On the first morning during our vacation at Lake Okoboji, we decided to scout around for a place for breakfast. Cindy thought she had seen a family restaurant in downtown Spirit Lake when were trying to get our bearings the night before after we checked in to Pioneer Beach Resort. I took a turn down Hill Ave. and sitting on our left just at the corner of Lake Street and Hill Ave. was a place called The Family Diner (see map). I said, "Well, I suppose that place IS a family restaurant!"
We went around the block and parked the car in front of the place - luckily, the only spot that was open along the block. We went inside and, also luckily, we found one table that had just opened up. The place was packed. And it was just after 9 a.m.
Matt and Darlene (Dar) Hall are the owners of the highly popular Family Diner. We found out later on that being packed at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday morning was not an aberration. Actually, we heard that the place is usually packed from the time they open at 6 a.m. until they close at 4 p.m. Known for their breakfasts and their noontime comfort food and sandwiches, the Halls have been in business for about 3 years.
The restaurant is long and narrow with tables in the middle and booths on the side. The kitchen area was in the back of the dining area with a huge serving window seperating the two areas. The restaurant was well-lit with a lot of natural light coming in through the windows on the north and east side of the restaurant.
A waitress came over to give us menus and asked if we needed coffee. Not being much of a coffee drinker, I always decline, but Cindy said she'd like a cup. After the waitress came back with her coffee, Cindy took a sip and said, "Oh, gosh, this is good coffee! This must be a pretty good place for breakfast!" Cindy's corrolary between good coffee and good food in a breakfast place has proven to be accurate more often than not.
Two young ladies and a little girl were seated at a table next to us and they had a couple of humongous cinnamon rolls. Now, the Quad Cities is sort of famous for their large cinnamon rolls - you can't be a breakfast place worth your salt anywhere in the Quad Cities if you don't have huge cinnamon rolls. The cinnamon rolls at The Family Diner rivaled any thing we've seen in the Quad's. And they looked damn good.
The breakfast items on the menu were plentiful and difficult to choose from. They had pancakes, omelets, French toast made with homemade bread, skillet dishes - just about anything that you could think of for breakfast they seemed to have it. I was contemplating getting the blueberry pancakes or the blueberry French toast. The omelets we saw the waitresses bring out looked pretty damn good, too. I was in sort of a quandary as to what I wanted to get.
Cindy had her eyes on a couple things - the French Toast with apricot syrup was very appealing to her, as was the breakfast special with a couple eggs, bacon, hash browns and homemade toasted bread.
When our waitress showed up to take our order, Cindy got the French toast - one slice - with the apricot syrup. For good measure, she got an egg on the side with bacon. I wanted an omelet, but I was torn between the corned beef hash omelet, or a sausage and cheese omelet. I looked on the menu and saw that they had corned beef hash available as a side, so I ordered the sausage and cheese omelet - I had my choice of three cheeses, so I took cheddar. And I asked the waitress if they could throw some mushrooms into the omelet. "Sure," was her exuburant reply.
Because they continued to be busy at The Family Diner, about 20 minutes after we ordered our food showed up. The wait was worth it. First of all, the portions were huge. Cindy's one piece of French toast was almost 3/4's of an inch think. It had a slab of butter and was sprinkled with powered sugar. The only problem is that the waitress forgot to bring the apricot syrup. (We were able to chase down another waitress and she brought out the syrup for Cindy.)
My omelet was also very big. The cheese was oozing out the side of the omelet and large chunks of sauteed mushrooms were visible on top. I also had two very thick pieces of homemade wheat bread on my plate with the omelet.
But the corned beef hash (right) is what really opened my eyes. They certainly didn't skimp on the sides at The Family diner. It covered over half the plate and it was a load of corned beef hash for $3.25. I knew I would have trouble finishing everything on both my plates.
Chunks of sausage were found throughout the omelet. It was cheesy and the mushrooms - although they were canned, but sauteed - were also a nice taste sensation. The omelet was thin - as I like my omelets - and it was simply excellent. The corned beef hash, too, was very good. It had a nice crust on the outside of the has and the corned beef was very good in flavor. Cindy had some bites of the corned beef hash and she, too, said it was very good.
Cindy really enjoyed her French toast. She said, "The apricot syrup is the best part. I wasn't certain that I wanted French toast, but when I saw they had apricot syrup, that pretty much helped me make up my mind." Her bacon was crisp, just as she likes it (I like my bacon a little more medium rare to medium), and the egg was, well, it was a fried egg. Not much you could do with a fried egg. She used some of my toast that I definitely wasn't going to eat to dip into the yoke of her egg.
As we were leaving, I told Cindy, "I don't think there's a lot of breakfast places around here. If we can't find any more, we may be back here for breakfast a couple more times while we're here."
She said, "That would be fine with me!"
We did find more breakfast places around Lake Okoboji during our stay, but I'm going to tell you right now - none of them were as good as The Family Diner. The taste of the food, the value of what we paid versus what we got on our plates, and the fine service were the best we found at any of the breakfast places in the area.
