Burger c/o Rembrandt's

Sometimes you want a good burger, and sometimes you want a great burger, and sometimes you just want a burger. At some point after work I found myself in that last category and LW found herself in a spot of hunger as well, so we went to Rembrandt's. Rembrandt's does everything nicely though I never leave there saying 'that was the best fill-in-the-blank.' Though they used to have a lamb burger that was damn tasty, which is astoundingly no longer on the menu. In any case, I did have a moment's debate as to what I most wanted to eat from their new menu, but in the end their burger with cheese, bacon and porter onions still was the frontrunner. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The fries, on the other hand, were meh. I guess I really like a crisp fry over a more soggy version.

Bard College Commencement 2013, Dinner c/o Osaka

The next day was just as gloomy, overcast and not terribly warm as the preceding day. I woke up at a far more leisurely hour than I normally do...but then I don't usually go to sleep at five in the morning. L. and I knew that we wanted some delicious Dunkin Donuts coffee (the sheer amount of money, gas and time we expended on Dunkin Donuts coffee during our college years would be astonishing if quantified). I also felt a very strong need to go to the Bagel Shoppe. Of course there is no photographic proof of our doing either thing. But we did. I swear. Then there was a fair amount of lollygagging. C. and L. went to the library to find their senior projects while I tried to take a nap but really just took a lot of photographs of cicadas. Eventually it was getting close to the actual start of the graduation, whose commencement speaker was Gabby Giffords and her husband. That story and how far she has come and how much it reflects the ills of our current gun policies makes her an incredibly effective symbol. In any case, I stopped by the tent but it seemed like kids were still filing in and there would be much pomp and circumstance before the commencement speech. So I wandered on to the campus center to meet up with C., K. and L.

I could have told some stories about all the times I drove to Dunkin Donuts.

When I attended Bard the cafeteria had two sections: the smoking section and the non-smoking section. I can say with some regret and some weird pride that I ate in the non-smoking section a total of perhaps five times. It was a bigger room and the acoustics were weird and so I, like so many others, took up permanent cafeteria residency in "the paranoids" smoking section. Times change and for the better, so that enclosed smoky space has now become just another seating area...it is also where we gathered to listen to the commencement speeches while staying out of the icky weather. Gabby Giffords' husband did the majority of the speaking, and I found his point that he and his wife both are gun owners an interesting and valid one. My opinion on guns isn't going to change anybody else's, but I really just feel like there is a pretty easy balance to be made if crazy people on both sides just kind of shut their mouths. The Libertarian fringe compound guy in Montana needs to understand that while he certainly has the right to bear arms, he doesn't have the right to become his own personal army. The extremely leftist vegetarian activist needs to understand that not all gun owners are the Libertarian fringe compound guy (and that one could argue that hunting for one's meat is a far more noble method of being a carnivore than relying on factory farms). Easier said than done of course. My point is mainly the point he made: everyone needs to make compromises and see the greater harm that could come about if they are not made (like the attempted assassination of HIS WIFE). Moving on.

Then it was time for a more official reunion event at Blithewood. The weather continued to be windy, cold and altogether not to my liking. I also became overwhelmed by the additional new faces that were added to the mix from the night before. I like people and talking to them. But man alive there is a limit to just how many conversations I can enjoy with people I haven't really kept in touch with...especially if it's cold. I also just wasn't feeling like getting totally tanked again, so while many were enjoying the free spirits and beer at the reunion tent, I mainly stuck to one beer and cheese. None of which is photographed because I was getting edgy.

After our reunion photograph I was feeling a little spent. C. was feeling very cold. K. was making friends with everybody, but also wanted sushi. And so our three different states combined and it was decided that C. and I would walk back to north campus to get my car, which we would then drive back down to Blithewood in order to pick up K., and then we would all zoom our way to Tivoli for a meal at Osaka. This plan went well. C. and I ended up getting a bit of a lift from yet another golf cart. K. was about done making friends by the time we picked her up, and Osaka had no line for tables. We all got variations of a maki combination, which came with soup and salad.

I think I ordered the spicy combination, or maybe the special one? I should really track that down, but I am not going to.

So much sushi. So much fun.

After dinner we rushed back in order to see the always spectacular fireworks...but we really arrived just in time to see the end. K. and C. went to see who else was still hanging around, but my decision not to drink and overall tiredness from not getting a proper nap (oh my god I sound like I'm 95, next thing you know I'm going to be talking about the merits of prune juice for digestions) led to a desire to just go somewhere warm and dry. To that end I returned to north campus and the class of 2003 dorm, where I ran into J. and D. and S. and B. and a few other folks. S. insisted that J. and I take a photograph together but he was, shall we say, a wee bit tipsy and couldn't quite take the photo himself. So he asked D. to do it...but D. is like nine million feet tall and didn't really know exactly what S. wanted from a photo. So below are three of many more photographs of J. and I trying to please S.'s directions. 

