friendly staff who always have a smile on their face. They will check you will and then there is a board with the special of the day which they will show you.
The restraunt looks very nice and clean inside. They bring the menus to your table and offers you a drink. They have a great range of Pasts and Pizzas to suit all tastes. At first we thought they will be small portions but they are actually quite big. They have lovely starters, I recommend the stuffed mushroom. For deserts my boyfriend loves the chocolate cake and I love the honey cone cheese cake. They use frsh quality ingredients and cooked to perfection.
The last two times we have been, we have been seated near the door so when ever someone comes in, it makes a draft and becomes cold. The frinks can be expensive aswel as we get a coke which costs £2.20 for one of those small glass bottles.
I would suggest that you ring up and book a table first because the first time we tried going we rang up and they were fully booked so we had to arrange another day and then the second time we managed to ring a get booked in straight away but when we was in the restraunt eating, lots of people entered and got turned away because they were fully booked.
In conclusion, Prezzo is a great restraunt with friendly staff and delicious food and would strongly recommend it.
Put simply, I love Prezzo. The food is always delicious and I have never once been even slightly disappointed. There is a large range of great Italian dishes and there is plenty of choice for vegetarians. Whether it be pizza, pasta or risotto that you fancy, you won't be struggling for options. The same goes for starters and puds, there is a great variety that will leave you 'umming' and 'ahhing' and wanting more than one of each. The portion sizes are generous but not so large that you will be too stuffed to manage three courses.
I always feel really comfortable in Prezzo as well. The atmosphere is nice and relaxed but a little more formal than some of the other high street chains, which can make it feel a bit more special for a particular occasion.
In my experience they are also really good at dealing with large groups. Whereas some restaurants seem to take forever to serve larger parties, Prezzo never seems to be particularly fazed. However they do sometimes require a deposit for these larger bookings.
Overall Prezzo is a lovely dining experience that I always enjoy and the food is delicious.
Recently my boyfriend and I decided to spend our Tesco vouchers on a nice meal out. Looking at the restaurant options on the Tesco website, we decided to go for Italian chain restaurant Prezzo as we'd always liked the look of our nearest branch and thought we'd try it out.
The branch we visited is in Thame in Oxfordshire. From the outside it looks very smart, and as you walk in it has a pleasant atmosphere with nice lighting and well-spaced tables. We visited on a Thursday evening and it was quite full with a low buzz of conversation. I can't remember if there was any background music playing, so if there was it can't have been intrusive.
At first glance the restaurant seemed quite small, but then we were led upstairs to find there was another floor with plenty of tables and with just as nice an atmosphere as downstairs. We were taken to a table on a sort of narrow balcony that looked down onto the floor below, which seemed nice until we noticed that right next to us was a small area where drinks and a till were located, meaning the waiters were always coming and going right next to to our table, which didn't seem very private.
First we ordered out drinks, which seemed quite expensive at £2.10 for a soft drink, and which turned up in a disappointingly small glass. After that we just ordered tap water to drink.
Looking at the menu, there is plenty of choice and it all sounds very tasty. It took us both a while to choose what to have as we were tempted by several different things. It is very well laid out with good descriptions of the different dishes.
First there is a selection of bread and olives to choose from, followed by starters including baked mushrooms, bruschetta, deep-fried mozzarella, and calamari. Starters cost around £5 each.
Main courses are divided into pasta, al forno, risotti, grills, pizza and salads. Depending on the branch, there is also a section of either roast chicken, or calzone (folded pizza). The Thame branch has calzone. Prices of a main meal are around £7-£11. There is also a small dessert menu.
We chose to share some Pane con cipolla, which is garlic pizza bread with caramelised balsamic onions and mozzarella. This was nice enough but nothing special, and didn't seem to have much mozzarella on it.
For my starter, I chose tiger prawns in tomato sauce with garlic, chilli and spinach, served with focaccia bread. When the starter arrived, I was a little disappointed by the very small amount of bread with it, but the prawns looked fresh and juicy, and there were a reasonable number of them. They turned out to have a lovely texture, however I couldn't taste them at all as they were so overpowered by the chilli in the sauce. I didn't think it was a suitable combination at all and it seemed such a waste not to be able to taste what looked like very nice prawns.
My boyfriend chose chicken with pesto on focaccia bread, which he said was quite nice but not something he'd want again.
