Road Tips

Panevino - Las Vegas

Another restaurant that my colleagues Ian and Simon found when they were at a small trade show in Las Vegas last April was an Italian restaurant near McCarran International Airport by the name of Panevino.  Ian declared it as one of the best Italian restaurants he'd ever eaten at - and that included restaurants in Italy that Ian has visited over the years.  On the Saturday night of the Consumer Electronics Show last month, the guys from Cambridge Audio took the guys from company out to dinner at Panevino.

Panevino is one of those hidden gems of restaurants that are off the strip and sort of tucked away where only the locals and a few hardy tourists will find (see map).  The name means "bread and wine" in Italian and it is owned by Las Vegas architect/builder/casino owner Tony Marnell.  Marnell's company - Marnell Companies - built the Rio in the mid-80's and Marnell was the original owner and CEO until selling out to Harrah's in 1999. (Both Rio and Harrah's are now under the Caesar's Palace umbrella.)  Marnell's firm is also responsible for the construction of such Las Vegas landmarks as Excalibur, The Mirage, Bellagio, Wynn and the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace.  

 

Marnell owns an industrial park on the south edge of McCarran International Airport and in 2002 he built Panevino with it's distinctive architectural design.   The building pays homage to Italian architect Renzo Piano, Marnell's favorite designer.  Piano's works include the Pompidou Centre in Paris (along with British architect Richard Rogers), the Kansai Airport in Osaka, Japan, and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.  Piano's style is categorized as "high tech" where form follows function and technology is the focal point for comfort and style.  Panevino features ceiling to floor motorized window shades to keep the hot Las Vegas summer sun out in the day time, but opens up for views of the Las Vegas skyline at night.

In the nearly 8 years Panevino has been open they've gone through a number of executive chefs - and not that there's anything wrong with that.  Alessandro Minutella was the original chef at Panevino when it opened in 2003, but left after a year to open a restaurant in San Diego.  He was replaced by Vincenzo LoVerso who subsequently left Panevino in 2006 to also open a restaurant in San Diego.   Sergio Santoro then became the executive chef at Panevino, but left to become the executive chef at The M Resort, owned by Tony Marnell's son, Tony III when that opened a couple years ago.  In 2009, Panevino then turned to veteran chef Mario Andreoni who had been executive chef at the exclusive Casa de Campo resort in the Dominican Republic, the Biltmore in Miami and at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas.  

But one constant for Panevino over the years has been General Manager Vincenzo Granata (pictured at right with Mario Andreoni).  As a 24 year old with a degree in hotel management and hospitality from a school in his native Italy and after refining his skills at restaurants in Europe before moving to Detroit in 1997, Granata was named the daily operations manager for both Le Cirque and Osterio del Circo at the Bellagio a year later.  Le Cirque (French) and Osterio del Circo (Italian) are two of the finest restaurants, not only in Las Vegas, but are both world renown for their European service techniques and hospitality.  Tony Marnell was a regular diner at both restaurants and got to know Granata rather well.  Soon after Marnell opened Panevino, Granata agreed to join his restaurant as the G.M.  It's Granata who has firmly put his own stamp on Panevino.

Panevino also features their own gourmet delicatessen and a coffee shop that features gourmet Italian meats, homemade artisan breads, Italian blend coffee, imported cheese, pasta and gelato.  Sandwiches are available during the lunch hour and they also feature a number of morning pastries. 

We had 7:30 dinner reservations at Panevino and we met the Brits from Cambridge Audio in the very tasteful and comfortable bar and lounge area as we waited for our table to be readied.  Panevino wanted us to drink up a few drinks before we sat at the table and I didn't have any problem with that.  I had a nice conversation with my friend Paul Masson, who heads up International Sales for Cambridge Audio, and Stuart George, the financial director for Cambridge Audio's parent company Audio Partnership, about English Premier League Soccer - or football, as they wrongly call it.  We carried on our conversation to the table as I sat in between the two to learn more about the exploits and history of Arsenal, Manchester United and the Wolves from Wolverhampton.  Actually, it was pretty stimulating conversation.

One of the great things about Panevino, other than the wonderful and distinctive architecture throughout the interior of the restaurant, was that they allowed us to order directly off the menu.  No prix fixe menu that night for us, so that was an immediate plus.  And the menu was very extensive with a number of pastas, seafood, meat and poultry entrees to choose from.   My colleague, Ian, told me the osso bucco at Panevino was some of the best he'd ever had and I had it in my mind to get that before I even opened the menu.  But after going through the menu, I was beginning to have second thoughts.  They had a dish called Ravioli con Gamberi e Campisante - homemade ravioli stuffed with shrimp and scallops with leeks, then served in a lobster bisque sauce with lemon zest.  Oh, man!  I just about began to cry when I was reading this.

They also has a traditional Tuscan stew - Cacciucco Toscana populated with lobster, shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams, Chilean sea bass and salmon in a lightly spiced tomato broth topped with garlic bread croutons.  Oh!  I was beginning to feel woozy.   Another thing that caught my eye was the Pollo all Brace - a chicken breast marinated in extra virgin olive oil, garlic, mustard, red pepper flakes and fresh rosemary, then grilled and served on a bed of roasted potatoes drizzle with a lemon oil.  My head was spinning.  I didn't know which way to go. 

I did finally come to my senses and ordered the Osso bucco alla Milanese - a slow-roasted veal shank in a red wine sauce resting on a bed of saffron risotto.  I also ordered an appetizer - the carpaccio piccantino, a plate of beef carpaccio, arugula, baby artichokes, grated Grana Padano cheese with a lemon oil dressing.  And for good measure, I got a salad - the prosciutto and mozzarella salad with arugula and baby tomatoes drizzled in an extra virgin, lemon-infused olive oil.  

Is your stomach doing jumping jacks like mine is right now?    

Audio Partnership president, James Johnson-Flint, picked out a couple of moderately priced Italian wines from the extensive wine list Panevino has.  I took a look at the wine list and found it to be somewhat overpriced for some of the more familiar wines I like to order.  But it seems like wine in Las Vegas is always priced much higher than other places around the nation.  Well, except maybe for Denver. 

The carpaccio piccantino was just excellent.  Beef carpaccio on its own is wonderful, but the addition of the arugula, artichokes and cheese was a great compliment.  I should have just had that as the pre-meal appetizer, but I'm certainly glad I got the prosciutto and mozzarella salad (below left).  It was even better in overall taste than the carpaccio.  The prosciutto was salty and flavorful, but not overpowering.  The mozzarella cheese tasted like it was made fresh earlier in the day.  And the lemon olive oil gave the greens and tomatoes a very smooth taste on the tongue.  It was time to bring on the osso bucco.

 
Here's what the osso bucco looked like (above right) when it was set in front of me.  The presentation looked out of this world with a little sprig of fresh rosemary peeking out the top of the marrow hole.  From the first bite, I was in ecstasy.  It was some of the best osso bucco I've ever had in my life, and that includes the osso bucco I tried at Restaruant L'Aiguiere in Paris about five years ago.  The veal was tender, the red wine sauce was tasty and even the cooked bone marrow was outstanding.  A lot of people don't eat the marrow, but I think that's the best thing about osso bucco, as long as you don't think about what you're eating.  I did have a couple bites of the saffron risotto and it was OK.  I'm not big on risotto so I concentrated on the osso bucco. 

Next to me, Stuart got what would have been the second choice had I not gotten the osso bucco - the shrimp and scallop stuffed ravioli with the lobster bisque sauce.  Oh man!  And he said it was just as good as it looked.  It turned out a lot of people at the table got the seafood ravioli.  The next time I come back to Panevino - and there will be a next time - I'm getting that. 

