Road Tips

Brett Favre's Steakhouse - Green Bay, WI

While in Green Bay recently, I took one of my new dealers out to dinner at Brett Favre's Steakhouse, located at 1004 Brett Favre Pass just south of Green Bay's legendary Lambeau Field (see map).  I've wanted to try the place for sometime and my dealer accepted my invitation to dine there one evening.

Now, for those of you who aren't sports fans, or have been living in a Turkish prison for the last 20 years, Brett Favre is the longtime quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.  He recently announced his retirement from the game after 18 seasons and three NFL Most Valuable Player awards. 

The original Brett Favre Steakhouse began in 1997 in downtown Milwaukee.  Farve partnered with Richard Monfort, the son of a long-time beef producer from Colorado, and owner of the big Hilltop Steakhouse in Saugus, MA.  Favre's steakhouse in Milwaukee was very upscale, but it was only open for a few years before closing in 2000.  The restaurant then became Joey Buona's Pizzeria and Restaurant, a somewhat upscale Italian restaurant.  Farve still owns part of that restaurant. 

Favre and his family, along with some other investors, opened the Brett Favre Steakhouse in Green Bay in 2003.  It combines the look and feel of an old time upscale supper club with some variations of southern recipes Favre grew up with. 

It was a Tuesday evening when we got into Favre's steakhouse around 7:30.  There was a big gathering in one of the meeting rooms back in the bar, and a few guys were in another meeting room toward the back of the restaurant.  But the dining room was about a quarter full.

We took a seat at a table where we had a huge mural of Favre looking at us the whole evening.  It sort of looked out of place with the dark wood tables and chairs. 

We got our menus and looked things over.  I proposed getting a bottle of wine, but my dealer was on the downhill side of a bad cold and he didn't think he'd better be drinking wine with the medicine he was taking.  OK, fair enough.  He didn't object to me getting a couple beers during the meal, so that was good. 

Steaks dominate the menu, although they did have Cajun appetizers and some entrees.  I thought about a number of things - including the 12 oz. filet or the 16 oz. prime rib.  I ended up starting out with Brett's Famous Chopped salad - chopped lettuce, prosciutto, olives, onions, blue cheese crumbles and other assorted veggies in a red wine vinaigrette.  My dealer got the same thing.

I ended up getting the 22 oz. bone-in rib eye, medium-rare, with the garlic mashed potatoes.  My dealer ordered Brett's Signature Steak - a 20 oz. top-round London Broil topped with cracked black pepper and sauteed mushrooms.  That was my second pick.  He said, "It's a lot of meat, but I usually take it home and have it for lunch the next day."

Our waiter was pretty good, but he was also busy with the small party going on in the small back room of the restaurant.  We went about 15 minutes before getting our salads.  And we weren't even half done with them when he brought the steaks out.

I've had bone-in rib eyes before and this one was, well, average, at best.  It was slightly overcooked, it wasn't all that moist and juicy and there was a lot more bone on the rib eye than I've seen on others.  I'm guessing the total amount of meat was about 10 to 12 oz.  The garlic mashed potatoes were good, but nothing to get excited about.  I make 'em much better at home.

My dealer did like his London Broil.  I should have gotten that.  Dammit!  Oh, well.  It's not like I won't be back in Green Bay at some point.  I can always try that on my next visit.

Our meal with tip came to just under $90 bucks.  My dealer was impressed that we went to such a nice place on my first visit.  I said I'd like to try some of the other places in town on subsequent visits and he said that was very doable.

Before we left, we walked around the restaurant and bar area and looked at the loads of memorabilia on the walls and in glass enclosed cases.  Being a big sports nut and a closet Green Bay Packer fan for a number of years, I was mesmerized by the large selection of items they had throughout the place.  They also had a gift shop at Brett Favre's Steakhouse that I looked through, but I didn't buy anything.

Brett Favre's Steakhouse is one of the central points for tailgate parties before and after Packer games in the fall.  I've talked to friends who have gone to games up in Green Bay and they've told me it gets pretty nuts around Brett Favre's Steakhouse on game day. 

All in all, Brett Favre's Steakhouse was what I expected from a restaurant with a famous person's name on it.  The food was good, but not outstanding.  I would like to go back at some point and try the London Broil.  I wasn't overly impressed with my steak, but it was OK.  If you're a sports fan, it's a great place.  And if you're in the Green Bay area for business, Brett Favre's Steakhouse is a nice place to take clients.         

TJ's Steakhouse - Las Vegas

After the final day of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, we had just finished packing up all our display products and sending them off to the Solotech warehouse to ship back to Montreal.  Paul Masson, who is the international sales manager for Cambridge Audio, said, "Hey, let's go to the steakhouse downstairs (at the Hilton) for dinner.  My treat."

I love to hear "steakhouse" and "my treat" in the same sentence.  We were tired, hungry and needed to relax. 

As I said in my earlier post on Casa Nicola, the two side-by-side restaurants - Andiamo and Las Vegas Hilton Steakhouse - were damaged in a fire last year.  They decided to spruce both up and change the names of them at the same time.  Las Vegas Hilton Steakhouse became TJ's Steakhouse. 

We had eaten at the Las Vegas Steakhouse on a couple of occasions in the past.  It was actually pretty good.  The place was elegant with great food and great service.  TJ's Steakhouse is just as elegant, but has more of a warm feel to the place which featured deep mahogany walls and woodwork throughout along with subdued lighting. 

Evan Fleisher is the head chef at TJ's Steakhouse and you can see his team and him work their magic from the open kitchen situated at the front of the restaurant.  The smell of grilled beef was just overwhelming to us when we walked in.  My stomach was doing jumping jacks, I was so hungry.

Even though TJ's Steakhouse prefers business casual dress (polo shirts and slacks), we were dressed in jeans, shorts and t-shirts.  The maitre d' didn't seem to care.  There were 10 of us who sat at a big table near the kitchen, famished and ready to eat.

It's steak, steak and more steak on the menu at TJ's Steakhouse.  They also featured pork and lamb chops, chicken and some seafood dishes.  But we all wanted a large piece of dead cow.

Paul asked Daniel to choose something from the wine list.  It was apparent that TJ's Steakhouse shared the same wine cellar as Casa Nicola as they had the same 1996 Los Pagodes de Cos Saint Estephe Bordeaux wine at $44.00 on the wine list.  Daniel said, "Well, if they want to get rid of that at such a good price, they found the right people!"  We ordered up two bottles as a starter.   

Paul ordered up some appetizers for the table while we looked over the menu.  I was pretty sure I wanted the rib eye this evening, but I kept looking at the prime rib.  But I'd had the prime rib at Hugo's Cellar the other night, so I went back to the rib eye.  Then I saw a New York Strip that someone got at another table.  Damn, that looked good.  But, no.  I had to get something with a lot of flavor for my last dinner in Vegas for the show. 

So I ordered the 16 oz. rib eye with side order of the garlic smashed potatoes.  Paul, who was seated across from me, got the 22 oz. Porterhouse steak with grilled asparagus.  He said, "I normally don't eat this much, but you just can't get steaks like this in Europe."  I've heard that more than once in the past from English and French colleagues. 

We had a good time sitting and talking amongst ourselves waiting for our food to come out.  The wine was flowing, we were relaxed and laughing.  The waiter was overly attentive to our needs.  It was a fine evening after a tough show for us. 

Our steaks began to arrive at the table and my rib eye was one of the last to come out.  But, man!  The size of it almost flipped me out.  It was definitely bigger than 16 oz.  I said, "They need to get their scales checked.  This looks more like TWO pounds of meat."

They season their steaks with what I was told a combination of sea salt and roasted black peppercorns that are then ground up and liberally applied to the steak.  I'll have to try that sometime because I really liked the taste of the rib eye.  It was cooked a perfect medium rare and the marbling in it gave the meat excellent flavor. 

Everyone was very impressed with their steaks.  Paul said between bites, "Now this is a great American meal."  We were on our fourth bottle of wine at this point and enjoying life. 

Paul picked up the check and I didn't get to see what the final damage was, but I'm guessing it was a few big dollars with tip.  Appetizers, steaks, wine, drinks, sides - they all add up quick.  But it was worth it.  It was a fine meal.  I was definitely full afterward, that's for sure.

