A welcome variation among entrees was the broiled red snapper, which, while slightly overcooked and underseasoned, was refreshing in its simplicity.
It has a refreshing directness and simplicity (even if the overly busy plot is sometimes hard to follow) that suit the archetypal material, and yet it lacks none of the intelligence or emotional honesty we expect from Sondheim.
While the production loses steam at times and turns frustratingly arid — the loose, geometric movement can too often resemble that of Trisha Brown's choreography — there is a refreshing, almost clinical simplicity to Tricia Toliver's lighting design and Reid Bartelme's costumes.
Grilled portobello mushrooms with Yukon gold potatoes and wilted watercress, a holdover from Wish's vegetarian days, is refreshing for its simplicity, while wild mushroom and asparagus risotto is more interesting as a scavenger hunt to find the sliver of black truffle than as a dish.
While there is something to be said for a wrist computer that can tell you pace, distance, age, weight, number of mailboxes passed on your run, and lucky lotto numbers, something like the Mio is refreshing in its simplicity.