I was able to finish all the osso bucco and made a small dent in the saffron risotto - the osso bucco was just rich and wonderful - and I was pretty full after the meal ended.  But that didn't stop me from taking a look at the dessert menu.  And it was a long list of tantalizing and delectable offerings including tiramisu, creme brulee (made with Madagascar vanilla), gelato, and cannoli's.  But what caught my eye was a lemoncello liqueur soaked mousse-layered spongecake.  Oh, I about fell apart.  But I knew I wouldn't be able to eat the whole thing.  My colleague, Michael, who was across the table from me, said that he'd help me eat it.  We ordered that and Stuart seated next to me got the best of all worlds - a combination of creme brulee, tiramisu and a Napoleon.  He said, "You guys will help with some of that, won't you?"   

And I have to say the desserts were just as wonderful as the main entree.  The lemoncello mousse spongecake was moist and had a great taste sensation to it.  The creme brulee was excellent and I had a little of the tiramisu which was also outstanding.  It was a first class dinner all around. 

Many of the Brits were leaving the next morning so we milled about the parking lot saying our good byes and thanking them for the great meal.  Panevino absolutely fabulous, exactly as it was advertised when my colleagues were telling me about it.  It's one of those true hidden gems that you've really got to look for when you go to Vegas, but it's certainly worth the time to go there. 

California Pizza Kitchen - Las Vegas

I have either driven or walked by dozens of California Pizza Kitchen (also known as "CPK" by its legions of fans) restaurants over the past decade plus, but I have never gone into one before I had dinner at the one at the Mirage in Las Vegas during the Consumer Electronics Show.  We had been setting up booths and suites during the course of the day before the show started and we decided to grab something to eat before we called it a night.  We decided to head down to the California Pizza Kitchen because we knew it would be quick and they'd probably be able to get 10 people in pretty easily. 

Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield were Los Angeles-based attorneys who frequently dined at the famed Spago restaurant in Beverly Hills in the early 80's.  Chef Wolfgang Puck was serving wood-fired pizzas with interesting toppings such as smoked salmon, duck sausage and goat cheese.  Flax and Rosenfield saw an opportunity to open their own restaurant that served their own style of wood-fired pizzas topped with unique, fresh and healthy ingredients.  They opened their first California Pizza Kitchen in Beverly Hills in 1985 and it was an immediate hit.  The first wood-fired oven they used came from Italy and the internal temperature of the oven would hit 800 degrees (F).  Pizzas would be done in less than five minutes.  This allowed for the pizza and toppings to sear together offering a more healthy alternative to regular oven baked pizzas. 

The second California Pizza Kitchen opened at The Mirage in 1989, a franchise owned by then Mirage owner Steve Wynn.  It was an immediate hit as first year revenues were over $5 million dollars.  More California Pizza Kitchens opened across the nation and in 1992 Flax and Rosenfield sold 50 percent of the assets of CPK to PepsiCo (the company later increased its stake in California Pizza Kitchen to 67 percent).   Flax and Rosenfield continued to run the California Pizza Kitchen company while PepsiCo oversaw the growth from 35 restaurants in the early 90's to over 100 locations by the time PepsiCo decided to divest themselves of the CPK brand.

California Pizza Kitchen was then bought by an investment company in 1997 with Flax and Rosenfield holding 25% interest in the company.  CPK eventually went public and opened a number of new restaurants just after the turn of the century.  However, a number of the new restaurants didn't meet sales expectations and the company began to flounder financially.  Flax and Rosenfield took over day-to-day operation of the CPK restaurants in 2003 and the company came back strong financially posting a three-fold increase in profits over the previous year. 

Today, there are over 250 California Pizza Kitchens in 32 states and Guam, as well as locations in 10 countries including China, India, South Korea and Japan.  In addition to the restaurants, California Pizza Kitchen has a working agreement with the Nestle Corporation for their line of frozen pizzas that are sold in grocery stores across the nation.

I've had my chances to eat at a California Pizza Kitchen over the years, but never really sought one out because most of the reviews I'd heard from people weren't overwhelmingly positive.   You see California Pizza Kitchens in places like upscale malls or shopping districts.  They are generally catering to people on the go, lunch crowds and families who need to get in and get out.

It was just before 9 p.m. when we walked up to the hostess stand at the California Pizza Kitchen in the Mirage.  The CPK in the Mirage is located right next to the huge sports book so it can be a little loud in there.  But the acoustics are dampened enough that you can carry on civil conversations at the table.  It took a little time to come up with a table for us - they basically pushed together a couple of table for six and took away two end chairs.  We got our menus and started to look as to what they had to offer.

In addition to eclectic pizzas topped with pears and gorgonzola, pesto chicken, or roasted artichoke and spinach, California Pizza Kitchen offers entrees like chicken marsala, Baja fish tacos, and Kung Pao spaghetti - a spicy Kung Pao sauce with hot red chiles, peanuts and garlic with your choice of chicken or shrimp (or both) over a bed of spaghetti.  Uh, naw.  That just doesn't sound appetizing at all.  

I just decided to go with my old stand-by pizza - a sausage, pepperoni and mushroom pizza.  My colleague, Jon, who was seated across the table from me said that sounded good and wanted to know if I wanted to split one.  When we asked the waiter how big the pizzas were he said, "They're pretty small.  A person can usually finish one of our pizzas."  So we each ordered one for ourselves.  One of our guys from Montreal, Michel, decided to get the jambalaya spagetti - Calfornia Pizza Kitchen's own jambalaya mixed with spaghetti.  It sounded better than the Kung Pao spaghetti, I'll give you that.  Most of the rest of the people at the table ordered pizza, although my boss, Daniel ordered the CPK cobb salad.   

I ordered a Sam Adams Lager that was on tap.  The waiter said, "Do you want the big glass?"  I said, sure, why not?  And when he brought it back, we all got a big chuckle out of it.  It was a 32 oz. glass, almost too unwieldy to handle.  I joked to my colleague, Ian, seated next to me, "I think I need a straw!"  

They didn't handle the food order very well at California Pizza Kitchen.  Jon's and my pizza were delivered almost room temperature to the table - and actually long before anyone else received their food.  When everyone was finally served, I had a couple pieces of pizza down - I wasn't going to wait on everyone else because the already lukewarm pizza was getting colder by the minute.  

I didn't bring my camera phone with me to dinner - the battery wore down quickly when I was out in Las Vegas, probably due to so much wireless traffic going on all over the city during CES, and I had it on the charger.  But this is a picture I found on their web site of a typical California Pizza Kitchen pizza.  I think this is the barbecue chicken pizza, if I remember correctly.  It's a classic Neapolitan-style pizza with a light, flaky thin crust with thicker crust along the edges.  The sausage was OK, nothing special.  The pepperoni was sort of hard to find - they really skimped on the pepperoni.  And while the mushrooms were fresh, I didn't find them to be very big in size.  This was an average pizza, at best.  I was not very impressed.

However, my colleague Michel raved about his jambalaya spaghetti.  He said, "It's very good.  Surprisingly good.  And spicy!"  It had thick chunks of andouille sausage along with crawfish, chicken and shrimp mixed in with the spaghetti pasta.  It actually did look very good.

That will probably be my first and last trip to California Pizza Kitchen, unless I'm in a pinch and need food fast like we did that evening in Las Vegas.  Now I know why I've passed them by all these years.  I can think of a number of other places I'd rather get a pizza than one at a California Pizza Kitchen.  They're sort of the Olive Garden of pizza places.  While they seem to be wildly popular with people because they feature a lot of interesting items on the menu, nothing is really outstanding.   But the jambalaya spaghetti was intriguing.  I may have to see if I can make that at home sometime. 