For my main course, I chose a pasta dish with chicken pieces in a saffron sauce, & my partner chose an al forno dish: chicken carbonara. The dishes arrived looking appetising and the ingredients looked fresh and well-cooked. Unfortunately neither of us managed to eat more than half of our main course as they both tasted very bland, and after a while the taste began to be a bit sickly & unpleasant. Despite the fresh-looking ingredients, the tastes all seemed to blend into one bland flavour, as if the dishes had been microwaved.
I wouldn't be very keen on going to Prezzo again after this experience, however I imagine their pizzas would perhaps be slightly tastier, as in my experience chain restaurants are much better at producing nice pizzas than tasty pasta dishes. In fact, I normally avoid pasta when eating out due to several experiences of not enjoying it, but Prezzo lulled me into a false sense of security with its up-market atmosphere and fancy-sounding menu.
I am giving Prezzo two stars based on the pleasant atmosphere and good service, and the assumption that some of the food on the menu must be more pleasant than what we chose!
Money Saving Expert once again came up trumps on our recent trawl to find someone new to dine out. Having tried Ask last year (and coming away replete but not exactly over-whelmed with the menu), this time it was the turn of Prezzo, another high street Italian chain. Like Ask, Pizza Express, Strada, Zizzi et al, Prezzo offer informal Italian themed dining in contemporary and stylish looking outlets. Prezzo have around 140 different city centre outlets dotted throughout the UK, many of which are located in listed buildings or places of historic interest. For example, the restaurant in Chichester (where we dined) is located in an old city centre pub with loads of traditional wooden beams and stained glass windows.
Prezzo offer a broad range of Italian dishes including pizza, pasta, risotto and salads. Their emphasis is on using fresh seasonal ingredients, some of which they import direct from Italy. So how did Prezzo measure up in comparison to Ask, Zizzi and Pizza Express? Read on and find out.....
Just like Ask, Prezzo outlets tend to be located in historical or unusual looking buildings. This is certainly the case for the Chichester restaurant, which is located in an old pub called The White Horse. I can't honestly ever remember either drinking (or dining) in there when it was a pub, despite having lived in the Chichester area for the last 20 odd years. Therefore I cannot accurately comment on what sort of transformation Prezzo have wrought on the décor since their arrival. However, Prezzo have done a good job of using the period features of the building such as the ancient beams and stained glass windows to enhance the décor. Indeed, clever lighting with spotlights on the beams made the place feel fresh and contemporary, and married the ancient with the modern very nicely. It was a Thursday evening when we dined there, and the restaurant was extremely busy - almost full I'd say. The welcome we received was positive and friendly and we were seated quickly and efficiently, but sadly not at the best table in the house (more on that later).....
Prezzo offer traditional Italian cuisine with a good range of antipasti, pasta, pizza and risottos on offer. Some Prezzo outlets offer Pollo Arrosto (rotisserie roasted chicken), and others offer Calzone (which is basically a folded pizza baked in the oven, topped with garlic butter and melted cheese and containing some kind of filling) instead. I think it depends on whether your particular outlet has the room to install the Calzone ovens. There is no Calzone option at the Chichester outlet, only the roast chicken option. However, if your nearest venue is without Calzone oven, worry not, the menu is extensive enough without, and there is a nice amount of choice for each course.
Antipasti /starters offer old favourites like Minestrone Soup, Bruschetta (baked focaccia bread with various toppings) or Garlic Bread. More interesting options I liked the look of were Gamberoni Piccante (tiger prawns marinated in garlic and chilli served with spinach and a tomato based sauce) and a particular favourite of mine Calamari Fritti (deep fried squid with a lime and dill dip). Starter prices range from cheapie garlic bread at £2.55 up to around the £5.00 mark for prawns.
Main courses offer a mind boggling array of choice - not only the usual suspects of pizza, pasta and risotto, but house specialities such as Crab Cakes, Red Pesto and Mozzarella Burgers or a range of interesting sounding Insalates (salads). All the pizzas are freshly baked in a stone oven on the premises and there are 10-12 to choose from. There are old favourites such Margherita, Quattro Formaggi and Tropicana, as well as more intriguing options such as Vesuvio (double pepperoni and red chillis). Pizza prices tend to range between the £6.00 to £9.00 mark.
