Lawry's Carvery and New Zealand Natural

On Monday, January 27, 2009, Chinese New Year, we went to see the L.A. Clippers play the Portland Trail Blazers.  My wife got free tickets from the American Red Cross when she last gave blood.  She had a choice of a few games during January through March.  We picked the Blazers game because I hadn’t seen the Blazers in a while.  I’ve also been rather focused on Portland, OR during January.  Earlier I ordered a CD from the band Hockey who are from Portland (see earlier review) and I ordered the CD from CD Baby who are also based in Portland.  I’ve been reading the book The Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam that he wrote after spending a season with the Portland Trailblazers during 1979-1980.  So it made sense to see the Clippers play the Blazers.

I hadn’t been to a Blazer game in nearly 13 years.  The last time was when I was attending Willamette University as an undergrad.  I saw the Blazers play against Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and the Chicago Bulls.  The Blazers nearly won that game and it was very exciting.  Next I saw them play the Seattle Supersonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) and that game was also exciting because it was close and there were lots of Seattle fans in attendance.  The third time wasn’t as exciting but I did get to see them play against Charles Barkley, Kevin Johnson, and the Phoenix Suns.

After work we met up at the disc for the 1963 Grammy Awards on the sidewalk of the Grammy Walk of Fame in L.A. Live.  On it was listed the Record of the Year “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” sung by Tony Bennett.  We decided to meet there since it was Chinese New Year and San Francisco has a prominent Chinatown.  The 1963 disc is between the ESPN Zone bar/restaurant and the Lucky Strike bowling alley.  It was a good place to meet because there were benches nearby and some warm air coming from the ESPN Zone building.

From the 1963 disc we walked to that same ESPN Zone building to have lunch at Lawry’s Carvery.  It’s a casual version of the finer Lawry’s The Prime Rib.  The Carvery serves made-to-order sandwiches and salads along with a few platter meals.  We entered and ordered at the counter.  Their menu isn’t very large with four Platter Meals, five Salads, five Signature Sides, and four Hand-Carved Sandwiches.  The sandwiches come with Lawry’s Potato Chips and for bread we could choose French Baguette, Ciabatta Square Roll, or Onion Roll.  We could also choose from many different hot or cold sauces for “dipping area”.

It wasn’t very crowded at all and they made our sandwiches, cutting the meat and slicing them right there in front of us.  The put them on square white plates.  We then picked our table.  The seating area is small to medium sized and triangular-shaped.  Along the long hypotenuse of the triangle is a large flatscreen TV and this evening they were broadcasting a college basketball game.  After five minutes a server came by and took our drink orders.  I ordered the roast beef sandwich on a square Ciabatta roll with Lawry’s crispy onions as an additional topping.  It was very good.  The amount of meat was substantial but not excessive.  It had the right consistency and taste and was especially good with the Au Jus I ordered for “dipping area”.  The crispy onions were sweet and crunchy.  The Lawry’s potato chips were crispy and numerous and not very salty at all.  My wife enjoyed her Prime Rib sandwich on an onion roll and also with Au Jus for dipping area.  Our meal was adequate and left room for dessert.  As we ate more people came in and sat down with their orders.  We saw a couple other Clipper fans.  One couple we would later see on the Jumbotron at the game.  

After dinner we walked one door down to New Zealand Natural Premium Ice Cream for dessert.  They had many different interesting flavors of ice cream and four flavors of sorbet.  The staff allowed us to try a small amount of the flavors before we ordered.  Orders come in three sizes, small or one scoop, medium or two scoops, and large or three scoops.  They also served it in various cones and they have several different toppings.  I ordered the passionfruit sorbet because I hadn’t had that flavor before.  It was pretty good with a flavor that tasted like real fruit.  My wife had the Kiwi ice cream.  We both enjoyed our desserts despite the cold weather.

After dessert we walked over to Staples Center and a staffer directed us to the northwest end of the building outside of which was the Red Cross table where we picked up our free tickets.   We enjoyed our time at the game even though our seats were very high up in section 333 and most of the Clipper Stars (Baron Davis, Chris Kaman, Marcus Canby, and Zach Randolph) did not play due to injury.  Before the game we saw someone who looked like Baron Davis shooting the ball with some kids on the court.  Maybe he was putting on the Clippers clinic?  Over the PA system they played the song “Are You Ready” by AC/DC that I hadn’t heard in so long.  This season is the Clippers’ 25th since they moved from San Diego to Los Angeles.  The Clipper Spirit Dance Team performed during time outs and breaks between quarters.  They also played their version of “Deal or No Deal” where the fan was lucky and actually chose the suitcase with the maximum $1,000 prize.  At another break they had a fan shoot from half court to win a car.  Before he shot the ball, one of the Dance Team, Recee, threw it behind her back and it very nearly went in.  The fan also missed, though his shot did hit the rim.  At halftime they had Indian (as in from India) dancers.

Also in attendance at the game was Jessica Alba.  Later they showed a fan on the Jumbotron with a sign that said, “Jessica Alba.  Marry Me?”  She had to turn him down since she’s already married.  Her husband actually went to high school with Baron Davis.  As we have at previous Clipper games, we got some swag.  This time staffers threw a t-shirt that landed between my wife and I.  Another fan snatched it but returned it to us in sympathy.  It was bound up in a rubber “Clipper Nation” bracelet.  The staffer also gave us a Clipper keychain right after the fan snatched the t-shirt.

As for the Clippers, they actually kept the game close through the first three quarters.  Starters Al Thornton and Fred Jones and bench player Steve Novak played well.  Novak scored 21 points, made 5-8 three pointers and was named the Clipper player of the game.  This is appropriate because on the website to sign up for the blood drive-Clippers promotion, Steve Novak and his wife Christina broadcast a short video urging people to sign up.  They were up by 1 after a quarter, down by 1 at the half and down by 4 after 3 quarters and then they just faded away.  We left about halfway through the 4th quarter.  By then they were down by 16.  Portland had just worn them down especially Brandon Roy who seemed to be everywhere and scored 33 points.  The Clippers would go on to lose 88-113 and were outscored by 21 points in the 4th quarter.  I think we left at the right time.  Many other fans left when we did.  But it was still a fun way to spend New Year’s.