At the tail end of our vacation this summer, we ended up in Minneapolis for the weekend. Cindy wanted to do some shopping and I took her over to the 50th and France shopping and entertainment district in suburban Edina on the west side of Minneapolis. As we exited the parking garage, it began to sprinkle. After visiting a couple stores, the rain had turned into a steady shower. I took a look at the weather radar on my smart phone and determined the line of rain wasn't going to last too long, so I suggested we go get lunch and wait out the rain. On France Ave. just before 51st street is Cocina del Barrio (see map). I asked Cindy if she wanted to go in and get something to eat (even though I had taken her to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Minneapolis - El Tejaban - for a great meal the night before). She said Cocina del Barrio would be fine.
I had eaten at the Cocina del Barrio's sister restaurant - Barrio - earlier this year. (Click here to see that entry.) The meal was fabulous with a number of great "tapas"-style tacos on the menu. And, like their sister restaurant in downtown Minneapolis, Cocina del Barrio features over 150 different tequilas to choose from. We were staying downtown at The Marquette and we walked by Barrio the day before. I couldn't quit telling Cindy how good the food was at the place.
Cocina del Barrio is actually the third of the "Barrio" restaurants owned by partners Tim Rooney and Ryan Burnet. Rooney and Burnet opened the original Barrio on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis in 2008, a location in St. Paul a year later, then they did the reverse of what many Mexican restaurants have done - they opened a food truck that features catering or sets up at different venues or locations around the Twin Cities. Then in late 2010, the partnership opened Cocina del Barrio in Edina.
The first two Barrios are billed as "Tequila Bars" while the Barrio in Edina features the Spanish word for kitchen in its name emphasizing an expanded food menu over the other two locations, as well as a children's menu designed to make the restaurant more family friendly. It's mainly because Edina has an ordinance that says that restaurants which sell alcohol must have a 60%-40% ratio of food vs. alcohol sales. And it's strictly enforced. Cocina del Barrio has already been cited by the city for a violation of the 60-40 rule when they were audited in early 2012 and it was found they sold just over 51% food vs. alcohol. They had to pay a $500 fine and were put on probation. A second audit earlier this summer found that they had grown their food to alcohol ratio to just over 58%, but still under the minimum. Coupled with an infraction for selling a beer to a minor working for the local police department, Cocina del Barrio had to pay a $1000 fine and their license to sell liquor was suspended for one day.
One of the reasons they're having trouble with the 60-40 food vs. alcohol ratio is that the cheapest margarita on their drink menu is $9 bucks. The drinks are not big and as I found at the dinner we had at Barrio in downtown Minneapolis earlier this year, the liquor bill gets inflated rather quickly if a person is having two or three margaritas. You have three tacos at $4.50 to $6.00 each along with two or three margaritas, it's easy to see that you'd have a much larger alcohol bill over the food bill.
With that all said, Cocina del Barrio features a brunch menu, a number of small plate entrees, and a handful of larger plate entrees including grilled mahi-mahi, lamb chops and a natural farm-raised rib eye steak. Oh, they still have the tapas style tacos at Cocina del Barrio that made them famous. But the expanded menu is designed to steer people away from the tacos and into higher priced plates.
The Cocina del Barrio location on France Ave. used to house the Coldwell Banker Burnet realty offices. Ryan Burnet's father owns the realty firm and the younger Burnet also dabbles in real estate and developing boutique hotels in downtown Minneapolis. When the Edina office moved down the road on France Ave. early in 2010, the building became available for Cocina del Barrio to move in. The addition of Cocina del Barrio is a welcome one, not only in my book, but for a number of diners who have been coming to the 50th and France area for years. One of my all-time favorite Tex-Mex restaurants - the very popular Tejas - was just around the corner. It wasn't far from the hotel I like to stay at down the road in Bloomington and I was upset when they closed their doors almost three years ago. Finally, there's a good Mexican restaurant back in the 50th and France district.
We walked into Cocina del Barrio around 12:30 p.m. and there was a growing lunch crowd in the place. We were greeted by a hostess who wanted to know if we would like to eat in the bar area up front or in the long dining room looking into the open kitchen toward the back. We decided to sit in the bar area with Cindy seated in a banquette seat along the south wall and I took a chair at the high table. It's much larger at Cocina del Barrio compared to the cramped conditions that I found on my first visit to the Barrio location in Minneapolis. With a lot of wooden walls and a hard wood floor, even with the place half-full, it was pretty loud in there. I can almost imagine the sound level when it's packed at night.
Since we were going to eat at the famous Manny's Steakhouse that evening (look for that entry in a couple three weeks), we decided that we were probably just going to have drinks and tacos. Our server for the afternoon, John, came over to greet us and I immediately ordered a Trinity margarita for both of us - Milagro silver label tequila, Cointreau and lime juice over ice - and a bowl of their wonderful guacamole. Although we've had margaritas like that at home (the recipe taught to me by a former colleague), Cindy said that she didn't care for the taste of it. I ended up drinking both mine and hers, then I ordered a Skinny Mommi margarita for her - it's basically a traditional margarita. She seemed to like that better.