J. and I were both in the photo program at Bard. We ended up sharing a dark room our senior year...except he printed almost entirely digitally, which meant that really I got a dark room to myself. His senior project was especially clever. I had a total artistic crush on him. No big deal. Now he and B. are embarking on a new venture that is just as much deserving of a crush.

It got kind of ridiculous.

B. jumped in on this one.

My night pretty much ended at this point. I went down to my basement room to regroup but never quite made it back up, though I did hear the ragings of a party for many hours afterwards. I kind of regret not rallying, but really I was pleased with the overall experience and didn't want to mar it by any new shenanigans.

Dinner c/o Two Boots

I left Ohio early Monday morning with a destination other than Philly. I had a job interview possibility in Massachusetts so I was headed towards Martha's Vineyard, which was a pretty long haul. So long that I needed to find a place to break up my trip. I turned to my Facebook network for suggestions of a stopping point that might be economical as well as interesting, and M. the Baker suggested I stop in the Red Hook/Bard area and stay with him and my former photo history professor, L. After deducing that it wasn't totally out of my way, and thinking that it would be nice to see the both of them, I took M. and L. up on their offer. I arrived around 6 or so and, as I always do, felt waves of nostalgia and memory as I drove familiar roads and saw familiar landmarks from my college days. L. had an academic dinner commitment, so M. and I did dinner on our own at a place that hadn't existed when I was a student at Bard: Two Boots. In my day the building where Two Boots now resides, which is just across the road from one of Bard College's campus entrances, was a seafood/Italian type joint that I don't think many students ever checked out. I only went once with my mother and former roommate S. I think we at least considered eating lobster, though my memory fails me a bit when it comes to our exact meals. The thing I do remember about that evening was that I was in my full 'life is performance art, we are never real' stage of my life, which I tried to explain during that dinner. Meh. Anyways. We ordered the meatball sliders on garlic knots. The knots were tender and the meatballs decent. I think they were really three slices of the same meatball, as opposed to three mini ones. I think I may have commented to M. that a pretzel type breading would be an even more interesting choice for the dish. 

 We also shared the Cleopatra Jones pizza, which was a thin crust pizza with sweet Italian sausage, roasted peppers and onions and garlic, with a good smattering of mozzarella thrown in. Pretty good. I saw a few familiar faces and a few faces that seemed familiar but were, in fact, people whom I did not know.

After we finished up our meal, we returned to L. and M.'s house and talked about this and that. L. returned and we conversed for a bit as well. While I would have wanted to hang out a bit more, the plan for the next day involved my having to wake up and get out of the house by 6. Closer to 5 really. So to bed I went. It was lovely to have even such a brief visit in the area and with L. and M. They're good people. It's a beautiful and special place. I wish I could tell you that the treacherous drive through blinding snow in the Berkshires and the ferry ride to Martha's Vineyard resulted in a new direction for me, but alas it wasn't quite to be. If, however, you're reading this and you know of people in the cheesemaking game looking for motivated and passionate apprentices, please holler at me because that was basically what the gig would have been and I was very sad to miss out on it. After the ferry and interview and then another ferry back to the mainland, and then a shuttle to the parking lot, I got back on the road and headed south. It was a long drive, mostly taking place after the sun set. I conquered my fear of driving on the George Washington Bridge and tried a crappy chipotle chicken sandwich from Burger King and was home around midnight. 

Sushi c/o Shiroi Hana

Once I get sushi into my head,there's nothing to be done but to eat it. I must admit that of all the small hypocritical things I do in life, eating sushi is perhaps the one in which I take the greatest pleasure. In other words, I know that our world is falling apart and that fish of all kinds are rapidly disappearing from the oceans, which in turn lead to other fish struggling to survive, and yet ... goddamn if I don't like a good piece of salmon or white tuna. On this particular evening I planned to meet up with LW at Shiroi Hana to properly quench my sushi hankering. I hadn't been back since a similar meal with LW last year around the same time. Since we were only two, not three, people, we didn't order quite the same level of sushi, though we did split the Sushi Deluxe platter. We then added a few extras...I ordered ikura and white tuna while LW requested a passion roll.

