Maine Foodie Tours Review

     One of our absolute favorite activities is to take a walking tour of the area we are visiting. And if the walking tour includes, history, food and alcohol we are in TOTAL heaven. For our trip to Portland we booked a foodie tour of the old port area. Staring at 10:30 am at the Old Port Wine Shop (what a PERFECT starting point for us two), This a great little wine shop with some very eclectic wine. You should definitely make a stop if your in the area.

      Our first official stop was Vervacious, right next door, http://www.vervacious.com/. This is a great gourmet shop of flavored salts and vinegars. We had a really nice sampling including Anise salt sprinkled on apples YUM and chocolate balsamic vinegar and a nice mead wine. Some pics of Vervacious and the walk to our next stop.

      From there we walked to a great little mixed use market with several different vendors sharing the rent on one building (pizza, sandwiches, beer store, cupcakes) and our stop was for a selection of great local Maine cheeses. We continued our walk and went next to Stonewall Kitchens, http://www.stonewallkitchen.com/, now a giant food emporium but originally started by two people to sell homemade Blueberry jam. And what else to eat but fresh baked blueberry scones topped with the now world famous jam. Heres a quick pic;

      After another walk, (good thing we were able to walk off some of these goodies), through the historic old port area, we were in a locals only fish store, the Harbor Fish Market, http://www.harborfish.com/about.php. This is the exact kind of store I would visit every week if I live here. Tons of extremely fresh fish, the boats deliver at the back of the store, that FRESH. We tasted some incredible smoked fish made in Maine and we ended up going back later and buying three packs.

      From there it was off for chocolate, YUM!! We stopped a a teeny, tiny little shop called Dean's Sweets, http://deanssweets.com,  making incredible truffles. The ginger/wasabi was to die for. From there, time for some more sweets, over to the Two Fat Cats bakery, http://twofatcatsbakery.com/,  for one incredible whoopie pie. And our final stop, liquid refreshments at the Shipyard Brewery, http://www.shipyard.com/, While I am not a huge fan of Shipyard beers, this was a fun and informative stop. Last set of pics;

      This was an incredible walking tour, one we would highly recommend. I give Maine Foodie Tours an A Plus.

Jet Rock Bar and Grill

      OK, admittedly reviewing a restaurant located in an airport is weird, But with more airports bringing in higher quality food, I thought it was time . So my trip home from Fort Lauderdale took me through Philadelphia and with a two hour layover, I did a little shopping, (wife's b-day in two days), and then went looking for a place to eat. I could of gotten a meal at Legal Seafood's, or at one of many fast food joints, but I kept looking and eventually stumbled onto Jet Rock Bar and Grill. Sort of a pub and food place with over 40 different beers on tap. I sat down at the bar as my usual and was given a menu and beer list. After perusing the very large list I ordered a purple haze and since I was in the city of brotherly love , a Philly cheesesteak.

      And here is where things went down hill, my server was dealing with some jerk at the end of the bar who wanted his meal cancelled cuz it was taking too long and was giving her a real hard time ( jerks in airports making everyones life miserable, hope he got strip searched by TSA). OK, it happens, if your in the service industry you will have to deal with this at some point, but the problem was she proceeded to deal with it by becoming everyones worst server ever, surly, non responsive, dismissive, HEY LADY, I wasn't the jerk. Anyways the beer was very good, the sandwich was OK but the service ruined the whole meal. Go here to get yourself a great brew and a pretty good sandwich and hope you don't have my server.

Food,                     2.5  OK sandwich, your average airport food.  

Beer and Wine,    4.0  Nice beer and wine selections, best I have seen in an airport.
Service,                 2.0  AWFUL, if you can't shake off a bad customer, find a different business to be in.

Ambiance,             3.0  Its a bar and loud but for an airport it's OK.

Price,                     2.0  Airport pricing, enough said.

Overall                  2.70  If not for the server, I would of actually liked this place. If I am stuck in Philly again, I would go here. Hopefully my server will be gone. 

Quarterdeck Review

      The Quarterdeck is a chain of sports bars in Florida. Having spent over an hour waiting for a water taxi that never came, AND having spent the day in airports, we were starving and just wanted ANY place we could find within walking distance to eat. We stumbled across the Quarterdeck and were told there was a 45 minute wait but the bar had seats available, so in we walked and away we ate. I really wasn't expecting much but was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and most of all the service.

      Think about Fort Lauderdale in late February, vacation central, so while the Quarterdeck is a very large place, it was PACKED to the rafters. And to top it off, we found out a couple of servers had called in sick, (can't blame them is was 80 and beautiful). But the bartender came over right away with menus and took our drink order, and was back with the drinks in a flash. I noticed they had a very large raw bar, so I asked about the oysters (this can be a scary proposition in a sports bar but what the heck I was feeling lucky). I was assured that the blue points had arrived fresh that morning so I ordered a half dozen. My fellow worker decided to start with the peel your own shrimp. Both plates were exceptional, the oysters really fresh and the shrimp huge, with a whole bunch of them. For our entrees, I went with a really unusual sandwich, blackened fresh grouper, fresh mozzarella, basil and cappicola on a ciabbata roll, and my buddy went with blackened fish tacos. The fish in both entrees was incredibly fresh, and while on paper my sandwich sounds weird the blackened fish, the fresh cheese and the salty, slightly spicy ham worked PERFECTLY together. This was a perfect start to our Fort Lauderdale business trip and highly recommended.