If pasta is more to your liking, then Prezzo do the usual Spaghetti Bolognese, Lasagne, or Spaghetti Carbonara, as well are more exotic options involving ingredients like asparagus, tiger prawns, oak roasted salmon or pancetta bacon. Prezzo offer a choice of 15-20 different pasta based dishes, so something to tempt everyone. Pasta prices range from £6.00 to £9.00 per dish. Lighter meals are served in the form of risotto or insalate. In addition to all these menu options, there is a daily specials "blackboard" as well.
The dessert option is fairly limited but not less mouth watering because of it. It's not particularly Italian sounding, despite a nod in the direction of a Vanilla Pannacotta. Other options are chocolate fudge cake, sticky toffee pudding or cheesecake. Dessert prices are a fairly hefty £4.00 to £5.00 each.
Thanks to Money Saving Expert, we were in possession of a couple of vouchers offering us a two course menu plus drink for £10.00 per person. This appeared to be a very good deal indeed, so we decided to give Prezzo a whirl.
Basically we had a small array of four starters to choose from, followed by a larger selection of 10 or so main courses. This was accompanied by either a glass of house wine, a bottle of Peroni beer or a soft drink. If we decided to have the same sort of menu it would normally cost around £15-£18, so we were, of course, keen to try it at £10.
For starters, there was a choice of either Garlic Bread, Bruschetta, Mozzarella Garlic Bread or Mozzarella in Carrozza. I plumped for the Mozzarella in Carrozza, which was Mozzarella deep fried in breadcrumbs and served with Pomodoro sauce. I had no idea what Pomodoro sauce was, but it sounded interesting so I gave it a whirl. The dish was actually two large crescent shaped breadcrumb coated parcels of mozzarella - a much bigger portion than I was expecting, and rather generous. The Pomodoro sauce in question was a mild tomato based sauce - fairly meek in flavour. Mozzarella is a rather bland tasting cheese, and the Pomodoro sauce needed to be a little more adventurous. In my opinion it needed some fire in its belly - adding some tarragon, chilis, garlic or black pepper may have added some life to it. My partner chose the Bruschetta, which was foccacia bread with a topping of tomato, basil, red onion and garlic. The Bruschetta was nicely crunchy, but lifted from being just a boring large crouton but the addition of a tasty layer of tomato and herby flavoured sauce.
For the main courses, there was a little more choice on offer, and this took some careful consideration before we made our final choices. There were four different pizzas, four different pasta dishes, one salad and a vegetarian option to choose from - so something for everyone. I was tempted by the Fusilli con Polpette (meatballs and mushrooms in a garlic and tomato sauce finished off with rosemary), but decided to be a little more adventurous after my rather bland starter. I plumped for a Pizza Vesuvio (double pepperoni and red chillis), as I adore pepperoni. I was a little worried about how much chilli would be included on the pizza, as too much can spoil a meal in seconds for me. There were a couple of "safer" options - namely Spaghetti Bolognese and Spaghetti Carbonara and my partner chose the Spaghetti Carbonara, and a good and generous portion was served. The spaghetti was nicely al dente and served with a suitably generous amount of pancetta bacon and creamy sauce. The waitress grated a large quantity of extremely tasty parmesan onto it, which made it nicely cheesy. My Pizza Vesuvio was also a very good sized portion. I was able to locate and remove a lot of the chili from it, as there was rather too much to make it "safe" to eat. I was offered additional chili oil on my pizza by the waitress, but declined this offer, as I felt the level of spiciness was more than sufficient. The pepperoni slices were a little small for my liking, but there were a good quantity sprinkled over the pizza. The edges of the pizza were nicely crispy and centre doughier. On the whole we were impressed with our main courses - the portions were a lot more generous than those served at Ask.
There were no desserts offered on the £10.00 menu, but that really didn't matter as we were full from the starters and main courses. We were offered desserts and coffee, but declined both. However, if I ever return I think I could easily be tempted their Hazelnut Bombe (meringue with vanilla ice-cream and hazelnuts).
