Hitchin' a Ride on a Crazy Train

Generally, when I think dinner theater I think of that scene in the movie Soapdish where a sad former soap star is reduced to playing Willie Loman to the gray and gumless all to the sound of silverware clinking. I thought that a murder mystery train ride in Southwest Florida might make for a calm night with some ok food and a nice murder. A hokey play title complete with hokey but cutesy characters, check. Five course meal, check. Me being the youngest person, check. near barroom brawl complete with bravado, check?

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, but neither does one expect a train ride to nowhere to host a group of about 12 40-somethings who were drunk when they came on board, then proceeded to chug down more crappy beer and wine, break into bad song (thanks ladies), then get belligerent when an older lady shushes them. It was largely the fault of one of the 'gentlemen' who seemed unable to moderate his voice or machismo. The shusher's son tried to break it up when Tourist McAmateur started in on the whole "We are just having fun, you must be a tight ass and hate yourself", then the drunk male posturing began. The poor staff hadn't seen anything like this, they kept popping their wide-eyed heads in but were in no state to stop it. Finally some wives, girlfriends, etc, stopped it. Then the naysayers moved cars and the rest of us had to deal with the continued bullshit, that was now tinged with the flavor of bruised ego. I kept hearing mutters of "he wasn't so big", and "we've got your back". Holy crap crazy people, if you need to spend your vacation shitfaced during dinner theater on a train; maybe you need to reconsider what you do on vacation. Or maybe I'm a tight ass and hate myself.

So the food: cheese spread and crackers with fruit. Followed by a creamy potato leek soup that was quite fatty but the size was small enough that it was just right. It was gentle and lovely. The next course was a salad; the general cucumber, grape tomato, greens type. The greens were not iceberg which was an unexpected plus, they were a spring greens mix. The drawback was that the tasty sesame oil oriental dressing was applied too liberally to the salad rendering me unable to finish the stronger tasting greens. The menu had a typical selection of a choice between beef, chicken, and fish. I chose the salmon with a light champagne dill sauce. The salmon was fine, the sauce not too overbearing. The rice dish and peas/carrots mixture tasted of the freezer or the box. A small chocolate mousse in an edible chocolate bowl topped off the meal.

Overall, the meal was better than expected for a dinner theater train. While the menu was not inspired or interesting; it was well done and I would recommend it. They also did have a kitchen on the train, likely helping the meals quality. As the staff told us that a situation like this had never arisen before, I think that maybe I was lucky in getting two shows for one on the crazy train.

Holey dough filled danger Batman!

Bagels. Schmagels. Growing up in the South I had grown accustomed to bagels being chewy, fairly flavorless pieces of dough whose sole purpose was to civilize the consumption of cream cheese. After all, spreading cream cheese on a bagel is certainly more dignified then burying one’s face in a tub of creamy evil and going to town. However, during a brief visit to NYC in the spring of 2000, I learned bagels did not have to be bland, with hard exteriors and gummy interiors but could be just as good as the cream cheese that comes on/in/with it. Unfortunately, these bagels were hard to find even in a major metropolitan area like Atlanta. All too often the bagels needed serious toasting to eliminate the gumminess and stale flavor. When we moved to Madison I heard some locals praising Gotham Bagels , but assumed I would still just be keeping my face out of the tub. I was pleasantly surprised to find this not to be the case.

From poppy seed to everything, their bagels have a firm, almost crunchy exterior, with a tasty, chewy, but not gummy interior. These bagels require no toasting and are so fresh and warm first thing in the morning that they’ll melt the cream cheese a little bit, which is so good it makes me want another. Speaking of cream cheese, the folks at Gotham typically have 5 or 6 cream cheeses available but stick to the plain or salmon cream cheese. The other spreads are not bad but don’t really add anything to the experience. While the plain cream cheese is fine for a normal breakfast the salmon cream cheese is a delicious smoky, salty, decadent treat for special mornings. In addition to great bagels they feature Fair Trade coffees which they actually know how to brew properly. Gotham also has a number of deli items and sandwiches which hopefully I’ll get around to trying, but for now I still can’t get over how good these bagels are. In a world of Einstein’s and Panera’s it is good to see a place like Gotham raising the bar…and besides its named Gotham. How cool is that!?! -Drew

First Impressions: Madison

Ah Madison, Wisconsin: land of cheese. And beer. And large gray snowdrifts leftover from the fabled 'worst freaking winter' evah. Its been one whole week since we've set up house (kinda) and wandered the town searching for food.