Food,                     3.25  Sports bar food but very well done
Beer and Wine,    3.75   Nice beer selection, typical grocery store wine selections.
Service,                 5.0     I have never given anyone a 5 but this poor guy was HUSTLING, and yet he was pleasant and took the time to explain the menu to us.

Ambiance,             3.0     Sports bar, enough said.
Price,                     3.5      One of the most reasonable of all our Fort Lauderdale meals.

Overall                  3.70 A really nice local chain with above average food for a sports bar. I would recommend them if you are in Florida.

Three Penny Taproom Review

      This will be the world's quickest review, as really the Three Penny is a bar. Yes, they do serve a LIMITED amount of food, (on our visit it consisted solely of  two kinds of oysters, a sandwich of onions and cheese and a cheese plate). So you do not stop here for a meal but rather for the fact that they serve the finest selection of beers in the Montpelier area.

      A big sign proclaims "We proudly DO NOT server Anheuser Busch products" and that basically says it all. If your idea of a great beer is to order a Michelob ULTRA, then please do not stop here. But if you want a local, (or not so local), beer with great taste and flavor, then this is your place. IF you want to try something you have never heard of , then this is your place. Mike and I went with Foster by Hill Farmstead, who's beers are rapidly becoming my favorites in the whole wide world. Foster is a black wheat IPA with incredible flavors, Kris went with Edward also by Hill Farmstead, which is their American pale Ale and wifey went with a cider/mead combo which was interesting.

      Service started out not too friendly, but by the time we left the young bartender was joking and seemed a bit more interested in us rather that chatting with her friend. Stools are not the most comfortable, no backs so no place to hang your coat and being a long narrow space it can get quite cold when someone opens the door. But for a taste of beer you can't find elsewhere, these inconveniences wont matter.

      I give Three penny taproom an A rating and declare it a great neighborhood bar.

Bluebird Tavern Review

      UPDATE; This review and visit occurred before Bluebird moved to their new downtown location. We have not had a chance to visit the new location but look forward to visiting soon.

      We have had a strange relationship with the Burlington areas very first gastropub. Our first experience was that we were seated and left for 25 minutes until we got up and walked out, (even then nobody said anything to us). After the owner heard, she was nice enough to comp us a $75.00 gift certificate and we tried again. Service was marginally better but the food was only so-so and unbelievably expensive (gift certificate didn't even cover half the bill and we left hungry). So we walked away from the Bluebird and waited for its eventual demise.

      But then we heard of a shake-up and that a new chef had taken over. Having eaten at the Daily Planet during his short stay there, I knew he could be innovative but still give you something recognizable to eat (really its nice you can cube chorizo to microscopic proportions but I actually like to TASTE my chorizo, thank you very much). So we mustered up our courage and went back, WOW, now this is what a gastropub should be like. Don't get me wrong  it was still ungodly expensive, but this time we both left full and very happy.

      So for my birthday, I was asked where I wanted to go and since the new menu at Bluebird featured bone marrow (OK, I may be obsessed with this and you just don't find it on very many menus), I said let's go back and see what's new. We had a 6pm reservation and they weren't quite ready for us so we had a seat at the bar and I had that oh-oh moment of, was this a mistake. The bartender gave us a drink menu and then forgot us for about 10 minutes. She finally came back to us and really wasn't the friendliest person in the world, though she did answer my questions about the different Hill Farmstead beers. Quick aside, I don't believe you can buy Hill Farmstead, (brewed in Greensboro), anywhere but Vermont, but if you ever see it in your local bar, BUY SOME. Just delicious.

      Once we received our drinks we were summoned by the hostess that our table was ready. And oh-oh moment number two. First the tables at Bluebird are VERY close together and the couple seated next to us did not seem to be having a good time. I found out later that they thought this was still the old Mexican place when they came in, well DUH one look at the menu should of cleared that up, Anyways he hated the burger he ordered and walked out leaving his poor wife to finish her meal by herself. There are serious jerks everywhere. Now at this point I must say that the oh-oh moments stopped and life became great. Our server was wonderful, the menu looked incredible and the beer ..oooohhh the beer. Hill Farmstead, I started with the Abner, (all their beers are named after relatives), an Imperial IPA, which was incredible and then with my meal had a George, an American brown ale, both beers were just superb and went well with my meal. The dear wife had a couple of glasses of wine, the first, on special, was a Leo Hillinger Zweigelt, what a great and unusual choice, full of full of great cherry and chocolate flavors, and the 2nd glass, Le Pinot Noir from France,,matched perfectly with her salmon.

      And on to the meals, I started with the aforementioned bone marrow, served with shrimp stuffing over the top and sitting in a deep pool of roasted garlic sauce with chunks of garlic, leek and carrot. An incredible melding of flavors and our server was sweet enough to rush over another helping of grilled bread, as this sauce could NOT be wasted.  Wifey went with the butternut squash bisque, laced with an herbed oil and cocoa nibs, YUM, and I am not even a fan of squash, hearty and delicious.