I chose to accompany my meal with hot sake, which was an entirely enjoyable choice. Sidenote: I actually walked downtown a bit too early for our reservation, so I meandered for a while before stopping at Estia for a glass of retsina to kill the time. A few observations about that experience: it's got a live music guy in the sort of main lobby/vestibule area, which is neat...though he's playing with the accompaniment of a back up track, which was weird. When I sat down at the bar it there were about four other people there, all of whom with drinks or food in their hand. The two ladies behind the bar talked for quite some time before either even looked in my direction and I had to assert myself and ask for a drink as opposed to having one of them come over and ask me what I'd like. Just seemed a little off, especially after I got my bill. I didn't look at a wine list because I knew I wanted a glass of retsina, so it's no one's fault but my own that the glass was $14 without tax or tip and that maybe I wouldn't have ordered it had I known. But damn, it was a solid glass of wine. End sidenote.

We also ordered a spider roll that had the right crispiness of the outside with succulence of the inside to make me smile. I do think they messed up my request for a piece of white tuna...as it was nothing like any other piece of white tuna I've ever had. Now this may just be a reflection of the fact that we rarely get the fish we think we're getting, and what I have long considered white tuna is actually something else entirely. Hard to tell.

Shiroi Hana does it right. No pretense. A modicum of style in the decor. Generally friendly staff. A step up from the more discount sushi joint's fish quality. A pleasant meal. Then LW and I went on over to the Bards and played darts for a bit, which wasn't without its own comedy.

BBQ and Bourbon c/o Philly's Fette Sau

It has been been more than a year since C., K. and I got together at Fette Sau for a taste of barbeque and bourbon in Brooklyn. Each time I've been back to New York since, I always have Fette Sau on the short list of places I'd like to go again...but I never end up there. So when I heard about Stephen Starr's collaborative plan to bring a Fette Sau to Philly I was excited. And then it opened and I was too busy to ever make it up to try it out. This went on longer than I'd like. So when Mr. Ass. asked me about the place at some point earlier this month, I told him what I knew and then a few days later suggested we go there for some grub and spirits. The evening was a Friday, and we went on the early bird side of things. Unlike my experience in Brooklyn, there was no line or wait whatsoever. The establishment itself is actually bigger, by quite a bit, than the Williamsburg original, but has very much the same decor and overall vibe. Initially the place felt a little empty, but over the course of our time there, things picked up.

So what did we order? We ordered pulled pork, brisket, ribs, pickles, sauerkraut and baked beans. The dude behind the counter was friendly and quite helpful. Totally willing to express his own opinion about which version of ribs he preferred, and to give us a sense of whether we were ordering too much or too little.

I believe Mr. Ass ended up favoring the ribs the most out of all the options, while I went back and forth between the meltingly fatty brisket and the ribs. All the sauces were good, but the meat on its own had a depth of smoky flavor that didn't even need the extra help.

I decided to have a Templeton Rye, as it makes me feel like I know something and reminds me of my Chicagoist days. It was a rainy night and I had been a tad bit stressed that week, so it was great to touch base with Mr. Ass and finally cross Fette Sau off my Philly new restaurant list. Big thanks to Mr. Ass for driving me to and fro even though it was out of his way, and for listening to me rant about this thing or that thing for a good majority of the meal.

Cocktails, Foie Gras and Duck c/o Bolete

Though we weren't unable to meet up for New Year's, M&A were on the east coast for the holiday season, so I did very much want to see them. This ended up possible the weekend after New Year's. The Saturday I drove out to the country to see them, A was still visiting with friends and family in New York, so M. and I went to Bolete just the two of us. This was a bit of a last minute plan, so we weren't able to get a reservation in the dining room proper. Instead we made ourselves comfortable at the bar, where I ordered one of their special cocktails, which had blood orange in it among other things.

M. tried their bone marrow consomme dish. I tried the broth and boy was it rich, but in the best possible of ways.

I chose to try their foie gras two ways: a little paté disc and a seared lobe served on brioche with huckleberry jam. Oh man. This was a no joke tasty plate. Delightful to look at and transformative in the buttery, buttery wonder of well prepared duck liver.

Oh yeah.

The color balance of the photograph above is wacky. Definitely not that green in person.

We then split the seared duck special entree of the evening, medium rare, which was served on a bed of risotto with, if I recall correctly, some very tasty mushrooms.

Mmmm. Yes. Such good stuff. Though I spend a fair amount of time up in the Bolete region, I rarely go alone, so it was good to both see M. for the first time since our Adirondacks meet-up while also enjoying a fully satisfying dinner. Thanks to M. for the entirety of the evening, which we concluded back at the house with fire, champagne and more talk.