The Publican - Chicago

One of my "foodie" buddies from Chicago told me a long time ago, "Man, you've got to go to The Publican.  Oh, buddy, is it good!"  And knowing how eclectic and snobbish his tastes are, for him to rave about a place like The Publican, well, it has to be damned good.  It turned out that one evening on a recent visit to Chicago I was able to try the place thanks to a little inside juice from one of my dealers.  So, here's the story on my visit to The Publican. 

The Publican burst on the scene a little over two years ago offering European style dining - a gastropub, if you will - with farm to table foods, eclectic beers and an English-style pub with tiered tables where people can have drinks on one level, food on another and be able to lean on for conversations.  The Publican is the culmination of a joint effort of restaurateurs Terry Alexander (Mia Francesca), Paul Kahan (Blackbird), Eduard Seitan (Blackbird, avec), and Donnie Madia (Blackbird).  The group also is involved with trendy nightspots, Big Star and The Violet Hour. 

Kahan (right) is the executive chef and Brian Huston is the chef de cuisine at The Publican.  The menu features a number of entrees of pork from an organic farm outside of Dyersville, IA - Becker Lane Organic Farm.  Kahan and Huston also feature a variety of oysters on the half shell, octopus from the Marshall Islands, Maine mussels and smoked salmon from Scotland.  I was told the pork rinds are to die for.  I'm not big on pork rinds, but I vowed to try some that evening.  

The Publican also boasts over 100 eclectic beers from around the world.  The beer director at The Publican - Michael McAvena - is in his late 20's, but has earned the reputation as being able to pick the best beers to compliment the food.   Every bartender, server and manager at The Publican have also completed the first level of the Cicerone beer server certification course.   They are part of a group of over 3000 people world-wide who have a distinct knowledge of beers, which beers to pair with what foods and the proper way to serve such eclectic beers.  Ooooo....  I was gonna LOVE this place!

The Publican can be pretty tough to get into.  On the weekends, lines will form out the door on W. Fulton Ave (see map).  Even through the week, it's somewhat difficult to get into the place.  But I had an "in" that evening - courtesy of my buddies who work at Decibel Audio.  

The guys at Decibel Audio know their restaurants pretty well.  They were the ones that turned me on to the very good Mirai Sushi restaurant last year.  It turns out that they did the sound systems in nearly all the restaurants affiliated with The Publican, including the system at The Publican.  I was in Chicago recently to do a training for the guys at Decibel Audio and after we were finished I offered to take them out to dinner.  They had mentioned The Publican in passing and I said, "Yeah, I've heard a lot about that place.  I'd like to go there."

 

Adam, the manager, said, "It may be tough to get into.  It's a pretty popular place.  I can call down there, though, and see if Katie (the manager) can get us in."   A quick phone call to The Publican and the next thing you know Adam says, "OK, she can get us a table in 20 minutes."

It was a 10 minute drive to The Publican and about a five minute drive around looking for a parking space before we finally found one on a side street a couple blocks away.  Parking in the area can be pretty tough - it's primarily a warehouse district - so valet parking is available at the door.  But we didn't valet the car that night.

Upon entering the restaurant, there were hugs all around for the Decibel Audio boys from Katie, the manager, and Katie, the hostess that evening.  Katie, the manager, playfully admonished them. "You guys haven't come to see us lately!  We've missed you!"

Our table wasn't quite ready yet, so Katie, the hostess, asked if we'd like to go to the pub area and get a beer while we waited.  The tables in the pub are nice and high, very sturdy and actually sort of comfortable to lean upon.  They have hooks under the lowest tier so you can hang your coat up while you drink your beers.  

The waitress in the bar area gave us a beer menu to look over.  The menu is very heavy on Belgian-style beers and I'm not big on Belgian-style beers.   And I didn't recognize nearly any of the beers on the menu.  Some were high alcohol content, some had prices as high as $17 to $22 for a 12 oz. bottle.  One beer - Goose Island's Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout - was $65 for a 22 oz. bottle.  And it is rare - it was bottled just once in 2010 and permanently retired after that. 

I settled on a Krankshaft Kolsch beer from Chicago's Metropolitan Brewery.  It was a nice light-bodied blond ale that didn't fill me up before dinner.  The other guys got some Belgian beers that I was not familiar with in the least.  Adam was telling me about the sound system in the place and the troubles they had in making sure it would work properly in the large room.  "This room is so loud when you get a ton of people in here.  We had to find that right balance of making sure the music could be heard, but not make it so loud that it was going to be competition with people's conversations," he told me over a beer.  "It's bad enough competition to have a conversation with someone across the table with all the other people talking in here."  It was, indeed, a pretty loud place. 

 
The decor at The Publican is akin to a Scandinavian beer hall - if there is such a thing.  There's a long community table in the middle of the room with booths off to the side.  Each booth has a heavy gate-like door that swings open to allow people in and out of the booth.  That's where Katie eventually sat us. 

 

We had a couple waiters working with us that evening, both of whom knew the guys from Decibel Audio.  One of the waiters brought over a plate of assorted sliced hams, complements of Katie, the manager.  The plate featured razor thin slices of a sweet country ham from Tennessee, a mild tasting ham from Iowa, and a smoked and forward tasting ham from Spain.  The Publican's peasant bread and goat cream butter was served with the sliced hams.  Oh, man.  I was in heaven already!  The Spanish ham was out of this world.

On top of the complementary plate of hams, Katie also sent over a complementary fruit salad for us to try.  The combination of the greens and the mangos were a wonderful taste sensation.

Most of the entrees at The Publican can be shared and that's what we decided we'd do that evening.  They had so much to offer and I wanted to try so much.  We just began to order things and keep ordering as we went along.

The first two items brought to our table were the chef's choice of oysters on the half shell and a duck confit with shredded pork shoulder and jam appetizer (left).  It was just outstanding.  You scooped it on to a piece of bread and it was out of this world.  In fact, if I really knew what was in it, I probably wouldn't have ordered it.  But one of the guys knew what it was and he said it was great.  And it was.  It was going to take a lot to make the meal better than it already was.

The oysters - four each from Maine, Rhode Island and Washington state - were OK.  They weren't the best oysters I've ever had and weren't large in size and a little gritty.  But as I said they were just OK.  One thing that they didn't serve with the oysters was Tabasco sauce or horseradish.  But they did have their own style of shrimp sauce that came with the oysters. 

The next thing that came out was a big bucket of steamed Maine mussels (below left).  About half of them didn't open up (don't try and pry open the ones that didn't open) and another handful were barely open.  I threw caution to the wind and ate a couple that were barely open.  I could tell one wasn't edible, but it was too late.  It was down the hatch.  Later that evening, my gastro-intestinal system confirmed my earlier fear.  But you don't want to hear about that.  But the ones that were open were good and the sauce they cooked the mussels in was out of this world.  We dipped peasant bread in the sauce and ate it, it was so good. 

We had also ordered up the country ribs - but Adam warned me before we got them, "They're not what you think."  When they brought them to the table, I was sort of surprised to see what were basically barbecued Illinois pork chops (above right).   There was enough for each of us to get a couple three bites and it was very good.  The pork was tender, the rub they used was sort of spicy, but not overpowering.  On its own, it would have been a very good meal.

Are you still with me?  I know this is getting long, but you've got to hang on just a bit longer to see what was the highlight of the evening.

The Publican has the most outrageous appetizers and sides on their menu.  The pork rinds (below left) were as good as advertised.  (They also comped us on the pork rinds because they forgot to bring them out when we first ordered them.)  Served in a paper wrapper, they were spicy and mouth-meltingly good.  And, oh, so rich and filling.  Thankfully they came late in the meal when we'd already had mussels and ribs and oysters and...  We would have never been able to eat much else had we gorged on the pork rinds.  Like I said, I'm not big on pork rinds, but the ones at The Publican were outstanding. 