Weary Traveler: Our pick so far for best stumbling distance pub. Small but local craft beers on tap, the Lake Louie stuff is awesome (the scotch ale is dreamt about already); and the food is pretty above average. The goulash had some incredibly good quality beef chunks in its tasty goodness, the ahi tuna and reubens were also of equally good meat-quality. No cheap crap here. The menu is not terribly diverse or inventive, but the weekday ambiance and cool bar-sitting factors make this one a contender for us.

Great Dane Pub: Very tasty beers at this brewpub, the stouts and cask conditioned ales are big winners, but the porter was much too bitter. We shared the eviiiiil mac -n-cheese and a salad initially; very good move on our part as the mac n cheese is super fatty and rich. The second trip at the much better downtown location had use trying some faux-mexi dishes which later...errr...backfired on us. I personally was pretty much more interested in the beer, and I was not disappointed.

Angelic Pub: While they don't actually brew beer on site anymore, the Ale Asylum stuff was pretty nice. The Big Slick stout and Nutbrown Ale were both pretty nice, and the taps are fairly diverse with odd inclusions like Miller and Chicago's Goose Island along with the local stuff. The bar is huge and full of very very bad girly liquor; causing me to imagine that this place so close to campus is serious amateur hour on weekend nights. The beer-cheese-sausage soups was very rich and filling, and the local veggie burger with unique pub fries was the perfect thing to split for a filling but not overly fattening lunch.

Blue Plate Diner- In one of the older neighborhoods down the road, Drew picked out our very first breakfast experience in Madison. Cute diner with plenty of veggie selections (duh its Madison) and freaking MALTS!!!! The gluten-free nut milk french toast was rockin, fresh bananas to top off the most interesting tasting 'fronch toast' I've ever had. It tasted strongly of cinnamon and the nut milk gave it a tart flavor that cuts the usual cloying sweetness of french toasts. We also split a homemade corned beef hash with scrambled eggs and a decent biscuit. I've never had hash that wasn't formerly surrounded by steel, so this real beef freshness was a treat. The coffee was not bad either, a real plus considering that most breakfasty places in ATL had shite for coffee (burned grinds Pastries a go-go I'm talking to you!).

Himal Chuli- Small cash-only Nepalese place on what I consider the most tragically hip (or hippie?) street in Madison. Never having Nepalese food, we found out it is very similar to Indian food and we just had the daily veg tarkara with warm, thick roti bread. The cauliflower and eggplant tarkaras were full of coriander, garlic, and tumeric in this tasty Nepalese style curry. We also had the chiya (tea) to round out our nice veggie lunch.

So while Madison is totally awesome for veggie/vegan/whatever dietary restrictions you have: so far, I've been enamored of the super fresh, quality beef. Sure, I could have bought swank stuff in Atlanta anytime, but for the local pub to have better tasting beef than other comparably priced places is a cause for me to eat a little more meat heavy.

*photo courtesy of cooltownstudies.com

One Night in Babette's

Babette's Cafe in two alliterative words? Cozy and comforting.

Babette's is one of those smaller, less-glitzy places in Atlanta that serves a much better quality of food than some of its 'scene' heavy siblings. You don't wear club clothes here, nor do you feel pressured into ordering the most expensive stuff while supermodel wannabes look bored under the exposed pipes. Nor is Babette's the genteel Old Southern Money spot. The overall theme is rustic European- from the well used furniture and warm walls to the accessible seasonal menu. The chef/owner is someone who obviously loves food, and is classy enough not to charge obscene prices for peasant food. The waiters were perfect for this kind of unpretentious place: no hovering, groveling, or disdain.

