Road Tips

The World has Become a Little Less Fun...

My sister called me last week with the news of the sudden death of a cousin who was like a brother to me.  My cousin Tom passed away sometime on the evening of May 5th and was found by a former neighbor the next morning.  He had been suffering from pneumonia, but for the last couple years of his life, we - my wife and me - had noticed that he had been slowing down, especially after he had retired full time.  This is the last picture I have of him when he, my other cousin, my wife and I had lunch at Noah's Ark in Des Moines about a year ago as an homage to our fathers who would eat there every time they went to the Drake Relays and drink vodka gimlets.  

Our families were very close growing up.  We were always celebrating something together - holidays, birthdays, graduations, or just getting together for whatever reason.  My cousins grew up in the small town of Kellogg, Iowa, while my family lived a couple miles outside of the town.  Tom was the same age as my brother who passed away nearly two years ago, while his younger sister was just 11 days older than me.  

Music always was going on at our respective houses - we would usually have the full playing albums of the British Invasion bands, while my cousins mainly had 45 rpm singles of the hits of the day.  As a pre-teen my cousin loved the song Norman, a top 10 hit for Sue Thompson in 1961.  He loved it so much that he played it incessantly and it earned him the nickname "Norman".  Pretty much everyone who knew him growing up and - well, the rest of his life - called him Norman or simply Norm.  He was known as Tom professionally and to some in his family, but he was Norman to a vast number of people.  People I knew thought his middle name or given name was Norman, but it was just a nickname.  I even saw someone comment on his obituary that she had hoped to see "Norman" this coming summer.  

Known as the "fun cousin" by my wife, Tom and I had a number of trips and adventures including a memorable car trip to Florida in 1978 to see the Gator Bowl (we had last row seats the night Ohio State head football coach Woody Hayes punch a player from Clemson), and we traveled on to see the Orange Bowl in Miami on New Years Day in 1979.  There were trips to Iowa City for football games, and we'd meet up from time to time to watch some Drake basketball games a number of years ago.  We had a fun trip with my wife up to Madison for another Iowa football game weekend, and there were a number of trips that we took with Tom to Milwaukee for Summerfest.  

A lifelong bachelor, Tom didn't lose his sense of family and was probably the most responsible for making sure other family members were seen or called on holidays and birthdays.  He made many trips to visit his siblings and their children over the years and was very close to his nieces and nephews.   I liked to call him the "Steward of Family History" because he knew where all the bodies and bones were buried in regard to our family's history - both the good and the bad.  An old soul at heart, he especially stayed in touch with some of the older members of our family and our parent's friends who were well into their 90's before passing on.  

While he was a computer payroll analyst for a couple hospitals in Des Moines most of his professional life, I remember him best for the his time as the manager of the Elks Club in Newton, IA.  He was hired to turn around an establishment that had been losing money and losing members.  Tom turned the Elks Club into a money maker by hiring the right people, bringing back food service for both lunch and dinner, and establishing a steady revenue stream while making the Elks Club one of the premier places for reunions, receptions, parties and gatherings in the area.  But there were some in the old guard who didn't like the changes he had implemented at the Elks Club and Tom was fired by the board at the height of the club's success.  It's somewhat ironic - as well as sad - that the Newton Elks Club shut down last year.  

Tom never forgot his roots in Kellogg coming back for celebrations and seeing many of the parents of friends he grew up with.  One time years ago, Kellogg was having a celebration day and my aunt volunteered my cousin to be a wandering clown who would interact with the kids.  I gave him good-natured shit about it, calling him "Krusty" after the clown on The Simpsons.  As I was seated in one of the bars in town that particular day, Tom walked in the door in his full clown regalia with the painted face and the bright red curly wig.  "Buy you a beer, Krusty," I asked as he walked up to the bar.  

He sat down next to me and said, "It is so f***in' hot in this costume..."  Somewhere I have a picture of him in his clown suit seated next to me at the bar, beers sitting in front of both of us.  It was great.  I haven't seen it in years and probably lost it somewhere in a move.  I'll have to see if my cousin finds a copy of it as she goes through his stuff.  

But the fun times we had with him at the Iowa State Fair, at the Drake Relays, for pizza at Chuck's, or just hanging out having a beer at a bar or someone's house will be the things that I remember most about my cousin.  And that really saddens me. And I know a lot of people whose lives he was part of will join me in missing him.  

It's just not going to be as much fun without him...

Stompbox Brewing - Davenport, IA

About four years ago, I did a Road Tips entry on Stompbox Brewing along with its contract kitchen called Kitchen Brigade.  (Click here to see that entry.)  But at the end of 2023, Kitchen Brigade owner/chef Chad Cushman announced that he would be leaving Stompbox to concentrate on his Kitchen Brigade location within the (now-closed) Fox Den Motel, a music venue in Dubuque.  The owners of Stompbox - James "Jamie" Prickett and Matt Erickson - decided to go out and get themselves a kitchen staff to put in place and less than two month after the Kitchen Brigade moved out, Stompbox's own kitchen opened to the public.  

To remind you a bit of the history of Stompbox, the brewpub grew out of a tragedy that had befallen the owners of Roam, the original restaurant in the building.  During the flood of 2019, a portable barrier designed to keep the Mississippi River at bay was breeched allowing millions of gallons of flood waters to pour into downtown Davenport.  The building and its parking lot were the first to suffer damage due to the flooding since it was right near where the break in the portable levee occurred.  (Click here to see a video of the instant the levee broke.)  Faced with a long road without being able to reclaim much of their financial investment in the building, the owners - two brothers - gave up the building and their dream of running a restaurant.  

In December of 2019, a group of investors - which included local music enthusiast/photographer Matt Erickson and Jamie Prickett, a cost analyst at the Rock Island Arsenal who is also a musician and homebrewer - announced they were taking over the spot to put a brewpub in.  It took over 6 months to renovate the space putting in a brewery operation and a kitchen area.  They started to brew and can beer in June of 2020 and officially opened their doors in early July 2020 during the height of the COVID pandemic.  They called their new brewery "Stompbox" after an effects device a guitarist uses to control volume and tone that they step on with their feet.  The brewpub is located on River Drive in downtown Davenport, next to the popular Front Street Brewery, the oldest brewpub in the state of Iowa.  (see map)  I've often wondered if two good brewpubs could co-exist next door to one another, but both do just fine on their own.  

The spigots at the bar have stompbox effects pedals on top.  And the beers at Stompbox are some of my favorite - if not, my favorite - craft beers in the Quad Cities.  They have a rotating tap selection of all types of craft beers including some sours from local cider works.  They have a great hazy IPA with their dry-hopped Critical Mass.  They also have a great Mexican lager that is ironically called When the Levee Breaks.  But my favorite beer at Stompbox is their Chilly Nelson, a lower-ABV hazy IPA that has citrus hops giving it a smooth flavor.  The only problem is that Chilly Nelson goes in and out of the rotation from time to time, and if they don't have that, I'll get the Critical Mass.  Or the Levee Breaks.  They're all very good.       

The bar sits in the middle of the establishment with a number of semi-circular booths along the wall near the kitchen window and high-top tables in between the booths and the bar.  They have table service at Stompbox and food menus are readily available from the very good and very attentive waitstaff.  And they also have a great mix of music going on in the background at Stompbox.  

On the other side of the bar are a series of high-top tables including two community tables that can be used for larger groups.  There's a small patio with picnic tables off to the side of the building where the parking lot is located.  The brewing operation is located on the other side of a large glass window just when you come in the door at Stompbox.  Edison light fixtures with white holiday lights wrapped around the ductwork give the place a nice glow at night.  During daylight hours, the large windows that face River Drive and the Mississippi River just beyond offer a ton of natural light.  It's a really great place to have a beer or a mixed drink.

And that's why my wife likes it - they have mixed drinks at Stompbox so she can enjoy her Tito's and cranberry (with a lime) instead of filling up on beer.   But the liquor selection is limited and they don't have a lot of mixers.  The one thing that annoys me is that they don't have any type of mix for bloody marys so we can't enjoy our Sunday burgers, bloody marys and beers at Stompbox.  It's not a deal breaker - we still go down to Stompbox on some Sundays, but a bloody mary would go great with a beer and a burger there.  

Then Stompbox opened their kitchen, their menu was more extensive than what the Kitchen Brigade had to offer.  While the Kitchen Brigade had some more unique items on their menu (the chicken and green chile grits were interesting, as were their roasted olives and their charcuterie plate), it's more of a bar food type of menu with Stompbox's kitchen with appetizers such as truffle fries, fried pickle chips (that are pretty good!), wings, and a Mexican elote dip.  They also have a number of salads to choose from (more on that in a bit), and they have smash burgers along with sandwiches including a pastrami reuben and a cheesesteak sandwich.  

And Stompbox also has pizza - good pizza, at that!  It's more of a drier pizza - not a lot of sauce and cheese, but the toppings are always fresh and plentiful.  The crust isn't thin like a Chicago tavern-style pizza, but it's not a fluffy crust, either.  The edges are chewy and delicious.  While it's not my favorite pizza in the Quad Cities, it's in my top 3 or 4.  And the great thing - it goes very well with beer!  And another great thing - the pizza at Stompbox is excellent to take home and heat up for lunch the next day.  