      For our entrees, I went with stuff stuffed with stuff, specifically pork belly and quail, stuffed with a stuffing made of pork, quail and mushrooms , served over french fries with an incredible gravy. GOD this was good , like the most unreal Poutine ever, (Canadian dish of french fries, cheese and gravy for you non-Quebecois). For her entree, the wife went with wild salmon over chestnut risotto and fried strips of parsnip and this also was just incredible (or so she says, as I was only allowed a very little taste). We both were extremely satisfied and also STUFFED, so an over all great meal.

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     4.8  Totally inspired, ridiculously good. One tiny quibble, stuffing was a bit dry
Beer and Wine,    4.5  Nice beer and wine selections, list is small but well thought out and highly unusual.
Service,                 3.5  I knocked it down by .5 for the poor service by the bartender,everyone else was superb

Ambiance,             3.5  Nice exposed brick but tables for two are packed in way to close to each other.Bar area is nice but its COLD back there.
Price,                     3.5  VERY pricey, but the excellence in taste and presentation make up for it. Definitely a special occasion place

Overall                  3.96  I have to say this is probably my favorite special occasion place in Burlington. You are guaranteed to have a superb meal with expertly prepared ingredients. There just seems to always be one little thing that stops me from giving Bluebird all 5's, and it seems to always be something in the service. This is probably the last time we get to go to Bluebird at its current location, as they will be moving to downtown very soon and a new barbecue place is going to spring up here. Downtown is much more inconvenient for us but we will certainly check out the new space and we will try the new barbecue place once it reopens. Stay tune for more updates and please if you love innovative, unusual and well prepared foods, don't hesitate to visit.

Cooking 101; Beer Braised Short Ribs

   Well, what do you know an actual recipe and not just a product review from Costco's. This recipe calls for a bit of prep but once done you can chuck it into the slow cooker and leave it be for the rest of the day.Beef short ribs are available most anywhere and usually for a very reasonable price. For this recipe I prefer the boneless ones as I really don't like carving around bones. I know experts say bone-in releases more flavor but c'mon look at the marbling in these beauties, how much more flavor do I need?

      The first step is to create a spice rub and let your ribs marinade in the rub for at least an hour, (longer is better, MUCH better). That's why this first step could be done the night before, especially if this is going to be a weeknight supper. Also this may be a good time to tell you , that while I used a slow cooker, the original recipe called for a dutch oven. The first time we tried this recipe, we did go the dutch oven route. The advantage of course, is everything can be prepared in one dish, making clean up relatively easy. The downside, and the reason we went with slow cooker, (I still want to call it a crockpot), is that I don't like having the oven on for 3-4 hours, it really heats the house up.

     Back to the recipe, combine 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, 1 tablespoon each of paprika, cumin, black pepper and salt. Now I veered from the original recipe a bit, as it called for 2 tablespoons of mustard, but as we don't care so much for mustard flavor, we created a paste with basil olive oil, but feel free to use mustard if you like that flavor. Combine all the ingredients and rub the ribs completely, marinate in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight. This would be a good time to roughly chop up an onion, 4-6 carrots, 2 celery stalks and 6-8 peeled and smashed garlic cloves, (I used 8, I LOVE garlic). here is a pic of the spice mixture ready to add;

     Once the ribs are marinated, heat up a pan and add the ribs to brown, if you are using a dutch oven, add some oil first and heat that up before putting in the ribs, we used a non-stick pan instead. Brown all sides of the ribs and remove from the pan, add the onions, carrots and celery and cook until they start becoming soft. At this point, add 2-3 bay leaves, 5-6 sprigs of thyme (and any other fresh herbs you have around, I had basil and some dill) and the garlic. Once they are cooked a bit, move everything over to the slow cooker and here is where things are a bit confusing. The liquid portion will totally depend on the size of your cooker and how many ribs you are making.

      As you can see, we had six ribs (which I cut in half for ease of fitting into the cooker). So in my case I used one cup of beef stock, one 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes and 1 and 1/2 beers (HEY, I was thirsty), and this was enough liquid to cover the meat (VERY important). Then, just put your cooker on low and relax for 5-6 hours.

      After said hours, move the meat and vegetables to a platter. Strain the remaining liquid into a heavy duty saucepan and turn the burner on high. Taste the sauce and season as needed, we felt that the sauce was missing something, a bit of acidity maybe?, some flavor?, so we add a healthy dollop of Balsamic Vinegar.
Bingo, this was the added flavor we needed. Let boil until sauce has reduce to your favorite consistency, we like it a bit thick but not syrupy, so we reduced it about 1/3 of the original amount. Perfect. And the finished dish;

      So there you have it, a perfect fall supper for those cool nights. A nice glass of hearty red wine, I suggest something with some depth and weight to it for this meal, Cabernet Sauvignon for sure, or a California Syrah or maybe a Rioja from Spain, would work. A nice fresh roll to sop up the sauce, and life is grand. And since this is a perfect fall dish, a few pictures of our colorful, but too short, Fall;

Wooden Spoon Bistro Review

      Due to my lovely wife's weird rotating shift, there is one weekend every month she has to work Friday and Saturday nights and gets Sunday and Monday nights off instead, YUCK. We like to try new places on the weekend but many restaurants are not open on Sundays, so our choices are usually limited. It was with great excitement I noticed a new Bistro/Bar that had just opened was indeed serving on this particular Sunday night. The Wooden Spoon Bistro is not easy to find, tucked away on Williston road, right in front of Higher Ground and in the same building as Quiznos.