John brought out the guacamole and it was fresh and flavorful as I remembered it to be from my previous visit to Barrio. A small bowl of very fresh corn chips, crisp and warm, were brought out along with a small dish of a smoky sauce. The guacamole at Cocina del Barrio has large chunks of fresh avocado, cilantro, radish slices and chopped tomatoes. It would be stupidly easy to make at home and the Barrio restaurants are extremely proud of it - it costs $8.50. Hey, anything to get that food vs. alcohol ratio up!
We took a look through the menu and I was telling Cindy of some of the tacos I'd had at the Barrio in downtown Minneapolis. They didn't have as many tacos on the menu in Edina as they did downtown. They didn't have the beef tongue or pork belly tacos in Edina, not that I would have gotten either one of those. They also didn't have the chorizo enchilada on the menu in Edina. That was very good on my original visit.
I noticed that they had a fried mahi mahi taco on the menu, but noticed elsewhere that they had a grilled mahi mahi entree. I asked him if we could get the grilled mahi mahi on a taco instead. He said, "Oh, yeah. Sure! We can do that." Cindy ordered up a chicken enchilada and a grilled mahi mahi taco. I got one taco each of the grilled mahi mahi, skirt steak and pork carnitas. I ordered up another Trinity margarita to have with my lunch.
Our food came out and from just the smell of the tacos, I was ready to eat. From left to right in the picture at the left are Cindy's chicken enchilada with a salsa verde sauce on top, the grilled mahi mahi taco we both ordered topped with a couple slices of fresh jalapeno and chopped tomatoes, the pulled-pork carnitas which had a green sauce on top, and the skirt steak taco with cilantro and sliced radish strings (they're big on radish at the Barrio restaurants).
And just like the original Barrio, the tacos were all very good. The mahi mahi taco had a great seafood flavor to it and the jalapeno slices added a little bite to the taste. The pork carnitas were moist and flavorful with sort of a citrus taste to the meat. The skirt steak was tender and had a great grilled taste to the meat. Cindy was also very happy with her chicken enchilada and her mahi mahi steak. She said, "Now I understand why you were raving about this place."
Unfortunately for Cocina del Barrio that day, we spent much more on alcohol ($36.50) versus food ($32.50). With a nice tip for John who did a fine job of taking care of us, well, it wasn't a cheap lunch. But, hey, we're on vacation, right? We splurged a lot over the course of our vacation and Cocina del Barrio was no exception. But the food is always fresh and tastes wonderful. Barrio isn't the kind of place that I'd go to all the time for a quick fix of Mexican food, but it will still be on my radar on my trips to the Twin Cities.
We lost my brother-in-law, Terry Rose, earlier this week. (Read his obituary here.) Terry had been having health problems and was due for a kidney transplant just after Thanksgiving. He was in the hospital with a couple of health issues that were being addressed and was scheduled to be going back home last Wednesday. Instead, he suffered a fatal heart attack and passed away. His heart doctor was on the scene when he had his heart attack and there wasn't anything they could do to save him.
Terry is one of the very few people in my life who I can say I have never heard anyone say a bad thing about. He was a caring person with a big heart who would do anything for anyone. The outpouring of grief and condolences from a legion of friends and acquaintances over the past few days has been staggering.
Rosie, as he was affectionately known, was married to my younger sister, Julie. But even before he married my sister, he was a large part of our extended family. He was best friends with my older brother in high school and I often joked that I wondered what was in the back of his mind when he was 18 and my 11-year-old sister was running the house around being a nuisance. I'll admit, it was a bit of a shock to the system when they got together when my sister turned 21 and Terry was 28. But I had to realize she wasn't the little girl she once was. (As an aside, there's a 7 year difference in age between me and my wife, as well. I joke that when I was graduating from high school, my wife was just finishing 5th grade. Yes, kind of creepy if you really think about it. But I didn't know her until she was 19 and we married years after that.)
I think it really rankled my brother for years that Rosie married our younger sister. And Terry knew exactly how to push my brother's button. We'd be sitting having a beer at a bar somewhere and Terry would turn to me and say, "Hey, watch this." Then he'd turn to my brother and say, "Hey, Pat! I'm gonna go home and nail your sister!" Only he didn't use the word "nail".
Oh, my brother would get hot! "You son of a bitch," my brother would yell at Terry. "You keep your hands off my baby sister!" Terry would just laugh and laugh about that.
Quite simply, Terry was my brother before he was my brother-in-law. He helped with our annual pasture party in the 70's and was so much of an integral part of it that I doubt we would have been able to pull it off without his help before and during the party. He took care of all the electrical needs for the party and was the defacto stage manager during the event. Terry was the foundation of the party, the voice of reason and assurance during chaos.