My wife loves their salads at Stompbox.  Their Caesar salad is big enough for two people and features chopped romaine lettuce with shaved Parmesan Reggiano cheese, blistered cherry tomato, bacon lardon cubes, and finished with house-made croutons.  I usually have a couple three bites of the salad and I can attest it is very good.  She can fill up on the greens while I concentrate on having two or three pieces of the pizza.  

The burger they had from Kitchen Brigade was probably my favorite item on their menu, but it was just one burger with no other featured burgers.  They have five different burgers on the menu from the Stompbox kitchen including the mushroom and Swiss burger that is in the foreground of this photo.  They also have a classic cheeseburger that my wife ordered during a recent visit to Stompbox.  There's also a bacon jam burger with smoked gouda cheese, a sunrise burger topped with a fried egg, American cheese and bacon, and a "cheezy" burger topped with beer cheese and American cheese.  The mushroom/Swiss burger is outstanding - also one of my favorite burgers in the Quad Cities.  And they also have tots at Stompbox!  Fries are also available, but the tots at Stompbox are outstanding.  

Stompbox didn't miss a beat when they lost Kitchen Brigade in early 2024, and I think they even went up a couple notches with having their own kitchen with a more extensive menu of food.  The beer is always good at Stompbox, but their food is now an even draw with their beers.  Their pizza is very good and the mushroom Swiss burger it superb.  I do want to try some of their other sandwiches at some point - I'm guessing their pastrami reuben is very good, and even though I don't like Cuban sandwiches outside of South Florida, I'm willing to try the Stompbox Cuban sandwich.  Along with their great staff, Stompbox is one of the top brewpubs in the Quad Cities. 

India Foodie Lounge - Palatine, IL

While in Chicago for a trade show, we were finishing up the first day of the event and trying to figure out some place to go for dinner.  Knowing that my Montreal colleague is vegetarian, steakhouses, burger joints and seafood places don't come to the top of the list.  But Italian, Thai, and Indian restaurants are always doable.  I suggested Indian food and my colleague from Los Angeles - in his typical smooth L.A. vernacular - said, "Dude, I am so totally down with Indian food!"  My colleague from Montreal was also enthusiastic, even in his laid-back Canadian manner.  I did a quick search on line for an Indian restaurant nearby and one jumped out at me for two things - Indian food and they served alcohol.  After closing up shop at the end of the day, we took off to go up to Palatine and have dinner at a place with a unique name - India Foodie Lounge.  

Yagnesh Patel grew up in Nadiad, India - a city in the west central part of the country.  Nadiad is a relatively small town by Indian standards - about 215,000 people live there.  As a young man, Patel immigrated to the U.S. with other members of his family and settled in the far western Chicago suburb of Bartlett.  With a background as an Indian chef and in hospitality, he opened the first of now three India Foodie Lounge locations in Bartlett in 2019.  In addition to the Palatine location, there's also an India Foodie Lounge in suburban Streamwood.  Patel also runs a banquet facility that hosts a number of local Indian pageants and galas.  

It was about a 20 minute drive from where we were at for the trade show up to Palatine - it would have been 15 minutes had we not stopped for a train that was going through Palatine.  We took Meacham Road from Schaumburg up to Palatine where it turned into Plum Grove Road.  A left onto Northwest Highway and moments later we were pulling into a strip mall where India Food Lounge anchored the front corner of the property.  (see map)  

It was a beautiful evening and the restaurant was packed with people when we got there around 6:30 p.m.  There was also a brisk take-out clientele while we were there with a table full of sacks of food to-go.  The restaurant had a bar along the back wall and the place was well lit with both overhead lighting and natural evening light coming in from the windows on the north and east side of the building.   We were seated at a table underneath a painting of what looked to be an Italian seaside village.  I wondered if this location for India Foodie Lounge was once an Italian restaurant and they didn't update the decor when they opened this location in June of 2023.  

It turned out that the main person who waited on our table that evening was the owner, Yagnesh Patel.  First of all, I have to say that Yagnesh and his staff were so friendly and accommodating during our stay.  After he dropped off menus for us, I asked if they had Kingfisher beer.  "Yes sir, we do," Yagnesh replied enthusiastically.  All right!  Score!  I ordered up a Kingfisher as did my colleague from Montreal.  My colleague from L.A. doesn't drink, so he was fine with water.  I still get a kick out these guys - my Montreal friend is a vegetarian, but he drinks.  But my L.A. compadre will eat about anything that's put in front of him and doesn't drink.

Of course, we had to get a couple orders of the vegetarian samosas to start out.  I was famished as I didn't have lunch that day as we were too busy for me to duck out to get something to eat.  The deep fried samosas were served with a plum sauce and chutney.  I tore into one and devoured it.  It was very tasty and a great start to the meal.  My first Kingfisher went down like water and I had Yagnesh bring me a second one as soon as I finished my samosa.  

The menu at India Foodie Lounge was pretty extensive with a number of Punjabi, South Indian, and Indo-Chinese selections on the menu.  They had a number of lamb and chicken dishes, as well as seafood, rice and noodle entrees.  I was sort of hoping that they had butter lamb on the menu, but they did not.  I almost asked Yagnesh if they would make butter lamb as they had butter chicken on the menu, but I found something else that I could live with that evening.

I got the lamb tikka masala for my meal that evening.  We also got a couple baskets of the garlic naan for the table.  I ordered my lamb tikka masala medium and it had a bit of a spicy flavor to the dish.  Rice came with the meal and it was a wonderfully hearty meal.  The lamb tikka masala was just outstanding.  

My colleague from L.A. did end up getting the butter chicken, also medium as he likes spicy food.  He also ordered some lachha paratha, an Indian-style layered flat wheat bread that is more flaky than naan bread.  He thought the spice level of the butter chicken was a bit too hot for him, but he was able to make it through the meal with no problem.  (He said he paid for it the next morning.)  He also said that his food was superb.  

My Montreal friend was trying to figure out what to get.  He consulted with Yagnesh about vegetarian options and he was able to come up with three or four items from the menu.  The only problem is that he oversold my friend on the food, as in quantity.  Now, I've found in the past at some Indian restaurants they get you to over-order your food.  Like, when I order some garlic naan for my wife and me, and the waiter will say, "Two orders of garlic naan?"  That's sort of what happened when my friend was ordering from Yagnesh.  

"I'm not certain what I ordered," my friend said with a bit of a chuckle.  "But I guess we'll find out soon enough!"  

Yagnesh later brought out a bowl of the palek paneer - a spinach/curry dish that also had onions, paneer, herbs and spices.  That, alone, was fine with my vegetarian colleague.  Moments later...  

...Yagnesh then brought out a bowl of the vegetable korma and placed in front of my colleague.  "Whoa," my Montreal friend exclaimed.  "That's a lot of food!"  But he took it all in stride and did his best to finish at least one of the two offerings that evening.  He did most of his damage on the vegetable korma alternately dishing it out over a bed or rice or dipping his garlic naan into the bowl.  While he had a few bites of the vegetable korma, he decided to take it back to the hotel with him and he had it as a leftover lunch the next day at the show.  "I liked the vegetable korma better, but the spinach curry was very good, too." 

So, other than my friend getting somewhat duped on a double order of food, the experience at India Foodie Lounge was outstanding.  The owner Yagnesh and the rest of the staff were more than friendly, helpful (a little TOO helpful on the suggestions to my colleague), and they were all great guys.  We all thought our food was very good to outstanding, and the restaurant was clean and comfortable.  While India Foodie Lounge had a funky name, there was nothing strange about their food.  

Paul's on Times Square - New York City

On my last night in New York City a few weeks ago, I had gotten back to the hotel after helping pack up a couple booths from companies who were using our products at the show.  I had been asked to go out to dinner with the one of the companies, but I was at the point where I just wanted to mellow out and not have to talk to people anymore.  And I wasn't up to going out and trying to find a restaurant after nearly a week of being in New York.  There was an Italian restaurant in the hotel - Paul's on Times Square - where I had visited the bar on a handful of occasions during my stay and I decided to stay in and eat there that evening.  

So, at first, I didn't think this restaurant was really anything more than a hotel restaurant put in place for travelers to have breakfast, lunch and dinner - something you have at most Hilton Garden Inn locations.  Nothing fancy, pretty basic, but better than most mid-priced hotel eateries.  But then when I dug into the background of Paul's on Times Square, I found that it was much more than your basic hotel restaurant.

One thing I've learned in the few times that I've visited New York is that there are a large number of Albanian and Montenegrin immigrants who have come to the city to work in the hospitality industry.  In what was part of the former Yugoslavia, Paul Nicaj was born in Montenegro to Albanian parents, but the village that he grew up in was literally a stone's throw from the Albanian border.  Identifying himself as Albanian from birth, Nicaj grew up in abject poverty.  As a teenager, his parents sent him to Croatia with hopes their son would become a priest.  However, Paul Nicaj decided that he wanted to help people in a different way - with hospitality.  

At first, he went Italy to learn the restaurant trade.  After spending a few months there, he ended up going to Austria to try to catch on there.  In 1968 at the age of 18, Nicaj went to New York and within days of arriving in the U.S. he started out working as a dishwasher in the Edwardian Room at the prestigious Plaza hotel.  Learning English as he went along, Nicaj eventually became a busboy, then a waiter's assistant.