      This is a cute little place with seating at tables for about 30 and a nice large bar holding maybe 15 more. The interior is rather sparse, but local art on the walls helps a bit. When we arrived the place was empty, (Sunday night at 5PM ), except for two other customers at the bar. We chose to sit at the bar and the bartender/server could not of been more friendly as were the customers, one of whom turned out to be the on duty server eating her supper. The wine and beer list is adequate, with some well though out and unusual selections on it, wife started with a Four Vines Zinfandel, yummy and I went with the Long Trail Double Bag, also very yummy.

      We were a bit disappointed to learn that two of the appetizers we had read about, (and were going to order), from a previous reviewer and from the menu online were now gone, the shrimp corn dog and the authentic Caesar salad with anchovies, not to mention the rum and coke chicken wings. This will be a theme that I will touch upon later. So back to the menu and we decided to try the risotto balls and the smoked salmon rangoons. WOW , is really all I can say. Both were sensational, crispy fried, with no discernible grease on either, this is a chef who really knows his fryer well. The rangoons were crisp with a smooth tasty cream cheese and salmon filling ( OK, I would of like a bit more salmon please) , accompanied by a great apricot dipping sauce.The risotto balls had a cracking outer skin, with a soft rice filled interior, PERFECT, and served with these incredible bacon strips, (quick idea chef, add the bacon INSIDE the balls, YUMMMY). Both appetizers came with some dressed greens, which were perfect for cutting through the fried foods. These were certainly two of the best appetizers we have had, they hit all the taste buds. Oh, and I can not forget to mention the fresh bread with MAPLE butter that came before the appetizers, YUM!!! You can just see the cute green colander it came in, in the first pic. Nice touch;

      After that start, the entree was bound to be a let down right? WRONG, we decided to split one of the nights specials, a blackened catfish served with asparagus and roasted potatoes. Again WOW,  perfectly seasoned catfish, juicy, a bit spicy, such an easy fish to over cook but this one was perfect. The asparagus, (which I don't eat), was undercooked, as American chefs seem to want to do. The trend for several years now has been to just barely blanche them and serve them "al dente". Unfortunately for my wife, she likes her veggies well done. There is hope, I just read an article on Italian chefs going back to their mothers and grandmothers roots and cooking vegetables long and slow to get a completely different flavor profile from them. Here's hoping US chefs adopt this, at least in some dishes. Finally the potatoes, I am not a huge fan of fingerling potatoes. I find them starchy and bland, and this chef seems to like to use them alot, ala the original chef at Monty's.  These were OK, but definitely underseasoned, a shot of the Cajun spice would of done them a world of good.  Here's a pic of our entree;

      The best compliment we can give this dish is about half way through my wife turned to me and said,"I wish I didn't have to share this with you" AMEN. Back to my one original quibble, this is a chef who likes to mix up his menu OFTEN. So what you see on the website certainly will NOT be what you find when you get there. I was initially disappointed, but I got over it quick and so should you. Don't even look at the website, just go and you will be very happy. I do have a business idea, I could start a social network site where Vermont restaurants could send me their daily specials and menu changes and I would post them for a very small fee. Any takers, contact me.This turned out to be a great find. Super friendly service and great food. We will certainly be back. Do yourself a favor and go find them tonight. Lastly, on the way home that evening we were treated to a beautiful sunset over Lake Champlain. Enjoy;

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     4.5  Totally inspired and ridiculously good.
Beer and Wine,    3.5  Nice beer and wine selections, list is small but well thought out.
Service,                 5    We had a great time with our bartender/server, BUT she only works Sundays, so your mileage may vary.

Ambiance,             3.5  It's a bar with alot of hard surfaces, the local artwork on the wall is a start.
Price,                     3.5  A bit pricey but the excellence in taste and presentation make up for it.

Overall                  4.0  This is an incredible new place for Burlington. My only two hopes are, that the chef doesn't burn himself out working the long hours he's working, and it doesn't get too popular, so we can't just drop in whenever we want. Until those things happen, we will be regulars.  

The Tavern Review

    The Inn at Essex, (now called just, The Essex), has been going through a major remodeling ever since NECI, (New England Culinary Institute), moved out. A new high end restaurant called Amuse has been added to the old Tavern space and a brand spanking new Tavern has moved into a much bigger space towards the rear of the hotel. Looking at the menu on line, I have to say we were intrigued. So, on a what we thought would be a quiet Saturday, before leaf peeper season, we decided to try it out. BUT, what we didn't know, is The Essex seems to have become the go to marriage capitol of New England. On this supposedly quiet Saturday, there were no less than five wedding receptions and an engagement party. And were do you suppose all these people hang out before and after their receptions? Yup, you got it, The Tavern. Walking in there was like entering a football game, VERY LOUD.  So much for a quiet, romantic, date night.