 
But even better was something that was so stupidly simple that I could just kick myself for never having this before.  It was an appetizer/side of two eggs cooked sunny side up placed on top of a plate of french fries (above right).  Then you chopped the egg up on the fries.  It was unbelievable.  First of all, we all surmised the french fries were probably cooked in duck fat because they had a great taste on their own.  But the egg whites and yolk on the fries were just outstanding.  I almost ordered another plate of those, but we'd had so much food. 

We had one other dish that I don't quite remember what it was.  I believe it was a sweetbread (pictured right), but it wasn't served the way they describe in the menu.  This was more of a side or appetizer than a main entree as described in the menu.  But it was also very good.  Really, it was all good, although the mussels were a tad disappointing (but the sauce more than made up for that), and the oysters were, once again, just OK.  

The 2011 Michelin Guide for Chicago came out just before Christmas and I got a copy of the book for myself.  The Publican was named a "Bib Gourmand" restaurant in the book, literally an honorable mention from Michelin for restaurants that are a great value, but still don't garner a Michelin star rating.  The Publican was a great value - for four of us along with beers, the bill came to under $40 a person.  Of course, we were comped on three items that would have brought the price up about $30 bucks more.  But still, you can easily get a great meal with appetizers for two for under $100 bucks at The Publican.  My snobbish foodie buddy was right on about the food at The Publican - overall, it was outstanding. 

Mesa Grill - Las Vegas

 
Celebrity chef Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill in New York City has been one of the most popular eating destinations in the Big Apple for nearly 20 years.  Flay's combination of traditional American foods coupled with the robust taste sensations of Southwestern cuisine has wowed diners and critics alike for years.  A couple of the guys in my company had to be in Las Vegas last year for a small trade show and they ended up eating at the Las Vegas Mesa Grill located in Caesar's Palace.  They declared it "fantastic" and said that we had to eat there during our recent trip to Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show.  On a Friday night, we did just that.

Anybody who knows anything about cooking or dining out is probably familiar with Bobby Flay.  He's been involved in a number of television programs over the years, he's the author of nine cookbooks, he has a line of gourmet sauces and rubs, and that's not counting the three Mesa Grill restaurants he owns (including the Mesa Grill at the fabulous Atlantis resort/casino in the Bahamas), Bobby Flay Steak in Atlantic City, the Bar Americain restaurants in New York City and Connecticut, and Bobby's Burger Palace - a gourmet burger restaurant with five locations in the Northeast. 

Flay opened the Las Vegas Mesa Grill in 2004 bringing his style of American/Southwest cuisine to, well, the Southwest.  Flay has always been particularly fond of grilling and the menu at the Mesa Grill in Las Vegas is certainly indicative of that with such entrees as a New Mexican spice-rubbed pork tenderloin, ancho chile-honey glazed salmon, a bone-in chipotle glazed rib-eye, and a mango and spice crusted tuna steak all done over a wood-fire grill.  Mesa Grill also has a number of wood-fire oven roasted specialties as well.  One of my colleagues got the New Mexican-spice rubbed pork loin on his visit last April.  He said he immediately thought of me when he got it. 

The only problem is that we had a large group again - a couple three guys in our company were off doing their own thing with other obligations that evening, but the rest of us invited a couple guys each from the French companies of Micromega and Devialet to dinner that night giving us a total party of 12.  And because there were 12 of us, we had to go off a prix fixe menu once again.  And this menu was very small (Mesa Grill's regular menu isn't large to begin with) and included a coffee-rubbed beef tenderloin filet, the mango - spice crusted ahi tuna steak, and 16 spice chicken with a mango and garlic sauce.  That's it.  No New Mexican-spiced pork tenderloin.  My colleague, Ian, who had that before knew that I was crest-fallen.  That's the only thing I wanted to try on the menu. 

I sort of shook my head and swallowed hard.  I knew that Flay's grilling style is pretty good and being a griller myself I decided to go with the coffee-rubbed filet.  I didn't know how the coffee rub would go with the beef, but at that point in time it was the lesser of all evils of what was made available to us on the menu. 

We were limited to two appetizers - the tiger shrimp with roasted garlic corn tamale, and the Yucatan chicken tacos.  Actually, the tiger shrimp with roasted garlic corn tamale was pretty good.  That's what I ended up getting (apologies for the poor picture - but you get the idea).   The shrimp were good sized, the garlic corn tamale was a great taste sensation and I was pleasantly surprised.  I was really hoping that the rest of the meal was just as good. 

Once again, having a large group it was difficult for everyone to visit with everyone else.  The language barrier came into play, as well, with the French talking in their native tongue amongst themselves and with our guys from Montreal.  There's nothing wrong with that in my book, but it makes for a lot of awkward looks, pauses and head turning during the evening.   We've been told that it's best for the Americans to fan out at a table and not congregate at one end as to not offend our guests.  But when everyone around me is talking French, there's a lot of idle time at the table.  I try not take out my Blackberry and do a little surfing for scores or news, but it's pretty tough not to in those instances. 

 
Our main entrees came out and I really didn't know what to expect from my coffee-rubbed tenderloin.  I like the taste of coffee, but I'm not a coffee drinker.  And the idea of eating ground coffee is not all that appetizing.  (But I will say that one of the secret ingredients in my mom's spaghetti sauce recipe was ground coffee.)  The coffee on the beef tenderloin at Mesa Grill was part of a heavy sauce that enveloped the piece of meat.  It was a little overpowering in taste, I have to say.  The steak was a tad over-cooked, but it was still tender and flavorful.  At least, what I could taste of the beef over the coffee rub/sauce. 

My colleague, Michael, got the mango-spice crusted ahi tuna steak.  It was seared and served rare.  Three large clams came on the side with it.  Michael said, "Oh, it's very good.  The spices zing it up a bit."

 He said he was thinking about getting the coffee-rubbed filet, but decided to go the seafood route.  His definitely looked - and sounded - better than my steak did. 

I'm not certain anyone at the table got the chicken entree that was offered on the prix fixe menu.  My colleagues Ian and Simon said that it would have been much better to order off the menu as they both thought it wasn't as good as during their visit last April.

Dessert was also included in the meal and that evening we were given Mesa Grill's Poached Pear Buttermilk Upside Down Cake topped with a butterscotch sauce and a scoop of spiced ice cream.  Actually, it was very good.  A nice little night cap to the meal. 

As you can probably figure out by now I was pretty disappointed in my meal at Mesa Grill.  It's not that the coffee-rubbed filet was bad - it was actually pretty good.  But I couldn't order what I really wanted and that was a major disappointment.   We decided if we came back and we had a large group, we'd just make reservations for two or three tables of six people.  That way we'd be able to order exactly what we want off the menu and quite probably have a better dining experience. 

Pete Miller's - Wheeling, IL

For years, food enthusiasts have traveled to a stretch of Milwaukee Ave. through Wheeling, IL where some of the best restaurants in the Chicagoland area have stood for years and years.  One of those restaurants is Pete Miller's, a seafood/steak house and jazz bar that I've wanted to visit for quite sometime.  Recently, I had the chance to go there with a client for dinner. 