Pictured right - Paul Nicaj.  Photo courtesy Telegraphi.com

Nicaj eventually became a full-fledged waiter serving the rich and famous who stayed at The Plaza.  With determination and hard work, Nicaj eventually became the manager of one of the restaurants at The Plaza, then became the general manager of all food services at the hotel.

Paul Nicaj was in management at the Plaza through many owners - including Donald Trump who was forced to declare bankruptcy protection on the property in 1992.  When The Plaza hotel closed in April of 2005 for a complete renovation of the property, Nicaj decided that he was ready to go into business for himself.  He took over the lease of the restaurant at the Battery Gardens eventually making it one of the top dining destinations in New York City.  

In 1992, Dino Redzic fled the splintered Yugoslavia during the civil war that started a year earlier.  Redzic was studying physical therapy in Montenegro, but when he immigrated to New York he started out much like Paul Nicaj as a busboy.  Working breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Gregorian Hotel, Redzic was paid $7.00 a day.  He categorized himself as a "rich man" for getting paid so much for working 12-hours shifts.  

Pictured right - Dino Redzic (left) and Nick Krkuti (right).  Photo courtesy Whom You Know.

By 1994, Redzic had started working at Tasca Porto, a tapas-style restaurant that became a hit after a positive New York Times restaurant review.  From there, he went on to work in the kitchen at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center.  Redzic had come into contact with Paul Nicaj and Nick Krkuti - another Albanian who owned a handful of pizza restaurants across the great New York City area.  Redzic considered both Nicaj and Krkuti mentors who showed Redzic that you didn't need to be Italian to run an Italian restaurant.  With their guidance, Redzik opened his own restaurant - Amici Amore - a cozy Italian restaurant in the Astoria neighborhood in Queens in 2000.    

In 2012, the trio became a partnership and opened Uncle Paul's Pizza located near Grand Central Terminal on Vanderbilt Avenue in Manhattan.  (Nicaj, Krkuti and Redzic also run New York Deli and Cafe on Madison Ave., and have partnered in other restaurants in New York City, Long Island and Florida.)   But it was in 2014 when the trio opened Paul's on Times Square, just a half block from Broadway and Times Square.  The restaurant is part of the Hilton Garden Inn - Times Square Central on 42nd Street.  

This was the view from my room on the 36th floor at the Hilton Garden Inn - Times Square Central.  The building in the forefront is One Times Square, the most prominent building on the south side of the Times Square plaza.  Situated at the corner of 42nd Street and 7th Avenue, One Times Square is famous for being the building with the brightly lit glass-paneled ball that drops every New Year's Eve just before midnight celebrating the start of the new year.  (The large pole that looks like a baseball bat is what the ball slides down on New Year's Eve.)  They're in the process of turning much of One Times Square into a visitors center with observation decks that will look over Times Square.  Walking through the human zoo that Times Square can be mind-boggling with all the different languages heard from tourists around the world.  

Just beyond the building in the distance is the Hudson River and just beyond the river is New Jersey.  And on the back side of the hotel, one can easily see the Empire State Building rising majestically above the smaller high-rise buildings that surround it.  

Paul's on Times Square is located just off the lobby at the Hilton Garden Inn - Times Square Central.  And the lobby is on the 5th floor of the building at 136 W. 42nd Street in the heart of Manhattan.  (see map)  There is a small sidewalk sign in front of the hotel's entrance (complete with a doorman just inside the entrance) that directs people to the elevator that will take you up to Paul's on Times Square.  

When you walk into Paul's on Times Square, there's a hostess stand and some tables in front of some wine racks, and just beyond that is the bar area.  During my earlier visits to Paul's on Times Square for late afternoon/evening libations, I found that their craft beer selection to be a bit on the light side.  But they did have Sierra Nevada pale ale in bottles - until I drank them out of that selection a couple night before this visit.  I took a seat at the bar and was greeted by one of the two bartenders that evening, a young lady by the name of Jaime.  She had a thick accent and I guessed that she was Albanian in descent.  This was the first time I saw her behind the bar during my stay.  I saw they had Peroni on tap and I ordered one of those while I looked over the dinner menu.  

The restaurant had a sort of modernistic/art deco theme.  Wooden floors and wooden ceilings gave the room a bit of elegance along with some of the modish light fixtures that hung from the ceiling.  A large photograph mural of the Manhattan skyline with the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground extended along the long wall in the restaurant.  

The dinner menu was concise with Italian entrees such as chicken marsala and chicken parm, but they also had a grilled salmon entree, as well as 24 ounce ribeye steak.  New Zealand-grown lamb chops were also a choice on the menu.  They also had a number of pasta dishes including pappardelle pasta with a mushroom cream sauce, a rigatoni and eggplant in a marinara sauce dish, and penne pasta with grilled salmon in a vodka/tomato cream sauce.  Paul's on Times Square also had pizza on the menu, as well as Caesar or arugula salads.  

Since the choices on the menu were slim, I went with the linguine with the bolognese sauce.  When the dish was presented to me, I determined that it wasn't the rustic bolognese that I love so much, but more of just a meat sauce.  But it was fine for what it was - not great, but still good.  Along with my dinner I got a glass of the house cabernet from the Simonetti vineyard in Italy.   

The portion of the pasta and meat sauce was on the small side and I was still kind of hungry after I finished my meal.  Taking my empty bowl away, Jaime asked if I wanted any dessert.  I had the cheesecake as part of a wine and dessert night cap a couple nights prior and decided to do that again.  It was a slice of cheesecake topped with raspberries and a raspberry drizzle.  Real whipped cream was off to the side with a couple slices of fresh strawberries.  The cheesecake, too, was OK - not great, but fine for a dessert.    

While Paul's on Times Square wasn't as good as some of the other Italian places I've visited during my trips to New York City, it was OK.  Actually, looking back with the lineage of the trio of owners, I would have thought it would have been something better.  The menu was pretty small, the food was your run-of-the-mill Italian fare, and while they had a good selection of wines and a full bar, their craft beer selection was a bit underwhelming.  Still, the service I received from Jaime that evening - as well as from the other bartenders when I would visit Paul's on Times Square bar area - was friendly and professional.  If I stay there in upcoming travels to New York City, I will probably pass on dinner at Paul's on Times Square and find something else in the area.  

Al's Burgers - Rock Island, IL

My wife belongs to a local social media group that talks about restaurants - especially new ones - in the greater Quad Cities area.  (I was on it for a while, but I quickly lost interest over some of the posts - both absurdly positive and unreasonably negative.)  However, a new burger place that popped up in the fall of last year over in Rock Island had piqued her interest.  One recent night when we didn't feel like cooking at home, we took off to go try Al's Burgers.   

The little building that houses Al's Burgers has been many restaurants over the years.  I first went there when a friend of mine took me to what was a little burger joint.  Since then, it's been a breakfast cafe, an all-day diner, and a couple other things.  At one point, it was called the Cave Eatery which served burgers and pizza with a full bar before it was taken over by a couple who were Rock Island natives who leased the building for The Dirty Shirley burger joint/drinkery.  But almost as soon as the couple had The Dirty Shirley up and humming, they decided that running a restaurant wasn't for them - even though they were veterans of the food hospitality industry.  The Dirty Shirley closed in early 2024 and the lease holders - the Kadriu family who also run Tap 22 in Silvis, IL - decided to open a little burger joint that also offered shakes and soft-serve ice cream.  In mid-November of 2024, Al's Burgers opened up.

The building that Al's Burgers is in is situated at the corner of 14th Ave. and 42nd St. in Rock Island, near the Moline/Rock Island city limit line.  (see map)   It's next to the popular La Rancherita Mexican restaurant and parking can be a bit tough in the area at times.  But we were able to find a parking space on 14th Ave. almost in between the two restaurants.  The outside of the low-slung concrete building had been repainted with black and gold horizontal striping.  As an Iowa fan, I sort of chuckled thinking that the color selection for Al's Burgers exterior had to rankle the Illinois fans who were in the immediate area.  

Al's Burgers is not a big place and the tables are almost uncomfortably close to one another.  Edison lights were strung across the ceiling giving the small restaurant an abundance of lighting, especially with the natural evening light coming in the windows.  The place was packed and my wife was able to snag a two-seater table toward the front of the small burger joint.  There was still the bar that had been there for a number of years, but Al's Burgers doesn't serve alcohol and no seats were at the bar.  It was now basically the order and pick-up counter.  The walls were adorned with license plates giving the place a bit of a kitschy feeling.  50's rock-and-roll music from artists such as Fats Domino, The Knockouts and Sil Austin were playing on the sound system.  

Since it's counter service at Al's Burgers, the menu was on the wall behind the bar.  Burgers (single and double patties), grilled and fried chicken breast sandwiches, salads, and sides such as fries, fried portobello mushrooms, onion rings, and spicy mac/cheese bites were available on the menu.  Shakes and soft drinks were available to help wash the food down.  

I ordered our food at the counter and took a seat with my wife in the cramped quarters.  We were amazed at the number of people coming in who were getting their orders to go, or who had ordered and were waiting for a table to open up while they wanted on their food.  Since the food is made to order, it took about 15 to 18 minutes to get our food to the table as I'm sure we were buried under a number of other orders given how busy the place was.  

My wife and I basically got the same thing - the cheeseburger with fries.  I got a double cheeseburger, while my wife got the single.  The burger and fries were served in a plastic basket with wax paper.  The fries were crinkle-cut - not my favorite style of French fries, but they did all right.  Packets of ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper were available at the drink station next to the napkin dispenser.  

And we needed a lot of napkins as the flat-grilled burgers topped with lettuce, tomato, onions and dill pickles were sort of messy with the cheese oozing from each bite.  The burgers, themselves, were good - not great - but good.  I can't really say that they were up there with some of the better burgers in the Quad Cities - Floyd's, for one.  But they were good.  

And the meal was also reasonable in price - a double cheeseburger and a single cheeseburger, both with fries, and a bottle of water each for my wife and me came to a little over $20 bucks before tax and a small tip for the order taker.  It was no wonder there were families coming in to have dinner at Al's Burgers or to get orders to go.  

While we thought the burgers we had were good, we also said that we wouldn't probably go out of our way to come back to Al's Burgers.  Oh, I can see us coming back at some point, but not on a regular rotation of burger joints that we go to in the Quad Cities.  If we lived closer - sure, it would be a nice place to get some burgers to take home.  But it's a 20 to 25 minute drive for us - one way.  I hope Al's Burgers is able to make a go of it in this location.  There's been a lot of restaurants that have been in this building over the years, not all of them have lasted for very long.  Here's hoping Al's Burgers can.  They're definitely worth a try.  

Restaurant Chez Claudette - Montreal

I used to work for a company in Montreal for nearly 20 years, and once the company was sold, the new owners ran-off or fired everyone that made the business a huge success.  I made a lot of good friends who are still good friends who worked at the main office in Montreal and it's always a treat to see some of them when I go to Montreal.  Two of my former colleagues, Todd and Eric, now work for another audio company in Montreal and we always try to get together for poutine and craft beers when I come into Montreal.  A couple years ago they took me to one of the more famous poutine places in Montreal - La Banquise.  (Click here to see the Road Tips account of the visit to La Banquise.)  This time, Todd suggested we go to a real poutine diner, nothing fancy, and somewhat famous for being a weekend stop for late night poutine.  He took us to a place in the Mile End/Plateau neighborhood by the name of Chez Claudette.

Actually, this is going to be a three-part entry as we did start out at a local brewpub that had a contract kitchen, then ended up the evening at a trendy bar that Todd loved to go to when he lived in the neighborhood many years ago.   

Todd had gone on to the brew pub while Eric picked me up at my hotel.  After about a 15 minute drive, we ended up in a graffiti-laden industrial area southwest of downtown Montreal on a side street that was packed with cars.  We passed a nondescript front door with Messorum and a partial logo.  (see map)  "That's where we're going," Eric said.  We were able to find parking when a car was pulling out just past our destination.  I was a bit incredulous walking into what appeared to be an old warehouse.

But once inside, I found a vibrant repurposed brew works that had large tanks just beyond a glass wall, two areas of communal and high-top tables, and a sort of den area where people could sit in comfy chairs with low-slung tables.  Todd was holding two spots for us at one of the wooden communal tables that had slide-out benches.  It wasn't all that comfortable and it was extremely loud in the large room with the concrete floor, high ceiling and brick walls.  

Messorum was established in 2015 by three men - Marc-André Filion, Sébastien Chaput and Vincent Ménard - all of whom were heavy metal/hip-hop musicians in Montreal's underground music scene.  Vincent Ménard had taken up home-brewing and the other two were impressed with his beer making prowess. They came up with a business plan and helped along by Filion's father, they were able to secure an additional investor - who happened to be a childhood friend of Filion's father who was looking for something to do as he slid into retirement from being a longtime college professor.  They found an old warehouse that was empty and secured the funding to put in a full brewery.  And Messorum turned out to be one of the most popular brewpubs in Montreal.  

It was counter service at Messorum - which means one who harvests in Latin - and they had a 30 beers on tap.  There were three lines to order - two for beer and one for food that was provided by a contract operation called Mitch Deli that was located in the back of the building.  Most of the food on the menu were burgers and sandwiches along with fish & chips, popcorn chicken, and salads.  And they did have poutine, but more on that later.  Todd already had a beer, so Eric and I went to the counter to get a beer.  They did have a nice hazy IPA on tap that I tried.  

In the back just past the back room and kitchen area was an expansive beer garden that I was told was very popular in the warmer months.  It was pretty chilly when I was up in Montreal (we had snow and freezing rain on occasion during my time there) and there were just a few people out smoking in areas around the patio when I was there.  Montreal is a bike-friendly town and Todd has been an avid biker in the past.  "There are a lot of bike paths in this area," he told me.  "And on the weekends with nice days this place is slammed with people."  

Todd intimated that there was poutine at Messorum, but when Eric caught a glance of one of the orders of poutine that were brought out, he chastised Todd.  "That's not the poutine we want, Todd," he said with a tinge of derision.  "That stuff is served in those shitty boats."  And it was just one kind of poutine - just your basic fries and cheese curds covered in gravy, not the type of poutine place where you could order various toppings to go along with the regular poutine. 

Somewhat defensive, Todd retorted.  "Oh, you guys want really down and dirty poutine served in a not very fancy neighborhood diner?"

Eric said, "Is there any other kind of poutine?"  I said that as long as they had beer, I was up for it.  Todd said that we should drink up and head to a place that he frequented late at night when he lived in the Mile End/Plateau neighborhood after he moved to Montreal over 20 years ago.  

Eric left his car at Messorum and we jumped in Todd's car for about a 20-minute journey.  As we drove along, I remarked that Montreal had some of the most interesting and artistic street art/graffiti I've encountered in my travels.  I was intrigued by some of the artwork that seemed to be in places where I couldn't believe the artist was putting their self at risk from having to climb the outside of tall buildings to artistically tag the edifice.  Some of the designs were actually pretty neat - not someone just spray painting something like a penis or a goofy face.  I was especially impressed by two graffiti artists who went by the respective names of Fento and Kong who climbed the overhead freeway signs to paint their monikers on the back of the signs.  They actually have a graffiti festival in Montreal - it's been around for 29 years - and they also have a number of colorful murals throughout the city.  (Above photo courtesy of the Montreal Gazette.)  

We parked on Rue St. Denis and walked about a block and a half to Chez Claudette which was on the corner of Laurier Ave. and Rue Drolet.  (see map)  Chez Claudette has been around since 1982 when Claudette Boudreault (or Boudreau) opened her little counter diner.  Whereas La Banquise was popular with locals and tourists alike, Chez Claudette was definitely a locals diner serving various styles of poutine along with burgers and hot dogs to the late night crowds emptying out from the nearby bars.  (I found it interesting on my last couple of visits to Montreal that the city has a well-known hot dog culinary culture.)   

In 2001, Claudette sold the diner to one of her longtime employees Adel Bakry and his sister Lucie Paquin.  Bakry was instrumental in coming up with the various styles of poutine Chez Claudette served over the years.  And Claudette didn't just hand over the keys to Adel Bakry and his sister and sail off into the sunset - she stuck around working behind the counter for a number of years before retiring for good.  

Pictured left - Adel Bakry, Claudette Boudreault and Lucie Paquin.  Photo courtesy Debeur Magazine.

 

We walked into Chez Claudette around 8:30.  There was a small counter with the grill behind it.  The menu was on the wall above the grill, but they also had printed menus to pass out at the tables.  Opposite the counter area was a tiled wall with Claudette Boudreault's picture on it with along with a handful of photos of the different types of poutine they have at Chez Claudette.  There were a couple two-seater tables along the brick part of the wall under the pictures.  

It was actually pretty busy when we walked in and we ended up going to a six-seat table in the small brick-walled back room.  There were pictures of pop-culture icons such as Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe on the brick walls.  In fact on the wall behind where Todd and Eric were seated was an artists rendition of "The Last Supper".  And directly underneath it was a funny and - some would call - irreverent rendition of the same painting only with Marilyn Monroe sitting in the center surrounded by the likes of James Dean, Laurel & Hardy, Clark Gable and Marlon Brando.  "That picture's been there for years," Todd told me as I chuckled as I was studying it.  

There was just one waitress working the place that evening and she was running her butt off.  But she was that typical, happy-go-lucky Montreal woman who was cheerful and helpful all throughout our visit.  She had dropped off menus and while they also had sandwiches, salads, and combo dishes, we were there for the poutine.  Along with the regular brown gravy they use as part of the base for straight poutine, they had chili and a marinara-style gravy to put on different types of poutine.  

And they did have beer.  I got a Belle Geuele IPA from the Brasseurs RJ brewery located just a 15-minute walk from Chez Claudette.  The presentation wasn't anything fancy - it was served in a 16 ounce (473 ml) can.  There was something just sort of cute and quaint by being served a can of craft beer without a glass in a poutine diner.  

I had been craving smoked meat poutine since I got to Montreal.  Smoked meat - Montreal-style - is basically a beef brisket that has been cured, smoked, then steamed, then cut into thin strips.  And that's how it was presented to me that evening.  It was a base of fries and cheese curds, topped with smoked meat and I had her add mushrooms before dousing the plate with brown gravy.  I can't say that it was delicious more than it was an artery-hardener.  But it was good poutine.  And very filling.  I couldn't finish the fries and curds concentrating more on the meat and the fresh mushrooms.

Eric went a bit more exotic - he got the New York poutine.  It consisted of the regular poutine base with gravy along with ground beef, onions, mushrooms and a picante sauce added in.  I've always been intrigued with Eric's eating prowess.  He's not a big guy, but he can pack away the food.  "I didn't eat today knowing that I was going to have poutine tonight."  Eric basically cleaned his plate.  

Todd was intrigued with my order and he decided to do pretty much the same thing.  Only he didn't have mushrooms on his poutine.  "Oh, man," he said between bites. "This brings back a lot of memories of a lot of late nights in this place."  

As we sat back and savored the meal, Todd suggested we make one more stop for a nightcap to a bar that he also frequented a number of years ago.  "My second date with my wife was at this place," he said.  "It's a pretty cool place." He said it was about a 10 minute walk from the restaurant.

After paying the bill at Chez Claudette, we took off down Rue St. Denis to Ave. Mont-Royal E. and walked into a place by the name of Bílý Kůň.  Co-owner/founder Fabien Lacaille had been working at the Le Cheval Blanc brewery for about a dozen years when he and his friend Bruce Hackensack went to the Czech Republic to hang out for a few days.  They ended up staying at a hotel in the small town of Loket that happened to have a bar by the name of Bílý Kůň (pronounced beely koon).  When they asked the owner what the name meant and he said, "White horse."  Which is also Cheval Blanc in French!  Lacaiile had been thinking about opening a bar and he took this revelation as a sign that he needed to go back to Montreal and open a bar.  

After he got back to Montreal, Lacaille talked to the owner of the Cheval Blanc brewery about opening a bar that was a bit more upscale than the tasting room Cheval Blanc, someplace that was more of a laid-back place where jazz music could be playing.  But the owner wasn't interested in doing anything like that, so the idea sort of sat in the back of Lacaille's head.  But by 1998, the owner of Cheval Blanc decided to merge with two other microbreweries in the area (including Brasseurs RJ) and he helped put up the money for Lacaille and Hackenbeck to open their dream bar in the Plateau neighborhood and name it after the little Czech bar they had visited 3 years prior.  Just this last Friday, April 25th, Bílý Kůň celebrated its 27th year in business.  

Finding Bílý Kůň just off St. Denis along Ave. Mont-Royal E., the place was cozy, to say the least.  (see map) Tables seemed to be on top of tables in the long narrow space with a full bar along one wall.  We were able to score a table at the very front of the bar in front of the big window that looked out onto Ave. Mont-Royal where a crowd of 20-somethings had congregated in front of the bar to smoke pot.  Todd ordered up some Saint-Ambroise beers for us from the McAuslan Brewery in Montreal - his favorite craft brewery in the city.  Bílý Kůň is also known for having Czechvar beer, one of the premium beers from the Czech Republic.  Quite understandably, Bílý Kůň sells more Czechvar beer than any establishment in Canada.  

On the walls opposite the bar were about six or seven stuffed ostrich heads.  The reasoning behind having ostrich taxidermy on the wall goes back to the founder Fabian Lacaille who knew that Bílý Kůň would be hard to pronounce in French, so he wanted something that people would remember.  Having the stuffed ostrich heads proved to be the perfect idea as people could say, "Let's go to that place with the ostrich heads."  

Todd told us a story of one ostrich head that was evidently snatched off the wall and the owners offered a cash reward to get it back, but the ostrich head never materialized.  However, a few months later they started to receive pictures of the ostrich head in exotic places around the world.  They put the pictures up on the wall where the mount used to be as a memorial for the wayward ostrich head.  

Bílý Kůň features live jazz music from 6:00 to 8:00 each evening, then around 10:00 p.m. they open the second floor as a dance floor with a D.J. playing pulsating music until 3:00 p.m.  It was around 10:00 p.m. when we finished up at Bílý Kůň and the place was starting to get very young.  I decided to head back to the hotel.  Todd was going to give me a lift and then take Eric back to his car, but it would have been a bit out of his way to drop me off so I took an Uber back to the hotel.  It was a full night, to say the least. 

And it was a full night taking in the sights, sounds and cuisine of Montreal.  It was a tour of one of the most popular craft brewery in Messorum, one of the most popular poutine places for locals in Chez Claudette, and a nightcap at a popular hangout in Bílý Kůň.  I love Montreal and to be chauffeured around the city by my friends to discover the areas and places they like to go is always a treat.  It was truly a memorable night and for just a few hours, I sort of felt I was part of the local Montreal scene.  

Casa di Luigi - Rolling Meadows, IL

My two colleagues and I had finished setting up for our trade show at the Renaissance/Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg around 7:30 on a recent Thursday evening and we were tired, hungry and thirsty.  I suggested Italian earlier in the day and my two work friends - one from Montreal and the other from Los Angeles - were definitely down with that.  I knew of a couple Italian restaurants in the vicinity, but I did a quick search on the computer for alternatives.  I found a place that was about two miles away in Rolling Meadows - Casa di Luigi.  I wasn't familiar with the place and I'm always up for finding new restaurants along the way.  

One of the reasons I didn't know about Casa di Luigi was that it's less than two years old.  Husband/wife owners Luis Diaz Hernandez (the Luigi in the restaurant's name) and Susana Arceo Sanchez opened the restaurant in July of 2023.  Both were veterans of restaurants in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago and were able to find a small restaurant space on New Wilke Ave. in Rolling Meadows to open their own Italian eatery in a building that had previously housed Mexican restaurants for a number of years.  

It was less than 10 minute drive from the convention center to Casa di Luigi located just south of Algonquin Road/Illinois State Highway 62 at New Wilke Ave.  (see map)  We pulled into the parking lot and found a small building that looked like it may have originally been a Long John Silvers restaurant.  On the front of the building was an enclosed area that appeared to be a seasonal patio.  There was a heating tower in the enclosure, but I doubted they were using it with the structure closed up.  

 
The restaurant was small, quaint and cozy.  It sat - maybe 36 to 40 people, tops.  The restaurant featured a low-slung ceiling with two walls that had banquette seating.  An open kitchen was off to the side of the dining space.  Music from 60's Italian crooners such as Jerry Vale, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra played softly in the background.

It turned out that our server that evening was the co-owner Susana.  After she showed us to a four-seater table along a short wall and dropped off menus, my Montreal colleague and I immediately each ordered a Peroni.  My friend from Los Angeles doesn't drink, so he was fine with water.  Later in the evening, my friend from Montreal ordered a glass of the Capo Zafferano cabernet from Italy, while I ordered up an Italian Terredirai pinot grigio with my dinner.  

The menu wasn't extensive, but there were a number of interesting items to choose from.  Appetizers included fried calamari, crab cakes, and a pound of Mediterranean mussels served in a garlic, white wine and tomato sauce.  Salads included a carpaccio salad with beets, a gorgonzola salad, and a caprese salad, and for soups they had a seafood soup, a poblano pepper cream soup, and - quite interestingly - they had gumbo made with ground Italian sausage and vegetables.  

For main entrees, Casa di Luigi featured land and sea choices such as an 8 oz. beef tenderloin filet, chicken saltimbocca, veal scallopini, a Mediterranean sea bass, and an Atlantic salmon sautéed in olive oil, garlic and chili pepper flakes.  And they had a few pasta dishes including rigatoni with Italian sausage and mushrooms in a tomato cream sauce, a tagliatelle pasta dish with shrimp and lobster meat, and a seafood risotto.  

I was sort of up in the air as to what to get.  I thought about getting the pappardelle pasta dish with a lobster tail and shrimp, and the homemade butternut squash gnocchi served with a beef short rib and mushroom ragout really sounded good.  But in the end I ordered the fettuccine alfredo with shrimp.  The ridge of the pasta bowl was sprinkled with paprika and there were a lot of shrimp included with the pasta.  And I mean a lot of shrimp.  There was at least 10 medium-sized shrimp included with the fettuccine alfredo.  Susasa provided some red pepper flakes to give the dish a bit more of a kick.  It was simple, yet delicious.  And the slightly-chilled Italian pinot grigio went very well with the meal.    

My vegetarian friend from Montreal got the risotto ai funghi - Italian rice mixed with mushrooms sautéed with shallots and garlic in a white wine demi glace.  It was topped with parmesan cheese and a truffle pesto.  He said that the risotto was "excellent".  And it was exactly what he was looking for.  But it was also very rich and he ended up eating all but about a quarter of the dish that was given to him.  

And my colleague from Los Angeles had a special order for Susana.  "I see that you have an arrabbiata sauce.  Can I just get some fettuccine noodles with the arrabbiata sauce?"  Susana asked him if he wanted some sausage or chicken included and he said, nope - just the fettuccine with the arrabbiata sauce.  

And that's exactly what he got.  His dish was also sprinkled with paprika on the ridge and garnished with a parsley.  After a couple bites, my friend stopped and said, "Oh, you guys.  This is hotter than hell!  But I love it!"  He offered me a single fettuccine noodle and put it on the ridge of my dish.  I twirled it up and ate it.  Oh man!  Was it EVER spicy!  I said that the chef had to dump at least a couple of tablespoons of spicy red pepper flakes in the sauce.  But, hey, my friend was happy with what he got.  (Although he said he suffered the next morning from the meal.)  

I have to say that Casa di Luigi was a good little find for us.  First of all, the service we got from Susana was impeccable.  She was accommodating, considerate and just a sweetheart all evening long.  We told her we were over at the trade show at the convention center and she gave me some of their cards to hand out to other people looking for a good meal while they were in town.  And I did!  I can't say that the food at Casa di Luigi was the best Italian food I've ever had, but it was well above average with plentiful portions.  Casa di Luigi is one of those great little family-run places that I love to find when I'm on the road.  