     We did manage to find two seats way over at the end of the bar. And after a while, we were presented with menus, (did I mention how packed it was?). First a bit about the space, the bar is definitely the focal point, as it consumes about 1/2 of a very large space. And it is a very cool bar, as it has many different angles and alot of seats all around. This unfortunately can work against the two bartenders, as some patrons are at odd angles to them and may be hard to see. We started with drinks, (shocking I know), and our first disappointment, for such a high end resort the wine list by the glass is absolutely pedestrian, WAY too many grocery store choices for a place like this and for cuisine like the chef is putting out. The wife settled for a rather ordinary Zinfandel and I was excited to finally try the Trapp Family Ale, but alas, they were out and I settled for a nice ale from Belgium, Palm Ale if I remember correctly. It was good but not exceptional.

      We decided to try smaller plates so we could experience more of the menu. Though I will say some of the small plates were anything but. Our first taste was a avocado and crab cocktail. very tasty with a bit of heat ( a trait the chef exhibits in most dishes), just a little too much cucumber for my taste, but with a nice yogurt dressing and some crunchy bits on top;

      Our next plate was duck confit potato skins (did I mention this is a creative chef). These were wedges of potato, topped with duck, and some really sweet caramelized onions and a nice cheese. All of this was placed on a sauce of chipotle cream, (spice again). Very, very yummy and as you can see a really nice presentation;

      For our entrees, we went with two more smaller plates. For me short rib sliders,( watch this blog recipes for both short ribs and sliders coming soon, seems to be a bit of an obsession for me). And for the wife, the Pittsburgh Salad, an homage to the famous Primanti Sandwich ( HA, bet the chef hasn't had anyone else pick up on that ). For those of you not from Pittsburgh, a Primanti Brothers sandwich is a sandwich with meat, salad and french fries, all stuffed into a bun. For this version, the chef took a big hunk of romaine, topped it with fries, grilled hanger steak, tomato, cucumbers and a blue cheese vinaigrette. Very nice and quite yummy. For my slider order, I received two sliders, Boyden farm short ribs, Ascuntney mountain cheese (Yes, the tavern is proud of its local sources) and homemade barbecue sauce along with the aforementioned fries;

      We both loved our meals, though one of the sliders was more fat than meat and some of the steak on the salad was a bit overcooked. Overall, a very nice meal, OH and about half way through, the reception must of started, as the tavern emptied out and we could talk without shouting. And since there were about 100 less customers, service picked up substantially. We really liked The Tavern and while pricing is quite high, with appetizers in the $9-$13 range and entrees starting at $14 for the fish and chips and rises to $34 for the bone-in Prime NY Strip Steak, the quality and presentation is excellent.

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     4     Everything we had was very good, a couple of small miscues but overall great presentations and wonderful flavors.
Beer and Wine,    2.5   I am going to be overly critical here. As this is a high end experience, you should be able to get local and national beers that are unusual and interesting and wines by the glass should expand your knowledge of the wine world and be more than grocery store offerings.
Service,                 3.    Here I am going to be less critical, the place was packed and while our bartender/server wasn't super friendly, she was efficient but needs more insight into the menu

Ambiance,             3     Great room, nice bar and booths. LOUD when full of wedding goers. maybe a touch too casual for such upscale food.
Price,                     3     Above Average food with Above Average pricing also. Presentations and flavors like this don't come cheap

Overall                  3.1  The tavern advertises itself as a casual bar/restaurant serving upscale food , ala Bevo's or Wooden Spoon Bistro (review coming soon). In reality, it is a high end restaurant, ala Kitchen Table or Hen of the Woods, saddled with a casual space.  As such, it is a special occasion evening out, but doesn't really feel too special if it is packed with wedding goers. Next time I would check with management before arriving. The chef is very creative and I look forward to trying the REALLY high end space, Amuse. But only after a rigorous upgrade of the wine offerings.

RiRa Irish Pub Review

     After the history walk we were starving. You would think we would visit one of the many, many, new places we haven't been to yet. But wife's go to place in downtown Burlington is Ri Ra's. And since we haven't done a full review yet, here we go.

      First of all, many people do not realize that Ri Ra's is a chain. With twelve locations up and down the East Coast, (plus one in Vegas). What most of you may also not realize is I usually HATE these type of chain restaurants (Chilli's. Longhorn, Olive Garden, etc.) YUCK, pre-packaged frozen food, trucked in from all over, YUCK, YUCK, YUCK, the absolute total opposite of the whole Localvore movement which I love. Not to mention the "fake atmosphere" trucked in by corporate planners to make you feel like your in the southwest, or a saloon or in Ri Ra's case, a pub in Ireland. And yet despite all this, I really do like Ri-Ra's.
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      First the atmosphere, they really have done a good job of giving us what we Americans think of as the ideal Irish pub. Beautiful bar, lots of TVs playing sports, some quiet areas in the back, and a nice fireplace to curl up near on those cold winter nights. In addition, it has some of the best beer choices in Burlington, (Yes, I know it doesn't come close to Farmhouse Tap but still), wife loves their hard cider on tap and I always have a Black and Tan. This visit they had a pear cider, which was OK but didn't have a real strong pear flavor. Bro-in-Law went with a Guinness stout (even heartier that regular Guinness YUM).