Pete Miller's is one of the corner stones of the Clean Plate Club restaurant group which also runs the Davis Street Fishmarket and Merle's No. 1 Barbecue in Evanston.  (To see my visit to Davis Street Fishmarket, click here.)  The original Pete Miller's opened in 1994 in Evanston, and they opened the Wheeling location in October of 2002 in what was the old Crawdaddy Bayou Cajun restaurant.  From day one, Pete Miller's offered an eclectic combination of prime steaks, fresh seafood and some of the best jazz that the Chicago area has to offer.  The Evanston location is more of an adult destination complete with a number of billiard tables, so when Larry Huber and his partners opened the Pete Miller's in Wheeling they gave it more of a 1940's supper club feel to the place and made it more family friendly. 

And, by the way, there actually was a Pete Miller, although he wasn't involved with Pete Miller's in any way.  Harold "Pete" Miller was a frequent customer of the Davis Street Fishmarket after it opened in 1986.  Miller was a longtime salesman on the road (that sounds familiar) who dined in numerous places over the years, who had a love for good Scotch, liked to play a rousing game of pool and was a connoisseur of great jazz.  Miller's personality and charm touched the people around him and especially Larry Huber.  After Miller died in 1994, Huber and his partners opened the original Pete Miller's in Evanston as a tribute to Miller offering great food, a fair drink, great jazz and an upscale pool tavern feel to the place. 

And great jazz is exactly what you can find at both Pete Miller's locations nearly every day of the week.  Some of the greatest jazz entertainers from Chicago and across the U.S. have played at Pete Miller's over the years including Patricia Barber, Jimmy Smith, Bobby Broom and Melvin Rhyne.  The night we were at the Pete Miller's in Wheeling, the Michael Ross Trio was playing in the lounge. 

We arrived at Pete Miller's in Wheeling (see map) around 7:15 one evening and parked with the complementary valet that they offer at the restaurant.  It wasn't all that packed and we were able to get a seat right away in the larger of the two main dining areas in the restaurant.  Our dinner menus were on the table along with a wine menu.  My client wasn't much of a drinker, he said, but he said, "Have at it!" when I asked him if it were OK that I have a beer. 

After a little bit of a wait, our waitress, Liz, finally got to our table.  She said, "Gentlemen!  I am so sorry.  I had three different food orders come up at once, so I was running around getting those tables taken care of."  She asked if we wanted anything to drink and I noticed that they had the Burning River Pale Ale from the Great Lakes Brewery out of Cleveland - one of my all-time favorite beers.  I took one of those while my guest had a diet soda. 

My client had been to Pete Miller's just before Christmas and he raved about the prime rib-eye medallions, one of chef Cesar Gutierrez's signature dishes.   Two 6 oz. rib-eye medallions are topped with your choice of stilton bleu cheese, encrusted horseradish, or parmesan cheese.  He called them "outstanding".  

I knew I wanted steak and the first thing that popped out at me on the menu was the filet au poivre - a 10 oz. beef tenderloin filet topped with fresh peppercorns and a cognac/mushroom reduction sauce.  I'm a sucker for a great au poivre steak and I was certain that I would like that.   But I was also interested in the prime rib - something that I haven't had in quite sometime.  They also had a filet trio on the menu - three individual beef tenderloin filets that you could be blackened, topped with parmesan cheese or horseradish.  In fact, every steak on the menu could be ordered to your liking with four different types of sauces, encrusted in either bleu cheese, parmesan cheese or horseradish, or blackened or topped with peppercorns. 

The seafood part of the menu was also a little tempting with a pan-seared Chilean sea bass, crab-stuffed jumbo shrimp served on a bed of linguine, and a soy-ginger marinated sushi-grade yellowfin tuna encrusted in sesame seeds.  But I kept going back to the steak part of the menu - especially the filet au poivre.  By the time Liz got back with our drinks, I was ready to order. 

My guest got the prime rib-eye medallions, encrusted in horseradish.  He got a side of Pete Miller's garlic mashed potatoes, but he asked our waitress to have the kitchen leave off the fresh parsley.  I found through the course of the evening that my guest was a rather particular eater.  Not that there was anything wrong with that - he definitely knows what he likes and dislikes in food.  He's a good ol' "meat and potatoes" kind of guy.

I figured that I'd be back to Pete Miller's at some point in the future, so I ended up getting the filet au poivre on this occasion.  I ordered it rare and hemmed and hawed about getting the garlic mashed potatoes, as well, or getting something else.  The entrees come with your choice of potato, vegetable of the day, steamed broccoli or thin onion rings.  They also have signature sides that you can share at the table including their famous lobster mashed potatoes - lobster chunks with the mashed potatoes.  That sounded too rich for me that evening, though.

I also got a wedge salad with my meal, thinking that I really hadn't had anything to eat since early in the morning.  I needed something in my stomach before the main entree showed up.

While the wedge salad was good - a large iceberg wedge topped with their homemade creamy blue cheese, real bacon bits and chopped tomatoes - it wasn't the best I've had.  Still, it was a nice start to the meal.  It was so large that I couldn't finish it before our steaks showed up to the table. 

Rare at Pete Miller's - and most restaurants - is described as "cool, red center".  My filet au poivre was exactly that - one of the most spot-on rare steaks I've had in a restaurant.  The cognac/mushroom reduction sauce was just excellent on top with the peppercorns swimming in the sauce.  It was an excellent steak.  And my thin onion rings were very good, too, although I wish I would have tried the garlic mashed potatoes.  Next time.

My guest's rib-eye medallions were cooked medium for him, just to his liking.  The horseradish crust around the steak medallions was puffy with a little caramelization on the crust.  He wasn't able to finish his last medallion nor his garlic mashed potatoes.  "The horseradish crust is really rich," he told me.  I'm sure it was. 

During our meal, the general manager at Pete Miller's, Mike, came around to see how everything was with our meal.  We had absolutely no complaints.  He asked, "Liz taking good care of you this evening?"  She was doing a superb job in handling us that night, we said.  She was efficient, friendly and had a great sense of humor. 

 
With some nice jazz going on in the lounge and subdued lighting in the dining room gave Pete Miller's a nice warm feeling to the place.  It certainly was like being transported back to an old time elegant supper club in the countryside.  The food was just outstanding at Pete Miller's.  While it wasn't cheap, the quality was top notch.  Liz was a very attentive server and did a great job in making sure everything was right.   And having the GM come around to check on our meal was a nice touch, as well.  Pete Miller's was everything I expected it to be.  I can see why it's one of the favorite steak houses for thousands of Chicago area residents.  I can't wait to go back!

El Mariachi - Moline, IL

As I've said in many of my entries regarding Mexican restaurants in the Quad City area, we're very blessed to have a number of very good to great Mexican restaurants in town.  There's a significant Hispanic population in the Quad's and that's why we have an abundance of authentic Mexican restaurants.  One of those is a little place in Moline on top of the hill on 15th St. is Restaurante El Mariachi, or as the locals call it, just simply El Mariachi (see map). 

Virginia and Alfredo Castro are the owner's of El Mariachi, a place they opened almost 9 years ago.  Alfredo Castro learned how to cook from a Mexican chef and Virginia had a number of recipes that were handed down to her by her grandmother and mother.   Alfredo and Virginia began their restaurant experience selling Mexican food out of a trailer they'd take around to events in the area.  After people began to inquire where their restaurant was located, the Castros opened Restaurante El Mariachi in 2003.   I've had Hispanic friends I know in the area tell me that the food at El Mariachi could easily be the most authentic of any Mexican restaurant in town.  And given the amount of authentic Mexican restaurants in the area, that's saying a lot!  And Virginia is also well-revered in the Latino community in the Quad Cities - she was recently named the Latina Business Owner of the Year by the Greater Quad City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. 

(Alfredo Castro - right)

El Mariachi has a wide array of Mexican food to choose from including traditional cheese and onion enchiladas, homemade chile rellenos, chicken mole, and their popular Camaron Fiesta - a three course shrimp dinner consisting of a shrimp cocktail, shrimp salad and shrimp fajitas.   It's also one of the very few places in the Quad Cities that features a traditional Mexican dessert - arroz con leche - a Mexican rice pudding. 