Rosie began to have heart problems in his late 30's and ultimately underwent a heart transplant in March of 1994 at the famed Cleveland Clinic. My dad, brother, and a good friend, Gary Yoder, all drove out to see Terry a week after he underwent the transplant. My dad, who probably thought of Terry as more of a son than he did his own two sons, had tears of joy when he saw Terry laying in that bed, the old familiar "shit-eating grin" on his face, knowing that he had a new lease on life. The next morning, my brother, Gary and I hijacked Terry and took him to a restaurant near the hospital and he ordered - and ate - a big plate of very greasy onion rings. He was like a little kid at Christmas time.
Just to show you what kind of a guy Terry was - just four months before his heart transplant, he ventured out to theEmerson Hough Chapter of the Izaak Walton Leaguein Newton on a Sunday morning where he found a lady lying face down in the pond. Without regard to his own medical condition or the chilly water temperatures, Terry jumped into the pond, pulled the woman out and began to administer CPR. She eventually lived and the next summer at the Iowa State Fair he was awarded the Governors Lifesaving Award. That selfless act on his part personified what Terry was all about.
Over the years, Terry had his ups and downs, healthwise. He developed kidney problems, most likely from all the anti-rejection drugs he had to take, and was on dialysis off and on for about four or five years. As many problems that he faced, not once did he ever complain about how much pain he was in. When I would see him and ask how he was doing - fully knowing that he wasn't feeling well - his standard answer would be, "Oh, I'm doin' all right, I guess. I don't know."
Terry was an electrician by trade, but fancied himself as more of a somewhat gourmet cook. He watched the Food Network religiously and was admired among his circle of family and friends for his barbecued ribs. Quite actually, I never cared for his barbecue sauce which was more of a runny tomato/vinegar sauce. But he was the guy who taught me how to inject the sauce into the ribs before cooking them.
Over the past few days, I've heard from many people who were touched by Terry's life. One friend told me that he never saw Terry argue with anyone. "If two guys were arguing, Terry would act more like a peacemaker or an impartial judge," my friend told me earlier this week. "He saw both sides of the argument."
His familiar, "Hey Baby!", greeting that Rosie had gone silent over the past couple of years. Due to declining health and fatigue, Terry just wasn't his old self over the past few years. But he kept chugging along. As the funeral director told me last Thursday morning, Terry had been swimming upstream against the current for years. It was truly remarkable the fortitude he showed and gratitude for life that he had.
Being that he was an organ recipient, Terry donated his eyes and his skin and we had his body cremated. We're having a memorial service at the Izaak Walton League in Newton today, a place where Terry loved to be and served as president for a number of years. Because he was so loved and well thought of in the community, I've already told my sister that we may run out of room for those looking to come out to pay their respects. And that's only fitting for a guy who was simply the bravest person I've ever known.
The Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum attached to the new Roof Garden Ballroom at Arnolds Park celebrates the bands, musicians, disc jockeys and impresarios who pioneered and shaped rock and roll music across the state beginning in the 1950's. During our vacation in the Lake Okoboji region, I made it a point to stop in to the museum to pay homage to a number of friends and others who have been inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame began in 1997 with the first induction class that included of D.J. and the Runaways, The Fendermen, disc jockeys Dic Youngs and Peter McClain from the original KIOA station radio in Des Moines, and Darlowe Oleson, the owner of the original Roof Garden Ballroom when some of the biggest names in rock in the 50's and 60's would play there.
The Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum is located on Lake Street in Arnolds Park, next to the Arnolds Park amusement park, just up the street from the pier on West Lake Okoboji (see map). It's open daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., then it's open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday thru Saturday until the end of October. Winter hours are 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday thru Saturday from the first part of November to the end of May. Cost to get into the museum is one measly buck.
The museum curator is Connie Mueller who was hired in 2011 taking over for longtime curator Doris Welle. Mueller has worked hard to update the exhibits, publish the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Yearbook, and to coordinate and produce the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony held each Labor Day weekend. Connie was on hand to greet us as we walked in just past 11 a.m. one weekday morning.
As I said, I have a handful of friends who have been inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - Bob Dorr, Jeff Peterson, Steve Hayes and other members of The Blue Band (Jeff had been previously inducted in the IRRHF with his band Headstone, and Bob for his work on KUNI Radio); Ralph Stephens, Donnie Myers, and John "Barney" Behm from the Deputy Dawg Band; Patrick Hazell, Steve Hayes (again!), Bo Ramsey and the late Rick Cicalo from The Mother Blues Band (Bo was also inducted for his solo work); Chuck Lannom, who was the original bass player for The Mojos out of Grinnell; and Tom Kingsbury from Flood Music in Sioux City, a pro dealer I used to call on years ago. Plaques celebrating their induction - and others - into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are on the east wall of the museum.