      After getting our drinks, we all ordered. Ri-ra burgers for Chris and I, a nice burger with an Irish rasher, (bacon), Swiss cheese, and onion rings, YUM. Mike went with the Publican Reuben and wife went with cottage pie (shepherd's pie for the rest of you). No pictures, and YES I did have the camera handy but c'mon it hamburgers and Shepherd's pie, you've seen pictures of them a million times, nothing earth shattering in their presentation. Mike and wife loved their meals, Chris and my hamburgers were OK but too well done and dry . We had asked for medium and they came out much closer to well done. A hazard of the pre-packed burgers I assume. Cottage pie and the reuben were both very good and as always the beers were tasty and cold. All in all a very satisfying but not inspired meal.

On a scale of 1 to 5; Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity. Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing Service,             Speaks for itself Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing  Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had. Food,                     3.    Not totally inspired but consistently good. Beer and Wine,    3.    Nice beer and cider selections, wine is not a highlight Service,                 3.5  Always efficient, not always super friendly Ambiance,             4     Looks like an authentic version, of an Americans idea of an Irish bar Price,                     3     Average food but average pricing also. In downtown this counts as inexpensive. Overall                  3.3  This is a pretty consistent place downtown. Casual, but the food is Ok. Don't go in expecting gourmet fare and you will be very happy. And be sure to order my favorite, Black and Tan.

Great Dane Pub Review

      Our last stop on the Great Wisconsin Pub and Brewery tour may have been the best. So good in fact, we ate lunch at the airport location on our way home the next day. The Great Dane looks more like a professional chain restaurant than a local place full of character. That may be because they now have five locations and plan on growing even more. We visited the Fitchburg location. Located in a mall area full of other stores and restaurants, the Great Dane is a stunner to look at. Lots of brick on the outside, beautiful dark woods and copper beer tanks on the inside. We chose to eat out on the patio, as it was a warm and sunny, summer night.

     Our first disappointment, was that some of the beers were sold out ?? It's a brew pub, shouldn't you have beers in stock. Since the Fitchburg location list only 6 beers ALWAYS on tap and of those, two were sold out, that left slim pickings, I settled for Old Glory American Pale Ale, it was quite good , not an exceptional ale but cold and refreshing on a hot patio. Next disappointment was our server, she was all smiles at first, but maybe because we moved to the shade without asking she got sullen? Not sure why but her attitude wasn't the greatest and she would disappear for long stretches at a time.

      When I first glanced at the menu I was intrigued and frightened at the same time. We have all been to those chain restaurants that have a hundred item menu of which NONE of it is local, or even tasty. All of it brought in frozen, in nicely pre-packaged servings, by big trucks with names like Cisco on the side, BLAH my absolute LEAST favorite restaurants in the whole, wide world. Give me a local hole in the wall place making food bought fresh from within the area ANY day. Now that you heard the rant I have to say I was wrong. The food was the best part of this experience. We all tried something different and every meal was great.

      To start we shared the Tuna TaTaki, this was very good, maybe a bit unexpected as we were far from water here, but the tuna was very fresh and the Cajun spice dusted on top gave it just the right amount of heat. For our entrees we visited around the world, starting with wifey and India. Her tandoori chicken was not a true "tandoori" but more tandoori spiced, still very good but what she truly raved about was the almond flavored Israeli cous cous that came with it. Along with tomatoes, olives, artichokes, grilled flat bread and a lemon yogurt dipping sauce, this was the U.N. on a plate.

      My meal was no less exotic for the mid-west. Called "Drunken Jerk", (NO comments please), it was
tender pork shoulder, soaked in spiced rum and jerk marinade,slow-cooked and wrapped in banana leaves, then finished with coconut-lime butter and pineapple salsa (yes I copied from the menu,and no I can't get the fonts to match ). Served with incredible, sweet, fried plantains, this was an exceptional meal. And it was a hoot for everyone at the table, because the amount of pork in the banana leaf wrapper seemed never ending, just when I thought it was done, I'd notice another fold and even more yummy tender meat. For his meal , Dean went with a great American city, New Orleans. His smothered and covered chicken read like this,a hand-breaded fried chicken breast topped with shrimp, andouille, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and tomatoes in a Cajun butter sauce. Served with jalapeno cheddar mashed potatoes and market vegetables. All in all we were extremely satisfied and VERY full after the meal. No dessert for us.

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.

Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing 

Price,                 And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     4.5  Excellent all the way around.

Beer and Wine,    3.    How can you run out when you brew it here.
Service,                 3     Efficient but not really friendly

Ambiance,             4     Patio was great, bar looked inviting, I never saw the main dining room but overall nice ambiance for a Brew Pub.

Price,                     4      This is not a "cheap" place to eat, but the portions are HUGE, you will leave full and happy.