I said that Hugo's Cellar is one of the best kept secrets in Las Vegas among seasoned Las Vegas visitors.  But I have to say that TJ's Steakhouse may be even MORE of a secret place to get a great steak in Las Vegas.   Once again, it's sort of tough to find in the Las Vegas Hilton, but you won't go away disappointed from TJ's Steakhouse.   

J.T. Whitney's - Madison

I was in Madison recently and took one of my dealers out for dinner at J.T. Whitney's, a brew pub on the southwest side of town (see map).  J.T. Whitney's has been around since 1995 and they brew some pretty good beers to go along with some pretty good food. 

It had been a long time since I'd been into J.T. Whitney's.  My dealer's store is not far from the place and he suggested going over to have a couple beers and a sandwich, nothing fancy for dinner.  I don't know if I'd ever had the food at a J.T. Whitney's, other than appetizers, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

J.T. Whitney's is owned by David Bookstaff, and the head brewmaster is Richard Becker.  Actually, one of the original co-owners of J.T. Whitney's was my friend Paul Zach and his father, Skip, who also owned The Avenue Bar in Madison.  (Skip passed away a few years ago and Paul is the owner/manager of The Avenue Bar.)  Paul told me they sold off their interest in J.T. Whitney's a few years ago after the place got established. 

Richard Becker continues a long heritage of brewers in his family that dates back to the late 1500's in Germany.  His family owns the Mahrs Brau Brewery in Bamberg, Germany and an uncle runs it today.  Through the years, the family's specialty was to make smoked ales.  And preserving the family tradition, Richard Becker has made a number of smoked ales over the years.  I have to admit that the J.T. Whitney smoked ales that I've tried in the past have been outstanding.  I especially remember a Scotch Smoked Ale that I first had at the Great Taste of the Midwest Beer Festival a number of years ago. 

We walked into J.T. Whitey's just before 8 p.m. on a weeknight.  A band was setting up getting ready to play.  A number of people where in the place, including a number of younger kids making a lot of noise while their parents ate and drank beer. 

My guest and I bellied up to the bar and he was greeted by name by one of the bartenders.  I said, "So, I guess you come here often."

He said sort of smiled and said, "I've been here a few times, yes."

My dealer told me he liked the place because all they sell is their own-brewed beer.  No Miller Lite, no Corona, just the beer they brew.  In fact, more than once we heard people asking for a name beer while we were seated there.  "Sorry, we only serve what we make."  I don't find many brewpubs like that. 

We got food menus and the beer menu, and ordered up a couple of beers.  My guest got the Badger Red and I got one of the Smoked Porters they had on tap.  Now, I'm not a big fan of porter beers, but I have to say the Smoked Porter from J.T. Whitney's is just outstanding.  It's light and superbly flavorful with a hint of the great smoked flavor I remember in their smoked beers.

We ordered up an appetizer of boneless chicken wings in a Buffalo/Ranch dressing.  We sat and talked about things enjoying our beers until the appetizers came out a little while later.  As they set the boneless chicken wings down, there were nine little pieces of boneless wings in the basket topped with this Ranch dressing with some Buffalo wing sauce mixed in.  I was sort of disappointed and felt they were somewhat overpriced ($7.95) for what we got.  But I didn't bitch.

We ended up getting a couple more beers and ordered our food.  Even though J.T. Whitney's does have full dinner entrees, we went with sandwiches.  My guest got the Reuben and I went with the French Dip sandwich topped with mushrooms and swiss cheese. 

We finished our second beers as the sandwiches were brought out to us.  My sandwich was OK, nothing special.  In fact, the au jus sauce was very salty.  But the meat was piled high and the mushrooms gave it a nice flavor.

My guest's Reuben looked very good - corned beef piled high on dark German rye bread topped with sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing.  I sort of wished that I'd gotten that instead, but I've been on such a Reuben kick lately - mainly since I first saw this picture on the cover of the most recent issue of Bon Appetit magazine - that I didn't want to get burned out on them.  I was satisfied with what I got. 

We decided to take off just before the band got to playing, which was probably good.  J.T. Whitney's has a lot of wood throughout the place and there were a lot of younger people in the place whooping it up.  We were having trouble hearing each other even though we were seated next to one another.  When the band started, we wouldn't have been able to hear each other at all.

Like all bars and restaurants in Madison, J.T. Whitney's is smoke free.  That's certainly a plus when you go into a place for food.  And even though the food at J.T. Whitney's is just a step above average, I have to say the beer is much better than the food.  I may have to get a growler of the Smoked Porter the next time I go to Madison.  But I'll pass on the boneless chicken wings.

(Update - JT Whitney's closed their doors in March of 2009.  They have since been bought and replaced by a brewpub called Vintage Brewing Company.  I still have not given that new place a try.)

Sirius - XM Merger Closer to Reality

The United States Department of Justice yesterday put their stamp of approval on the proposed $5 billion merger of satellite radio companies Sirius and XM Radio.  The DoJ said in a lengthy ruling statement that the takeover of XM by Sirius does not constitute antitrust violations and that there are no indications that prices for the combined service would rise or that programming would be affected. 

Critics called the proposed merger a monopoly and that programming, especially those aimed at minorities, would be impacted with the combining of the two satellite services.  However, the Department of Justice said that combining Sirius and XM would give them better leverage in their battle with current and upcoming entertainment technologies, such as iPods, Internet radio and video on demand on handheld units. 

Like the demise of HD-DVD in favor of Blu-Ray technology, this gives consumer one option of buying just one satellite receiver in the future.  Sirius receivers were not compatible with XM and vice-versa.  This will, no doubt, grow the number of satellite radio subscribers which sits at nearly 17 million, combined, right now.

There was some talk during CES that there will be some "cross-pollination" of some program between XM and Sirius for those people who have one or the other receiver.  It's not immediately known when the new "all-in-one" receiver will be available.

The final hurdle in the combining of the two services will be the blessing from the Federal Communications Commission.  However, that appears to be a formality as the biggest challenge to the merger was the government's investigation into whether a Sirius-XM marriage would be construed as a violation of antitrust laws.

North of the border, the two Canadian subsidiaries of Sirius and XM will most likely be forced to merge after the FCC OK's the takeover.  XM Radio Canada and Sirius Canada rely upon the bulk of their programming from the United States.  A Canadian merger would not face the scrutiny of government regulators as one company would merely give up their license when the two combine.   

The Canadian companies biggest problem, however, would be to figure the market value of each service and divide the stock in a fair manner.  XM Canada says their programming and their ties to the car industry make it more lucrative to Sirius Canada.  However, Sirius Canada says their stock is more valuable as they have more subscribers than XM Canada.  So, it will be interesting to see what transpires up there.

Traveling as much as I do, I've held off on getting a satellite radio just for this moment.   There's a lot of things on XM that I like, but there's a lot of programming on Sirius that interests me, as well.  I'm going to wait until the new all-in-one receivers come out and then I'll probably sign up.  Then I won't have to listen to country and western stations with farm market reports between Des Moines and Kansas City.   

Gordon Biersch - Las Vegas

After I got back from my little trip to Hoover Dam when I was in Las Vegas recently, I decided to have lunch at Gordon Biersch - an upscale brewpub/restaurant that is part of the Gordon Biersch chain with 26 locations in 15 states and Washington D.C.  The food is very good, made from scratch each day; and the beer is pretty good, as well - a very German-style of beer.

It had been a while since I was last in a Gordon Biersch location - actually it was about seven years and the last time was at the Las Vegas location on Paradise Road (see map).  This location is in an area with a number of other upscale restaurants, not far from the Las Vegas Convention Center and near a number of corporate offices.

In 1987, Dan Gordon, a successful restauranteur, was looking to open an upscale brewpub.  He sat down with veteran brewmaster Dean Biersch and over a couple three beers they hashed out the master plan of the Gordon Biersch blueprint.  Gordon and Biersch were fans of great food and German beers.  That's what they had in mind for their brewpub.  With that, the first Gordon Biersch opened in Palo Alto, CA in 1988.

Dean Biersch (left) and Dan Gordon (right)

Gordon and Biersch grew their chain of upscale brewpubs for the next 10 years before running into an antiquated California law that allowed for only a small number of breweries to be owned by one company in the state.  They tried to get the 70-year-old law repealed, but to no avail. 