I had always heard about the Roof Garden Ballroom as a kid growing up. It sounded like a mystical place to go for a kid in his pre-teen years as I was getting exposed to rock and roll music growing up. Unfortunately, the original Rooftop Ballroom is no more, demolished due to old age in 1988.
It opened in June of 1923 and soon became one of the most famous Midwestern big band ballrooms in the 30's and 40's where the likes of Glenn Miller, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong all played with their orchestras at the Roof Garden.
Pictured right, a 1929 aerial shot of the original Roof Garden Ballroom on the shores of West Okoboji Lake. Picture courtesy Iowa Ballroom.com
Original owner Dr. A.L. Peck sold the building to Darlowe Oleson in 1958. Oleson owned four other ballrooms across Iowa and he had the moxie to risk the wrath of conservative and church groups by booking rock and roll acts in his ballrooms, all of which were successful ventures. Oleson's ownership of the Roof Garden Ballroom ushered in a golden period for rock and roll music in Northwest Iowa. In addition to local and regional bands, the Roof Garden Ballroom also saw the likes of The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the Yardbirds (with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page) play there in the late 50's into the early 70's. Johnny Cash, The Monkees, and the Shangri-La's also played shows at the original Roof Garden. The Everly Brothers, who were both spent their formative years in Shenandoah, IA, played the Roof Garden Ballroom every year for seven years straight.
After a tornado demolished a portion of the ballroom in 1968, Oleson rebuilt the Roof Garden. However, Olesen tragically died in a plane crash in 1972. Fewer and fewer bands played the Roof Garden Ballroom after that. The ballroom fell into a state of disrepair and along with the amusement park next door, the Roof Garden closed for good in 1987. A year later, local fire departments burned down the original Roof Garden Ballroom for practice.
In 1989, some local people helped restore the amusement park, and then a few years later a new ballroom was built just south of the original Roof Garden. This is where the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has their induction ceremonies, and the museum has bands come in and play for the Roof Garden's "Rock the Roof" Thursday night shows during the summer months.
Connie Mueller took us into the new ballroom and told us that they get about 1200 to 1500 people each Thursday night through the summer months when they have the "Rock the Roof" events. There is also an outdoor stage in a park to the east of the shops opposite the museum that features bands on Friday and Saturday nights through the summer. Connie told us that even with the attached reception hall on the north side of the new Roof Garden Ballroom, the total square footage of the entire building is smaller than the original Roof Garden.
Also honored were the three percussionists for the Des Moines-based thrash rock band Slipknot, and Alice DeBuhr from Mason City who was the original drummer in the L.A.-based all female rock band Fanny. There was also an homage paid to John "JR" Robinson, an in-demand session drummer from Creston. Robinson has been called "The Most Recorded Drummer in the World" and has played on hit records with singers such as Chaka Khan, Lionel Richie, The Pointer Sisters, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Barbra Streisand. He has also worked as Quincy Jones' session drummer since 1979 and has also played drums on dozens of movie soundtracks and music scores. Although the displays were a little confusing and somewhat scattered in their appearance, it was still sort of interesting to learn about some of the famous drummers who once called Iowa home.
The museum also showcased an exhibit that honored the Great Lakes Recording Company, a studio that, when it opened in 1965, was only one of two recording facilities in the state of Iowa. The original studio was in nearby Milford and recorded over 150 singles and over 40 albums for either the IGL, Iowa or Sonic labels. A number of regional rock bands from around the Midwest came to Great Lakes Recording to record songs. Dee Jay and Runaways had a hit song that made the Billboard Top 40 chart - "Peter Rabbit" - that was recorded at Great Lakes Recording, as was the Pete Klindt Quintet's mid-60's hit "Walking Proud".
The Iowa Rock and Roll Museum also featured an exhibit of 14 guitars that were each signed by annual inductees of the Hall of Fame. The 14 guitars (now 15) bore the signatures of inductees since 1999. I couldn't get past the fact that each of the guitars were beautiful instruments never to be played.
There was also a display of clothing that some Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bands wore back in the 60's. Many bands coordinated their wardrobe so they all dressed alike when playing music. There's also an old working jukebox that features music from the 60's. Numerous pictures, records, plaques and other memorabilia are tastefully crammed into the museum.
Interestingly, we were told by a lady working with Connie Mueller that day that the creaky floor we were standing on in the center to the front of the museum was a restored piece of the old floor at the original Roof Garden Ballroom. "They found it in a heap after the original Roof Garden was gone," she told us. "This part of the floor was the biggest piece they could find, but it was covered in bird poop and sort of weathered from the elements." She said when they built the museum they put the floor in to be part of the display. "So you can say you actually stood on the floor of the Roof Garden Ballroom," she proudly exclaimed.
OK, so it wasn't the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame out in Cleveland (a place that we visited about 8 years ago). It took us about 30 minutes, tops, to go through the museum - and that included looking around the new Roof Garden Ballroom and chatting with the ladies in the museum. But for a kid growing up in a rock and roll culture of the 60's with three older sisters and an older brother that played rock music on the car radio or on the Zenith transistor radio that we had around the house, it was a pretty neat experience. I think it's definitely worth the buck a head admission fee. Heck, I would have paid TWO BUCKS to experience Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum.