Prezzo offer a full selection of both soft and alcoholic beverages, a lot of which, not surprisingly, have an Italian origination. From the wine menu you can have Frascati or Chianti as well as choices from other wine producing countries. Beer wise you're limited to bottled Peroni lager - on offer at a wincingly expensive £3.25 for a 33cl bottle (or £5.95 for 66cl bottle). Our menu price included two drinks, so we ordered two bottles of Peroni, and then paid extra for a soft drink for me. A bit sneaky on our part, but a bottle of lager costs £3.25, and my soft drink was only £1.95. We decided against coffees, but they are priced rather reasonably under £2.00, so worth noting for future visits.
The service was extremely attentive and very friendly. We were offered generous portions of freshly grated parmesan with main courses - both of which are a welcome touch. Our waitress stopped by several times to check our meals were to our liking, and we were offered further drinks several times. Despite being on the cheapie menu, we were never made to feel like cheapskates or second class citizens like some restaurants do. There was a mix-up with my starter, and I was served with a Mozzarella Garlic Bread instead of the Mozzarella in Carrozza that I'd ordered. Once this was pointed out to the waiting staff, they were profuse with their apologies and a replacement quickly sought and served.
However, the table we were seated at was certainly not the best seat in the house, and I think that in showing our discount vouchers to the member of staff who seated us, we sealed our fate. That said, you can't blame them. They're going to put their full price paying customers on the better tables, and the discount ones in their equivalent of Siberia. The table we were seated at was in a narrow corridor with 3 or 4 other small tables directly leading off from the kitchen. The noise of the crockery and cutlery (not to mention shouty chefs!) was a little loud at times, and the corridor a constant hive of activity through waiting staff collecting hot dishes or returning empty plates to the kitchen. Added to which, the 3 or 4 tables in the corridor were quite close together and therefore quiet conversation was a little strained at times. Definitely not the table for a romantic meal à deux anyhow! If I return to Prezzo for another meal, I shall definitely be in favour of dining towards the front of the restaurant rather than the back (or upstairs).
Our bill came to an extremely reasonable £21.95 to which we added a tip. I consider £21.00 for a pair of two-course dinners and drinks to be a rather good deal. That said, I don't know if the food was impressive enough to want to make a return visit and pay full price. Don't get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with it - it was all certainly tasty enough and generous of portion. Given a choice between Ask, Prezzo or Pizza Express, then I'd definitely choose Prezzo. The portions at Prezzo are a lot more generous than Ask, and the ambiance a lot more "grown up" and welcoming than Pizza Express. However, I just find that the majority of chain based Italian restaurants lack a certain je ne sais quoi (or whatever the equivalent is in Italian...). The menus make all the right noises, but the food lacks the wow factor. Maybe I'll return and try out the freshly roasted chicken at Prezzo one of these days, as that does sound rather nice. In my opinion, if you're dining on the high street, you'd have to go a long way to beat the food at Café Rouge, The Slug and Lettuce or Nando's in comparison.
Three stars from me; good portions, attentive service, but slightly let down by rather bland food and a table located in the wilderness (but without the matching solitude and tranquillity).
Prezzo is owned and operated by Prezzo Plc, and they also run ChimiChanga (Mexican food), Jonathan's, The Ultimate Burger, Meat Packers New York Grill and iMMo Café outlets.
Prezzo Plc
Johnston House
8 Johnston Road
Woodford Green
Telephone No: 0845 602 3257
Website: http://www.loveprezzo.co.uk/ or www.prezzoplc.co.uk
The full menu can be found at the website above and there is also a restaurant search facility.
- All major credit cards are accepted
- Disabled access is good at the Chichester outlet, but there is a slight step down into the ladies toilets (these are located at the back of the venue, and were clean and tidy when briefly inspected).
- The emphasis in any Prezzo is on laid back, casual dining, so the dress code is relaxed and informal.
If you're fond of dining out do have a look at www.moneysavingexpert.com (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cheap-restaurant-deals) before you make your plans. There are often discount vouchers on offer (current deals are available at Zizzi, Ha Ha, The Slug & Lettuce, La Tasca, Prezzo and many others).


text:
That the human evolutionary record is "mosaic" is already so apparent as to be undeniable. It seems however that the final word on this phenomena hovers between those that are not aware of it, those that are aware of it but don't understand its signficance, those that chose to deny it, and those that wish to explain it away.
If we start from the assumptions that the human lineage has been niche specific (as it seems does both OoA and MRH) then neither of them is reconcilable with what is actually observed. There's really only one solution to this problem and that involves recognition that the homonid lineage achieved niche independence around 2.5 my.