Overall;               3.70    Our final stop on the great beer and pub tour, and certainly the best and most creative food of the bunch. So good in fact, we arrived at the airport early, so we could eat at the Great Dane in the terminal. Food was just as good (just not as many choices), it was more expensive (DUH, it's in an airport) and they had a full selection of beers (Go figure).  If your in the Madison area , make sure to stop by one of their many locations.You won't be disappointed.

New Glarus Brewery

      After drinking their beers all weekend long we felt the need to go visit the mothership. And since we were in New Glarus having lunch anyways, off we went down the street to visit. This is a brand new facility, as their beers have gotten extremely popular in Wisconsin.  As far as visiting, this is your typical brewery stop, self guided tour, big gift shop and tasting room. I probably wouldn't go way out of my way to get here. But New Glarus is a cool town to explore, has some great places to eat,(see previous post) and then the brewery. So if your in the area go ahead and stop, Some pics of  our stop;

      One last cool feature, there is a separate room where you can buy New Glarus beers. But what's cool is you pick up an empty six pack holder and you can mix and match any of their beers to make up your six pack. A neat idea and one I wish more places would allow.

Tofflers Pub and Grill Review

       Our second stop on the pub and brewery tour, Tofflers, only fit half the bill. No on site brewery, but a bar full of New Glarus Brewery beers made us happy, happy, especially after hours of walking the Farmers market, (see previous post on market and stay tuned for future post on Brewery itself). Since we had walked and sampled our way around the Farmers market and planned on cooking all our goodies that night, we just wanted a quick, light meal, RIGHT, in Wisconsin there is no such thing.

      We started with New Glarus beers, Fat Squirrels (nice nut brown ale with great flavors but not too heavy) and Two Women ( a classic country lager, very crisp and refreshing). Just a quick aside , we sampled many of their beers but I do not believe we ever tried their most famous beer The Spotted Cow. So on with the ordering , I chose the roast beef sandwich with, once again, homemade chips (really what is it with homemade chips in Wisconsin? Though I will say, sometimes you just get sick of french fries), Dean also had a sandwich , the name of which escapes me now and both women went for the Cobb Salad, as the picture's clearly show, light was not what we got , Tasty yes, light NO!!;

      Once again a trend is appearing here. Wisconsin pubs (or wait is it a bar? I am going with pub cuz the food is so good), serve some damn, tasty food. My sandwich was incredible, maybe one of the best ever. Slow braised beef had been hand pulled apart and piled high on a kaiser roll, with Swiss cheese and horseradish sauce on the side. The sauce was GREAT not only on the sandwich but perfect for dipping the chips in (LALALALA not listening, I am on vacation). Once again chips were crisp, fresh and salty, The salads were gigantic as you can see and made with fresh ingredients. Everyone loved the meal and once again this is the type of local place I wish we had in our town.

       One quick note, the main reason we were in New Glarus, was because of their incredible bakery and next door meat shop. We stopped to pick up some home made potato rolls for the brats which we picked up at the meat store. These are the kinds of great, small places you find all over Wisconsin, LOVE IT !! Last of the New Glarus pics followed by our review;

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.

Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing 

Price,                 And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     4.5 Actually no faults at all, other than it is bar food, but REALLY good bar food

Beer and Wine,    3.  What is there is good but not alot of choices
Service,                 4.5 The staff here was great.

Ambiance,             3.5 Again, its a bar so not much atmosphere but still clean and nice.

Price,                     4    Price was very reasonable for what we ate.

Overall;                3.90  Another great find, this pub tour is starting to work out great.

The Grumpy Troll Review

       As you will notice, no pics. In my defense, it was a long day, with an early morning flight and NO it has nothing to do with old age. Our first stop on the Wisconsin Pub and Brewery tour was the Grumpy Troll. Located in Mount Horeb, Wisc. (Former home of the World Mustard Museum), and located right on a major bike trail (smart location, nothing better than strenuous biking to work up a thirst). Because of the location, oh and maybe being prime time on Friday night, the place was packed. But, thanks to some friendly natives, we were able to secure a couple stools at the bar and have a tasty beverage while waiting for a table to open.

      We started with an Erik the red, a not too hoppy, American style amber lager. Very good but not entirely memorable. Good and refreshing but not that different from hundreds of other amber's made. Not so my 2nd beer, now this pushed some boundaries, Kentucky Porter, a nut brown ale, which has been stored in used Kentucky bourbon barrels for 6 months. WOW, great flavors, mellow but a great body, a really nice beer.

      How bout the food you say. Above average bar food is my answer.We went with a traditional Friday Night Wisconsin Special, Fish Fry. You could choose from different fishes (fishi? feesh? who knows), either fried DUH or baked and a variety of sides. I went with the fried perch with homemade chips covered in cheese, wife went with baked cod and also the chips, Cindy went with fried cod and (this is cool) sweet potato tater tots (told ya) and Dean had baked cod with I believe mashed potatoes or maybe rice? To start we shared a plate of that quintessential Wisconsin appetizer, fried cheese curds. Yes, I know it was ALOT of fried foods but what the heck we are on vacation. 