During the lunch hours, El Mariachi features a popular Mexican buffet through the week and a Mexican breakfast buffet on Sundays consisting of pozole (pork stew), chilaquiles (fried tortilla mixed with egg and chicken), huevos a la mexicana con chorizo (Mexican style eggs with chorizo), pozole (pork stew) and a lot more including some traditional American breakfast staples.  The lunch buffet (served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) is $8.95 a person while the Sunday breakfast buffet (served from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.) is an overly reasonable $6.95 a person. 

I was hesitant to talk about it on Road Tips, mainly because I'd really like to keep El Mariachi a secret.  The food is priced extremely reasonably at El Mariachi.  You get a lot for a good price.  Most entrees and combinations top out at $8 to $10 bucks.   

And the restaurant, itself, is not all that big - it seats, maybe, 56 people, and that's really cramming them in.  And there's usually only one waitress and one bartender working in the place.  Some nights, the bartender IS the waitress.  But even with the small staff, we've always been served promptly and have never had an issue with being forgotten about.  I'd sort of like to keep it that way.

And because it's one of our favorite restaurants, we usually go to El Mariachi once a month.  They have two dining rooms in the restaurant - a lower dining area just inside the entrance, and the upper area that features the bar, a couple booths and three or four tables.  We usually like to sit up near the bar, especially in the winter time, as it can get a little cool with the door opening and closing all the time.  During a recent visit to El Mariachi, it was a Friday night and the upper part of the restaurant was full.  It doesn't take many people to make it full.  We were forced, actually for the first time, to sit in a booth along the far wall as you come in. 

They have wonderful margaritas at El Mariachi and up until a couple years ago it used to be one of the few places in the Quad Cities that had Sol beer available.  But they do have Dos Equis, which is still pretty darn good.  Sometimes I'll get a margarita while I'm waiting for the meal, but then get a Dos Equis (or two) with my meal.  I think there's nothing better than having an ice cold Mexican beer with authentic Mexican food. 

And while El Mariachi has a number of authentic and unique entrees to choose from, I like to order the combinations which is like ordering two, three or four items a la carte including enchiladas, burritos, regular tacos, specialty tacos, tamales and three or four other types of Mexican food, served with rice and beans.  Cindy is sort of fond of the enchiladas at El Mariachi and that's exactly what she got this time we went (below left).  The enchilada platter is served with Mexican rice, refried beans, chopped lettuce and tomatoes. 

 
Everything is so good at El Mariachi, I have a lot of problems figuring out what I want on any given visit.  This particular visit I got a large combination dinner (above right) where you get your choice of 4 different types of Mexican specialties.  The large combination I had that evening consisted of a beef flauta, a pork tamale, a beef enchilada and a pork carnitas taco.  The tacos aren't very big at El Mariachi and I can usually kill an order of 3 pretty easily - that is, if I don't overindulge on the great homemade chips and salsa they bring to the table when you first sit down.   My combination plate with Mexican rice and refried beans came to just under $10 bucks.  That's a lot of food for $10 dollars. 

While Road Tips doesn't have a huge following (but we seem to be garnering more people on a weekly basis - and I thank you for that), I didn't want the word to get out on El Mariachi - one of the best kept secrets in the Quad Cities.  The food is authentic and excellent.  The margaritas are tasty and the beer is cold.  And the service is wonderful and the staff is always attentive and friendly.  Just do me a favor - don't tell anyone else about El Mariachi.  Let's keep it our little secret.

Estiatorios Milos - Las Vegas

It was a pleasant surprise to find out that the venerable Montreal Mediterranean seafood restaurant - Estiatorios Milos - was going to open in Las Vegas before our recent visit to the Consumer Electronics Show.  (Read about my visit to the Montreal location here.)  "Milos" (or the correct pronunciation "Milosh") has become "the" spot for my Montreal-based company to to take guests to dinner when they come in from out of town.  It's a family-style Greek/Mediterranean restaurant where fresh fish is flown in daily and you can literally pick your fish for your meal as they lay in the iced case by the kitchen.  It's really a fun time. 

The Las Vegas edition of Milos opened in mid-December when the new Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino opened.  We understood the project was about three months behind schedule, but already Milos was a tough ticket to get into.  When my colleague Todd made reservations for us even before they opened the doors, we couldn't get a group of 12 into Milos until after 8 p.m. on the Wednesday evening before the start of the show the next day.

Estiatorios Milos in Las Vegas stays true to the philosophy from it's flagship restaurant in Montreal (with locations also in New York City and in Athens).  Owner Costas Spiliadis (pictured right) brings his "fresh is first" philosophy to Las Vegas with the freshest fish brought in daily and fresh produce brought in from Southern California two or three times a week.  But the simple presentation is still the highlight of Milos menu.  While they feature their freshly caught fish on a daily basis, they serve it with a minimum amount of flair and pomp.  Spiliadis feels the food should be the focal point - the center, if you will - of the meal without any additives to take the natural taste of the food away.  Since Spiliadis opened Estiatorios Milos in 1979, he has never cooked with butter - only pure Grecian olive oil.  Butter masks the real taste of the food, according to Spiliadis.  Olive oil will help bring out the natural taste.

We drove from the Mirage down a very congested Las Vegas Blvd. to the Cosmopolitan for dinner that evening.  Even though the Cosmopolitan is just down the street from the Mirage (see map), it's still too far of a walk.  Well, actually we could have walked it and it may have been just as fast as if we drove and valet parked the vehicle.  Then there was the obligatory walk through the casino at the Cosmo, up two flights and past a number of no-name stores before we finally found Milos in a corner on the third level of the entertainment area.  It turned out that we could have used the east side entrance of the Cosmo instead of driving around to the "front" of the hotel which is literally on the opposite side  of the Las Vegas Strip.  It would have saved us a 10 minute walk from valet parking at the front of hotel to the restaurant which overlooked the Strip. 

We were seated at a table near the center of the restaurant - which is much larger than the original Montreal location - just after 8 p.m.  The hostess asked us if we were familiar with Milos and nearly everyone at the table sort of chuckled and said, "Oh, yeah!"  Todd explained to the hostess that most of us were from Montreal and that nearly all of us had eaten at the original one in the past.  She said, "Oh, great!  That will save me about 10 minutes of explanation!" 

We were brought out complementary baskets of Milos' grilled bread served with their house olive oil and fresh rosemary.  The olive oil comes from a Spiliadis family-owned olive farm in Greece and it's bottled with the name "My Sister's Olive Oil".  And it is out of this world - some of the best available.  One of my colleagues from Montreal asked one of our waitresses if the olive oil was available to buy.  She said there was a small shop on a lower level of the mall at the Cosmo that sold it.  A couple of us stopped in after the meal to get a bottle but were stopped in our tracks when we found that a 12 oz. bottle sold for $35 bucks.  Ow!  I can get a 2 liter container of extra virgin Spanish olive oil at Caputo's in the Chicago area for the same money.  Still, it was so good it was tempting to buy.   

The head chef soon came over and introduced himself.  He said, "I understand that you all are from Montreal?  You're very familiar with Milos?"

Todd said, "Well, we're not all from Montreal, but we've all eaten at Milos." 

The chef said, "Then maybe you'd like to take a look at the ice cases to see what is fresh tonight."

My boss, Daniel, immediately said, "No, I don't think that's necessary.  I think we want to do a whole fish with a bunch of appetizers." 

The chef and Daniel huddled for a moment.  The chef explained some of the freshest whole fish that they had to offer that evening.  He told Daniel that he had about a 10 to 12 pound Mediterranean red snapper that would easily feed our group.  Daniel agreed to that.  He also ordered up ample amounts of Milos signature appetizers including the wonderful grilled octopus, calimari, and the Milos Special - thin slices of deep-fried zucchini, strips of eggplant and saganaki cheese served with tzatiki sauce.  He also ordered up a couple bottles of a Greek 2009 Domaine Katsaros Chardonnay.  We were set. 

From the first appearance of the appetizers, we found that the Las Vegas version of Milos was different from the one in Montreal.  While the Milos Special was similar in taste, it was much smaller in size and quantity.  The calimari was absolutely spectacular, but we were very disappointed in the grilled octopus.  The grilled octopus pieces in Montreal are very large - about the size of a half dollar and about an inch in depth.  The ones at Milos in Las Vegas were barely the size of a nickel and about 3/8" of an inch deep.  They were still wonderful to the taste, but I was highly disappointed in the size of them. 

The staff began to set up the serving area and the fish was soon brought out to the table.  The chef cut, chopped and de-boned the fish and served it on plates to us.  Now, I've had bad luck with red snapper the last few times I've gotten it and I was sort of disappointed to find that we were getting red snapper that evening.  I held out hope that it wouldn't be dry and overcooked - exactly as it has been the previous times I've gotten it over the past two or three years.  Once again, disappointment set in from the first bite as I found the fish to be well overcooked and dry.  Even my colleague, Todd, commented afterward, "The fish was a little dry, wasn't it?"  Yes, it certainly was.

The high point of the meal, however, was the fact that I got to try my very first fish cheek.  One of my colleagues told me on my first visit to Milos in Montreal that the fish cheek was considered a delicacy.  It's generally moist and flavorful with a non-fishy taste to it.  There was a fish cheek laying on the plate, someone offered it to me and I took it.  It was exactly as described and it was the best thing I ate all night.

Well, that is, if you don't count the scrumptious desserts at Milos.  Like my previous visit to the one in Montreal, we had a potpourri of desserts brought to the table.  The homemade baklava is just out of this world, some of the best - if not THE best - baklava I've ever had.  The key lime tort was just as good as I remember from the original Milos, and the loukoumades are sinfully great.  Loukoumades is a traditional Greek dessert consisting of deep fried dough (arteries hardening as we speak) that are topped with pure honey and mixed with thyme, cinnamon and almonds.  OH, my GOD!!!  I'm glad I didn't eat much of the fish or it would have spoiled the dessert.

While there are a lot of similarities with the Las Vegas Estiatorios Milos and the original one in Montreal, the one in Montreal is still the better of the two.  It could also very well be that they're still trying to shake the cobwebs out of the system in Las Vegas, too.  It had only been open for about three weeks and I'm a firm believer that you need to be open for three months before any critical dining should take place.  But we decided that it was good enough to give it a try at next year's CES and we will undoubtedly be back. 

Trattoria Tiramisu - Bettendorf, IA

For years, I can safely say that there was not a good authentic Italian restaurant in the Quad City area.  Oh, Lundardi's was good - and continues to be very good - but there was an Irish-American-ized flair to their Italian food.  The Olive Garden continued to be the high point of Italian food around the area.  However, in the late 90's, the Cepeda family from the Keokuk area moved into a downtown space and opened Trattoria Tiramisu.  That's right - it took a Hispanic family to bring authentic Italian food to the Quad Cities.  And compared to other places around the area, it was outstanding.  Not the best Italian I'd ever had, but very good for what was offered in the area.

Trattoria Tiramisu moved from that downtown location (now housing Antonella's Italian restaurant) to the old R.J. Boar's site in Bettendorf about six years ago (see map).  It gave the restaurant about triple the space and their own parking lot out back.  There were also ventilation issues at the old location, especially in the summertime.  We'd been in there when it was almost as warm inside as it was outside.  The new location had a much better HVAC system. 

But since they've moved, we had only been there one or two times - considering it's a lot closer to our house now than when they were downtown.  We've sort of took a shine to the people at Antonella's and when we think of good Italian food, we usually think of Antonella's first.  (Although Lunardi's comes in a close second with their wonderful lasagna.)  However, just before Christmas, we decided to run down to Trattoria Tiramisu for a quick bite one evening. 

The parking lot was full and we were wondering if we'd have any problems getting in on a weekday night.  But Trattoria Tiramisu was hosting a holiday party in the bar area.  There was plenty of tables open in the dining room.  In fact, one side of the dining area was closed off.  Green and white checked table cloths cover the tables at Trattoria Tiramisu.  They did their best to make it look like an authentic Italian trattoria, but there's still some cheesy-ness to the decor.  But if you're more worried about what they're going to serve you than your surroundings, you can easily get past that. 

We sat in a booth and looked over the menu.  And I forgot that one of the traditions at Trattoria Tiramisu was a complementary plate of bruschetta our waiter brought to the table as we looked over the menu.  The food at Trattoria Tiramisu is like a road map of Italy - they feature Southern Italian red sauce dishes, Northern Italian white sauce entrees, Napoli-style homemade sausage and Mediterranean-style seafood dishes.  And while the wine list isn't extensive, there are some good buys on the menu.  I ordered up a bottle of the Pedroncelli Merlot which was priced at $23.00.  I thought it was a pretty good bargain. 

Since it had been quite sometime since we'd been into Trattoria Tiramisu, I didn't really have any "favorite" on the menu that I knew that I'd get.  Pasta sort of sounded good that evening, but the Chicken Parmesan did sound appealing.  But I had made Chicken Parmesan the weekend before, so I didn't get that.  Their Fettuccine al Funghi Porcini - fettuccine in a cream sauce topped with dried porcini mushrooms and chunks of chicken breast - sounded very appealing, as well.  The Linguine Alla Bolognese - linguine pasta with ground Italian sausage and topped with parmigiano cheese - also caught my eye.  But I ended up ordering the Tortellini Al Timballo - cheese filled tortellini in a red sauce with Italian sausage and topped with a four cheese sauce. 

The special that evening was a rib-eye steak, topped with a peppercorn/cream sauce and served with broasted potato wedges and sauteed spinach.  Cindy wasn't really certain what she wanted, so she ended up ordering the special.  She said, "I was all set to get pasta, but for some reason a steak sounded good." 

Being that it wasn't all that busy in the dining room, we sort of figured we'd get our meal pretty quickly.  But the large party in the bar area had ordered their food about the same time we ordered ours, so it was a good 25 minutes before our food was brought to our table.  Our waiter came out to apologize to us about 10 minutes before the food came out.  "We suddenly got swamped in the kitchen," he said.  "It should be here shortly." 

 
When it did come out, it was worth the wait.  And quite actually, the portions were huge.  Cindy's steak (top left picture) wasn't swimming in the peppercorn/cream sauce like I've seen at some places.  Part of her steak was void of any sauce allowing her to get a taste of the steak without the sauce if she so desired.  She ordered her steak medium and it was cooked to a slight pick center - a perfect medium in my book.  She offered me a bite and it was good.  It was tender enough for a $14.95 steak and had some good flavor to it.  I really did like the peppercorn/cream sauce that went with it. 

My tortellini was a great value at $11.95.  And there was a lot of it.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to eat the whole thing, so I concentrated on getting the chunks of homemade Napoli-style Italian sausage out of the dish first.  I'm not overly big on cheese-filled tortellini - I prefer a meat filled tortellini - but it was still very flavorful and filling.  After devouring the sausage chunks and a few of the tortellini rings, I'd had enough. 