Beer Authority - New York City

After a night of food and drinks with some friends who were part of the trade show that I was attending in New York City recently, I walked back - more like, staggered back - to my hotel on W. 42nd from an Irish bar on 9th Ave. in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood.  I was walking along W. 40th and got to the corner at 8th Ave.  I was waiting for the light to change and I happened to look up at the building behind me.  The name on the two sides of the corner building sort of took me by surprise.  I made a mental note of it - actually, I had to write it down when I got back to the hotel so I would remember it.  The next day, I took a lunch break and made it down to Beer Authority.  

Joe Donagher was born in New York City, but ended up moving back to his parent's native Ireland as a young man.  His father became the town commissioner in Ballyshannon, a small coastal town in northwest Ireland near the Northern Ireland border.   After college, Joe decided to move back to the states to look for work.  He found it in construction, which in the early 2000's was booming in New York City.  Within three months he was able to put a downpayment on a house.  By 2006, Donagher had saved enough money to open a little Irish deli/store in the Woodside neighborhood in Queens.  He would go in at 5:30 in the morning to get his employees started for the day, then he'd go off to work his construction job.  After work, he'd take a couple hours to himself at home, then go back to the deli around 5:30 to help out until the deli closed at 9:00 p.m.

A year later, Donagher opened a little bar in the Maspeth section of Queens - an area known for a large Irish population.  But with the downturn in the economy, a number of the Irish ex-pats in the area were moving back to Ireland to find work.  Donagher decided to sell both the deli, his little bar, and his house.  But what he did was more daring than throwing in the towel and moving back to Ireland like many of the people in the neighborhood.  He moved into Manhattan and explored opening a pub.   

Donagher had fallen in love with the burgeoning craft beer movement and wanted to have a place where he could have a variety of micro-brewed beers to choose from.  In late 2008, along with fellow Irish partners Liam Whyte and Eamon Donnelly, they opened Rattle and Hum on E. 33rd St  near Madison Square Garden.  The place featured Irish-inspired foods and over 60 craft brews on tap.  Named after the Irish-band U2's live album, Rattle and Hum was a huge hit.  In 2012, a second Rattle and Hum opened on W. 39th St. in Manhattan.  (The original Rattle and Hum closed in 2018 due to ever increasing rent hikes from the landlord.)  

Before opening the second Rattle and Hum location, Donagher and his partners were looking to open a similar bar with more refined Irish cuisine.  They found a two-story building across the street from the Port Authority bus terminal and began renovations in the summer of 2011.  Donagher and his partners brought in a chef from Belfast - David Gallagher - to prepare a menu of what Donagher described as "high-end gastropub" food.  Hoping to open their doors in late November of 2011, the group ran into snags that postponed the opening until April of 2012.  Donagher and his partners called their new restaurant/pub Beer Authority - not that they were authorities on the beers they served, but as a nod to their across-the-street neighbor who had well over two million people pass through the Port Authority on an annual basis. 

It was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel where the trade show was taking place down to Beer Authority sitting on the southwest corner of 8th Ave. and W. 40th St., technically in Hell's Kitchen.  (see map)  It was a gloriously bright and sunny day with a bit of a windy chill in the air that made the walk a bit brisk.  Entering the restaurant from W. 40th St., I found a small bar area that really didn't look like much.  I sat down at the bar and thought to myself, "Hmmm...  This doesn't look like much."  

I turned around and saw someone walking upstairs.  I asked the bartender if there was another room upstairs and he said in an Irish-accent, "Yeah, our main room is upstairs."  I apologized for sitting there thinking he was going to have another customer and he said, "No worries.  Happens all the time."   

When I got to the second level, I found this spacious area with a long bar along one wall and windows lining the east and north sides of the building allowing a ton of natural light to finish in.  Exposed ductwork hung from the ceiling and there were a number of flatscreen televisions around the room.  Despite the fact that there was a great college basketball game going on about six blocks to south at Madison Square Garden, all the televisions in the place were tuned to the Manchester City vs. Liverpool Premier League contest.  (I've learned that soccer is No.1 at all sports bars and pubs in New York.)   And the sound system at the pub had the British play-by-play announcers calling the game.  

The main room at Beer Authority featured a number of tables throughout the place.  There was a stairway that took you up to the third level beer garden.  Of course, being that it was late February, the beer garden was closed.  But I did see pictures of the area and thought that would be a great place to hang out on a warm day.   But the windows had a number of tables that looked down onto the streets below, a good place to "people watch" any day.  

As I normally do when I dine by myself, I planted my bottom on a bar stool at the 60 foot+ Mahogany bar.  The bartender that day was a young lady by the name of Anne.  She gave me a food menu to check out, and I got a beer menu to look through, as well.  They have nearly 50 beers on tap to choose from and many are there on a rotating basis.  And there was probably more than 60 different craft, domestic and imported beers available in cans and bottles.   Plus Beer Authority had a full bar with a number of specialty cocktails available.  I saw a couple beers on tap that I wanted to try - the Teenage Mutant Ninja Gerbils hazy IPA from Brooklyn's Kings County Brewing Collective (KCBC), and the Five Boroughs Tiny Juicy hazy IPA also out of Brooklyn that I had enjoyed previously on this trip to New York.  I ordered the hazy IPA from KCBC first, then ordered the Five Boroughs hazy for my second beer.  Both were very tasty.  

I would have to dispute the notion that the menu was "upscale gastropub" fare because it was very typical of similar pubs I've been to in New York.  The appetizers featured wings, calamari, a Buffalo chicken dip, different varieties of nachos, and a house-made guacamole served with tortilla chips and fried green plantains.  They also had tacos, sliders and three-cheese potato skins.  Beer Authority had a number of sandwiches and burgers, and they had a variety of 10" pizzas on the menu.  Other than salads and a kid's menu, that was about all they had to offer.  

I had pizza the night before and a burger the previous afternoon, so both of those things were out.  I didn't really see anything on the appetizer menu that tripped my trigger - although the steak tacos that were topped with a salsa trio blend of tomatillo, roasted poblanos, and a salsa roja caught my eye.  And they didn't really have a lot of sandwiches to choose from.  But at the bottom of the sandwich list, I saw something that I decided to get.

I went with the pastrami sandwich - thin-sliced beef brisket pastrami topped with melted Swiss cheese, pickled jalapeños and a green apple cole slaw all served on grilled marble rye.  The green apple cole slaw I was bit tentative on since I don't care for green apples all that much.  Well, not at all, that is.  I figured that if the taste of the cole slaw was too obtrusive, I'd just scrape it off.

But it turns out that I didn't have to worry much about that because the taste of the sandwich was fabulous.  The brisket pastrami was tender and flavorful.  The sandwich was lightly grilled and even with the cole slaw and Swiss cheese, the tastiness of the brisket really shined through.  The fries - served in a paper wrap in a tin can - were sort of "meh!"  But that was fine.  I wanted to concentrate on the sandwich. 

As I was enjoying my lunch, the Man City/Liverpool soccer game concluded and the sound from the television feed of the match was switched over to a mix of 70's disco and R&B from the likes of Abba, Earth, Wind & Fire, Tavares, and the Spanish female disco/pop duo Baccara.   Despite the fact that I usually don't listen to music like that, I didn't find the music annoying in any way.   Plus, they tuned some of the televisions behind the bar to the latter stages of the college basketball game being played just down the street.  But by that time the game was pretty much a foregone conclusion.  

And I'm sorry to say that Anne wasn't really on her "A" game that day.  I had finished my second beer and determined that I could probably have one more beer before I had to go back and hang for the final couple hours of the show.  But she was down at the opposite end of the long bar talking it up with someone.  And since I was the only other person seated at the bar, she wasn't coming back down my way anytime soon.  When she finally did come down, it was 10 minutes later and I was ready to go.  Yeah, I could have been an ass and said something like, "Hey!  I'd like a beer down here!"  But it was probably best that I didn't have another one.  

Other than Anne not paying attention to the other end of the bar when I really wanted another beer, I have no complaints about my visit to Beer Authority.  Well, plus the fact that they only had the Premier League soccer game on all their televisions and there were - maybe - 25 people in the place, when they could have been showing a great college basketball game going on at the Garden down 8th Ave., it was a fine experience.  Actually, I should have probably sat at one of the window tables looking down at either W. 40th St. or 8th Avenue to take in the vibrant New York City street scene.  My brisket pastrami sandwich was wonderful, they had a great beer selection, and the place had a nice little laid-back vibe.  I may have to be back in New York this coming summer and I may just go back to Beer Authority to have a couple beers on their third-level outdoor beer garden.  If I do, I'll take some pictures and add them to this post.  

Plus Saporis - Bettendorf, IA

Last fall, my wife had heard about a new Mediterranean restaurant that had opened in early September of last year near the "Bett Plex" sports and entertainment complex on the north side of Bettendorf.  I don't exactly remember what we were doing out that way one evening, but my wife pointed out the place - Plus Saporis.  It was a weeknight and just before 6 p.m. so we thought we'd stop in and check the place out.  We were met by a nattily dressed man at the host stand near the front door and he asked in a somewhat aloof tone if we had reservations.  I said we did not and he immediately said that it would be a minimum of an hour wait.  I looked past him and saw that the restaurant was nearly empty.  I thought he may offer to have us sit at the bar and wait until they were ready to seat us, but he didn't even do that.  It was sort of an awkward stand-off at the host desk.  He was so cold and somewhat haughty to us that we decided to just leave.  It wasn't that we were dressed bad - jeans and V-neck sweater with a T-shirt for me, jeans and a nice top for my wife.  We just couldn't believe that they couldn't seat us in what appeared to be a pretty good-sized restaurant with just a few people dining at the time.  

As we tried to rationalize why he couldn't - or didn't - want to seat us, we thought that maybe they were having a large group coming in later, maybe they only had a skeleton staff and couldn't take care of any more people coming in at that time, or maybe we WERE underdressed, but there was no indication or signage for a dress code.  But when we found later that the owner of Plus Saporis was the owner of the toney Hemispheres Bistro and a partner in the now-closed Food Affair Bistro, we realized that the place was probably going to be a bit snobbish and pompous.  

But, as I always tell my wife - our money spends just as well as the guy driving the Audi A8 that we parked next to in the parking lot.  And then we found out from a friend who had been there previously that they were still working out the kinks early on after their initial opening.  So, on a recent Friday evening, we had gone out for end-of-the-work-week drinks and decided to head over to Plus Saporis to see if they'd let us in this time.  And they did!  And they were very nice about it this time!

Now, I'm going to be lazy and lift this background information on the owner/chef from my previous entry on Food Affair Bistro - 

Aman Razdan grew up in Mumbai, India.  While he was a youngster, he worked in his family's restaurant before coming to the U.S. in 1998.  He settled in the Quad Cities and ended up getting into the culinary program at Scott Community College.  While going to school at Scott Community, Razdin got a job at Le Figaro, a now-closed French restaurant in Rock Island run by Rachid Bouchareb.  Learning under Bouchareb, Razdan did a little bit of everything in the kitchen to preparing salad dressings to preparing charcuterie boards and cheese plates.  

After graduating from Scott Community College, Razdan became the pastry and sous chef at the Red Crow Grill in August of 2002.  Razdan worked at Red Crow Grill until March of 2004 when he was hired to be the head regional chef for Holiday Retirement Corporation.  Working out of the Palmer Hills Independent Senior Living facility in Bettendorf, Razdan oversaw the kitchens for 16 Holiday Retirement properties in the Midwest.  

Pictured at right - Aman Razdan.  Photo courtesy Quad City Times. 

After nearly 3 years working with Holiday Retirement, Razdan was hired to be the head chef at the Best Western Steeplegate Inn in Davenport.  Three years later, Razdan went to work as an executive chef at a local hospital.  During his time at the hospital, Razdan - along with his wife, Martina - started to work on a business plan to someday own their own restaurant.

In 2015, the opportunity arose to buy the Red Crow Grill where Razdan got his first job out of culinary school.  Red Crow Grill had been open for 16 years and Razdan wanted to change things up and put his stamp on the restaurant.  Red Crow Grill closed on July 1, 2015 and over the next two months, Razdan spruced up the place and came up with a menu that he classified as "global fusion" focusing on Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Latin cuisines.  In early September of 2015, Razdan and his wife opened Hemispheres Bistro.  And after a 9 1/2-year run, Razdan announced last month that Hemispheres Bistro would be closing their doors on April 30th to concentrate on running Plus Saporis.  

And it's a true family affair at Plus Saporis, which means "more flavor" in Latin.  Aman Razdan's two sons help out in the restaurant.  Simon Razdan started out washing dishes in his father's restaurant at the age of 14.  Learning from his father, Simon Razdan has risen to be the chef de cuisine at Plus Saporis.  Simon's younger brother Arion is the general manager of Plus Saporis.  He starting out working at his father's restaurant at the age of 15 and runs the restaurant for his father while also helping out in the kitchen.  And Aman's daughter Mikhaela - who is now in her early-teens - helped with the wall decor and color scheme at Plus Saporis.   

It was a somewhat blustery, yet, warm day when we went to Plus Saporis.  For a number of days the local weathercasters on TV had been predicting a large storm coming through the area around 7 to 8 p.m.  That may have tamped down the number of Friday night diners who usually would have been out that evening.  This time when we went into Plus Saporis, there was no smart dressed man at the host stand, but a young man who greeted us when we came in.  I said, "Two for dinner, please."  And he grabbed a couple menus and led us to a booth in the dining room up front.  No pretension, no judging.  

The dining area at Plus Saporis features a wall lined with comfy booths, some four-seater tables in the middle and tables with banquette seating along a wall.  Large windows on the south side of the restaurant allowed in a lot of natural light during the day, while a garage door opens into a patio area on the west side.  The garage door was open slightly at the bottom allowing some of the late winter fresh air into the restaurant, but no one was seated outside as wind gusts approaching 40 miles an hour would have made al fresco dining almost impossible.  

On the other side of the wall from the dining area was the bar area with even more seating for dining.  We were sort of incredulous that we weren't offered to sit at the bar to wait for a table the first time we stopped into Plus Saporis as the half-circle bar could seat 10 to 12 people.  And there weren't 12 people in the whole restaurant the first time we were there.  The bar area/back dining space was well lit and accented with colorful prints on the walls.   

Our server that evening was a young lady by the name of Briza.  I'm going to say upfront that Briza was delightful all during our visit.  She was friendly, accommodating, and was very knowledgeable about the food - a hallmark of Aman Razden's restaurants over the years.  She gave us some great recommendations all through the evening.  Right off the bat she took our drink orders - I ordered a Kona Big Wave and my wife got a glass of a Lebanese red blend from the Chateau Musar winery.  

As we were just getting started looking through the menu, Briza brought out a complementary appetizer from the chef.  I don't know what it was called, but they were two small meatballs topped with a yogurt/tomato mixture.  Whatever it was, it was very good and a nice gesture to start off our meal.  

The menu at Plus Saporis was interesting, to say the least.  Appetizers included a daily shell fish offering at market price, crab ceviche, saganaki, and polenta fries.  They also had a few dips that were served with twisted pastry bread and crudités (raw vegetables).   Main entrees featured pasta dishes, seafood offerings, kebabs, and exotic dishes such as osso bucco, a stuffed duck breast, a short rib/chorizo/prawns paella, and moussaka.  Plus Saporis also featured pizza, sandwiches, and salads where proteins such as a marinated hanger steak, grilled chicken and salmon could be added to the salad.    

My wife saw that they had a couple things on the menu that she wanted to try.  Actually, I was in agreement with her on both appetizers.  She wanted to try their hummus.  It was served with cannellini beans and tahini along with two twisted pastry bread sticks and assorted sliced veggies.  The pastry bread was light and very delicious on its own.  And the hummus was exceptional.  

And the other thing we both saw on the menu was the grilled octopus.  It came with chopped garlic, fennel, and chopped cherry tomatoes in a red wine vinaigrette.  I have to say that the grilled octopus was sadly over-cooked - chewy and really sort of lifeless in flavor, even with the red wine vinaigrette.   

For our main entrees that evening, my wife got the lamb kebabs.  The two kebabs were accompanied by a rice tower, cacik (pronounced jah-jick) which is a Turkish sauce made with watered down yogurt and cucumbers; and harissa - a North African chile paste mixed with garlic, olive oil, citrus juice and assorted spices and herbs.  Unfortunately, my wife found the lamb kebabs to also be overcooked.  "Whoever is grilling the octopus and the kebabs needs to turn the heat down," my wife said between bites.  She still thought it was good, but was disappointed that it was somewhat chewy, dry and tough.  

I went with the 'Nduja sausage and tagliatelle pasta dish.  It was topped with a dollop of burrata cheese that made the dish even more rich in flavor.  The 'Nduja sausage had a nice little bite to the taste and clung very well to the wide tagliatelle pasta.  My meal was fabulous.  I offered my wife a couple bites of my dish while she gave me a bite of one of her kebabs.  She usually gets the better of the two meals we have when we eat out.  But this time she said mine was definitely better than hers.  

Briza came out with a very tempting dessert menu.  All of Plus Saporis' desserts are made by longtime Hemispheres Bistro pastry chef Jose Trigueros.  The desserts change weekly and on this visit we were intrigued by a couple different things.  They had blueberry compote in an edible pistachio pastry shell, and fresh blueberry ice cream with sweet crumbles mixed in.  We couldn't make up our minds as to which one to get, so we got both.  Both were spectacular.  My wife concentrated more on the ice cream with crumbles, while I eagerly ate much of the blueberry compote while chopping at the pistachio shell with my spoon.  It was a great ending to what - I thought - was a pretty damned good meal.

My wife, however, was disappointed in her overcooked lamb kebabs, and we were sort of dissatisfied with the overcooked grilled octopus.  But the rest of the meal was very good.  I loved my 'Nduja with tagliatelle pasta topped with a creamy burrata cheese.  And I thought the hummus was outstanding.  Briza was a gem all night long and she was a tremendous server.  And we didn't feel like the place was stuffy or pretentious unlike our first visit when we weren't even given an option to hang out until a table opened.  It was expensive, however, and not one that we would be able to put into our regular rotation of restaurants.  But it would be one that we'd go back to if we wanted to treat ourselves to a nice meal out at some time in the future.  

 

 

 

Bevo Pizzeria - Montreal

I was back up in Montreal recently for some meetings and a trade show.  Once night, I was on my own as my colleagues had other stuff going on.  I was told by a friend at the show about a pizza place in the Old Montreal neighborhood that wasn't that far from my hotel.  That night, I looked it up when I got back to the hotel and decided to head over to Bevo Pizzeria to get something to eat.  

Bevo Pizzeria is part of the Groupe Antonopoulos family of hotels and restaurants, most of which are in the Old Montreal area.  In 1970, Tony Antonopoulos immigrated to Montreal from Greece to work in a relative's restaurant.  In 1973, Tony opened his first restaurant "Le Coin" (coin is "corner" in French) in Old Montreal.  His brother Costa joined him in 1976 and the two started to restore abandoned buildings in the immediate area.  Many of the structures were turned into restaurants and later on they developed some boutique hotels.  

In 2014, Groupe Antonopoulos renovated a building on Rue Saint-Vincent in Old Montreal and after the work was complete, they started a new restaurant by the name of Bevo Pizzeria.  Giovanni Vella - who had been working as a chef at another Groupe Antonopoulos restaurant since 2012 - was tabbed to head the kitchen.  Bevo Pizzeria suddenly became one of the new "hip" hangouts in Old Montreal.

In 2022, Tony Antonopoulos retired from Groupe Antonopoulos and Costa Antonopoulos - along with his four children - took over from there.  The Groupe Antonopoulos brand was renamed the Gray Collection after the family's prestigious prime real estate holding, Hotel William Gray.   Bevo Pizzeria, Jacopo - an Italian-style trattoria, Maggie Oakes - a steakhouse just up the street from Bevo Pizzeria, and Perché - a California-inspired gourmet bistro, are also part of the Gray Collection family.  Also, Costa's son Dmitri formed an off-shoot company called Corner Collection that oversees the family's upscale boutique hotel properties which includes the renowned Hôtel Place d' Armes and the Hotel Nelligan, along with the restaurants and spas that are within those properties.  

I looked at how far of a walk it was from my hotel on Saint-Antoine Ouest (west) toward the south east side of downtown Montreal to Bevo Pizzeria.  I determined that I could probably walk it as Google Maps said it would be about a 13 minute walk.  I took off from the hotel and walked up a hill and took a left at the next block.  One more small block revealed the expansive courtyard in front of the Notre-Dame Basilica, probably the most famous church in Canada and one of the most beautiful churches in the world.  I had been in the cathedral a number of years ago after we had dinner at a nearby restaurant in Old Montreal.

(Photo at right courtesy Lonely Planet - Denis Roger photographer.  I didn't take a picture of the cathedral as the left tower in this picture was shrouded as they were working on some restorations.)

I did a diagonal cut through the courtyard and down a street just to the east of the cathedral for a couple blocks.  Turning right, I walked down a hilly street watching my step as the day had started out icy and there were still some pockets of ice on the streets and sidewalks.  As I came down the hill and passed a group of people that appeared to be waiting for a club or bar to open, I looked across the street.  Right in front of me was Bevo Pizzeria!  (see map)  I went across the street and into the restaurant.  

The repurposing of the old stone building in Old Montreal for Bevo was impressive.  The designers basically gutted the building of every piece of the original building save for the large stairs that goes up to a second level.  All the wood trim on the walls in the place was painted black to contrast it against the stone walls in the building.  A number of large smoked acrylic globes with 3-socket light fixtures hung from the ceiling on the main floor.  

Back in the corner of the main floor was the large wood-fire oven used for baking pizzas.  The facade of the oven was stainless steel as was the prep area in front of the oven.  Even the nautical-style lights above the prep area were stainless steel.  It all had a great style, but looked a little out of place with the stone walls next to the oven.  

Upstairs were two dining areas that featured wrought iron lanterns for the main lighting.  The support beams were a combination of wood and steel, but it gave the space a cozy feeling.  More exposed stone walls with LED lighting accents were part of the upstairs decor.  

The centerpiece of the upstairs - well, quite possibly the whole restaurant - was a large wrought iron chandelier that hung next to the stairway.   Faux candlelight bulbs gave the chandelier an antique look.  Diners on the second floor could look down on the chandelier while diners in the bar area could see if from below.

The bar at Bevo was a modernistic curving bar with LED lighting accents underneath.  More of the smoked acrylic lamp globes hung directly above the bar.  Shelves of liquor were highlighted by LED accent lighting that made the bottles shine.  There were a couple flatscreen televisions on the wall near the bar and they were both turned - naturally - to an NHL hockey match.  There were a number of tables in the immediate bar area along with a seating area with banquette seats off to the right side of the bar.  

There was an interesting mix of music being played in Bevo that evening.  I heard music from Hall & Oates, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Etta James, Amy Winehouse, Montreal singer/songwriter Michel Pagliaro, and an interesting 2007 remake of the song "Brother Louie" by the 1970's New York City-based band Stories.

Since it was just me, I took a seat at the bar.  One of the bartenders that night was a young lady by the name of Faith.  And let me tell you right off the bat - Faith was a sweetheart.  She was pleasant, friendly, efficient and had a level of wholesome charm to her.  She gave me both the food menu and the drink menu to check out.  Bevo Pizzeria had a number of specialty cocktails and choices of wine both by the glass or by the bottle on the menu.  They had a handful of imported beers and I was looking for what they had to offer in craft beers.  To my delight, they had six different offerings of beer styles from the Boréale Brewery in Montreal.  Boréale is one of the oldest breweries, not only in Montreal, but in Canada, established in 1987.  I fell in love with Boréale beers - especially their Blonde - a number of years ago during a visit to my old company.  I ordered up a pint of the Boréale Blonde from Faith.  "Good choice," she said before she went to pour me a glass.  

Pizza dominates the food menu at Bevo, but they also had a number of Italian entrees to choose from including pasta dishes, chicken parmigiana, and a salmon and bruschetta dish.  Appetizers and antipasti plates included charcuterie boards, Italian cheese platters, cured olive plates, meatballs made from veal, pork and beef in a marinara sauce, and fried calamari served with a sun-dried tomato pesto.  

With the pizza selections, they had a basic margarita pizza, as well as one with sausage, mushrooms, and a fried egg (that actually sounded interesting), and about six different varieties of vegetarian pizzas.  (My colleague would have loved this place!)  But I ended up ordering the salame (pepperoni) pizza that also came with oregano and mozzarella cheese.  For an upcharge, I could add any number of toppings from meatballs to arugula to goat cheese to black truffles.  I added sausage and mushrooms to the pizza.  After she took my order, Faith said, "OK, I have to tell you, our pepperoni is really spicy.  Is that OK?"  I told her that it was absolutely OK.  "OK," she said.  "I just wanted to make sure.  Some people are sort of surprised at how spicy our pepperoni really is."

I had taken about three sips of my Boréale Blonde when someone from the kitchen brought out my pizza.  "Wow," I exclaimed.  "That was fast!"  It was about five minutes from the time I placed my order with Faith and when it was placed in front of me.  

I asked Faith if she had any parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.  She brought over a small container of red pepper flakes and asked me if I had tried one of the pepperoni slices yet.  When I told her I hadn't, she said, "You may want to try one to make sure.  You might not need any pepper flakes."  I picked one off the pizza and put it in my mouth.  It was spicy and had a kick, but it wasn't overly spicy.  I told her to leave the pepper flakes.  

She then brought over a bowl of parmesan cheese and offered to put some on my pizza.  "Don't be shy," she said as she spooned some out of the bowl and sprinkled it onto my pizza.  She put about three spoonfuls of grated parmesan on my pizza before I told her that it was fine as it sat.  

The pizza was cut into quarters, not eighths.  And with no plate, it made for a rather unwieldy eating experience.  The crust was a bit floppy near the middle, but firm toward the crust end.  I ended up cutting the quarter pieces in half making them easier to handle.  

Now, one thing that I've noticed from my European and Quebecois colleagues when they eat pizza - they use a fork and knife when eating the pizza.  It's completely foreign to them to pick the pizza up by hand and eat it by the slice.  It's a guess that's why the pizza - about 25 to 30 centimeters in diameter (about 9.5 to 11.5 inches) - was cut the way it was.  The more sophisticated Quebecers are using a fork and knife and not their hands like those uncouth American diners.  

The pizza was superb.  As the pizza cooled through the process, the crust didn't sag as much as it did when it first came out of the oven.  Yeah, the pepperoni had a spicy kick, but it wasn't overpowering.  The red pepper flakes definitely zipped up the flavor of the pizza.  The sausage was crumbly, but not fully ground.  And the mushrooms were fresh and earthy.  The sauce had a nice tang to it, and the mozzarella cheese was proportioned evenly throughout the pizza.  But the crust, on its own, was delicious.  It had that great refined "00" flour taste like a great piece of Italian bread.  I almost asked Faith if I could get some marinara sauce to dip the pieces of crust into.  But, quite honestly, the crust didn't need any enhancements as it was delicious on its own.

The next day, I told the person who told me about Bevo Pizzeria that their recommendation was spot on.  "Isn't that a great place," he replied with a smile on his face.  Everything was excellent, the food, the atmosphere, and the service from Faith was top-notch.  She was such a great server and an even better person.  Bevo Pizzeria was such a great place and one of those instances where memories are made.  And I'll definitely want to go to Bevo the next time I get back to Montreal.