      Cheese curds were Ok, I have had better (in Minnesota of all places). These tasted not much different than your typical bar fare cheese sticks. The fish fry was much better, crisp coating and moist, fresh fish  and a huge portion ( to become a trend here in Wisconsin). Chips were fresh, crisp with a nice coating of cheese, all in all a very satisfying meal. All around the table things were great , Cindy's sweet potato tater tots quite yummy, until we got to Dean. Unfortunately, when you get baked fish in a brew pub you take a chance, wife's was good but Dean's had been baked to within an inch of its 9nth life (Do fish also have 9 lives? If not, why not?, these are the questions that keep me up at night). After all is said, it was a great time, with great friends and this is a place I'd love to have in my own home town.

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.

Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing 

Price,                 And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     4  Overall a great meal , with just some slight misses.

Beer and Wine,    4  Great beers made on site, who needs wine?
Service,                 4  The staff was wonderful. And service was prompt and friendly.

Ambiance,             3.5 It's a pub of course, and brewery, so don't think romance or quiet. But it is clean and fun.
Price,                     3.5 This is not a "cheap" place to eat, beer is rather expensive and entrees are average priced in the $10-$15 dollar range, though portions are huge.
                               

Overall,                3.8 Just a really fun place, I wouldn't mind having in my backyard.

  

Cooking 101: Fettucine and Meatballs

      OK,  not so much a recipe this time, as an endorsement. Sometimes life gets in the way of Supper and you need to come up with something quick. Whether for a quick supper with the wifey or a meal with friends and family, here is what we put together on Saturday;

      All three products available at your friendly, neighborhood Costco store ( or I am sure, grocery store also). Add the first two ingredients to a crock pot, turn on low and go take a nap, (OK this was my recipe, you may not want to follow it exactly). Now if you ARE following exactly, wake up from your nap, realize the crock pot was on low AND the meatballs went in frozen, so now crank up the pot to high and after your guests arrive, stall them with appetizers and several drinks. Appetizers can be most anything, but as we had perused our local farmers market (see previous post) we had some stuffed breads to offer, garlic and roasted tomatoes and my favorite, blue cheese and pear.

      For drinks you can add your personal favorites or some of my previous tinis, OR better yet, here are two brand new concoctions for you to try. The first I call Tropics in a Glass ( makes two)
2 ounces Coconut Rum
2 ounces Mango Rum
2 ounces fresh Mango Juice
4 ounces Lemonade
Splash of pineapple juice from the sliced pineapples in a can
1 Pineapple slice split in two

Shake the first 5 ingredients vigorously in a shaker with ice cubes . Strain into martini glasses and one piece pineapple slice to rim and VOILA;

      The first drink was found delicious by all who tried it, For the second drink, I went away from the tropics and more to home grown fruits. This one shall be dub  ummmm hmmm naming contest, I will go with the Black Berritini but really that title sucks, all my loyal readers, what do you think? Here are the ingredients;

In a shaker glass , muddle

Large handful of ripe fresh blackberries
4-5 sprigs of fresh mint
 To this add;
2 ounces coconut rum
2 ounces regular rum
6 ounces lemonade

Shake vigorously and again VOILA;

      What would you name the lovely concoction? For the guys , two new beers, Ommegang Abbey and Noire de Chambly. The first brewed in Cooperstown  NY and the Second in Quebec. Both were delicious, with a slight edge going to Noire de Chambly.

      As you can tell, not images I took, sorry, forgot to photo the beers, ANYWAYS back to our regularly scheduled dinner. So with drinks and appetizers in hand and a very addicting program I had downloaded on the laptop, Spotify, (try the free version, you have to listen to a few ads but man is it fun to try and stump the computer), we were all having a great time. As far as we can tell, you just can't stump this program, I think they have every song ever made. In no particular order we  found and listened to Dominique by the Singing Nun, Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton, 10 cc, Play that funky music white boy (Leif Garret sang this also who knew?), Black Sabbath, The Ballad of the Green Berets Oh and about a few hundred more. So while everyone was engrossed in digging up the most obscure songs ever ( The Singing Nun,  REALLY), I checked on the meatballs, thawed and hot, just how I like my meatballs. On went a huge pot of boiling (OK, technically it started out as non-boiling and soon became boiling) water with olive oil and kosher salt thrown in. Drop in the fresh pasta, wait a couple of minutes, (no more people, this is FRESH pasta, no more than 2 -3 minutes REALLY). Dump the pasta into a nice big colander, back into the now empty pot , splash of extra virgin (olive oil !!) and you are ready to serve.

      Best way I have found is assembly line style. On the counter your first dish should be pasta, next the crock pot with the meatballs, (lid removed DUH) and finally a micro plane with a nice block of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Here is where you need to spend a bit more, c'mon supper was inexpensive, buy GOOD cheese (hey that should be my new motto). We went with a nice block from (where else) Costco but any good cheese shop can help you here. DO NOT buy shredded parm at the grocery store YUCKKKKKKK !!! And if you have some , some fresh thinly shredded basil over the top would be Divine (OH yea I just used the word Divine). Everyone agreed a great meal. And for dessert from our trip to the farmers market.

      Moroccan delights, small but intense flavors, a perfect dessert. But feel free to insert your own dessert. There you go, a quick easy meal for two or many more.