Mmmmm, Dinner

Oh boy, happy anniversary to CJ and me!

Saturday was our first anniversary. We decided to go all out for the day. Debauchery ruled.

We started at the Autumn Brew Review at the old Grain Belt Brewery. With 40 breweries and 150 different beers were available, we knew we were in for a good time. It was a lot of fun. I tried about 15 different brews, including 3 different Meads. I really loved the Mead. It was from White Winter Winery and very tasty. I also especially liked beers from Tyranena Brewing, Surly, and North Coast Brewing Co. We will definitely be going again next year.

After a nap at home, we went to our 9:00 reservation at La Belle Vie. It was spectacular.

We both got the 5 course tasting menu. I got the wine flight and CJ had a couple drinks. It was truly an amazing experience. I've never had food that was so good, so creative, and so beautiful. You can see the basic menu here (.pdf).

We started with two amuse buches. The first was a goat cheese puff pastry and the second was some salmon thing with caviar. Very hard to explain.

The first course was crispy soft-shelled crab. It was on top of tomatoes and watermelon with a very light, thin broth. The crab was perfectly done, crispy, and flavorful.

The second course was seared sea bass. It was a small piece on top of white asparagus, artichokes that were fried and trout roe. It had a couple sauces also. The textures of this dish were wonderful. The sea bass crispy on one side and firm on the other. The trout roe popped in your mouth. The asparagus was firm and the artichokes were crunchy. It was great.

Next was grilled poussin. I can't remember what the veggies with it were, but it was not what was listed on the menu. It did come with one Sweetbread, which I love. It was lovely dish, with a very flavorful reduced poussin or chicken stock as the main sauce. I need the sauce for my house.

Next was a lamb rib eye. It was wrapped in eggplant and had about 4 sauces on the plate. After mixing the sauces together, it tasted like beef stroganoff, which I really like. The lamb was VERY rare and really great. The eggplant was nicely prepared, not too mushy, but not fried.

Finally, the dessert course was an ode to apples of sort. There was a little olive oil cake on top of a thick applesauce. Next to it was an apple sherbet. The third apple treat was a baked apple with a gooey, sweet middle. The whole thing had a thin piece of apple sugar tying it all together.

After the meal, we were given four little treats, three chocolate and one a passion fruit marshmallow, to finish off the night right.

Everything was so good and so pretty. I hope we get to go back again soon. The lounge has much more reasonable prices on a 4 course tasting menu. I'm hoping to try it soon.

Labels: beer, la belle vie, review

CJ and I made it to the State Fair three times this year. We were planning on going today too, but we both needed to relax a bit. Because we aren't making it today, I don't get to try everything I had in mind, but below is the rundown of what we did try.

Pronto Pups- CJ was the main consumer of the pronto pups, but I was able to get a bite or two. They, of course, were wonderful. Hot, crunchy, mushy, hotdoggie, everything good.

Cheese Curds- We shared an order, and we couldn't finish them. We got them from the original cheese curd stand, and they were so,so good. Cheddar cheese, battered and deep fried, with lots of salt. How can you go wrong? They were very tasty, as expected, but to finish and order means death to the tummy.

Corn Fritters and Fried Green Tomatoes- A sampler of the two in one order, they were very good. The FGTs were crisp and hot and tasty. The Corn Fritters were amazing. Hands down the best thing we tasted at the fair. They taste like what deep fried balls of creamed corn would taste like, served with a side of honey butter. They are sweet and crisp and full of flavor.

Speaking of corn, we each got the roasted corn twice. Simple corn on the cob, roasted and dipped in butter. Season it yourself with salt and pepper, it is exactly as you expect- good.

Garlic Fries- Our friend Christina convinced us to the the Garlic Fries from a sports bar cafe like place. CJ and Christina really liked them. I liked the garlic a lot, but the fries were only okay.

Fries- CJ and I also shared an order of regular fries from the big fry places. They were crisp and greasy and really quite good. I like the kind with the skin on better, but these were excellent.

Spam Burger- I got one bite of Trevor's Spam Burger. It was amazing. The flavor was fresh and new, the texture was that of fried processed meat, with cheese, on a bun. This was something I was hoping to get today for myself. I'm kind of sad I'll have to wait until next year.

Lamb- CJ got lamb on a stick and I got a gyro at the Lamb Shop in the food building. The lamb is all grass fed and the farm is sustainable. We had to get something there. The lamb on a stick, with mint jelly, was great. Chunks of marinated lamb on a little plate with a stick to eat it with was genius. The lamb was tender and flavorful, a great fair food. The gyro was pretty good, but more meat would have been nice. It could have been a bit more juicy too, but the sauce and the pita was good, which helped a lot.

Apples- I got an apple cider freeze for $0.75 and CJ got a glass of apple cider in the Horticulture Building. The cider was pretty good, but not tart or cidery enough. It is too early in the season. The apple cider freeze is the best buy of the fair. It is tasty, refreshing and cheap. It is a very basic food, but incredibly good for what it is.

Walleye Fingers- Deep fried, battered, walleye chunks with lemon and tarter sauce. The walleye chunks were big. They were crisp and not too salty. Not my favorite thing from Giggles that I've ever had, but good.