A place I've been wanting to check out over the past couple of years has been a new-ish burger place in Milwaukee by the named of Stack'd Burger Bar. Opened in July of 2009 and located just south of downtown Milwaukee in the Walker's Point neighborhood (see map), Stack'd features grass-fed burgers along with locally sourced meats, produce, baked goods and libations. I had driven up from a meeting with my dealer in Kenosha earlier in the day and pulled in front of Stack'd around 1:30 p.m.
The man behind Stack'd is Tim Dixon, a local entrepreneur who is also behind the The Iron Horse Hotel, an upscale boutique hotel that caters to Harley-Davidson fans who are in town to visit the nearby Harley-Davidson Museum, couples looking to get away from the kids for the weekend, or people in town on business. The Iron Horse features the upscale restaurant Smyth and Branded, a classic style bar. Word is that Dixon is on the verge of opening a wood-fired pizza restaurant on N. Hubbard Street where the old Roots restaurant once was.
Stack'd is located in what was the former Kramer Foundry building. Prior to Stack'd opening in 2009 the building housed Social, a trendy restaurant that featured unique foods and drinks. Dixon bought the building after Social closed up and turned it into a boutique burger joint.
I was lucky to find a place to park just outside the front door of the building on S. 1st St. I went in and was greeted by a hostess who guided me to a table in the center of the restaurant. The restaurant featured wood and steel beams going from the floor up to the exposed wood rafter ceiling. Black leather banquette seating was along the south wall, the east side of the restaurant featured an open kitchen, while the north side had a bar that went nearly the width of the restaurant with a huge thick glass window that allowed a lot of light into the dining area.
I was given a menu by the hostess and she also pointed out the beer and drink menu on the table. Stack'd featured a number of local and Wisconsin-brewed beers on their beer menu. When my server, Nora, showed up, I ordered a Capital Supper Club in the bottle. She brought it back to me moments later and it was ice-cold. Mmmm....
Nora asked me if I'd been to Stack'd before and I said I hadn't. She said, "Well, the drill as most people do it is to build your own burger." She pointed to a page in the menu that featured five separate steps. "First you choose the type of meat you'd like," she said as she pointed out that I had my choice between grass-fed beef, bison, turkey, chicken - and for vegetarians - a black-bean veggie burger and a portabella mushroom burger. Then she said I had my choice of 8 different types of cheese. After that, I had my choice of toppings including lettuce, tomato, raw onions, jalapenos, pickles, mayo, fried onions, sauteed mushrooms, thick-sliced Nueske's bacon and more.
Nora said, "Then you pick out the type of bun you want. They're all locally baked for us." They had a classic style bun, a pretzel bun, a gluten-free bun, or you could have your burger bun-free laid upon a bed of lettuce greens. After that, you had your choice of sides including cole slaw, fries, mac and cheese, baked beans, and for an upcharge, you could get buttermilk-battered onion rings, or chili or a salad. There were a lot of decisions to make before you could even order.
She also pointed out Stack'd feature burgers that included the "Hangover Stack" - a grass-fed burger topped with a fried egg, bacon, aged cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and fried onions. The "Don't Mess with Texas" burger featured a bison patty topped with pepper jack cheese, jalapenos, an onion ring and loaded with homemade barbecue sauce. One of the featured burgers that got my attention was the "Kick in the Pants" - it featured a grass-fed beef patty, Extreme Heat jack cheese from Beechwood Cheese Factory, avocado mayo, and peppered bacon on a pretzel roll. Nora gave me a few minutes to figure out what I wanted.
I decided to build my own burger - a grass-fed patty - medium - with Swiss cheese, bacon and sauteed mushrooms on a pretzel bun. I was having trouble figuring out what I wanted for my sides and I asked Nora if the onion rings were good. "My favorite thing on the menu," she quickly replied. She said it so quickly and with such conviction that I had to believe her.
Nora told me that it takes a little time for the burgers to be cooked at Stack'd. "We cook them at a lower temperature than most other places," she explained. "Can I bring you another beer in a little bit?" I couldn't say no.
After what seemed to be about 15 minutes after I ordered - maybe longer, come to think of it - my burger came out to the table. Thick Nueske's bacon (the New York Times once called Nueske's bacon as the "caviar of bacon"), Swiss cheese and sauteed fresh mushrooms were swimming between the burger patty and the top of the pretzel bun. Interestingly, the top of the bun was adorned with fried pickle slices held in place by a knife through the top of the burger. After eating the fried pickles, I wish I would have gotten them as an appetizer. They were wonderful. Four buttermilk onion rings were on the side.