Both Drew and I ordered classy cocktails. I guess thats the byword for Babette's: classy. He a martini, myself some sort of Lillet cocktail. Both were simple but quality.

Against my better judgment, we ordered one of those lame appetizers popping up everywhere "gaufrette chips with warmed gorgonzola cheese sauce". Translation: waffle fries with cheese. These were edible, whereas this misguided bar starter is normally too fatty/salty/greasy for me to eat.

Now the fried oysters on dill biscuits with a cucumber sauce, was excellent. The biscuits were fluffy and full of fresh dill, the oysters lightly breaded and fried (after all, this is a nice place not some fish shanty) and the delicate cucumber/yogurty/minty sauce. The sauce kept its shape without turning watery, a hazard of cucumber cuisine.

On to the meal, with a bottle of rose to split. I know it looks girly, but a good Rose goes with ALOT of food and Drew is manly enough to swish pink stuff around in a glass.

Wanting to try different stuff, I ordered the artichoke + olive ravioli and the
squash soup with wild mushrooms. The soup was savory and warm. Enveloping me in creamy comfort; it smelled wonderful, almost like a glossy from a travel magazine of some rustic kitchen with a weathered-looking jovial Frenchman and his picturesque country estate. I could smell the fresh herbs and earthy mushrooms. The ravioli was in a creamy lemon-garlic sauce that initially tasted subtle and decadent, but eventually turned into a rich garlic fest. I really enjoyed it while I was eating it, but later I kept umm...re-tasting the garlic. I think it actually came out of my pores at one point (insert vampire joke here).

Drew scored with the cassoulet. And that sounds very naughty. Thank god he let me try some because my three/four/five bites were enough to make me almost club him over the head for it. Never would I have imagined pork, sausage, lamb, duck confit and white beans baked for about a million years would be so crazy good. It melted in my mouth. It felt so evil and tasty, I could only imagine how long it must take to slowly make this dish. Its totally peasant food: stew all your leftovers bits of meat until it all congeals into fatty goodness, then drink alot with jovial European neighbors with hearty laughs and wine from the guy up the road. Drew looked up a recipe it I think it was five pages long. Forget cooking! Go to Babette's right this minute and eat it!!! (but call first since the menu is seasonal)

Almost too full for dessert, we had a nice (but not awesome) chocolate bread pudding with banana ice-cream. It was ok, but I am a bit of a bread pudding snob so don;t count the desserts here out.

Eat the cassoulet!!!!!

Cheese and Hitachino Espresso Stout

You have to love Whole Foods, any place where I can get a short cheese lecture, taste, and help with a beer pairing is a nice place to spend my paycheck in. The Ponce location is best for the cheese lecture here in Atlanta, as my eyes scanned the cheeses I got beset on both sides by gentlemen willing to help. After much discussion on what to pair with a coffee stout, they sent me home with a Spanish leonora goat cheese, and a truly wonderful soft gray bumpy rind cow's milk cheese that I can't name. I threw away the %$##ing wrapper!!!!

On to the beer: The Hitachino espresso stout poured black with practically no head in a regular pint glass. The stout smelled strongly metallic, so much that I had to put it aside for a minute to try to get past the metal. The first taste was sharply bitter. Subsequent tastes mellowed out a little and I could taste the espresso and sweet chocolate, but I ended up always with a bitter and slightly metallic aftertaste. Overall, the metallic smell overwhelmed my taste in many ways; and when I didn't inhale (he he) I tasted full-bodied creaminess in addition to the super coffee taste. I have read extremely good reviews for this beer online, none of which mention the metallic taste/smell so maybe I got a bad bottle. I'll just have to go try it again!

The Leonora was a good foil for the bitter stout; as it was slightly smoky and sweet with a hint of flowers/pasture in it. The other cheese, while incredible on its own, was no much for the metal/bitter of the Hitachino.

Three dark beers tasting

A recent buying splurge at Green's netted me three dark beers:
Gale's Prize Old Ale, Lagunitas Imperial Stout, and Gulden Draak. As I am paying more attention to the ins and outs of beer tasting, I am noticing the traits and qualities that others describe when they taste beer in an official capacity. So now that I know just enough jargon to sound pretentious, let the name dropping begin.