I should mention, however, that how the hominid lineage actually became niche independent requires new thinking on the 2 to 4 million years leading up to the point 2.5 mya at which the hominid lineage achieved this niche independence.
Jim McGinn
Google "Ecological Gatekeeper Hypothesis"


text:
wanted in shootingsBreaux Bridge men
LAFAYETTE — Breaux Bridge police are searching for two men wanted on suspicion of attempted murders in separate shootings this past week, authorities said Friday.
Both Breaux Bridge men are considered armed and dangerous, police Detective Darren Benoit said in a news release.
Mark Daniel Thomas is accused of shooting a victim on Sunday on Richard Street, Benoit said.
Thomas, 31, also is wanted on counts of domestic abuse battery and simple escape, Benoit said.
Benoit said police also are looking for help finding Kory Minor, who is wanted in a shooting Tuesday in the 1800 block of Rees Street that left the victim in critical condition.
Investigators said they believe Minor, 21, is still in St. Martin Parish, Benoit said.
Police have Christopher James Celestine, 28, of the 600 block of Zimmerman Street, Breaux Bridge, on one count of being a principal to attempted second-degree murder in the Rees Street shooting, Benoit said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact police at (337) 332-2186 or (337) 332-8397.
of hitting teacher
Student accusedLAFAYETTE — A student at Northside High School has been arrested for allegedly ramming a pregnant teacher in the stomach, Lafayette police said.
The 17-year-old student was arrested just after noon Thursday by Lafayette police on a charge of battery of a schoolteacher. He was booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center but released later Thursday.
The condition of the teacher was not available.
Police said the conflict began as the teacher removed another student from her classroom to avoid a physical altercation; she followed the student into the hallway. Police, in a statement, said the accused 17-year-old tried to open the door from within the classroom and allegedly rammed the teacher as she blocked the doorway.
Compiled from Acadiana bureau staff reports, The Associated Press and news releases.


text:
Event honors coverage of those with disabilities
Media professionals and students responsible for reporting on people with disabilities will be honored for their work at the 31st Barbara Jordan Media Awards Luncheon on Thursday at the University of North Texas' Apogee Stadium.
The award is named for the late Barbara Jordan, a U.S. congresswoman, orator and Houston native who in 1973 was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. It recognizes individuals for producing content in several categories including print, TV, radio, photojournalism, Internet and special contribution by an organization relating to accurate and positive reports of individuals with disabilities.
Doors for the luncheon will open at 11:30 a.m., followed by lunch and the program beginning at noon. Serving as keynote speaker for the event is Bob Phillips of Texas Country Reporter.
The event is a partnership of the Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities, UNT's Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism, Institutional Equity and Diversity and the College of Public Affairs and Community Service.
"It's an opportunity to recognize and applaud and raise awareness with regard to disability issues," said Dorothy Bland, dean of the Mayborn School. "[Jordan] was a champion in the political arena, a great orator and a great professor.
"It's significant for our school because it demonstrates that we care about media and we're also passionate about diversity."
Among this year's honorees are Phillips; Sarah Mervosh of The Dallas Morning News; Adam Winkler of Austin's KEYE-TV; Tina Phan, Ralph Barrera and Omar Gallaga of the Austin American-Statesman; Matt Largey of Austin's KUT-FM (90.5); the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities in Austin; high school student Nikki Lyssy of Westlake High School in Austin; and college student Chelsea Henderson of UPbeat, a magazine published at Lamar University in Beaumont.
For more information, visit http://bit.ly/O7JIU9.
BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876 and via Twitter at @BritneyTabor.


text:
VIENNA (Feb. 10)
A final agreement has ended the difference between Austrian authorities and the Jewish Agency regarding Soviet Jewish emigrants being processed through Austria. The Interior Ministry announced the agreement Monday and Jewish Agency sources confirmed it today.
According to the Ministry the agreement is in accord with Austrian law which demands that every emigrant has the right to chose his or her country of immigration freely. Emigrants are informed by the police on the bus from the airport or from the railroad station to the Jewish Agency's camp about various possibilities of immigration aid.
If they want to go to a country other than Israel, they have to leave the Agency's premises and go to the nearest police station where they receive detailed information about Jewish and non-Jewish aid organizations which help them to go to Western countries.