After cutting the burger in half - it was the only way to eat the huge thing- my first bite showed that the burger was actually more medium-well than medium as there was little to no pink showing in the middle. It was still flavorful, but the combination of the thick-cut bacon, sauteed mushrooms and the thick slide of Swiss cheese sort of overpowered the overall taste of the burger. And that's not to say that it was bad - there were a lot of taste sensations going on with each bite. The overall taste of the burger was very, very good.
Nora oversold the buttermilk onion rings, however. They were just OK in my book. Actually, I kind of thought they may have been frozen o-rings from a food distributor. But I would think that a place like Stack'd would probably do their own onion rings.
Stack'd wasn't cheap. My burger alone was $15 bucks with all the upcharges for the mushrooms, bacon and onion rings. But it was very good and it should have been for the money. I think the burger at Stack'd would hold up against other gourmet burgers I've had at other places like Blanc in Kansas City, Burger Bar in St. Louis or Atwood Cafe in Chicago. While I'm glad I experienced the place, there are a number of very good burger places in the Milwaukee area that I think I'd rather go to before I'd go back to Stack'd. But if you're looking for a true gourmet burger in Milwaukee, Stack'd Burger Bar is the place to go.
I like to stay at the Hampton Inn near the Des Moines International Airport on my trips to Central Iowa. One of the reasons I like the place is that they feature an appetizer buffet each evening for Hilton Honors members - complete with free draft beer - usually catered by one of the local restaurants in the immediate area. One evening earlier this summer after I checked in, I went over to the buffet and found that they had meatballs in a marinara sauce, and a spinach and artichoke dip served with oven-baked baguette bread. The guy overseeing the buffet told me, "This is from Mezzodi's, just up the road on Fleur." (see map) I had definitely heard of Mezzodi's and I've been wanting to try the place for quite sometime. I got settled into my room and then decided to run up the road for dinner that evening.
Mezzodi's was opened in 2000 by brothers Ron and B.J. Giudecessi. The Guidecessi family are the people behind the highly popular Christopher's restaurant on Des Moines' northwest side. Ron and B.J.'s parents, Joe and "Red" Guidecessi bought Christopher's in 1963 offering a wide variety of supper club-style and Italian entrees in the Beaverdale neighborhood. Before opening Christopher's, Joe and "Red" had Rose's Cafe on the east side of Des Moines, opening in the mid-50's. The Guidecessi family wanted to expand their Italian offerings beyond Christopher's and the two Giudecessi sons decided to open Mezzodi's.
A couple years ago, the Giudecessi's sold their interest in Mezzodi's to a silent owner. The new owner reached out to Orchestrate Hospitality, a Des Moines-based management firm that handles the operations for restaurants such as Centro, Django, Zombie Burger and South Union Bakery. (Click here to see my entry on Zombie Burger, which is one of the most read entries of all-time on this blog.) All those restaurants are headed by chef George Formaro (who happens to be a follower of Road Tips on Twitter). Formaro was called upon to do some brainstorming with new Mezzodi general manager Sam Campero (formerly the owner of the now closed Nana's Italian Restaurant in Urbandale) and new Mezzodi executive chef Tom McKern (formerly the executive chef at Gateway Market). The three came up with a new menu, spruced up the place inside and out, and expanded their hours to offer lunch and dinner seven days a week, including a brunch menu for the weekends.
I arrived at Mezzodi's not long after 7:00 p.m. on a weeknight. From the outside it appears the building may have been an old Village Inn or International House of Pancakes restaurant at some point in time. The smallish dining room as you walk in was nearly full. The hostess explained to me that it had rained rather heavily a couple hours before and it was too wet on the patio to eat out there. I had my choice of a small table in the dining room or a high-top table in the bar. I decided on the bar seating area, a well lit, light-wood decored room. She dropped off a menu and soon thereafter my server for the evening, Courtney, came to great me. I got a bottle of beer as I looked over the menu.
Most of the items on the menu are Italian based from their numerous pasta dishes, steaks with an Italian twist such as their boursin cheese-crusted filet and their Tuscan-style ribeye that is marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, herbs and garlic, and their chicken dishes such as chicken parmesan, chicken Florentine, chicken piccata and chicken marsala. They also had pizza at Mezzodi's along with a number of sandwiches and appetizers. Interestingly enough, I did not see the meatballs on the appetizer menu. (But they were available on the "Build Your Own Pasta" section of the menu.)
One thing I have to say about Mezzodi's was the bread that was brought to my table. It featured two slices of South Union Bakery's Italian bread and a couple hunks of their focaccia bread. Both types of bread were warm and very fresh. I didn't want to over eat the bread as I didn't want to get too filled up so I couldn't eat my dinner. But with the fresh whipped butter, it was hard not to stop.