Cindy did have some of her steak left over and she had the waiter bring her a box to take home so she could eat the rest at lunch in a day or two.  Our waiter wanted to know if I wanted to take what was left of the tortellini home with me and I told him, "No, it's never as good re-heated as it was in the restaurant." 

He said, "Yeah, I know what you mean.  I'll get some pasta dish to go when I leave work, then try to heat it up in the microwave when I get home.  It's not as good, is it?" 

I guess I forgot how good of a value Trattoria Tiramisu really is.  We got a lot of food for under $30 bucks.  For people like us who treat ourselves once or twice a week to a nice meal out when I'm home, that's a pretty good bargain.  If you're looking for good - and authentic - Italian food at a great value in the Quad Cities, skip Olive Garden and head straight to Trattoia Tiramisu. 

The Blizzard of 2011

Yes, we survived the blizzard of 2011.  I've got to tell you - this was one of the more impressive storms I've ever seen.  Over the past 24 hours, not only did we get 16.7 inches of snow in Moline (the official reporting station in the Quad Cities), but the wind associated with this storm was simply unbelievable.  I've never encountered a storm where the wind blew so hard for so long.  Sustained winds from yesterday afternoon into late last night averaged between 25 to 30 miles per hour with gusts topping the 50 mph mark on a couple of occasions.  The snow coming down was hard enough, but the blowing made it seem even worse than it was.  There were times when I could hardly make out our neighbor's house across the street. 

Depending upon who you talk to, this snowfall - coupled with the nearly 2 inches we got on Monday - tied for the most snow during one snow event in the history of weather keeping in the Quad Cities.   18.4 inches had fallen from Monday before noon to 6 a.m. this morning at the Quad City International Airport in Moline tying the record set in 1979.  The Davenport Municipal Airport got about 13.4 inches of snow on Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning.  We're just about right smack in between the two airports, so I'm making an educated guess that we had 15.05 inches of snow from this one last night.  And with the inch and a half on of snow we got on Monday, 16.5 inches of snow is a pretty impressive total. 

However, it's not as bad as the situation in Chicago.  Officially at O'Hare International, they had received a tad over 20 inches of snow as of this morning with just under 20 inches at Midway.  My sister-in-law, Becky, lives in Winchester, IL, about 40 miles from Springfield - and they got 18 inches.  Of course, it's still not as bad as places like Kansas City, St. Louis or Indianapolis where ice was the big problem.  I'd rather get 15 inches of snow than a half inch of ice.  Only those places got ice measured in the inches, not fractions.  And K.C. and St. Louis got snow on top of the ice. 

Everything was shut down today throughout the region.  I made it into work only because I office at home and it doesn't take much work to walk across the hallway from the bedroom to get into the office.  But a quick call to dozens of dealers across Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Indiana found that many of them were closed today. 

Now that the snow has stopped, its supposed to turn brutally cold in the region with low temperatures tonight to bottom out around -10 (F).  But a mild warm up is supposed to take place later this weekend.  But with it comes another chance for snow.

I got up this morning and went out to blow some snow around the neighborhood.  The snow was more than two feet deep in places.  I went down to a neighbor lady's house to help her with her sidewalk and a drift on her corner lot was about three foot deep.  It was all I could do to get the snow blower through that. 

 
Here's a panormic picture of the view from the front of our house.  If you click on the picture you can see where I plowed out the snow on the sidewalk and driveway and how deep the snow is.

 
And here's a look at our backyard.  There are some pretty deep drifts out here.  Click on the picture and check out the drifts in our neighbor's backyard on the far right of the picture. 

 
This is what our back berm looks like during better times.  This was taken last May when everything was just starting to get growing for the season. 

Below left is my Weber smoker.  It may be a little while before we use it.  There's about two feet of snow around it. 

 
Above right, here's the snow on our roof just above our deck.  It's also about 2 feet deep in some places.    

Now we're just sort of waiting on the streets to be cleared.  I understand the main thoroughfares around town are plowed and pretty easy to navigate, but the side roads are all choked off from the deep snow drifts that the snow plows have piled up.   I don't anticipate that we'll be plowed out until sometime later tonight or even tomorrow morning.  But I'm guessing that most of us should be able to be back to normal lives - or as close to normal - as we can be by Friday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update - The National Weather Service officially combined the snow total from Jan 31 with the snow total from Feb. 1/2 to tie the Blizzard of 2011 with the storm of 1979 as the greatest snow event in the history of the Quad Cities.  For some reason, they didn't know if they were going to put the Monday and the Tuesday/Wednesday events together, but they determined that the same low pressure system was responsible for both snows.  The low pressure tracked just a tad north of where they originally thought it would go and it hit the Quad Cities dead on.

The 16.7 inches of snow at the Quad City International Airport was the highest 24 hour total in the history of weather keeping in the area.  Here's a map of the total amount of snowfall across the Eastern Iowa/Northern Illinois region. 

I've had some longtime Davenport residents tell me that the one in 1979 was worse.  What they don't remember is that there was well over a foot of snow on the ground from a tremendous storm that had come through just days before the big one.  Sure, there was a lot of drifting, but the 18.4 inches in 1979 fell on an already deep snow cover.  We had - maybe - five or six inches of snow on the ground at the start of this particular event on Monday.  We've got a lot more than than right now.

Oh, and the City of Davenport finally did get around to plowing out our street on Thursday around 2 p.m.  Life is slowly getting back to normal.

Getting Ready for the Blizzard of 2011

 
From the above graphics from WQAD and the National Weather Service, it appears that we're going to get a major shot of snow in the Quad City area starting this afternoon into this evening.  And depending upon which graphic you believe, we're slated to end up with 10 to 15 inches of snow in the area.  On top of all that, winds will pick up and the temperatures will drop significantly ushering in blizzard conditions in the area. 

We already received just under two inches of snow that started yesterday afternoon and was on and off through the evening.  That was just the appetizer for what's coming later today.

Although we're in line to get over a foot of snow, parts of Central Illinois on up to the Chicago area could receive up to two feet of snow.  Peoria is right in the path of the heavy snow and as shown on today's front page of the Peoria Journal Star, the area is expecting at least 18 inches. 

 

 

The storm has a chance to become the largest snow total to hit the Quad Cities - ever.  The most snow in a snow event for this area happened back in 1979.  18.4 inches of snow officially fell on the Quad Cities over January 12-14, 1979.  Some locals will tell you they easily had close to two feet of snow fall on their yards. 

 

I've lived here for nearly 20 years and two of the largest snow falls on record have happened while I've been here.  The first one was on January 19, 1995 where we got just over 15 inches of snow.  I remember that one well - I was supposed to go to L.A. for a meeting and got delayed two days.  I eventually went - I probably shouldn't have as I missed about 2/3rds of the meeting - but it meant more for me to get the hell out of here for a couple three days and get away from the snow.

 

Over January 1st thru the 3rd in 1999, we received 14.3 inches, most of it coming on the night of January 1.  That's back when I still had my Chevy Lumina Eurosport, the best car to get through snow that I've ever had in my life.  One of my neighbors at the old house we lived at on the west side of Davenport brought home an end loader to clean up the alley and in front of the neighbor's houses.  When I went to move my car that was parked on the street in front of our house, he said, "There's no way you'll get through this."  I popped the car in drive and plowed right down the street.  I came back around the block and he had the place where I parked all cleaned out.  He said, "Wow!  I would have never bet you would have been able to get out of that parking spot, let along get around the block!"  

 

This is the first big storm we've had at the house we've lived at now for the past eight and a half years.  We've got a snow blower and it will get a workout doing our long driveway, our walks and quite probably our neighbor's walks and driveways.   We're well stocked and sort of looking forward to hunkering down.  But, quite honestly, it's days like these where I do a lot of day dreaming about Hawaii.