Sources at the Jewish Agency said the first information sheet handed out on the bus is worded in a very general way addressing all groups of emigrants, not only Jews. The Agency insists on dealing only with persons who want to enter Israel.
The differences between the Interior Ministry and the Jewish Agency erupted when the authorities put up a poster inside the Agency's transit camp listing other refugee organizations. This was done after HIAS announced late last year that it would only assist to go to the United States those emigrants with first degree relatives there. The Interior Ministry perceived the freedom of choice for emigrants to be endangered. The Jewish Agency reacted to the poster by removing its staff from the transit camp.
The Interior Ministry removed the poster but demanded all emigrants going to Israel had to sign a written statement saying that they were doing so without any pressure put on them. Many refused to sign such a statement. The new agreement was acceptable by both sides.
Meanwhile, Baruch Minkovich, a lawyer from Tel Aviv, who had been director of the Jewish Agency in Vienna for two years, ended his term this week and was to return to Israel. His successor is Lea Slovin, also a lawyer.


text:
Looking for a vacation rental in Clunes? Tripping.com has 16 rental homes available in Clunes. Potential renters will find 1 studios, 11 1-bedroom, 1 2-bedroom and 3 rentals with 3 or more bedrooms ranging from $53 a night to $201 a night. Many of these properties are instantly bookable.
The average price of a nightly rental in Clunes is $129 while the average price of a weekly rental is $25. For those looking for more than a short term rental such as corporate rentals, extended stays or long term rentals, the average monthly price of a Clunes home is $25.
Wondering if you can bring your favorite dog or cat with you? We have 4 pet friendly vacation rentals available for you. In addition to accommodating pets, Clunes rentals offer a variety of amenities. In particular, 3 rentals have internet and wifi, 7 have TV and/or cable and have a pool or hot tub.Search properties from 4 rental sites in Clunes where the top providers in that area are Booking.com, TripAdvisor, and HomeAway. There are 8 Booking.com rentals, 4 TripAdvisor short term rentals and 2 HomeAway vacation rentals.


text:
IT'S A NEW school year and for parents of kindergartners or college freshmen, it's a year of firsts.
Not so for parents of high school seniors.
For them, it's the year of lasts — the last back-to-school night, the last teacher-parent conference, the last booster club fundraiser and perhaps most important, the last time their family will exist in the same way that it has for the past 18 years or so.
It's what Toni Piccinini calls the Goodbye Year.
She should know. The Ross resident has had three Goodbye Years, for one daughter and two sons. She has written "The Goodbye Year: Wisdom and Culinary Therapy to Survive Your Child's Senior Year of High School (and Reclaim the You of You)" (264 pages, Seal Press, $16), an engaging guide-memoir-cookbook, to help other parents survive.
Actually, it isn't for parents — she wrote it specifically for moms.
"My husband did not think it was a big deal," she says of her firstborn's senior year. "It was a really big deal to me. I just got so clear that everything is going to be the last time, and it wasn't just the last time for Page, but it was the last time for our family. Our family was a family of five, and we had a great life; we biked together and skied together and watched 'Star Trek' together. We were really close, and I could see that this was the ending."
What also was ending, she feared, was the most important role of her life — being a mom. It's a fear many mothers share once they become empty-nesters.
"Our generation of women, the baby boomers, we got this idea that we could have it all and so we were always falling short and thinking that all the other moms are getting it together and we are the weak link in this," Piccinini says.
Living in Marin can make any perceived failure be all the more challenging.
"We are so blessed to be living in a place where people have education and wealth, and those are really beautiful things. The sort of shadow side of this is this incredible competition," she says. "I think I have kind of an atavistic genome that was giving me motherly confidence, but when her senior year started and all the chatter was about essay coaches and the things they did in the summer to pad their resume and college applications, I thought, 'Oh my God, I really screwed this up for her. How is her resume going to compete with all these other kids whose moms do these right things while I was saying, 'let's go to a baseball game'? So when college apps started, I started to feel like, what kind of job did I do? I've let her down. She's worked so hard."
Piccinini, 59, has been much more than "just" a mom. She and her husband owned the noted San Francisco restaurant Mescolanza for many years, but sold it when they couldn't reconcile the demands of a restaurant with the demands of raising three young children. The year Page, her firstborn, became a senior at Redwood, she began teaching culinary classes in Ross. So it's natural that she turned to cooking as a metaphor for everything she was experiencing.