They sold the restaurants to Big River Brewing Company of Chattanooga, TN, which then changed their corporate name to Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group.  The Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group also runs the Big River Grille and Brewery, a couple of Rock Bottom Breweries and a handful of other brewpubs in the Southeast.  However, Gordon and Biersch continue to own and run the brewery operations of Gordon Biersch.

I got into Gordon Biersch around 1:30 on a Friday afternoon.  I had two and a half hours to kill before I had to get to the airport, so a leisurely lunch was on the docket.  The Las Vegas location is open and airy, with a definite contemporary theme.  They have a beer garden, but I opted to sit at the four-sided bar to read a newspaper and watch television.

The bartender handed me a menu and I ordered up a Marzen-style beer from their beer menu.  It's similar to a number of the Oktoberfest beers that I like, full-flavored with a smooth finish. 

I also looked over the lunch menu trying to figure out from the large selection what I wanted to eat.  In addition to appetizers - which include their world-famous Garlic Fries (above picture courtsey of Foodhoe) - Gordon Biersch has a large selections of salads, sandwiches and entrees, including steaks, pasta and seafood.  And this is just the LUNCH menu!

They had a meatloaf made out of Italian sausage and ground beef on the menu.  They also had a pulled pork with a Marzen beer-based barbecue sauce.  And G-B also had a mushroom-Swiss cheeseburger which a guy near me was having and it looked yummy.   A main entree was tempting, given that I probably wouldn't be eating again that day, but I didn't really want a steak or chop.   

They also serve a 10" thin crust pizza at Gordon Biersch.  Don't ask me why I kept going back and looking at the pizzas on the menu.  I normally don't like to get pizza at a place like this, but from the description the bartender was giving, the pizzas sounded great.  I bit the bullet and ordered an Italian sausage, mushroom and pepperoni pizza. 

And I'm glad I did.  The crust on the pizza was flaky and chewy, but still sort of thin.  The Italian sausage on the pizza were the big chunks, ground in house.  The mushrooms were fresh and the pepperoni had a great kick to it.  And the homemade sauce was tangy and the mozzarella was incredibly fresh.  I was happy that I got it, although anything I would have ordered probably would have been great.  And that was the problem - there were too many good things to choose from on the menu.   

They've just recently opened locations in Kansas City and in suburban Chicago, so I'll have more chances to sample some of the good food and good beer at Gordon Biersch in the near future.  I've tried the pizza and now I want to try some of the other things they have.  Their beer is above average, but Gordon Biersch's food is not like most other brewpubs.  It's definitely a step above. 

Get Off My Ass!

I travel about 40,000 miles a year for my business.  I travel in the wide open spaces, I travel in rush hour traffic in large cities, I travel little two lane roads off the beaten path.  And I don't know what it is about people, but there is a total epidemic of assholes who want to just ride about six feet off your bumper - at all speeds.

In one of the first entries I had on this blog (click here) about two and a half years ago, I talked about the worst tailgater's out there - women.  I'd still have to say the vast majority of people I see tailgating are women.  But, I'm telling you, men are catching up.

The only thing I can figure out is that some of these guys think they're in a NASCAR race and they're drafting with the guy ahead of them.  If I can't see the license plate of the car behind me in my rear view mirror.  That's too damn close.  Lately, I've been noticing that some of these idiots are so close I can't even see their headlights!  And that's at 70 miles an hour! 

Interstate 80 between Iowa City and Davenport is getting to be very dangerous.  The amount of traffic that is out there between the two cities has grown exponentially over the past few years.  And there have been some spectacular - and deadly - wrecks over the past couple of years along that stretch.  It's one of the very few stretches of road that I travel where I feel a little nervous behind the wheel. 

Last week, one of my colleagues, John, was in a horrible crash along Interstate 95 in Maryland.  First of all, he was lucky to have walked away from the crash.  Secondly, he was lucky to have upgraded from the PT Cruiser that Hertz tried to give him.  He actually got an Infiniti SUV with a $20 a day upgrade.  But when he drove it away, it was shaking and shimmering all over the place.  He took it back and said, "Man, there is no way that car is safe to drive."

The Hertz location didn't have any other cars - save for one - a Mercedes C230.  The guy let John take it for a $10 a day upgrade.  John called me up and said, "Man, you are not gonna believe what I'm driving!!  This is sweet!!  And I got a sweet deal from Hertz on it!"

He called me a couple days later and said he'd just been in a big wreck.  He was going along in traffic and the cars in front of him began to slow down - and quick.  He was able to stop, but a guy in a panel truck who'd been riding his ass for a few miles didn't.  He plowed into the back of John's rental car, which drove the trunk into the backseat. 

The collision was so severe that it pushed the Mercedes into the rear end of the car in front of John.  And that car then nailed the car in front of it.  The motor housing was pushed back into the passenger compartment on the Mercedes.   

Then on top of all that, the panel truck got nailed from behind collapsing it like an accordion.   It was the quintessential five car wreck.  And John was right smack-dab in the middle.  He was sore and went to the hospital to get checked up, but there was nothing more than some bruises, stiff joints and a sore neck.  But there's a totaled Mercedes that Hertz probably isn't too happy about right now.

Some states, such as Minnesota and Arizona, are implementing programs to cut down on tailgating.  The Minnesota experiment is targeting an area near the Twin Cities where 80% of the accidents are rear-end collisions.  And Arizona has been using a radar-gun device called a LIDAR that clocks the intervals between cars to cut down on tailgater's.   

So, boys and girls, let this be a lesson.  Give yourself an interval of at least two seconds between you and the car in front of you on the Interstate.   And keep at least a couple car lengths at speeds under 30 miles an hour.   Nothing pisses me off more than a person who hangs on my bumper - at any speed.      

Boulder Dam Brewing Company - Boulder City, NV

During my trip down to Hoover Dam when I was out in Las Vegas recently, I drove through Boulder City - even though there's a by-pass now that allows you to drive around the town.  In the downtown area, I noticed the Boulder Dam Brewing Company, a nice little brewpub (see map).  It looked sort of interesting, but being that it was before 11 a.m., I didn't stop in.  However, on my way back through, I did go back through town and stopped in for a couple of beers.

The Boulder Dam Brewing Company is actually pretty new.  It was opened in February 2007 by Todd Cook and his father, Toby.  Todd's mother, Gail, is the manager of the brewpub. Although the brewpub is not all that large, it's not cramped.  It's also pretty bright in the place with a number of large windows throughout.  I don't think they had any lights on when I was in there just before noon.

I went up to the bar with the big beer tanks located just behind and took a look at their beer menu.  They had three Pale Ale's listed - an American Pale Ale, an English-style Pale, and a very hoppy India Pale Ale.  I asked for a sample of the English-style Pale - the Powerhouse.  It was very hoppy, but very smooth.  It had a great aftertaste that didn't linger - just like I like my Pales.  The bartender told me the American Pale - the Penstock Pale - is much more light and less hoppy.  She said, "That's my favorite."

A few people were beginning to come in for lunch and I took a quick look at the food menu.  It really wasn't much.  They primarily had bratwurst and hot dogs.  In addition, they had a couple three sandwiches and about four or five appetizers.  I decided to have lunch in Las Vegas. 

I took my beer and began to wander around the brew pub.  On a couple of the flat screen televisions they were showing a documentary of the building of the Hoover Dam.  And all throughout the place they had historical pictures and documents on the building of the dam.  It was actually pretty interesting.

Being that it was such a nice day outside - 62, sunny, light wind - I went outside to their beer garden that is situated just in front of the restaurant.  There were 12 to 15 wooden tables and metal chairs in the beer garden and I sat down facing the warm Nevada sun.    Actually, the chairs were rather comfortable.  But being that I wasn't in the snow and cold of Iowa at that point in time probably made the chairs more comfortable than they really were.

I went back in to get another beer.  This time I went with the Powder Monkey Pilsner.  Now, all of the beers are named after nicknames or phrases to do with the building of the dam.  A "Powder Monkey" is a person who packed the dynamite in the holes to blow rock out.  The pilsner was very good.  It had a toasty flavor to it and was very, very smooth.  I went back outside to enjoy the sun. 