Gale's Prize Old Ale: Using a modified snifter/chalice type of glass, the Old Ale pours dark brown with red/caramel colors tints. With no head and a syrupy glaze left on the glass when I swirled it; the Gale's felt more like a port or liquor than a beer at first. The scent is dark and fruity, smelling like beer and something older, like out of a documentary on medieval cuisine. The first taste is thick and sweet, almost cloying. I could taste lots of fruits- berries and a slight hint of darker fruits like prunes/figs/dates- something that would go in a homemade fruitcake. The sweet taste mellows out quickly into a fuller-bodied caramel flavor. Then the calvados hits you. Having had calvados before (thank you Drew's grandfather), I knew the flavor right off. Calvados is to cider like Veuve Cliquot is to sparkling wine. This beer was a bit too sweet to drink alone for me even with the crisp calvados finish, but I would have loved it with dessert or cheese.

Lagunitas Russian Imperial Stout: A friend of mine justified trying this beer by saying since Imperial Stouts were traditonally made for export to Russia, this kind of beer was likely sent to troops during WWI, and as he studies WWI, therefore we must try the beer. Poured in a tall pint glass and in a regular pint glass, the color is very very dark brown with a medium head in the tall pint and a minimal head in the normal pint. The Lagunitas smells a little hoppy, smoky, and of vanilla. The color and smell alone kind of make this a different kind of RIS, most of them are practially black in color and smell more sweet/chocolate/berry. While it tastes more hoppy than an usual RIS (most Lagunitas in general are pretty hoppy), the malts and full-bodied taste keeps it from being too bitter. The secondary tastes for me were vanilla and smoky chocolate. I did detect an aftertaste of coffee. Overall its not a favorite RIS, a little too hoppy and not dark enough, but its a really drinkable beer and the alcohol by volume won't put you on the floor.

Gulden Draak: A dark triple high volume Belgium. Poured into the chalice/snifter glass I have, this beer kind of does look golden. The head is thick and puffy, and the dark brown beer is shot with gold. Given that this one smells pretty alcoholic, I gave it a minute to breathe. After a minute, the Draak smells like herbs/spices and some earthy fruits. Its very flavorful- peppers, spices/herbs, earth, malt, apricot or grapes, caramel. Very carbonated, slightly sweet but crisp. Extremely full-bodied, this is one of my favorite darker triples. The aftertaste is carbonated and very slightly citrusy- the spicy hops balance the malts/caramel. This will put you on the floor, but its a nice ride down.

Haru Ichiban

With some friends visiting recently, their wish was for us to find some good ramen in Atlanta. Scouring the web I looked on the Rameniac forums and local food blog Blissful Glutton for advice. Since I really do not know ramen from outside of the bag variety, we decided on Haru Ichiban based on the online menu and various comments on webpages.

My husband and one visitor had the Pork Yakisoba (fried pork, veg, and egg noodles) and sung its praises. The dish was literally steaming hot which brought to mind images of fajitas in Tex Mex places.

I had the Kake Soba (buckwheat noodles in broth with fish cake, seaweed, scallions) and 2 sushi rolls. The other visitor had her beef ramen and was very pleased. We all also split some crab shumai (steamed crab dumpling).

While the yakisoba and ramen seemed to satisfy their respective diners, but I was less than thrilled with my kake soba. The broth was boring, the bowl was huge but the seaweed/kake/veggies were the minimum requirements for the meal being slightly more than broth. I love the delicate flavors of Japanese food, and I by no means expect large portions or large amounts of stuff in the soup- but this was just sad. If I wanted boring broth, I am certainly capable of making it myself since my Japanese cooking skillz are lacking. I guess their strength is not in soups - or maybe I shouldn't order boring stuff and go all out.

On the other hand; I'd love to try the place again, the rest of the menu looked neat and the people next to us were all getting cool-looking chirashi juu boxes and gozen traditional dinners.

What I should have ordered: