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Thanx to Chuck Ellis who passed along this article announcing the partnership of Hy-Vee food stores and Maid-Rite sandwich shops that will place the loose meat sandwiches in at least five of the Hy-Vee convenience stores within the next few months. The first one opened Monday in Omaha at the Hy-Vee convenience store on 156th St. (see map)
Hy-Vee has over 220 grocery stores in soon-to-be 8 states in the Midwest, with the first Wisconsin location going up in Madison in 2008. They have 77 convenience stores that sell gas and "get-and-go" items. With the high price of gasoline, a number of convenience store owners and companies have turned to alternative sources of income to shore up profits.
Maid-Rite franchised stores have been been adding locations at the pace of one every two weeks. The Maid-Rites in the five Hy-Vee convenience store locations will be franchisee owned and will seat about 25 to 30 people. Normal start up costs for a Maid-Rite franchise is about $275,000 dollars. However, the ones that are going to be located within the Hy-Vee convenience stores will only cost about $150,000.
Already, a number of Maid-Rites have opened up in Wisconsin-area convenience stores owned and operated by the Riiser Energy corporation of Wausau, WI. Riiser Energy runs over 25 R-Store convenience stores in Central and Northern Wisconsin, and hopes to open 60 Maid-Rites in Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan by 2016.
Hy-Vee is the powerhouse grocery store chain in the heart of the Midwest. Maid-Rite is a brand that has been around since the mid-1920's when the first Maid-Rite opened in Muscatine, IA. However, since the Maid-Rite chain was bought by a group of investors headed by Bradley Burt in 2002, the quality - in my opinion - has dropped tremendously.
The biggest reason is that Burt has mandated that all franchisees buy the loose meat directly from the Maid-Rite corporation. Burt found that there was little uniformity between the over 80 Maid-Rite shops when he took over. He set out to change that.
Maid-Rite cooks the loose meat at their facility, they freeze it, then ship it to individual franchises. The stores defrost the meat, then heat it up on the bun in microwave ovens before they're served. Burt says this allows for uniformity in the quality of the Maid-Rite.
Yeah, as in uniformed shitty tasting sandwiches...
What I would call traditional Maid-Rites, such as the one in Newton, IA, they cook their loose meat in big steamer bins. The meat is made fresh - and in the case of the Maid-Rite in Newton, it's ground on site. The result is a loose meat sandwich that is moist and flavorful. I've found the corporate franchised Maid-Rites to be dry, dull and flavorless.
(Newton Maid-Rite. Picture courtesy of Jim Burke)
We were back in Newton recently for the funeral of my uncle, and we went to the Newton Maid-Rite for lunch. Dan Holtkamp, who has owned the Newton Maid-Rite for 38 years, told us that he and Taylor's Maid-Rite in Marshalltown, IA, and the Marion Maid-Rite in Marion, IA, are holding out from using the corporate made meat. "The way they're doing it is not a real Maid-Rite."
My cousin, John, was at the Maid-Rite in Newton the day before we ate there and he was talking to a gentleman who used to own two Maid-Rites in Eastern Iowa before the Bradley Burt takeover of the chain. The former Maid-Rite owner told John that he didn't like the direction the Burt organzation was taking the Maid-Rite name. Instead of cow-towing to the new corporation mandate of serving frozen meat that was thawed, the guy told John he just shut his doors.
He told John, "Once every couple of weeks I come to the Maid-Rite here or to the one in Marshalltown. They're the only two true Maid-Rites that are left."
Dan Holtkamp is holding out as long as he can. Since the original Muscatine Maid-Rite closed a few years ago, the Newton Maid-Rite is the oldest continual Maid-Rite location in the world. Dan's corporation, Dan Mister, owns the Newton Maid-Rite. He's set to retire soon and possibly sell it off to another person, hopefully someone who can keep the in-store cooked Maid-Rite tradition alive. But to me, the corporate franchised Maid-Rites are soul-less shells of what Maid-Rites used to be.
Finding great Mexican food on the road can be so hard sometimes. It's really difficult to find a good authentic place for Mexican food that isn't "American-ized". During a recent trip to St. Louis, I had a free night for dinner and I wanted Mexican. Good Mexican. Authentic Mexican. I ended up finding a little gem in the Lafayette Square area called Arcelia's. (see map)
Arcelia Sanchez (left) was born in a small town on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. She emigrated with her husband to the U.S. and became a cook at a number of notable Mexican restaurants in the St. Louis area, bringing a lot of her hometown recipes with her.
In 1990, along with her son, David, Arcelia opened her first restaurant in the Soulard area of St. Louis. It was a very small place, but it did a lot of business. With business booming, Arcelia's moved to its present day location across from Lafayette Square. It has been named as the Best Mexican Restaurant by The Riverfront Times, St. Louis' weekly free entertainment paper.
Unfortunately, Arcelia died in 2003 from injuries and complications she suffered in a car accident. Family members have continued to run the restaurant in her spirit.
I found Arcelia's rather easily and parked my car on the street down from the restaurant. There's a little seating area outside that a few people were seated at a couple tables eating dinner. They were speaking Spanish, which is always a good thing when you're looking for good Mexican food.
It was about 8:30 and Arcelia's closes at 9 p.m. on Monday thru Thursday, so there wasn't a lot of people in the place. (They're also closed from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m thru the week, as well.) I was told I could sit anywhere, so I chose a booth about halfway back.
Service was a little slow, but finally a lady who looked to be well into her 50's came over with a menu. I ordered a Sol beer while I looked to see what they had. Another person brought me some chips and salsa. The salsa was definitely homemade and had a great kick to it.
I saw a lot of interesting stuff on the menu. Now, this food was REALLY authentic Mexican. And with so many different things to choose from and try, I didn't know which way to go.
For example, they had Albondigas - spicy Mexican meatballs served over rice with a Mexican gravy; Arroz con Pollo - pulled chicken meat served over rice with a Mexican vegetable sauce; and Nopales - a stir fried cactus served with tomatoes and onions. Now, that really sounded interesting.
The also had something called an Empanada - a pastry folded and stuffed with beef and cheese. I'd never heard of that before. They also had a sour cream enchilada with pepper strips with onions and cilantro. Man, there was just too much to choose from. I really wanted to try it all.
Suddenly, I saw that there was something they called the "Trio combinación" - pick three items for $12.95. That gave me the latitude to try different things. So, I went with the Empanada, a pork tamale and a soft corn shell beef taco.
My food was brought out in about 10 minutes and it was a plate full including refried beans and rice. I didn't know where to start, so I took on the beef taco, first. It was very good. Good flavor to the beef. Fully authentic Mexican flavor all around.
Secondly, I tried a bite of the pork tamale. Oh man! Was that ever good. It may have been one of the best tamales I've ever had - and I've had some very good ones over the years.
But I had to try the Empanada. I cut into the flaky outer shell and pulled out a big chunk of beef that simmering in sauce inside the crust. Oh - MY - GAAAAWD!!! It was one of the best tasting things I'd ever had in my life. It was just outstanding. I quickly forgot about my tamale and devoured the Empanada. I'm thinking, "Where have these been all my life?"
I was barely able to finish the tamale and I have to tell you, for $12.95 that was a boat load of GREAT food. The food was just all incredibly great.
Arcelia's isn't much to look at on the inside. I gathered from reading some of the reviews they had on the wall inside Arcelia's that it's definitely a family run endeavor. But I love places like this. Arcelia's is definitely a "must-go" if you want Mexican food in St. Louis.
(Update June 2011 - I went to Arcelia's for lunch on a recent visit to St. Louis but found that it was closed. It closed either late in 2010 or early 2011. However, I found out that the restaurant has been purchased by Pat Shelton who said she hopes to have the restaurant open by Labor Day. Arcelia Sanchez's granddaughter, Kim Reid will be on board running the kitchen using the original recipes from Arcelia herself including that outrageously great Empanada.)
(Update March 2012 - I stopped by Arcelia's this past fall and while there were people inside the restaurant, they were not open. According to their web site, they say they are opening soon. I understand that some of the building renovations they had to do took a little longer than planned, primarily due to the fact that the Lafayette Square area house that Arcelia's is housed in is part of a historical district and needed to adhere to strict renovation guidelines.)
(Update June 2013 - During a recent trip to St. Louis, I found that Arcelia's had opened again in the Soulard area on S. 12th Street. (see map). The new Arcelia's is owned and operated by Arcelia's daughter, Marta Ramirez, and uses the same recipes as the original Arcelia's in Lafayette Square.)
Happy Thanksgiving! As much as I hate holidays, this is still one of my favorite times of the year.
I really don't care for turkey all that much. Oh, I'll eat it if it's in front of me, but I'd rather have something else at Thanksgiving.
I bought a 5.6 pound piece of beef tenderloin to cook on the grill. Cindy talked me into cutting it in half and cooking one half today and putting the other half in the freezer.
Along with my garlic/cream cheese mashed potatoes and my Italian bread stuffing, I did up dinner tonight for the two of us. Believe me, we have a ton of food left over. That's OK, though. It won't go to waste.
I always take pictures of what I put on the grill for my co-workers up in Canada. I don't mean to rub their faces into it, but they really do love to see what I'm cooking on the grill. Especially if it's beef.
Here's a picture of the "half" beef tenderloin on the grill. It was still a substantial piece of meat.
Here's the picture of what the tenderloin looked like when I sliced it up. Jesus, it was outstanding.
Coming up, a standing rib roast on the smoker at Christmas time.
One of the little surprises I got to experience during my trip to New York was dinner with my sister, Nancy, and her husband, Vic. Vic heads up Boston Pianos, a subsidiary of Steinway and Sons pianos, and he's in New York quite a bit at the company office. It turned out that Nan accompanied him on this trip. They normally stay out in Queens near the Steinway headquarters, but they were in Manhattan for a long Columbus Day weekend.
On Sunday night, we met up at the Roosevelt Hotel and walked over to a little Italian restaurant called Fabio Piccolo Fiore on 44th St. between 2nd and 3rd. (see map) The restaurant was highly recommended to Vic by Rocco and Vinnie (how's that for real Italian names?) at Trattoria L'Incontro, a superb Italian restaurant Vic frequents in Astoria near the Steinway headquarters. (see map)
The chef and co-owner, Fabio Hakill is half-Sicilian and half-Egyptian and hails from Rome. For years, Fabio was a chef at the famous Park Side Restaurant out in Queens. (see map) Along with co-owner Nick Nubile, Fabio Piccolo Fiore (which means "small flower" in Italian) opened earlier this year.
We had reservations at 7:30, but since it was a Sunday night it wasn't all that busy. As we were seated, Vic told the maitre d', "Rocco and Vinnie recommended this place." Moments later, Fabio Hakill appeared at our table introducing himself. Vic is a lot like me as this was another instance of "not what you know, but who you know".
Even though Fabio Piccolo Fiore's menu is quite extensive, his forte is allowing his customers to "customize" their meals. Since each item on the menu looked so good, we kinda wanted to try a little bit of everything. Fabio said he'd make us a special salad, and then he would make a pasta course based on his Fettuccine alla Nicola - fettuccine with ground veal, mixed with sun dried tomatoes, shittake mushrooms with a white wine truffle sauce.
For our main course, Vic got the veal piccata, Nan went with the seafood special that evening, and I went with the Osso Bucco that even though it wasn't on the menu, Fabio said he had one cooking. My colleague, Todd, got the Osso Bucco the night before at Cascina and he was somewhat disappointed in it. But if Fabio was willing bring one out that he had cooking, even though it wasn't on the menu, I had to have it.
First of all, the salads were very good, but the pasta dish Fabio made for us was out of this world. The pasta was cooked perfectly, there was a hint of spiciness to the sauce and the ground veal was a pleasant touch to the overall taste. It was just killer.
While we were waiting for our main entrees, Vic, Nan and I got into a mild argument as to the correct pronunciation of "trattoria" - which is a small Italian restaurant. Vic and I both said the correct way to say it was "tra-TOR-ria", while Nancy said, "Tra-tor-REE-ah." We got our waiter to come over and we asked him which version was the correct pronunciation.
He said, "In Italy, it's 'Tra-tor-REE-ah'. But in the U.S., they usually pronounce it 'Tra-TOR-ria'."
So we were both right.
The waiter explained that a trattoria was usually an outgrowth of an Italian cucina, a big kitchen that people, generally farmers, would come into for a meal. He said most of the meals would consist of farm raised or local game that people would bring in for all to eat. I said, "Oh, sort of like a French auberge."
He said, "Exactly like an auberge. There wouldn't be a menu and people just made what they brought."
After the waiter left, Vic looked at me across the table and he said, "Will, how do you know this shit? Aren't you the same kid who when you were 15 years old was so happy because we gave you McDonalds gift certificates at Christmas?"
We had a good laugh at that one, because, yes, I am one and the same kid. But that was a long time ago. However, I did eat at an auberge in France when I was there. Click here to see that entry.
Our main entrees came soon thereafter and I have to tell you my Osso Bucco was just outstanding. The meat was tender and lean, it just fell off the shank with little prodding from my fork. The flavor was just mind-blowing. It was, by far, the best meal I had while I was in New York City.
Nan and Vic both loved their meals, as well. I told him to tell Vinnie and Rocco back at Trattoria L'Incontro it was an excellent suggestion.
The bill with tip came to a little over $300 bucks with the wine and drinks we had. Vic and I split it and we didn't care - we were in New York eating great food.
Fabio Piccolo Fiore isn't on the radar of many of the food aficionados in New York, but I can guarantee you it won't be long before it is. In doing some research for this entry, I found that Fabio's forte is making food items that are "off" the menu for his customers. That's almost unheard of with many of the other established Italian restaurants in New York.
The food was great, service was impeccable and the atmosphere was very classy. Fabio Piccolo Fiore isn't a cheap place to eat, but it's a place you should treat yourself to if you go to New York.
Ever since I first saw Gray's Papaya in the motion picture "Fool's Rush In", I wanted to try their hot dogs. While I was in New York recently, I got the chance to do just that.
Now, New York hot dogs are different from Chicago style dogs in that they are usually grilled on a metal grill, and they don't offer all the toppings that you get with a Chicago dog. They're much smaller than most Chicago hot dogs, as well.
The first Gray's Papaya began in 1973 when Nicholas Gray, a Wall Street stockbroker, opened his first location at 72nd St. and Broadway (see map). Over the years, he opened a second location in Midtown at 37th St. and Eighth Ave. (see map); and another location in Greenwich Village at 8th St. and Sixth Ave. (see map). Gray's Papaya is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It's a popular late night place and they also serve some breakfast items, as well.
Gray's Papaya is a either viewed as a clone or a rip-off of Papaya King, a New York hot dog institution that opened in 1932. Where the Papaya comes into play in the names of the two is from the fruit drinks they sell in addition to the hot dogs, or as Nicholas Gray calls 'em, "frankfurters".
Gray's Papaya and Papaya King have sprouted a number of other similar "Papaya" hot dog places in New York, including Mike's Papaya, Papaya Dog, and Frank's Papaya. But from what I heard from talking to some union guys working at the convention center during set up, plus from what I've read, Gray's Papaya had the best hot dogs in the city.
The AES Convention had finished and we broke down our displays and were waiting for the shipping crates that hold our products to show up. I decided to take off to go to Gray's Papaya which was about a 10 minute walk from the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
The area around the Midtown location of Gray's Papaya is a little dicey, a few homeless people walking about, but I felt safe enough. It was a nice evening for the walk between the convention center and Gray's, so I didn't care much about the street scene.
I went in and and the place was bustling for about 5:45 in the evening. I took a look at the rather slim menu on the wall. There were "frankfurters" and that was about it. They had a "Recession Special" that consisted of two hot dogs and a small drink for $3.50. For years, the Recession Special was $2.75, but Gray's was forced to raise it to $3.50 last year. Their hot dogs were $.95 each before they had to go up to $1.25 at the same time.
OK, what the hell. I'll take the Recession Special and a small Papaya drink. I may as well live like the New Yorkers. I got mine with mustard and onions. With no place to sit in the colorful restaurant, I ate the dogs standing up at a counter by the window.
I have to say the Gray's Papaya hot dogs were very similar in taste and texture to George's Hot Dog Shoppe in Sioux City, IA. And just like George's, Gray's cooks the hot dogs on a metal grill, rolling them manually to cook evenly. They had a good flavor with a little "snap" when I bit into them. Eating them with the fruity Papaya drink was interesting, it was more like drinking a very sweet pineapple juice. Can't say I really liked the drink all that much, though.
As I said before, the Gray's Papaya dogs weren't large, which was a perfect snack. We were going to eat New York pizza after we got everything crated up back at the convention center and we figured that would be well after 9 p.m.
OK, Gray's Papaya was good, not great. I'll probably go back again, but I would like to try Papaya King, as well, to see if Gray's claim that his frankfurters are the best in town really holds up.
(Update - I found out on a trip to New York in the fall of 2011 that this particular Gray's Papaya location is now closed. The other two Gray's Papaya locations - the one at 6th Ave. and 8th St. in lower Manhattan; and the one on the Upper West Side at Broadway and 72nd St. - are still open.)
Our last night in Denver this year, the guys from Focal loudspeakers took the North America sales staff out to dinner to McCormick and Schmick's in the Denver Tech Center area on the southeast side of the city. (see map)
McCormick and Schmick's is an upscale seafood restaurant with over 50 locations across the United States. For a chain, it's very good. Each location has a ever changing menu depending upon the availability and the freshness of the seafood that's flown into their restaurants each day. Depending upon the restaurant, McCormick and Schmick's have been known to offer two different menus a day.
The first McCormick and Schmick's began in Portland, OR in 1979 under the leadership of Bill McCormick and Doug Schmick (right). In the early 70's, McCormick bought and revived an 80-year-old restaurant in Portland - Jake's Famous Crawfish. On his management team was Schmick, a young trainee that McCormick took a liking to. They quickly formed a partnership and the rest is history.
Now, I've eaten at McCormick and Schmick's before - once in Las Vegas, and once in Indianapolis. Both meals were absolutely exceptional. So when it was announced that we were going to dinner at McCormick and Schmick's, Focal's Dominic Baker asked me if I approved. Considering that I had given him a "thumbs down" before we went to Landry's in Las Vegas earlier this year, he wanted my input on McCormick and Schmick's. He was happy when I gave him a resounding "two thumbs up."
And we weren't disappointed.
We had a reservation for 14 at 7:30 and we had a little bit of a wait in the bar after we arrived. The decor in McCormick and Schmick's is similar to the other two I've been in. It can be classified as "old time elegant". Lots of dark wood paneling, linen table cloths and very subdued lighting.
It wasn't long before they showed us to a large table near the back of the restaurant. Taking care of a party of 14 is tough, but our waiter was great. He was funny, self-deprecating, on top of things and did a super job of keeping us all happy.
We started out with a various number of seafood appetizers including calamari, shrimp, oysters on the half shell, and a few other tasty items. Coupled with a number of cold beers, it was enough to take the edge off of our growling tummies.
The menu consisted of a large list of fresh fish and seafood, along with steaks and grilled chicken. One of the interesting things that caught my eye was the Atlantic Salmon from Washington state. Now, I thought McCormick's and Schmick's menu editor was geographically challenged. But it turned out that McCormick and Schmick's has their own Atlantic Salmon farm near Puget Sound.
Still, I almost went with the tuna - a yellowfin tuna seared to a medium-rare. But then I saw the scallops - large Atlantic scallops with prosciutto, mushrooms and Asiago cheese. Oh, man. I had to go with that.
And I wasn't disappointed in the least. The scallops were firm and meaty, the prosciutto, mushrooms and cheese were a wonderful combination with the scallops. Dominic Baker had the New York strip steak and he declared it was excellent. One of the guys next to me got the tuna and he said it was fantastic.
My colleague, Todd, was about the only one disappointed because he got the Prince Edward Island clams (P.E.I. is where he grew up) and instead of steaming them, they boiled them. Todd said, "Who in the hell boils clams? I would have expected better from a place like this."
Boiled clams aside, the overall consensus among our group was that the meal was top-rate. And that's the same thing I've thought at each of the McCormick and Schmick's I've eaten at. The prices are a little expensive, but it is an upscale restaurant. The service and the food was way above average. I'd go back to a McCormick and Schmick's at a moment notice.
My boss is always big on getting a good breakfast in your stomach to start the day when we work these trade shows. I'm not much on breakfast, but when it's busy and we don't have time for lunch at the trade shows, it's good to have a filling breakfast to start the day.
Even though we did have lunch each day we worked the AES convention in New York recently, we decided to have breakfast, as well. The restaurant at the Roosevelt Hotel where we stayed was nice. But it was $27.95 for the breakfast buffet, $20.95 for pancakes, and - get this - $24.95 for two eggs, hash browns, choice of meat, and toast. Uhhh... No. We'll go elsewhere. We wanted to go out and look for some of the true New York coffee shops that permeate Midtown Manhattan.
The first one we found was a place called The Red Flame on 44th St. at the Avenue of the Americas - or Sixth Ave. (see map). The Red Flame is a neat little coffee shop at street level with huge windows to allow those seated in the booths next to them a chance to do some stellar people watching while eating breakfast. It sort of reminded me of the coffee shop depicted on "Seinfeld".
We went there a couple three times while we were in New York and we got in right away. There were all different types of people in there - professionals getting food to start their day, downtown day workers getting egg sandwiches to go, tourists, etc. The service was generally quick and on top of things.
The menu is wide and varied. I tried their ham and cheese omelet and asked if they could add mushrooms to it the first time we went. The waitress - a brash New York broad (and I mean that in the most complementary way) - said, "Honey, we can put anything you want in the omelet." After we all ordered, our food was at our table in less than 10 minutes. It was literally unbelievable how quick the made to order food came out. It certainly beat the 30 minute wait we always have at the restaurant at the Loews-Denver hotel.
And the food was very good. I tried their waffles one morning and they were excellent, as well. I had the omelet the third time I was there and it was just as good as the first time. And each time, we got our food less than 10 minutes after we ordered.
So, if you're in Manhattan and want a good - and QUICK - breakfast, the Red Flame is tough to beat.
But the other place we went to - The Comfort Diner - is on par with The Red Flame.
There are two Comfort Diner's in Manhattan - the one on 23rd St. (see map); and the one we went to on 45th St. just a couple blocks from our hotel (see map).
We had a little bit of a wait when we went there on Saturday and again on the Columbus Day Monday morning. And it wasn't because of a huge crowd. The wait was because we found they don't open until 9 a.m. on weekends; but it's 7:30 thru the week. When we went back on Monday around 8:45 a.m., we had to wait for the doors to open because they didn't open until 9 for the Columbus Day holiday. But the wait was worth it.
When the doors opened the place flooded with the same type of people who went to The Red Flame. Only there seemed to be a lot more tourists on Saturday morning and again on Monday.
The decor of The Comfort Diner is very much the same of any diner you'd see in the Midwest - heavy on the vinyl booths and chairs, lots of bright pastel colors, it looks just like a typical diner.
I got the sausage, mushroom and cheese omelet both times I was there and it was outstanding both times. We ended up ordering early and our food came pretty quickly - not as quick as what we encountered at The Red Flame. Still, for a New York restaurant, I was impressed.
And as with The Red Flame, The Comfort Diner's prices were in line with what I expected to pay for breakfast in New York. I think we averaged about $11 to $13 bucks a person with juice, milk, coffee and our food. It's a helluva lot cheaper than eating at the hotel.
So, there's my two recommendations for breakfast in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. Save yourself some money by eating out for breakfast than spending all that cash for the high priced hotel breakfast spread.
(Update - The Comfort Diner reportedly closed for a time in 2010, but reopened sometime in 2011.)
A couple updates today on the on-going sagas that are weighing heavily on the audio/video industry - the proposed XM/Sirius satellite radio merger; and the continued format war between Toshiba's HD-DVD and Sony's Blu-ray technology.
Earlier this month, a New York analyst reported the Department of Justice will recommend the merger of XM and Sirius even though there would be a staff recommendation against the deal. Tom Watts, an analyst with Cowen and Company, said he believes the FCC will fall in line with the DoJ recommendation to allow Sirius to buy XM and combine both formats into one.
At nearly the same time, the Institutional Shareholder Services (or ISS), recommended that shareholders of both XM and Sirius vote to merge the two companies. Shareholders are to vote today on the merger and the vote is expected to be overwhelmingly in favor of merging the two.
And last week, the FCC sent both XM and Sirius questionnaires seeking detailed information on the proposed merger. The FCC asked the companies to have the questionnaires returned by this Friday sparking speculation the Department of Justice is close to allowing the merger. If the Department of Justice wasn't going to allow the merger, there would be no need for questionnaires. Given the deadline of Friday for the returning of the questionnaires, it could very well be that the DoJ could allow the merger next week, with the FCC falling in line soon thereafter.
Not everyone, however, is enamored with the proposed merger. The Reverend Jesse Jackson vehemently opposes the XM/Sirius merger saying the merger would monopolize the industry and have the "real potential of eliminating diversity." In a keynote speech at the Digital Hollywood conference, Jackson said it was "time to put some Democracy into the way the FCC does business". Jackson has also testified in front of the FCC against the merger.
And The Washington Post's Marc Fisher said the a ala carte pricing system touted by the two systems would result in less choice over time with higher prices. Fisher said the danger in offering choice packages with fewer channel will shift the bulk of the audience to a handful of channels.
But in an interview last week with the Chicago Tribune, Sirius chairman Mel Karmazin - the man who is spearheading the merger effort - said he would sue the federal government if the merger did not go through. However, I don't think Mel has to unleash the lawyers just yet.
Personally, I'm kind of excited with the prospect for the merger. I see some things on Sirius that I like, and there's some things on XM that I like. It was to the point that I really couldn't make up my mind what I'd rather have, so I just haven't made the choice yet.
Regarding the continuing format wars between HD-DVD and Blu-ray technology, Sony's CEO Howard Stringer said last week the two competing technologies are virtually in a stalemate. The on-going battle between the two camps took a turn earlier this summer when Paramount studios jumped the Blu-ray ship and went exclusively with HD-DVD for their high definition movies.
"We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides," Stringer said.
While most of the Blu-ray player sales have been with Sony's Playstation 3, the stand alone Blu-ray machines continue to struggle with price tags that are twice to more higher than the Toshiba-based HD-DVD players. Toshiba recently lowered the price on their HD-A2 player to $199.
And on top of that, Wal-Mart and Best Buy had a special $99 price on the HD-A2's earlier this month. In addition to buying the player at $99, consumers could still get the five free movies Toshiba was giving away with the purchase of one of their HD-DVD players. Whatta deal!
Most of those players are gone now, but Toshiba recently introduced the new HD-A3 player that will have an on-going price of $249. That's still significantly lower than the lowest priced Blu-ray players on the market.
Once again, the only problem with HD-DVD is the lack of titles available. However, with Paramount now on board - along with the likes of Warner Brothers, Dreamworks and Universal studios - we should be seeing more HD-DVD titles in the pipeline by the end of the year. Already, the recent release of the movie "Transformers" on HD-DVD sold nearly 200,000 copies in the first week. That's some pretty significant numbers.
I'm sure the format war is still long from over. But it is rather interesting that Sony's Stringer recognized the fact that no matter how much spin the Blu-ray camp could put on its product, HD-DVD was a viable and formidable opponent to be reckoned with.
As I've said before, stay tuned...
One big thing I like about fall is the great selection of seasonal beers this time of year always brings. There's always the great Oktoberfest beers to try, and we also see the beginning of a lot of the winter seasonal beers coming onto the shelves of stores, as well.
Historically, Oktoberfest beer was brewed in March and was usually darker and stronger than most of the pale lagers it was based on. That style of brewing dates back to 17th century Germany where brewers were looking for a strongly brewed beer that would last through the summer months for fall consumption. This style of beer - also known as Marzen style (since it was brewed in March and the German word for the month is Marz) - is what many breweries called their Oktoberfest beers. However, with today's modern methods of brewing beer, most of the Oktoberfest beers are brewed in the summer months.
I've been on the road an awful lot lately and I've been able to stop and find some great fall beer varieties at a number of liquor stores and beer shops across the Midwest. Here's a list of some that I've picked up:
Beck's Oktoberfest - This Marzen style beer has a very malty taste to it, but it's not as forward of a taste that I like in my Oktoberfest beers. It's OK, but definitely not my favorite. Still very drinkable, however.
Warsteiner Oktoberfest - Another disappointment as the Warsteiner Oktoberfest doesn't have the forward taste the other fall beers have. It's definitely not as dark as the other Oktoberfest's I've had. But it's smooth and would be appealing to those who don't like the malty taste of an Oktoberfest beer. However, to me, it's lacking in flavor. It definitely doesn't taste like an Oktoberfest brewed beer.
Spaten Oktoberfest - An excellent Marzen style beer, and it should be as Spaten Oktoberfest is a Marzen style originally brewed in 1872 for Munich's Oktoberfest. I'm very impressed by the smoothness and the lingering after taste. Very toasty malty flavor to it. I should have picked up more of this stuff.
Samuel Adams Octoberfest - I'm not big on Sam Adams beers, but on the recommendation of one of my dealers in Springfield, MO, I picked up a sixer of this stuff. And I'm glad I did. It's a surprisingly good beer. It has a very nice dark copper color to it, it's full of body and has a very malty taste to it. In fact, Sam Adams uses four different varieties of malt in their Octoberfest beer. It's very good.
Capital Brewery Oktoberfest - An excellent Marzen style beer and one that Capital takes great pride in brewing. It has a full body with a very toasty malt flavor to the beer. Very smooth beginning with a taste explosion in the mouth. And it has a great lingering aftertaste. This beer has won a number of awards of the years, and it's one of my favorite Oktoberfest beers. Too bad I've drank myself out of it already.