As I was seated outside, I began to notice that I was the only one out there.  Everyone was going inside for lunch.  The waitress came out to check on me and asked, "Are you enjoying the weather?  Aren't you chilly?"

I said, "Oh, God, yes, I'm enjoying this.  And I'm from Iowa, so 62 degrees is downright hot for me in the winter time."

I finished my beer and took my glass inside.  I told the bartender that I'd be back some time.  I'm sure a couple three of my colleagues would like the beer.  The only problem is that the Boulder City police are a little aggressive and it's caused a problem with some of the bar and tavern owners in Boulder City.  There's been harrassment of patrons in the past and bar and restaurant owners want it stopped as it's hurting business. 

It turns out that the Boulder Dam Brewing Company was named one of the 10 best places to get a drink in Las Vegas Life magazine's "Best of Las Vegas - 2007" issue.  I have to agree - Boulder Dam Brewing Company is a wonderful place to have a beer.  However, don't think you're going to get a great meal in there.  The food looks like it's servicable, but the beer is definitely the draw.  Oh, that, and the beer garden on the warm winter days. Like their motto says, "It's a bolder dam beer!"   

St. Patrick's Day in the Quad Cities

There may be no larger festival in the Quad Cities than the St. Patrick's Day parade on the closest Saturday to St. Patrick's Day.  Put on by the St. Patrick Society of the Quad Cities, it's billed as the only bi-state parade in the United States.  It starts out in downtown Rock Island, crosses over the Mississippi on the Centennial Bridge, and ends on 3rd St. in downtown Davenport.  It features floats, bag pipers, family clans, school groups and all types of people dressed in crazy and outlandish costumes.  And they're flinging beads and candy to crowd.  It's a really large time. 

Our next door neighbors, George and Hannah (shown here with some rather large drunken idiot, according to my wife who took the picture) had never been to the St. Patrick's Day parade before.  George is Irish and they were planning a little party at their house after the parade.  He made some GREAT corned beef.  Oh, man.  It was absolutely fabulous. 

Anyway, we went downtown just after noon for the parade.  The parade starts at 11:30 over in Rock Island and it takes about 45 to 50 minutes for it to make it over to downtown Davenport.    Starting at 11:30 allows the participants - and spectators - ample time to get good and lubed up for the parade.  Here's a couple ladies having a good time at KilKenny's before the parade.

Cindy, George and Hannah ended up in front of Mac's Tavern along the street.  I went down 3rd St. a ways to take pictures of the parade.  As always, click on the picture if you would like to see a larger image.

It's wall to wall people along the parade route.  There are four bars at the end of the parade - Mac's Tavern, Carriage Haus, KilKenny's and Shenanigans.  Each of them are packed with people before and after the parade.  In fact, I was told one time by a Davenport cop that more people are picked up for drunk driving on the Saturday of the St. Patrick's Day parade than at any other time. 

You can't have a St. Patrick's Day parade without bag pipers.  Which leads to the inevitable question - what does a bag piper wear under a kilt?  Why, shoes and socks, of course! 

Here's one of the largest Irish clans in the Quad Cities - the Kinney clan.  They're so big they put people on the flatbed of a semi during the parade.  They've been in the parade for years and the family just seems to grow exponentially each year.

A couple more crazoids along the route of the parade.  The guy was obviously having a great time.  They let you drink outside during the parade.  It gets to be pretty wild at times.

And here's one of the floats in the parade.  Some of them are pretty creative and they hand out prizes for the best floats in the parade.  I don't know how this one fared, but it was pretty clever.

The parade features military personnel, ROTC groups and other municipal groups such as firemen and policemen.  They also have "Peace-niks" in the parade.  Here's an Irish guy hoping for peace in the world.        

Another shot of the huge crowd on 3rd St. in downtown Davenport.  The weather was actually pretty nice - well, compared to other St. Patrick's Day parades over the years.  It was about 38 degrees with a cool breeze out of the northeast.  We've been down there when it's been in the 20's and spitting snow.  That's not good parade weather. 

And the parade brings out all ages.  Here's a little guy sitting on his father's shoulders in front of Mac's enjoying the sights.  Little kids go nuts for the candy that's thrown from the floats.  Except the candy all falls on the ground and they have to pick it up.  Man, I wouldn't eat any of that crap after having it fall on the pavement, even if it had kevlar wrapping on the candy!

After the parade, people head back in to some of the bars downtown.  Here's the inside of Mac's Tavern.  Actually, it wasn't all that packed in there at this time.  Mac's was one of my favorite places to go at one point in time, but it just isn't the same since Bill Collins was the owner. 

KilKenny's puts up a huge tent behind their bar in a parking lot.  They have bands play in there during the course of the day and evening.  But this isn't even the biggest party.  Kelly's Irish Pub up on 53rd Ave. has a larger tent - 120' by 60' and they serve upwards of 14,000 to 15,000 people on the day of the parade.  I wanted to go up and see our friends Wicked Liz and the Bellyswirls play Saturday evening, but my wife reminded me that the cops would be out and I didn't need to be driving at that point.  She's always right.

The St. Patrick's parade is always a great time.  It's fun running into people you know at the parade and at the bars before and afterwards.  Everyone is drinking, everyone is eating corned beef and cabbage.  The levels of methane from human farts creates a hole in the ozone above the Quad Cities beginning Saturday night and stretching into Sunday.  But, boy, is it fun up until then.

Las Vegas Hilton Superbook

This is one of my favorite times of the year - NCAA conference basketball tournaments followed next week with the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.  I plan to be in a sports bar watching many of the games going on at the same time in the next couple of weeks.  It's been a while since I've talked about sports bars.  I've been to a lot of them in my day and this is one category that I've been somewhat neglecting.  Today, I want to tell you about the Superbook sports book and bar at the Las Vegas Hilton.

The first time I went to Las Vegas in 1987, I was walking through the Riviera one evening after finishing with appointments at CES. I happened to spot a 40" big screen television with six 25" televisions in a row above the big screen TV, each had a college basketball game on them.  I sat down and started watching all the games, my head literally spinning watching one game and trying to keep up with two others. 

Soon, a cocktail waitress came up to me and asked if I'd like something to drink.  I thought, "Whoa!  You're going to bring me a drink while I get to sit here and watch all these games?  No way!" 

I was just introduced to the concept of the Las Vegas Sports Book - an area that most hotels/casinos have where you can go and bet on the horses or on games, and - hey! - courtesy of satellite feeds from all over the nation, they've got them on TV for you right there!

I don't think I moved for 45 minutes.  I was in sport junkie la-la land.  I would have stayed there all night had we not had to attend an event for Monster Cable at Caesar's Palace.  I reluctantly downed my beer and headed to Caesar's.   

That evening, we finished up with the event and I wanted to walk around Caesar's Palace.  I wandered around toward the back side of the casino and I found an even LARGER sports book.  The Caesar's Palace Race and Sports Book had three 10' projection screens with a host of smaller 40" screens - all tuned to different sporting events.  It made the sports book at the Riviera seem like a corner beer joint in comparison.  I was just mesmerized watching west coast basketball games, both collegiate and professional.  And I had pretty cocktail waitresses bringing me beer.  I was in heaven. 

The next year, on a Sunday, I was at the Las Vegas Convention Center for the Consumer Electronics Show and I had some time to kill so I wanted to watch a little of the NFL football play-offs.  The Las Vegas Hilton is connected to the Convention Center and I walked over there to see if I could find a television that had the game on. 

I found a little circular bar area that was next to the casino floor that had three televisions, each of them had the game on.  I thought, "Man, if this is all the Hilton has, this is pretty disappointing."  Even the Riviera had it beat. 

I was standing there watching for a moment and I kept hearing this cheering coming from another area toward the back of the casino.  I slowly wandered back there and came into this absolutely huge room with BIG projection screen televisions that were showing the NFL game, college basketball and horse races, filled with people seated in dozens of chairs and at tables.  I had found the Las Vegas Hilton Sports and Race Superbook.  It was like finding the Holy Grail of sports bars, which back then was a pretty new concept.  But even today, the Superbook dwarfs other sports books in the Vegas area.

It turned out, the Superbook had just opened a few months before.  I was told that it replaced a sports book that was a fraction the size of the Superbook.  It was pretty damn impressive.  And it still is today.      