McCrossen's 'All Things Sparkling'

Between work getting busy and my increased time spent in the country, it has been a while since I partook in one of McCrossen's wine/cheese/food events. LW asked me if I wanted to go to one a few weeks back and I steadfastly said no, mainly due to funds and a need for some R&R at home. But as the days went by and suddenly the event was at hand, LW asked me again. The menu for the event had also been posted to the restaurant's Facebook page, and unfortunately for me it was very promising. All sparkling wines? Those are so often my favorites! Delice de Bourgogne and Taleggio as some of the cheeses? Ditto! So while rest and a bigger bank account would have been nice, I accompanied LW to McCrossen's for an evening of tasty treats. We met up with two others, one a cheese/wine/food vet, the other purportedly a big fan of cheese, though  not so big a fan that she had ever tried goat cheese. Our welcoming wine was a Spanish Cava Rosé, Conde de Subirats. Frankly I don't think I disliked any of the wines but this was a nice start. The first full round started with Riesling/Chardonnay "Brut" from Brazil, which I recall being a bit dry but in the best way? With that we tried a Nettle Meadows Kunik cheese from New York, which was a mix of goat and cow milk and oh so creamy.

And then there was this. They went hard with the food this time around. I told T. later that I felt like a few of the past events that I had attended served wonderful dishes, though it seemed like some of them were reiterations of similar plates from previous pairing nights. This particular night it seemed like he and his wunderstaff had found a little new passion/were rejuiced creatively (which is a term people use all the time). So. Maine lobster risotto with lime zest, shellfish emulsion and black truffles. Y'all. Come on. Do I need to tell you that the creaminess of the risotto matched with succulent bites of lobster and complemented overall with that rich emulsion was just outstanding? Do I? Well. I just did.

And it kept coming. I believe this was my actual fave sparkling of the night: Cremant de Loire, Baumard, NV, from the Loire Valley area. Paired with Taleggio, which is a cheese that will never steer you wrong.

And then there was the oyster-leek chowder with pont neuf and paddlefish caviar. I had to look up pont neuf. It basically means pomme frite, only  suggests a thicker cut fry. You're welcome. So this here chowder. We all commented on its richness. There is no doubt that heavy cream played a big part in its overall luxury, but there was depth to the flavor. Heavy cream used with a heavy hand but no especially creative mind will just be fatty. Yes, it will taste good but it won't be all that special. This, on the other hand, had the oyster/leek element going on. Leeks. When I was a kid, we'd go to a family friend's for Thanksgiving. I feel like my mother or the hostess would often make leeks, usually baked with cheese or cream of some kind. But as a kid I didn't get it. I didn't even try them. I stuck to creating mashed potato mountains with secret reserves of gravy hidden beneath their peaks. I've lately been ruminating on leeks, and their specific taste and just how unlike any other of their onion cousins they are. All to say, yummy. The fried oyster was so great I exhibited significant self-control when it came to not devouring it in one bite. And the 'pont neuf' was a nice touch too.

This is LW turning her eyes to the heavens in appreciation for the meal she had already begun to receive.

And here is the Coach Farms Peppercorn Brick goat's cheese. I liked the addition of the peppercorns, which certainly added a bit more of a kick to the whole shebang.

With the goat's cheese we enjoyed Brut Rosé "Timido," Scarpetta from Italy. It was a very pretty wine and perhaps my second favorite.

The hits kept coming with the food. Here you'll see crisp pork belly with quince mostarda and rose-vadouvan. Words I also had to look up. I'm not as big a fan of quince as some. My feeling towards them is similar to my feelings on figs. I understand that there is hype and but I don't 100% buy it. That personal preference aside, damn, look at that fatty tasty piece of pork won't you? A little unwieldy when it came to eating (the crisp part was hard to cut) but that only made the pay off more worth the while.

Final glass was Champagne "Cuvee Sainte, Anne Brut," Chartogne Taillet. Actually maybe this was my favorite. Ha. So basically they all were. The cheese with this was the above Delice de Bourgogne, which I think I first found and enjoyed back in my Chicago days.

Our last dish was roasted monkfish with snapper saupiquet and marjoram. Snapper in this instance, unless I totally misunderstood, was turtle. While my faves were - unsurprisingly - the dishes featuring heavy cream, lobster, truffles and oysters, this little plate was a delicate reminder that you don't always need loads of fat to make something delightful to the tongue.

Another great event that introduced me to new wines, gave me the change to reacquaint myself with a few of my favorite cheeses, and gave me a renewed appreciation for the collective creativity of McCrossen's kitchen.

Dinner c/o Isabel with CP

It's been a few months since CPM and R's wedding. And I hadn't gotten the opportunity to see CPM since, which was sad making. She's doing a serious weekly commute to Maryland for graduate school, so the amount of time she's actually in Philly - and in a position to hang out with the likes of me - is limited. So I was glad when we began forming a plan to have such a face to face. In the end we took advantage of a Groupon I purchased a while back for dinner at Isabel. I enjoyed my last meal and dining experience at the establishment, but I hadn't found the opportunity to return so the deal (one appetizer, two entrees and dessert for $25) was tantalizing. CPM and I met up at my apartment before walking over to the restaurant. Almost on cue, it began torrentially raining. While we shared an oversized umbrella, we were both quite damp and dripping by the time we safely arrived at Isabel. We were quickly seated by the front window, which gave us a lovely view of just how rainy it was going to be (very rainy).

CPM supplied us with tequila for margaritas. We were curious about a few different options that Isabel provides, but took the advice of our server and ultimately chose the guanabana variety. We both struggled to describe what it actually reminded us of as far as taste, but we were in agreement that it was to our liking. Sweet, but not too much, and a nice mixer for the tequila.

We went with the mushroom and chorizo fundido, which I pointed out had many a similarity with our erstwhile pizza fave, just without the bread. It was a shallow bowl of melted cheese with plenty of chorizo and mushroom chunks, served with tortillas. So ooey gooey.

I debated what entree to choose and, again, took the advice of our server and went with the scallops.

This was a goo choice. I was surprised by just how many scallops I was given and the mango salsa accompaniment was bright and lively. The scallops were also nice and tender. I haven't tried cooking scallops in years, but I recall that when I did, they often ended up rubbery. These were nothing like my sad attempts.

And for dessert we shared the bread pudding, a warm sweet mess of tastiness with malted vanilla ice cream. Rich and hearty, a good dessert for such a rainy night.

It was great to catch up with CPM, and good to go back to Isabel.

Pizza Dinner in Carversville

While I was enjoying the lovely beer and field times, I was also corresponding with A.S., who had texted me to discuss a possible time for her to return some books I lent her earlier in the summer. I told her she'd be welcome to drop them off in the country, but that I assumed she was visiting Philly so didn't expect anything to come of that suggestion. Turns out she was actually staying at her parents' place, which was only about 30 minutes away from my own country location. When she invited me to join them for dinner, I happily accepted. AS's parents recently moved back to Pennsylvania from Massachusetts, and their new house is really beautiful. I pulled into the driveway behind the house and they were all sitting in the garden/patio, which was just splendidly bursting with flowers and vegetation. AS told me the hummus they were serving with pita chips was some of the best she ever had...I did not take a photograph, but I will say that she was not lying. Dinner was pizza with onions, spinach, maybe sausage? And perhaps one or two other things. Another thing this pizza was?

Delicious.

We sat outside under what I think was a grape arbor? Or maybe not. Salad was also served. Mmmm. Good times. Thanks to the S. family for including me in their Friday dinner plans!

Bachelorette Pre-Gaming, Dinner c/o Cabo, Dancing c/o Blue Moon

Once I returned to the fold I painted my nails and put on my party dress. LB, the lady of the evening, had quite the hot party dress.

We had dinner plans but before embarking on that part of our night there were first gifts and champagne.

LB got a mix of funny lingerie, things that lit up and a pretty cool sweatshirt. I gave her funny little bracelets and a to-go cupcake container.

The champagne-holding  bling ring was an especially neat gadget.

For dinner LX made us a reservation at Cabo, which wasn't far from our hotel. We got a nice table on the second floor deck and while we were waiting for it to clear I had a margarita. For dinner I chose to try the lobster ceviche and skirt steak. The ceviche wasn't quite right. Too sweet for something that was supposed to have a habenero element, and overcooked. Of course ceviche isn't cooked per se, but I think it sat in its juices too long. The texture was off. The steak, on the other hand, was delicious and cooked nice and medium rare. No complaints on that front.

After dinner we went to Blue Moon...or I think it was Blue Moon. It could have been somewhere else entirely. It was a predominantly gay bar with lots of dancing.

This was the unfortunate moment when an exuberant man lifted LB up and with her went her dress skirt.

Regrouping.

And then finally a few drinks at the Purple Parrot.

The whole weekend was wild. LB has so many good friends from different times and places in her life and it was so nice to finally put faces to some names I've been hearing about for over 15 years. I know I had a lovely time and I hope she did too!