Her book includes recipes that match the seasons and moods of a mother launching a child into the world as well as an idea a month — join a group, start a gratitude journal, have a gals' get-together — to reclaim the woman who existed before she was known as so-and-so's mom.
It's important because somewhere along the way, that woman most likely lost her mojo.
"Marriage, family, community, volunteering at school — that's a lot of busyness, and when you're really busy you can just sort of put things on the back shelf. Maybe your marriage is a little prickly, maybe what you're putting your energy into isn't feeding your soul, and you start going, 'Here I am approaching 50 and what the hell am I doing?'" she says. "When we become moms we take on that role and we wear masks to protect our children from our adult troubles and our adult fun. Senior year is really a perfect time to reclaim who you really are and introduce yourself to your semi-adult child, being more authentic."
She hopes her book challenges moms to question the beliefs that they've held onto for so long, especially about mothering and what she calls "womaning" — trying to make everything OK for everyone, to be the perfect mom, to make every holiday The. Best. Holiday. Ever.
"We hold onto beliefs and the only thing they do is keep us in the same place and keep us kind of miserable," she observes.
She also hopes moms realize that whether their child graduates summa cum laude or flunks out, it isn't their fault. They will make mistakes, and that's OK.
"From the beginning we say 'my baby,' 'my daughter,' 'my son,' and on dorm drop-off day you recognize that was only syntax. They're not ours. And as they start expanding into their world, we moms need to pull back. That's really hard to do," she acknowledges. "By the time senior years comes along, that's the best time for moms and children to start designing a new alliance."
Vicki Larson can be reached at email@example.com; follow her on Twitter at @OMGchronicles, fan her on Facebook at Vicki-Larson-OMG-Chronicles
What: "The Goodbye Year" book reading and signing with author Toni Piccinini
When: 7 p.m. Sept. 14
Where: Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
Admission: Free
Information: 927-0960; www.bookpassage.com


text:
|Stained Glass • Fusing • Mosaics • Jewelry Supplies
Easily Add Detail
Etching is a great technique for creating beautiful designs on glass. Just apply a stencil, brush on etching cream, let it stand a few minutes, and wash off. Etched designs on mirrors look especially decorative and are very popular. Or try etching on dichroic glass to add perfect detail to jewelry. See step-by-step below. Note: always wear rubber gloves when using etching cream. Will not etch plastic and some Pyrex.
Delphi Tips:
|Step-By-Step: Etched Dichroic Pendant
|1.) Place stencil on glass. Use included wooden stick to transfer design onto glass.
|2.) Apply etching cream. Wait a minimum of 5 minutes and rinse.
|3.) Cut glass to the desired shape, cap with clear glass and fuse. Apply a bail and enjoy your custom etched dichroic pendant.
|Design shown in cabochon below from Flowers #1294.
|See More Items That Customers Also Viewed
|5 star
|4 star
|3 star
|2 star
|1 star


text:
Lewis now championing East End home
By THANE BURNETT, QMI Agency
LONDON - Boxing legend Lennox Lewis may have a comeback career as a champion for the underdog.
Earlier this month, one of the sport's greatest fighters lent muscle to the cause of Lennox the Labrador-American Bulldog, sentenced to die by officials in Belfast, Northern Ireland, simply because of its breed.
Now the 1988 Olympic gold medalist and later world heavyweight champ is back in this city's gritty East End, where the majority of the 2012 Olympics will take place.
While Canadians treat him as their own, Lewis was born in the Cockney corner of London and, as part of an Olympic legacy promise, is making the rounds hoping to bring pride and prosperity to his childhood streets.
He recalls feeding off the area's energy, especially during weekend soccer games.
"That's when it was the rowdiest," he explains.
Though, as a youngster, he also loved the fish and chips produced by local merchants. He still returns here to feast on them.
He used to jump on area buses as a child -- getting a free ride until the stern conductors would came down and kick him off.
He traveled far in the years to follow, but has come full circle for the cause.
In a London promotional video, Lewis points out: "I've got a British passport and a Canadian passport, and obviously my British passport comes first."
When I take him aside, he pulls his punches and treats both countries with care.
"Britain is my mother, but Canada was there to nurture me," he tells me.