The Las Vegas Hilton Superbook boasts the largest floor area of any sports book in Las Vegas at over 30,000 square feet.  It seats over 300 people and has the most televisions of any other sports book.  It also has a huge 12' by 15' screen surrounded by smaller projection screens and a number of plasma televisions.  Even years ago, it was one of the first places to have the huge 55" rear projection televisions.  It was always on the cutting edge of sports book technology. 

There used to be a great little snack bar that served great burgers and hot sandwiches.  During CES, I'd always sneak away to the Superbook to have lunch.  It was always the highlight of my day.  But about six years ago, they closed down the little snack bar and remodeled it into the Superbook Deli.  It's nothing more than a downsized version of Subway.  I was pretty disappointed, and I still am.  The used to have very good food at the old place.

The other thing that has changed over the years is the price of beer in the place.  It used to be that a beer would cost a buck or $1.50, tops.  But, if you were betting on a game and had your betting slip, you drank for free.  There were times I'd just throw $20 bucks on a game and sit there and drink for free. 

This year after having dinner at Casa Nicola, I was a little wound up from having an espresso after dinner.  I decided to wander over to the Superbook just to look at the betting lines on upcoming games, and catch a little sports on the televisions.  Most of my colleagues, save for one guy, are not that much into sports.  So, getting a chance to watch a few games is kind of a treat for me when I'm in Vegas.

I sat at the bar and ordered up a beer.  It wasn't anything special, just a Bud Light.  The bartender handed me my beer and said, "That will be four and a quarter." 

I said, "Excuse me, how much?"

He said, "$4.25."

I about crapped as I pulled a 10 dollar bill out of my pocket and handed it to him.  I usually tip the bartender on the first beer, but this time I took my change and pocketed it.  I knew I wouldn't be drinking here for long.

(As an aside, one thing that has changed drastically over the years that I've been coming to Vegas is the price of beer and mixed drinks.  There used to be a time when .99 cent Heineken was prevalent all over town.  Today, even Bud Lights are going for over $4 bucks.  I bought a margarita for one of my colleagues and a premium Mexican beer - on tap - for myself at one of the restaurant/bars at the Hilton.  The bill came to $17.00.  SEVENTEEN BUCKS!!  Holy shit!) 

But what they're wanting you to do, at least in the casino and sports book, is to bet.  Then you'll get free drinks.  I'll tell you, if I were to put $20 bucks down on a game just to drink free, at $4.25 a beer they'd lose money on me, EVEN if I lost the $20 buck bet.

Whereas many of the other sports books in casinos throughout Las Vegas make you walk directly through the casino to get to the book area, the Superbook is so big that it has its own entrance and parking lot.  This allows the really degenerate gamblers easy access to come in and place bets on events.  Seriously, I can't think of any other sports book in a Vegas hotel/casino that allows outside access to the sports book.  Possibly Caesar's, but I haven't been there in a while.

My big dream in life is to someday fly to Las Vegas with a couple of friends for the first weekend of the NCAA men's basketball tournament and sit in the Superbook and do nothing but watch games.  I understand that the Superbook is usually crammed full of people during the big sporting events - Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby, New Year's Day bowl games, etc.  I'm sure the NCAA tournaments would be similar.  But, man, would it be fun. 

I've been to a number of other sports books in Vegas over the years.  I do like the sports book over at the Mirage, but nothing compares to the Superbook at the Hilton.  Even with $4.25 beers, it's still the biggest and best there is.

The (Temporary) Return of Northwoods Lager

As I write, I'm sitting in a hotel room in Milwaukee enjoying a Leinenkugel's Northwoods Lager.  In an earlier post here, I lamented the demise of Northwoods Lager when the Leinenkugel's brewery decided to discontinue the beer in favor of some of their newer varieties.  Even though it was brewmaster John Buhrow's favorite beer, Leinenkugel's management decided to stop production of the beer because they didn't have the capacity to brew the Northwoods Lager and the other "froo-froo" beers they've come up with over the past few years.

Northwoods Lager has a distinctive taste kick to it compared to most American Lagers.  It's especially good on a hot afternoon or after doing a vigorous chore.  It's very smooth and doesn't leave a chippy aftertaste.   

When the decision was made to phase out Northwoods Lager, it was met by a public outcry of beer fans who thought the same as me - it was the best beer Leinenkugel's brewed.  I was one of hundreds - perhaps thousands - of people who wrote the brewery protesting the decision.

I got an e-mail back from Jacob Leinenkugel - a form letter, no doubt - that said it was a difficult decision to drop the Northwoods Lager beer from the line-up, but they didn't have the brewing capacity to keep brewing the beer since they had come out with the new Sunset Wheat, as well as couple of their fruit beers.  Fruit beers, yuck.  I was destroyed.  Leinie's Northwoods Lager was one of my favorite beers.

As a member of the "Leinie Lodge", the special group of Leinenkugel's beer enthusiasts, I get a tri-annual newspaper on all things Leinenkugel's called "The Legend".  The January 2008 "Legend" announced that the brewery would be making the Northwoods Lager available in six-packs only on a limited basis for the month of February and only in the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota.  I was just ecstatic at the news. 

Well, I had a dilemma.  We've had a pretty harsh winter in the Midwest and it's been tough to travel.  I don't travel to Minnesota or the Dakotas from November until April 1, at the earliest.  And I'll only travel to Wisconsin if I know there's no weather heading in.

Actually, when we had the big storm in early February I was supposed to go to Milwaukee the day before it hit.  When I found out that it was supposed to be worse in Wisconsin than what we were forecast to get in Iowa, I canceled the trip.  But I couldn't get to Wisconsin until the final week of February.  I was hoping that they hadn't sold out by that time. 

Armed with a long list of stores that were selling Northwoods Lager in Wisconsin, I set out for a four day trip across the state.  Well, actually, my trip was for work as I did need to call on some dealer accounts.  But I had ulterior motives to go to Wisconsin, as well.  I was running out of beer, and Northwoods Lager was available. 

My first stop was at Steve's Wine and Liquor in Madison - both locations, as a matter of fact.  I was somewhat horrified to find that they had only one six pack of Northwoods Lager at one location, and only two at the other location.  I bought them all.  That was the last of the batch Steve's would see.

I went to the two Woodman's locations in Madison.  They were out of stock on the Northwoods Lager.  Gone.  Completely out.  I was starting to panic.  On my way to Green Bay, I stopped at a couple locations in Appleton.  Both were sold out.  I went to three locations when I was in Green Bay - all sold out. 

As I was heading to downtown Green Bay to get some lunch, I passed a liquor store.  Even though it wasn't on the list, I thought I'd stop in and give it a shot.  The place, West Side Liquor (see map), looked like it was a good place to find some good beer.  I wasn't just looking for Northwoods Lager, as I was beer hunting for other brands as well.  My uncle Jack would have been proud of me.  I have to stock up the beer fridge for the upcoming Spring. 

I pulled in and went in to check out what they had.  To my surprise, they had three six packs of Northwoods Lager.  I got to talking to the owner, Mark, and he said he thought he had more in the back.  He went back in the cooler and looked.  He came out with one more sixer.  He said, "I didn't get any at first, then I bitched at my distributor and they brought me over about six cases a couple weeks ago."

OK, so I had 1 3/4 cases in my possession.  I thought I had enough.  Hell, it had been a couple years since I had a Northwoods Lager.  I was happy to have what I had.

Of course, the story goes on.  You didn't think you were going to get off THAT easy, did you?

When I got into Milwaukee, I was driving down Brown Deer Road and passed a place called Otto's Wine Cask (see map).  It looked like a large store and since I was still on the beer hunt, I went back.  Otto's is a very nice wine and liquor store.  I looked around for a while and perused the beer selections they had in the cooler.  They had a good selection of beers, but no Northwoods Lager. 

I didn't feel like picking anything up, so I headed for the front door.  I almost tripped over a large floor display of cases of Northwoods Lager.  I circled around the stack of Northwoods Lager like I'd found the holy grail.  There had to be 12 to 15 cases there. 

I picked up a case and took it to the counter.  The lady who checked me out called for a price check on a case of Northwoods Lager.  I said, "I think they're only available in six-packs."

A manager came over and said, "They're $23.95 a case."

I said, "I'll take a second case."

The manager helped me carry the second case out to the car.  He looked at my plates and said, "Iowa, huh?  Stocking up?"  I opened my trunk and he looked inside.  He said, "I guess you are." 

I said, "I've been hunting all over the state for this, getting a sixer here, a couple there.  I wish I knew you guys had a bunch.  It would have saved me a lot of time and stops."

He said, "We just got these in a couple days ago.  This is the last we'll see of it."

I said, "Has it been selling well?"

He said, "We've sold out of all we've gotten in."

I told him that maybe Leinenkugel's will look into bringing it back on a full time basis.  He said, "As well as it's sold, I think they'd be stupid not to bring it back."

Well, I've got quite a few Northwoods Lager beers to keep me happy for the time being.  I'm really hoping that sales during the limited availability period were through the roof so Leinenkugel's will bring it back full time.  I just love the stuff.      

Comcast - Big Ten Network Close to Deal?

The largely acrimonious negotiations between the Big Ten Network and Comcast Cable pertaining to the cable company carrying the network on their system may be close to handshakes all around.  Sports Business Journal announced yesterday in an article that the two entities are close to an agreement to have Comcast carry the Big Ten Network. 

In previous posts, here, here, and here, I highlighted some of the issues that have caused the largest cable companies in the Midwest to not carry the Big Ten Network during it's inaugural season.  The biggest impediment was the price per subscriber the Big Ten was asking for the cable companies to carry the network.  Plus, they were demanding that the network would be available on the basic tier of channels.  Cable companies were wanting to put it on either the expanded basic tier or the digital tier of sports channels. 

The Big Ten Network said that having on an expanded basic or sports tier would limit the amount of people who have access to the channel.  That, in turn, would limit the amount of income the network would receive from advertisers.

After watching a few games on the Big Ten Network this winter, it was apparent that few advertisers were coming on board.  Many of the commercials were "info-mercial"-type ads for schlocky products.  Later in the season, they did get a couple three national advertisers to come on board, most notably Red Lobster and Esurance. 

As the Big Ten Basketball season entered February, it became apparent that the major cable providers in the Midwest were not going to back down to the Big Ten Network's demands.  Suddenly, the Big Ten Network was looking at having little leverage with the cable companies after the Thursday and Friday sessions of the Big Ten Tournament coming up this weekend.  Other than some track, baseball and softball broadcasts this spring, the network wouldn't have any meaningful programming until next September. 

And it appears the Big Ten Network knows that.  It appears now that Comcast, the largest cable provider in the Midwest, will be allowed to carry the network on their expanded basic cable.  The Big Ten Network has reportedly relaxed their "basic cable only" demands to cable operators. 

Through all of this, there's been some cracks in the hard line approach the Big Ten Network, conference school administrators and coaches have been taking since the network debuted last summer.  Michigan State Basketball coach Tom Izzo called the Big Ten Network "a P.R. nightmare" last month, saying that it was hurting the sports programs and their fans across the Big Ten region.  Izzo, a highly respected coach, was most likely saying what a number of other coaches and administrators were thinking.

Another turn has been the leverage Fox has with the Big Ten Network and cable providers.  Fox, which owns 49% of the network, has been in negotiations with the Detroit Pistons and the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA to carry their games on Fox Sports Channel.  Evidentially, Fox would have an exclusive on showing Pistons and Cavaliers games, effectively freezing out cable competitors AT&T and Echostar from starting up a new sports channel in those markets. 

This situation, along with the BTN's relaxing of their hard line stance, has reportedly triggered the pending agreement with Comcast.  And the network is hoping that once Comcast falls in line, the other large cable companies in the Midwest - most notably Time Warner, Mediacom and Charter - would follow suit.  But reports are that those cable providers are not close to an agreement with the Big Ten Network.

As they say in television land, stay tuned, folks...         

Our Speakers Featured in a Commercial

We have a new dealer in Chicago - Music Direct - who specializes in high-end audio equipment.  We haven't been selling to them all that long.  In fact, they made a lot of overtures to us in the past and we always turned them down.  With the slow economy and the fact that more people are shopping from home, my boss, Daniel, made the decision to sell selected products to them late last year.  These were the guys who turned me on to Salerno's Pizza on West Grand in Chicago.

Anyway, we got a call from them in December and they requested as many of our Focal loudspeakers that we could send to California for an American Express commercial shoot featuring Music Direct.  It was a spur of the moment thing right before Christmas and my colleague from upstate New York, John, made it happen. 

We shipped a large quantity of speakers from Montreal to a studio in Santa Monica for the shoot.  The commercial features Jim Davis, the owner of Music Direct, with a voice over touting the new American Express Plum Card, a new credit card targeting small business owners.  A couple of the guys who work for Music Direct, Josh and Bes, are seen in the background at the very end of the commercial.  The ad has been featured on a number of national cable channels over the past couple weeks.

In the commercial, they show a lot of high-end audio equipment.  And all the speakers they show in the spot are our Focal loudspeakers, including the $23,000 Alto Utopia Be speakers (right).  (We have speakers that go up to $100,000 at retail.  And, yes, we actually do sell a few pair of those.)  Even though we don't get a full plug, just the visual plug is great exposure for us.

Music Direct also owns Mobile Fidelity, a long-time audiophile record company that offers re-issues of classic vinyl albums and CD's that use the original master recording for the best sound quality possible.  With vinyl albums making a comeback - and Music Direct having a large catalog to choose from - I usually spend a couple hours each time I go in.  An hour to talk to the sales guys and an hour to look through the albums. 

Music Direct is located in a non-descript building with no signage in a gentrified area of old warehouses on Chicago's west side. (see map)  It's tough to find, but worth it if you're into high-end equipment and vinyl albums .      

If you haven't seen the commercial, here it is courtesy of You Tube:

Casa Nicola - Las Vegas

As I said in earlier posts, I've been sort of taking over the dinner plans for the company during our annual trek to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show.  My colleague, Ian, said, "You've been coming out here almost as long as I have for shows.  You know the restaurants, you make the reservations."

The problem is when you have a large group of people and trying to get seated at a reasonable time.  I ran into that problem on a number of occasions while I was out there. 

One afternoon, we were trying to figure out what we wanted for dinner that evening and someone suggested Italian.  I threw out a couple of places - Bootlegger and Piero's.  Ian finally said, "What about that place downstairs (at the Las Vegas Hilton)?"

Andiamo was the name of the place.  We'd eaten there in the past and it was always good.  I said, OK, I'll get reservations made. 

Well, it turned out that I couldn't get through to the reservation line.  Ian said, "We aren't busy, just go down there and see if anyone's there.  There has to be someone." 

I went down to where Andiamo was, only it wasn't there any longer.  It was a restaurant called Casa Nicola.  There was a bartender at the bar outside the place and I said, "What happened to Andiamo?"

She told me they had a small fire in the restaurant area just after last year's CES and they went through an extensive remodeling for both Andiamo's and the Las Vegas Hilton Steakhouse.  She said, "Casa Nicola is basically the same thing with a different menu.  The same with TJ's Steakhouse.  It's an upgraded version of the old steakhouse."

I went around the corner to see if I could make reservations.  And, sure enough, I was greeted by the long time maitre d', Mr. Apicella.  I asked him, "Can you get a party of seven in for dinner tonight."

He said, "Oh, I am so sorry, sir.  We are completely sold out for this evening."

I said, "Oh, boy.  Well, we're staying here in the hotel again this year and we've always liked your food."

He said, "Hold on, one moment."

He turned and shouted something in Italian to one of the guys setting up tables for the evening.  The guy shouted something back and Mr. Apicella turned to me and said, "What time were you thinking?"

I said, "Oh, around 7 p.m."

He said, "I'll have a table for you.  Seven at seven."

Wow!  That was kind of cool.

We arrived promptly at 7 and Mr. Apicella motioned us to a table toward the back.  We sat down and picked up our menus.  Daniel perused the wine list and found a 1996 Los Pagodes de Cos Saint Estephe, a hearty Bordeaux blend from France.  But what got him excited is that it only cost $44 dollars.  He said, "This is a wine that is $40 dollars in wine shops back home (in Canada)."  So he ordered a bottle of the wine.

The decor of Casa Nicola is somewhat different from it's predecessor, Andiamo.  Andiamo had more of an old world feel to the place.  Casa Nicola is more contemporary and open.  The kitchen area is open even more than what it was during Andiamo's day.  They refer to it as an "exhibition kitchen".  But other than that, everything else seems to be the same.  Ray Sansota, who has been the chef at Andiamo/Casa Nicola since it opened in 1987, is still there.  Mr. Apicella is still there.  It was like walking into a familiar place and feeling right at home.

We started off with a couple orders of carpaccio for the table.  The rare, thin sliced beef was just wonderful as an appetizer.  Then we decided we'd better order dinner.  The menu seemed to be somewhat different from the menu Andiamo had.  I'm sure the fire allowed them to be able to change up the menu.

The food at Casa Nicola has a Mediterranean and Tuscan theme to it.  There's lots of seafood and cream sauce items, but there's still some classic Southern Italian dishes to choose from.  I got one of them. 

I ordered the Veal Parmigiana - Caprese di Peperoni.  It was thin slices of veal, breaded and baked, then topped with a tomato sauce and mozzarella, finally topped with roasted peppers on tomatoes.  It sounded wonderful.  One of my colleagues got that same dish, as well.

One other person order the Veal Marsala, while another went with the Veal Oscar.  Someone ordered the Spicy Garlic Seafood pasta in a tomato sauce (I almost went with that).  Another one ordered a bowtie pasta in a simple cream based tomato sauce.  And the last ordered the fish special they had that evening. 

In the meantime, we all got salads with our dinner.  Nothing special, but I remember the dressing was pretty good on mine.  And Daniel was so enamored with the price of the wine that he ordered another bottle.  He remarked, "I think they're trying to get rid of it.  1996 is over 10 years old and it's probably getting to the end of it's life span."

After awhile our food was brought to our table.  I have to tell you, the Veal Parmigiana topped with the roasted peppers and tomatoes was out of this world.  It was just absolutely fabulous.  The tomatoes were very fresh, the peppers had a great smoky taste to them.  It was a glorious taste sensation. 

Everyone else raved about their meal, as well.  We'd eaten in Andiamo a couple times before and both times it was wonderful.  Casa Nicola definitely didn't suffer any setbacks after they remodeled and retooled their menu.

After dinner, we decided to get some dessert and coffee.  I was sort of full and didn't order any dessert, but I did order a espresso.  Daniel said, "Wait a minute.  This is the guy who doesn't drink coffee and who ate creme brulee all across France.  And he orders a coffee and passes on the creme brulee?  What is wrong here?"

I don't like to have a cappuccino or espresso after dinner, especially if it's late.  But it was just after 8 p.m. and I knew I'd be up for a while, so that's why I got the espresso.  There's been times I've got one or the other in the past and found myself wide awake laying in bed at 2:30 in the morning. 

I did have a couple bites of one of the creme brulee that one of the guys ordered.  I also had a bite of the tiramisu, as well, and it was very good.  Casa Nicola certainly didn't disappoint. 

As I've said many times before, there's a ton of great restaurants to choose from in Las Vegas.  It's turned into one of the leading culinary cities in the world.  Whereas restaurants in many of the hotels were after thoughts a number of years ago, they've now realized there's good money to be made in good restaurants.  While Casa Nicola is tucked away in the corner of the Hilton, it's worth looking for if you go to Vegas and want a good Italian meal.    

(Update - Like many restaurants in hotels, this place has closed and has been replaced.)

 

Homemade Gizmo's

I recently got an e-mail from a "Road Tips" reader (who asked me not to mention her name) who told me she used to work in the Carl's Gizmo stand at the Iowa State Fair a few years ago.  She said she found the "Road Tips" site doing a search for Carl's Gizmo on the Internet. 

The person who wrote me said that she used to work at the fair for Carl Cardamon at state fairs for a few years when she was in high school and during summer breaks from college. She said Carl was a great guy to work for, but she also said that for years she couldn't even stand to smell a Gizmo for months after working at the fair.

She said my recipe for a Gizmo that I wrote in this post was not accurate and gave me the one she uses at home that closely approximates the sandwich at the fair.  She said, "I don't know exactly what spices and herbs they put into the sauce, but I've just added Italian seasonings from Tone's Spices and it seems to be close."

Well, I have even better Italian seasoning from Urzi's Italian Market in St. Louis and I thought I'd give it a try.  I took her recipe and did some things similar and some things a little different.  They actually came out pretty well.

First of all, for the unintiated, a Gizmo is a hoagie-type sandwich that Carl Cardamon came up with a number of years ago.  Although most people credit Jennie DePhillips of Des Moines for coming up with the first "Guinea Grinder", as they were originally called, Cardamon took the recipe and made it better, in my opinion. 

It consists of equal amounts of ground beef and Italian sausage, topped with a seasoned tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, then broiled for a few minutes in the oven.  Being that Jennie DePhillips copyrighted the "Guinea Grinder" name and sold them at a restaurant in Des Moines - and the fact that the term "Guinea" was becoming a disparaging term for Italian Americans - Carl renamed his sandwich the Gizmo.  He began to sell them at the Iowa State Fair in 1946.

Now, most people around the U.S. think of an Italian grinder as a sandwich that consists of salami, pepperoni, and other Italian cold cuts that is topped with lettuce, tomatoes and Italian dressing.  And that's correct.  But when you talk to people in Des Moines about a "grinder" they immediately think of the Gizmo, or a similar sandwich.

So basically, here's the recipe that I got - and tweaked - for homemade Carl's Gizmos.  Actually, it's pretty easy:

6 soft hoagie rolls (I got them from Hy-Vee in the bakery)

1 lb. ground beef - 85% lean

1 lb. ground Medium/Hot Italian Sausage (You can also substitute sweet Italian sausage.  The person who sent me the recipe says the "authentic" Gizmo uses sausage from Graziano's on the south side of Des Moines.  Click here to read about Graziano's.)

2 - 15 oz. cans of Contadina pizza sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, or 12 slices mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons fennel seeds

2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning (Urzi's Italian seasoning consists of dried onion, basil, marjoram, parsley, oregano and a little sage)

In a medium sauce pan, add the pizza sauce and Italian seasonings.  Heat at low temperature, stirring occasionally. 

In a large frying pan, heat to medium temperature and pour the fennel seeds in the pan allowing them to warm up.

When the fennel seeds are beginning to get pungent, place the Italian Sausage in with the fennel seeds and mix thoroughly.

Add a half to a full cup of water and the ground beef.  Mix thoroughly.  Cook until brown, then drain off excess water or grease in colander.  Return to pan and keep meat on low heat.  

Take the hoagie rolls and cut about 3/4 of the way through the bread length-wise.  Open the bread and place on a baking sheet.

Turn the oven on low broil and place the top rack about 1/3 above the bottom of the oven. 

Spoon the ground beef/Italian sausage onto the bread.  Top with a layer of seasoned sauce.  Place either shredded mozzarella or two slices of mozzarella on top of the sandwich.

It should look something like this when it's ready to go into the oven.  (Actually, I sort of screwed these up - you should place the meat, sauce and cheese over both sides of the bread.  I cut these a little too deep. You'll see why in a moment.)

Place the sandwiches in the oven and let broil until the cheese begins to caramelize on top - about 5 minutes.  Be careful not to overcook the cheese.

And here's what they looked like when I pulled them out.  As you see, I burned the bread a little bit.  But on subsequent Gizmo's that I made, I didn't make such a deep cut and sort of put the meat, sauce and cheese in the "pocket" of the sandwich.  Actually, the picture at the top of the post is what they should actually look like.

My wife and I like to add jalapenos to the sandwich.  I added jalapenos after broiling them, and she suggested the next time to add the jalapenos to the sandwich before broiling.  I tried that, adding the jalapenos to the sandwich before topping with cheese and it was very all right, but I liked it better adding them after broiling.  

If you don't or can't make six sandwiches right away, the extra meat and sauce will keep for four to six days when placed in containers in the refrigerator.  However, you can also make the sandwiches, but don't broil them.  You can wrap them individually in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag to freeze for later eating.  Just thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours, and instead of broiling them in the oven, place them in the oven at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.  They aren't the same as doing them fresh, but for most people it works fine. 

You'll also probably find that you may need more mozzarella cheese and you will probably have some sauce left over.  You can use the sauce on grilled chicken, if you like, as well.   

The homemade Gizmo's were - in a word - killer.  These were about as close to the taste of getting a fresh Gizmo at the Iowa State Fair.  The combination of the flavors - and the Graziano's medium/hot sausage - was just outstanding.  

So, thanks for the heads up on the Gizmo recipe, "B.C."  I used to make them with the meat and the sauce combined.  They're much more close to the original Gizmo with this recipe.  But I have to suggest that if you can get your hands on some Urzi's Italian Seasoning, give that a try in the sauce.  It really helps it out.   

Hugo's Cellar - Las Vegas

After the fiasco of a meal that we had at Francesco's the evening before, I knew my reputation was on the line in picking out another restaurant for our evening meal in Las Vegas during CES.  The consensus early in the day amongst my colleagues was steak.  Ian suggested going back to Binion's.  I said, "Let's try to get in to a new place instead of one we've eaten at already."

I had an ulterior motive - well, actually two.  One - I wanted a new place to write about for my blog; and Two - I wanted to get into one of two places that I've eaten at before in Vegas.  The first place - The Steakhouse at Circus Circus - is an exquisite steakhouse situated in one of more run-down and schlocky casino-hotels in Vegas.  As you wander through Circus Circus and stumble upon this wonderful restaurant, you think, "What in the hell is this nice place doing in a dump like this?"

I tried to get us into The Steakhouse, but for a large group (8 of us) it was either get seated at 5:30 p.m. or 9:00 p.m.  Well, since the show didn't end until 6:00 p.m., the early seating was out.  And 9:00 p.m. was just too late. 

So, I tried a place that I have eaten at a couple times before, but not in a long while - Hugo's Cellar in the basement of the Four Queens casino/hotel (see map).  Hugo's Cellar is also the quintessential old-time Las Vegas steakhouse that is known for great food, and for the table side preparations of their signature Caesar Salad, and main entrees such as the Duck Anise Flambé. 

While the Four Queens is sort of a similar dump like Circus Circus, Hugo's Cellar is an oasis of great food, great service and a relaxed comfortable place to get away from the glitz and noise of Vegas.  It's one of the best kept secrets in Las Vegas. 

I was able to get us in at 7:30 p.m.  That was perfect as we were invited to and sentenced to go to a party that Shunyata - one of our distribution partners - was putting on over at the Mirage after the show ended for the day. 

It had been a rough day for us in our company.  My boss, Daniel, had to fire a longtime colleague who had worn out his welcome in the company.  And he had to fire him on the spot in Las Vegas at the show.  It was a bad situation all around and as close of a "family" atmosphere my boss promotes, he was particularly upset that he had to take those steps at that time.  So, getting a good dinner was something that he wanted to do to take the next step forward.

After attending the party, we ended up at Hugo's Cellar just before 7:30 and they seated us right away.  They put us at a large circular table and brought us our menus.  Hugo's Cellar also has the distinction of being on Wine Spectator's "Award of Excellence" list.  And they've held that distinction every year since 1993.

Hugo's Cellar is a cozy place, dark and muted throughout with red brick walls.  It's very reminiscent of the old time supper clubs that used to be the best places to eat in the "old" Vegas.  Although I don't think they've changed the decor much since when they first opened in the 60's, it's not tired like some of the old guard restaurants in downtown Las Vegas.

While we all initially ordered a stiff drink to help drown the hurt that we had from the episode earlier in the day, I had the honor of picking the wine for the evening and it was pretty tough with all the choices.  Since everyone was getting beef (with the exception of one guy), I opted for a 2003 William Hill Cabernet.  We ordered a couple bottles to start us off.

For dinner, I ordered the Prime Rib, as did another colleague of mine.  Three of the guys ordered filets.  One other got the ribeye, another the New York strip.  And Todd, being the odd duck, so to speak, ordered the Duck Anise Flambé.  He said, "I want to see them smoke this thing at the table!"

About five minutes after we ordered, the waiter wheeled out a salad cart to our table.  Individually, he asked each person what kind of salad they would like, and he'd make it there on the spot.  As I said, their Caesar's Salad is their signature salad and he'd make each one with a theatrical flair.

After finishing the salads, it wasn't long until they brought our main entrees out.  And then the waiter wheeled out a cart with Todd's duck on it.  He poured a little brandy into the pan and ignited the liquid over some flame.  It went "Whoosh!"  We all sort of laughed when he did that.  One of my colleagues remarked, "I think my eyebrows got singed!"

Along with some good ol' Atomic Horseradish, my prime rib was excellent.  It was cooked perfectly, and it was very tender and flavorful.  In fact, each of us remarked how good the place was. 

But Daniel was having trouble with his filet.  Someone asked, "Is there something wrong with your steak, Daniel?"

He said, "No, I just don't have much of an appetite after what happened earlier today."

We all gave a knowing nod.  He's such a great guy and he really cares about the people who work for him.  He's big on the "team" concept when it comes to working together and he had to get rid of a guy who had, quite frankly, become a "cancer" in the larger scheme of his business philosophy.  And it just pained him to know that someone was trying to undermine his efforts and he had to go.

After dinner, Ian said, "OK, Will.  You're off probation.  You can continue to pick restaurants out here."

Whew!  I was relieved they all liked it.

It was getting late and we all passed on dessert, although some of the guys got coffee or cappuccino.  Hugo's Cellar isn't cheap - the bill came to about $750 with tip.  But the food, the service and the atmosphere was outstanding.

With all the great new restaurants that have come into Las Vegas over the past few years, Hugo's Cellar holds their own.  It was one of the finest places to eat in town before the restaurant boom out there, and it continues to be one of the better places to get a steak in Vegas.  It's sort of tough to find, but it's worth the trip to downtown Las Vegas.

It's Spring! (Sort of...)

Even though the calendar says March 1, and the official first day of Spring doesn't happen for another three weeks, today is the first day of the Meteorological Spring.  I can't tell you the last time I was so happy to see March 1 come. 

It's been a long and tough winter around the upper Midwest.  So far, we've received just over 62 inches of snow here in the Quad Cities, making it the third snowiest on record.  We're less than 8 inches of snow away from topping the all-time mark of just under 70 inches.  Normal snowfall around here is about 35 inches annually.  And as life-long residents of Iowa know, there's always one more big snow storm during the season.  So we've got a good chance to break the record. 

I shouldn't complain - I was just up in Wisconsin this last week and Madison has received over 80 inches of snow so far this winter, breaking the old record of 76 inches set in the winter of 1978-79.  All across the state, snow is piled high, ice is everywhere and it feels like spring won't get there until May. 

It's kind of interesting talking to older people around here who say this winter is like "an old-time Iowa winter."  My father-in-law says they used to have winters like this all the time when he was a little kid.  Maybe he remembers that it was tough to get around in the days before high-tech plowing equipment and four-wheel drive vehicles.  But he swears he remembers winters with the snow piled high from early December until late March. 

He's not alone.  A neighbor across the street was telling me a similar story when I was helping him get snow off his driveway after a big snow.  He said, "I can remember times when the drifts were so bad that a lot of roads were down to one lane, or just closed all together for a few weeks." 

The biggest problem around here has been the ice.  We've had a couple ice storms this winter, but we also had a weather event earlier this month where it rained and the water didn't have anywhere to go.  It pooled on streets and froze.  Then it snowed over the top of that.  Our street in front of our house is like driving on a minefield right now. 

There's hope for the immediate future - it's supposed to get up close to 40 degrees here today, and close to 50 tomorrow.  But just when we get the first taste of spring on our lips, a storm system is supposed to come in on Sunday night, bringing a chance of snow and much colder temperatures through the rest of the week. 

It looks like Winter doesn't care that the Meteorological Spring starts today...

(March 3 Addendum - It got up to 70 degrees here in the Quad Cities yesterday.  I was showing 71 degrees at our house around 3 p.m. while the official high got up to 67.  The snow was melting and the ice was thawing.  It really felt good to have warm sunshine hitting my face.  However, as I write, it's 32 degrees and temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-20's by 3 p.m. this afternoon.  Ah, winter in the Midwest.  You can't beat it.)