Leinenkugel Oktoberfest - I find myself reaching for the Leinie's Oktoberfest when I go to the beer fridge more than the other ones. Although it doesn't have as much of a malty taste as some of the others, it's a smooth drinking beer that goes down very well. It has a nice lingering aftertaste to it, as well.
Boulevard "Bob's 47" - This is Boulevard's fall seasonal beer, the only lager beer Boulevard brews. It's name after Boulevard's first brewer - Bob Werkowitch - who graduated from the U.S. Brewer's Acadamy in 1947. It's a Marzen Munich style brewed in the same fashion as many of the old time Oktoberfest beers. The malt taste is very prevalent, the taste blossoms in your mouth and the finish and aftertaste is very smooth. It's a little heavier than some of the other Oktoberfest's, but Boulevard does a great job with all of their beers. This one is certainly no exception.
Great Lakes Oktoberfest - Being a big fan of the Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale, I found a couple sixers of their Oktoberfest beer in Chicago recently. The malt taste in this Marzen style has a nice toasty flavor to it. It's a nice dark copper color and is very, very smooth. I don't know if I like it better than their pale ale, but for a seasonal beer it's very good.
Three of the very good to great winter seasonals are now available, as well - Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Samuel Adams Winter Ale and Capital Brewery's Winter Skal.
Once again, my dealer in Springfield turned me on to the Samuel Adams Winter Ale. I've tried a couple bottles and they do a very good rendition of a good German bock beer. Nice smooth taste with a little bit of vanilla and spice in the flavor. It's good, but not as good as...
Capital's Winter Skal was a beer that I had a hard time finding last year. If you remember my post here where I finally found a case of the Winter Skal, I was happy to get my hands on some. And, once again, the Winter Skal doesn't disappoint. It's very similar to the Capital Oktoberfest, but doesn't have quite the forward toasted malt taste to it. It's a great beer for any time of the year.
I was first turned on to Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale a number of years ago when one of the manufacturer's I was an independent representative for sent me a case of it as a Christmas gift. I was hooked. But it's very tough to find in the Midwest. I was able to find some at a liquor store in Kansas City and I took a case home with me. It has a beautiful dark copper color with a very forward toasty taste and a great finish. It's very, very good.
One other beer that my dealer in Springfield turned me on to was the Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner. He said, "I know you really like a forward hoppy taste to your beer. You'll love Sam Adam's Imperial Pilsner."
Like I said, I'm not much of a Samuel Adams fan - not since they became one of the largest brewers in America - but they're doing something right with some of their specialty beers. But my dealer was right - it's a strongly hopped beer made primarily with Hallertau hops, and without the bitter aftertaste you can get with this style of beer. It has an amazing aroma, a great dark copper color and a taste that literally explodes in your mouth. It's not cheap - $8.99 for a four pack - and it's very tough to find. The only place I've been able to find it was at the Brown Derby superstore in Springfield, MO. If you like great taste sensations in your beer, you've got to try the Hallertau Imperial Pilsner from Samuel Adams.
By the way, my cousin, John Wehrle, vacationed down in Aruba with his girlfriend, Bonnie, a few weeks ago and he "smuggled" back a six pack of Balashi beer for me. Balashi is a light Dutch style pilsner that doesn't have the hoppiness of a Czech style pilsner. It's similar to Heineken, but doesn't have the bitterness of that style of beer. John said that Aruba's water purification system is one of best in the world and that helps with the good flavor of the beer. All I know is that I'm glad he brought some back for me.
Well, that's it for today. I'm suddenly salivating for a cold beer...
One of the Italian restaurants I ate at in New York during my trip there was a nice little place in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood on 9th Ave. (see map) called Cascina Ristorante. Opened in 2001, Cascina features a brick oven for baking pizzas and homemade breads, as well as for cooking meat and fish entrees. And it has one of the most extensive wine lists of any restaurant I've been to.
The owner, Emilio Barletta, is not only a restaurateur who owns, or partially owns, three other restaurants in the Manhattan, he's also an architect who designed the decor of Cascina to resemble that of a rustic Italian kitchen from the vineyards of Italy. The term "cascina" is used to describe a place where people in the wine growing regions of Italy would gather to make food in a warm kitchen. In fact, Cascina has a stake in an Italian winery - Cascina Orsolina vineyard - outside of the picturesque Northern Italian town of Moncalvo.
Actually, my boss, Daniel, and my two colleagues, Todd and Simon, have eaten at Cascina before. Two years ago at the AES Convention in New York, they had reservations at a restaurant not far from Cascina. Upon arrival, they found their reservations had been canceled because they were 15 minutes late. The restaurant told them it would be 45 minutes before they could get them in. Since the restaurant they wanted to eat at had no bar area in which to wait, they went across the street to a bar to hang out for 45 minutes. Coming back to the restaurant 45 minutes later, they found that, once again, their reservations had been canceled because they didn't stay in the "immediate area".
Daniel was mildly pissed and they took off walking down 9th Ave. until Daniel looked into Cascina and said, "Let's eat here." They were able to get them in right away and according to Daniel "the food was good, the wine was excellent and we had a great time." He wanted to go back to the place.
The only problem is that he didn't know the name of the place. Todd had an idea as to where it was, but didn't know quite know how far it was from the convention center. Trying to get a cab at 6 p.m. on a Saturday night in Manhattan is nearly impossible if you're hailing one on the street. So, along with Focal Professional head Jacques-Hubert Constant in tow, we hoofed it over to 9th Ave. and started north looking for the restaurant.
Finally, after walking about 10 blocks, Todd said, "Daniel, this is the place." It had an open front to the building with seating outside. Todd went in and found that we could be seated immediately for dinner.
They took us toward the back and put a couple of their heavy wooden tables together for us. I took the high-backed bench seat next to Todd while Simon grabbed one of the heavy rustic wooden chairs across the table from me. Daniel and Jacques-Hubert sat at the opposite end of the table.
Each of us were handed a menu by the very beautiful hostess (whom Todd found out was part Egyptian and part Hungarian). Soon, we had assorted homemade breads with extra virgin olive oil sitting on our table.
As I said, the wine list at Cascina was one of the most extensive I've ever seen in a restaurant. Wine Spectator magazine awarded Cascina with their 2007 Award of Excellence for their selection of wine.
It didn't take Daniel long to pick out a bottle of wine. He chose an exquisite, and expensive, bottle of wine, the 2000 Ornellaia Tenuta dell'Ornellaia - Bolgheri, a wonderful blended Italian. It was brought to the table by Cascina's director of wines, Gianni Onofri.
The Ornellaia was a full-bodied red that had an explosive taste with a wonderful lingering finish. The wine's blend was 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petite Verdot. It was just outstanding.
Before ordering our main entrees, we ordered a mish-mash of appetizers including a large caprese salad platter with buffalo mozzarella, carpaccio (thinly sliced and very rare beef filet), and calamari. It was all just out of this world.
For our main entrees, I had a hard time deciding what to order. I finally got the veal scalloppine - cooked in a lemon and wine sauce and served with spinach. Simon got one of the specials of the day - slices of monkfish cooked in a white wine sauce and served with garlic, basil, tomatoes and spinach. Todd got the Osso Bucco - a veal shank simmered in a red wine sauce with vegetables and served on risotto. Jacques-Hubert got the lamb shank special they had that evening, and Daniel was the only one who opted for pasta - the Stracci all’Astice - wide noodles served in a white cream sauce with chunks of lobster. I almost went with that or the Osso Bucco before settling on the veal scalloppine.
In the meantime, Daniel ordered another bottle of wine. This time it was the 2001 Tenuta Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino, a wonderful red that wasn't as expensive or as tasty as the Ornellaia, but it was still very good with the meal.
As far as the meal was concerned, my veal scalloppine was OK. Disappointingly OK. It didn't have much pizazz to the taste, the portion was excruciatingly small for the price, and I've had better veal scalloppine at a chain like Maggiano's or Biaggi's. Much better, in fact.
Todd said his Osso Bucco was also OK. He didn't think it had that much flavor, as well. Simon was disappointed in his monkfish. But Daniel seemed to like his pasta dish and Jacques-Hubert was fully satisfied with his lamb shank. For as outstanding as everything was up to the main course, most of our dishes were a complete let down.
I was so bummed, I didn't even get any dessert - although the homemade tiramisu was tempting. But because we'd spent a lot of money on wine and our meal, Gianni Onofri brought out five generous samples of their extensive selection of Grappa (a type of Italian brandy). Cascina boasts the largest collection of Grappa in New York City - 80 selections in all.
Each of us tried a sip of the various Grappa selections and decided to vote on which one we liked the best. There was a lemon flavored Grappa, one that was blueberry, another that was just straight Grappa, a raspberry one, and a honey flavored one. The fruity ones were heavily sugared, but we all seemed to like the honey one the best.
Even though Cascina Ristorante was very nice, the build up to, then the let down at the main course spoiled a wonderful overall experience. There are tons of great Italian restaurants in New York City and I'd try to find another one before going back to Cascina.
(Update - Cascina Ristorante closed for renovations before the end of 2010 and supposedly has not reopened. The web site is still active, but a number of review sites on the Internet say that it is closed. That's probably for the best. The food wasn't all that great. It was highly disappointing.)
When I was out in Denver for the annual CEDIA Expo earlier this year, one of my colleagues, Matthew, who handles the Denver area told me, "I know you're a big burger guy. There's a chain of burger places out here called Good Times Burgers. You really need to give it a try and let me know what you think."
Good Times Burgers first opened in Boulder, CO in 1986. They started out just being little burger stands for the first 15 years of their existence. But in 2001, Good Times re-branded themselves by adding frozen custard to their mix. This significantly broadened their appeal to a larger age group.
They have over 50 locations in 4 states - Colorado, Idaho, North Dakota and Wyoming. Most of the Good Times locations are little drive thru stands with some picnic tables outside near the building. They sort of remind of me of the Checkers/Rally's fast food burger joints we see in the Midwest.
I found out doing some research on this blog entry that some Good Times restaurants do have inside eating available, primarily because they took over old Jack in the Box locations in Colorado. And the three Wyoming locations have been co-branded with Taco John's restaurants.
After the show ended on Sunday, I had some time to kill, so I went to the Good Times just down the road from our hotel. We were going to eat a big meal later on, so I just wanted to get a quick burger to try. Pulling up to the menu board, I just wanted to get a basic burger and that was it. Their burger menu featured seven different burgers including a Mighty Deluxe Cheeseburger - the burger that they're famous for, it said.
One thing that piqued my interest was the "Bambino Burger", a White Castle-esque small burger that was the featured special - 39 cents a burger. I almost tried a couple of those, but thought I'd rather go for the signature burger. So I got the Mighty Deluxe Cheeseburger - a quarter pound Coleman Natural beef patty topped with American cheese along with lettuce, tomato, mayo, ketchup, onions, pickles and mustard.
I had a little bit of a wait as it was 4 p.m. and there wasn't much business for them at that time. But when I got the burger, it was warm and fresh. And I'd have to say the burger was good. It had a good flavor to it, but I wouldn't say it was outstanding. The Coleman Natural beef is supposed to be some of the best available. But I've had better fast food burgers at other places.
I reported back to Matthew that even though it was good, I couldn't say it was the best I'd had. He said, "Well, that's fine. I just wanted to get your opinion on it. My wife loves 'em."
I also told him that after three nights at Duffy's Cherry Cricket, it would be difficult for ANY burger to taste as good as that. He sort of laughed and said, "Yeah, I never thought about that."
If I was in a pinch for a quick burger and if there was a Good Times in the vicinity, I'd go back. But, for me, it's a place that I certainly wouldn't seek out for a good burger.
There are hundreds of great delicatessens in Manhattan. It's tough to find one that isn't good. Some of them also are called bodegas, which is a deli within a convenience store. One place that my colleague, Todd, found was a place at the corner of 37th St. and 9th Ave. called AM PM Deli Grocery (see map). We went there for sandwiches the day we were setting up for the AES convention in New York.
AM PM's menu is an eclectic mix of cold and warm sandwiches. They have a limited menu of regular hot meals and they serve breakfast from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. daily. But we went for the sandwiches since it was lunch time.