It always pains him to watch Canadian athlete go head-to-head with their British counterparts.
And, yes, he wants Canada to do well.
Of course he hopes the Summer Games return to Canada. And he asks why professional boxers can't compete in the Olympics if pro basketball players can go for the gold?
But those are fights that will be decided down the road.
Right now, Lewis is in the East End's corner, hoping it benefits from the immediate attention -- and money -- offered up by hosting the world.
While he has fond memories of growing up here, the East End is economically depressed, weighed down with high unemployment rates and substandard housing. The district of Bethnal Green and Bow reportedly has a child poverty rate of one of every two children.
So the aim was for the Olympics to help create 20,000 jobs in five host boroughs, and jumpstart long-term improvements. Organizers have fallen short of the job target but analysts say there's progress that can be built on.
But how much progress can come to an area without gutting the people who know it best? Some locals complain about an influx of young, white-collar owners looking for profit instead of community. The price of homes near the main Olympic site have gone up substantially since the Games were awarded.
The increase amounts to 33%, versus a country average of 24%.
Lewis says he feels a duty to plug away for streets where he found his own footing.
He's even brought his family here so they can see it through his eyes -- what London's East End was and can be after the Olympics leave.
With the right moves, East End London could walk away one of the biggest winners from these Games. But some fights in life are tougher than standing toe to toe with Shannon Briggs and Mike Tyson in their prime.
And even Lewis knows no outcome is certain when the bell rings.
After all, despite the outpouring of support for Lennox the dog, who apparently didn't know what it was to fight or take a bite, Belfast officials still went ahead and put him to sleep.


text: Bonus footage from backstage of the Raphael Saadiq show in New Orleans. In this clip I documented Raphael's Pre-show ritual where he plays arguably the most famous version of our National Anthem courtesy of Marvin Gaye from the 1983 NBA All-Star game to kick off Raphael's show. I have had the Marvin Gaye YouTube embed on my Myspace for a couple of years now so it was great to see Raphael use this song as his inspiration, and even more enjoyable to document it. Enjoy.


text:
PRZOOM - /newswire/ -
Scottsdale, AZ, United States, 2015/08/19 - App Combines Cloud Phone System with Customer Relationship Management Software - Nextiva.com.
Nextiva, an industry-leading cloud-based communications company, announced today that its new app, which seamlessly integrates its business phone service with Zendesk Inc.s platform, a leading cloud-based customer service software company, is now available.
The Nextiva App for Zendesk makes customer information and account history instantly available to business users. It integrates users Nextiva phone service to Zendesks customer service platform, thereby allowing businesses to provide a highly efficient and personalized customer interaction. The technology allows access to customer information via the phone number associated with the account and the number the customer is calling in from. Additionally, the app permits servicing staff to make outbound calls directly from their desktops, eliminating the potential for misdialing.
The app is free for users of Nextivas cloud phone service and Zendesks customer service platform. There is no additional software needed or additional applications setup. Users can simply install the Nextiva App from Zendesks app store. From there, they can begin increasing productivity and decreasing frustration related to the time wasted searching for customer account information and call history.
"Zendesks mission is to help organizations build long-term relationships with their customers," said Sam Boonin, Vice President of Product and Platform at Zendesk. "Working together with Nextiva, were able to make it easier for businesses to manage their customer interactions across phone, email, web, social and chat."
"We are excited to partner with Zendesk on our new app and provide our shared customers with an effective tool to improve the customer experience," says Josh Lesavoy, Nextivas Chief Information Officer. "Here at Nextiva, we are passionate about providing customers with Amazing Service®, and this app is the perfect avenue for us to help businesses provide the same level of service to customers by increasing efficiency and eliminating time wasted searching for customer information."
About NEXTIVA
Nextiva (nextiva.com) provides cloud-based communications solutions designed to simplify the way businesses communicate. Founded in 2006 on the principle of Amazing Service®, Nextiva acquired its first customer in 2008. Today, Nextiva serves more than 100,000 businesses in the United States from its headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Agency / Source: Nextiva, Inc.
Availability: All Regions (Including Int'l)
Traffic Booster: [/] Quick PRZOOM - Press & Newswire Visibility Checker
Distribution / Indexing: [+] / [Company listed above is a registered member of our network. Content made possible by PRZOOM / PRTODAY indexing services]