Turkey Leg- It was late at night when CJ got this, and it sounded like a good idea at the time. It was huge. The outside was good. It was barbecued and had a nice taste. The inside meat wasn't that great. It wasn't as moist as I hoped it would be and the meat didn't have a very nice taste. It was just bland and boring.

Tom Thumb Donuts- Deep fried mini-donuts. Deep fried sweet dough, how can you go wrong?

We also had a bunch of things to drink including water, beer, lemonade, root beer, and soda.

We sure do love the state fair.

Labels: review, state fair

Mmmm, White Castle. I love White Castle. I always have and I always will. They have my favorite fries and my favorite steamed burgers. The pickles and the onions just add to the perfection.

I've been craving White Castle for weeks. And after a day of wedding activities, CJ and I were hungry and drunk. CJ had been poo-pooing my craving, saying the mighty slider was gross, but he gave in on Saturday night when the cab driver suggested he could bring us through the drive through.

Never let a cab driver bring you through the drive through. It adds $10 to your bill.

We got a Crave Pack with 10 sliders, two fries and two sodas. We didn't want the sodas, but it was cheaper that way. CJ said he probably wouldn't be able to "choke down" 5 sliders, so I thought it was a good amount.

When we got home, the feast began. The fries, as always, were crinkled, fresh, and crispy. The burgers were moist and delicious. CJ scarfed down his burgers, much to my dismay. I thought I would be getting one or two of his.

And, aside from being awesomely tasty, their medicinal qualities came through. We both woke up in the morning hangover free. Maybe the extra $10 to the cabbie was worth it.

Labels: hamburger, review, white castle

Okay, it has been hot. And with our house only partially air conditioned, cooking has not been happening. We have eaten out, we have picked up prepared food at the grocery store, we have made sandwiches, but I have not been cooking.

Last week we went to Broders' Pasta Bar. It is a small Italian place on the Southside of 50th St with a deli on the Northside. CJ and I had never eaten there before, but we had heard a lot.

We arrived without calling ahead (they don't take reservations, but allow you to call ahead, which I totally don't get), so we waited outside and each had a drink. In the outside waiting area you can order beer and wine, as well as a few snacks. We skipped the snacks knowing we would likely get an appetizer.

We were seated within ten minutes in the back of the restaurant. The restaurant is a casual family restaurant with paper as table clothes and crayons available for the kids. The menu is Italian, but as I know very little about Italian, I can't say which region or comment on authenticity. They do strive to use locally sourced food whenever possible, which is very important to me.

We started with Fresh Mussels in a red sauce. They were tasty, but in my opinion, it is hard to screw up mussels. The sauce was a thin, vinegary tomato sauce. Like I said, tasty.

I ordered the Fettuccine Con Cinghiale e Finocchio, or homeade pasta with wild boar braised in milk and fennel. The price was $12.95 and it was outstanding. The boar and sauce made a little stew that was served over the fettuccine. The overall taste was bright and light. The boar was a tiny bit tough, but it is wild, so I expected that. The noodles themselves were cooked perfectly, fresh and tasty.

CJ ordered Spaghetti con Polpette di Calabrese, or pasta and meatballs. And it was just that, noodles, red sauce and meatballs. The meatballs were beef, the pasta was fresh, and the red sauce was good. It was what would be expected. Nothing special, but good.

We didn't stay for dessert, so I have no comment on that, but overall it was a very nice dinner and very reasonably priced. We will go back when we get a hankering for some Italian.

Labels: broders, italian, locally sourced, review

I can't find my camera cord, so I'm starting a new section, the Restaurant Review.

Tonight, The Craftsman!!!
CJ and I started with three artisan cheeses. Holy Crap, they were tasty. Two were raw cow milk cheeses. All three were incredibly complex, one even seemed to change 10 seconds after eating, 15 seconds later and 20 seconds later. They were amazing.

We eat at The Craftsman pretty often, and CJ got his usual, the Venison Burger. Because we both wanted what I got, we decided to split my entree and his.

The Venison Burger, like all their burgers, is great. The meat is mixed with bacon to keep it moist. It has a great mustard on it and comes with their great fries and ketchup.

I got the fish special of the day, and it was absolutely A-MAZ-ING. Truth be told, it was a tiny bit salty, but not enough to take away from its amazingness. It was walleye in a beer batter. The batter was so light and airy. I didn't know it was possible to have a beer batter be that light. The fish was incredibly fresh.

The fish came with sweet potato fries, which were normal sweet potato fries. Nothing very special there. It also came with a really fresh and tasty coleslaw. It was cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, and some odd greens, tossed with what seemed to be a simple white wine vinegar dressing. It was really fresh, which did a great job contrasting the salty and deep fried fist. There was also an aioli, which finished the whole package nicely.

It was by far the best Fish and Chips I have ever had. I think CJ would agree.

We then splurged and ordered dessert. We had a fantastic bread pudding. It was eggy and buttery and rich. There was an apricot sauce over it and we loved it

Drink-wise, CJ had a tangerine Old Fashioned and some other specialty drink that tasted like blueberry soda. I had a mojito and a Surly.

We have eaten many times at The Craftsman, but this was by far our best meal there (though the worst service we have had.)

Seriously tasty.

Labels: review