I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted because everything looked so good. I ended up going with the 9th Ave. Special - a sandwich heaped with Genoa Salami, Capiccola, cheese, and a mixture of green olives, anchovies, and pimento with oil and vinegar on an Italian roll.
AM PM Deli Grocery also had a good selection of beers, but we were working and we thought it would be tough enough to keep our energy up after eating the sandwiches. So we grabbed some bottled water and energy drinks and went back.
My sandwich was outstanding. A little salty, but it was just fabulous. The salami and cappicola was so fresh and tasty. I don't know if I was just famished or if the sandwich was so good, but I finished it rather quickly.
The next day, my boss, Daniel, showed up just before noon flying in from Montreal. He announced that he was hungry and was going to go over to one of the food carts at the convention to get something. Todd said, "Daniel, we found a great bodega a couple blocks from here. We can get you a sandwich from there."
Todd was going to run and get the sandwiches and I ordered one of the other sandwiches I wanted to try yesterday - the Italian Sub - Genoa salami, cappicola, provolone, lettuce, tomato, and hot peppers with oil and vinegar. It's very similar to the 9th Ave. Special I had the day before, but on a sub bun and with hot peppers.
When Todd brought the sandwiches back, I bit into my Italian Sub and I was hooked. The peppers were sort of like jalapenos, but were more like the spicy peppers they put on Italian Beef sandwiches back in Chicago. Oh man! We're they great on that sandwich! The sandwich was just out of this world.
Simon got a specialty sandwich with corned beef, turkey, and pastrami. It was topped with cole slaw and Russian dressing. He said it was "interesting", but very good. But I certainly liked my sandwich.
In fact, I liked it so much that we went back three more times during the show. I didn't want anything other than the Italian Sub the rest of the week. It was that great. It was definitely nothing like I've ever had in the Midwest.
I'm sure AM PM Deli Grocery had some other outstanding sandwiches, but sometimes I get into something so far that I can't let it go. The Italian Sub at AM PM was one of those meals. I would crawl back to AM PM Deli Grocery for one of their Italian Subs.
After our set up day before the AES Convention in New York recently, my colleague, Todd, suggested we go have a beer at a West SoHo landmark, the Ear Inn (see map). He said, "You'll love this place, Will. It's a great old Irish bar."
The Ear Inn may be Manhattan's oldest bar. The building it's housed in - the James Brown House - was built sometime around 1817, and possibly even before that. James Brown, legend has it, was an ex-slave who fought in the American Revolutionary War. He sold tobacco in the ground floor of the house, which is now the Ear Inn, until he sold it in 1832. I believe it became an apothecary shop after that.
Even though the sign above the entrance of the Ear Inn says "Est. 1817 A.D.", it appears it never became a bar until the late 1880's when an Irish immigrant by the name of Thomas Cloke turned the shop into a place where longshoreman could come for a beer and some food after work. In fact, there's a historical sign next to the Ear Inn that shows where the levee of the Hudson River once was. Through land reclamation, the banks of the Hudson were moved about 200 yards to the west of the Ear Inn.
How the place got to be called the Ear Inn is sort of strange, but interesting. The West Soho area was nearly abandoned when the commercial waterfront area moved to other areas of New York. In the early 70's, a bohemian lifestyle movement was happening in the area. A young college student by the name of Rip Hayman found the building in complete disarray. Cleaning it up and fixing some broken windows, Hayman and some others lived in the building while publishing a music magazine called "The Ear".
In 1972, the building was put on the list of historical landmarks named by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission. 
Hayman eventually bought the building and instead of jumping through bureaucratic hoops to get the OK to redo the building's facade and putting up a new sign out front, he just painted over part of the "B" on the "Bar Inn" sign. Suddenly, it became the "Ear Inn".
Today, Martin Sheridan and Jerry Walker co-own the Ear Inn, along with the James Brown House. They've made numerous improvements to the property and the second floor is a combination private party room/historical museum.
The Ear Inn has a delightful mix of people who frequent the place. In the mid to late afternoon, you'll find some older people who sit in the place and catch up on the neighborhood gossip. As the work day ends, a mix of both blue collar and white collar workers converge on the place to have a beer before going home. Then later in the evening, the hip crowd shows up for drinks and food.
With the weather unseasonably warm for early October, we sat outside in an area along the sidewalk as the sun was setting over the hills in New Jersey. I went inside to order some beers for Todd, our other colleague Simon, and myself. I was surprised to find they didn't have Smithwick's beer either on tap or available in a bottle. But I was pleasantly surprised to find they had Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on tap. So I got one of those. And I got a Guinness for Todd and a Boddington's for Simon.
While I was waiting to order, I got swept up in a conversation with two older guys sitting at the bar. Both had obviously been in the bar for a good portion of the afternoon and they were having a good time. Standing there talking while waiting on my order, I got a good look around the place. The crowd seemed friendly enough and the decor made the place look like what I would call an "elegant dive bar".
I really didn't get a chance to take a look at the Ear Inn's menu, but I was told they have the usual bar food including burgers, sandwiches and appetizers. And it's very good. Todd, who grew up on Prince Edward Island, says the P.E.I. mussels and clams they serve are excellent.
After a couple three beers, Todd's girlfriend from NYC - Jennifer - and our Focal Professional dealer from Los Angeles - Fred Z (that's it, just Fred Z) - met up with us so we could go out to dinner. We thought about having dinner at the Ear, but decided to go to another restaurant down the way. Besides, it looked like there was going to be a wait to get a table.
We moved on, but came back after dinner because Simon left his laptop computer outside next to where we were seated. Fully thinking that it wouldn't be there when we got back to the Ear Inn, Simon was bummed out. But unbelievably, it was still there - a full two hours after he left it at the same exact spot where he found it. In celebration, we had to have one more beer at the bar.
The New York Times once called the Ear Inn "a dump with dignity." There's a lot of history in and around the Ear Inn and it's a cool, friendly neighborhood bar. It's fun and relaxed - exactly what I look for in a bar in which to unwind. I'd go back there in a moment's notice.