Courtney came back to take my order and I was torn between the steak de burgo - medallions of sauteed tender beef topped with a garlic butter cream sauce, the lasagna Bolognese - Mezzodi's homemade lasagna with a Bolognese sauce with sausage, ground beef with mozzarella, parmesan and ricotta cheese, or the Cajun seafood pasta - shrimp and scallops mixed in with bell peppers and onions on a bed of penne pasta, then topped with a spicy Cajun cream sauce. I even contemplated getting a pizza, but the three entrees that I was looking at were tough to choose from. I ended up with the lasagna Bolognese. I had my choice between the soup or a house salad and I went with the salad with their homemade creamy balsamic dressing. I switched from beer to a glass of Norton malbec, a wonderful red wine from Argentina. I've been getting into malbec wines a little more as of late.
Courtney brought out my salad and it was pretty good. The lettuce greens were fresh and flavorful. Large chunks of crusty homemade croutons were on top. The creamy balsamic vinegar was a wonderful taste sensation. It was light, but had a great forward taste on my tongue.
Not long after I finished my salad, the lasagna Bolognese came out to my table. I was also ready for another glass of the very delicious Norton malbec. Courtney brought me over another glass and asked if I needed anything else. Nope! I was ready to dig in.
The lasagna wasn't all that large, but it was plenty enough. It had layers of lasagna noodles with the ricotta cheese, sausage and beef lying between the pasta. Mozzarella cheese was melted over the top and a sprinkle of parmesan topped the dish. The Bolognese sauce had a wonderful sweet tomato taste and the sausage and beef were ample in that I had I bite of the meat with nearly every fork full I cut. It's difficult to make bad lasagna, but it's even more difficult to make it taste great. Mezzodi's lasagna Bolognese fit into the latter category.
During the course of and directly after the meal, Courtney completely forgot about me. I needed another napkin as I dropped mine on the floor. She wasn't around, so I had to go over to the bar to get another napkin. Then after I was finished, I was ready for my bill. Once again, she was nowhere to be found. I finally had to ask the bartender if he could find my server so I could get my bill. About 10 minutes later, Courtney appeared with the bill. I opened it up and immediately gave her my credit card. She came back moments later and handed me the bill folder with my credit card. She thanked me and walked away. When I opened up the folder, I found that she forgot to include a pen. I had to get a pen from the bartender just to sign off on my tab. She got a couple dollars less than what I had planned on giving her. That's one of my pet peeves about service at restaurants. I don't want a server to be hovering over you during the course of your meal, but she needed to be a little more attentive. And I didn't think it was all that busy in there that evening.
Nevertheless, despite her disappearing act, Courtney did a fine job up until the meal was served. However, it didn't detract from the overall experience I had at Mezzodi's. The bread was outstanding, the salad was very good and I will say the lasagna Bolognese was one of the best lasagna dishes I've had in quite sometime. I sort of wish I would have had the experience of going to Mezzodi's when the Guidecessi's owned the place, but the team in place today acquitted themselves very well. I would definitely recommend going to Mezzodi's for a good Italian meal when you're in Des Moines.
(Update July 2016 - I just drove past where Mezzodi's was located and there is now nothing - no building, nothing. The restaurant closed in May of 2015 with the owners hoping to redo the space and rebrand into a new restaurant. That obviously didn't happen as the building has been demolished. Rumors are that a new building that will house a Panera Bread Company will be built on the former Mezzodi's site.)
Our first night of our vacation earlier this year in the Lake Okoboji region of Northwest Iowa found us eating out at what many think is the premier restaurant in the area, Maxwell's Beach Cafe. Located at the end of Lake Street next to the legendary Arnolds Park amusement park, and across from the pier that juts out into West Okoboji (see map), Maxwell's has been in business since 1986 offering upscale fare to vacationers and locals in the lakes region.
Lewis Casson and his wife, Julie Roth are the owners of Maxwell's Beach Cafe. Casson is a native of Liverpool, UK who moved to the U.S. and began to work in the restaurant industry. After working at restaurants in Kansas City, Sioux Falls and Spencer, IA, Casson opened the seasonal restaurant (open mid-May to late-September) on the shore of West Lake Okoboji. While they offer locally raised beef and pork, they also have a number of items on their menu that feature more cosmopolitan selections.
After parking our car in a lot directly behind the restaurant, we made our way around to the front to enter the place. Maxwell's features a covered outdoor patio, but the late day sun was beating down in the patio making it warm and somewhat bright to sit outside at that time. We decided to eat inside where it was cooler and the seating was more comfortable than the plastic chairs outside. A hostess greeted us and sat us in a booth toward the front of the restaurant. It was far from busy - the late summer season was winding down - and we knew we wouldn't be hurried at all during the meal.
Actually, the clientele was an interesting mix of vacationers in shorts and polo shirts (like us), golfers just in off the course, families with little kids, and older people who were very dressed up to go out for dinner - on a Monday night. The dining room was rather large with a series of booths along the wall and tables in the middle. A small bar was on the east side of the dining room but it was fully stocked with liquor, wine and beer.
Our waitress for the evening, Kailey, came over to greet us. She asked if we wanted anything to drink and I ordered a beer while Cindy decided to stick with water for the time being. After Kailey brought my beer back to me, she told us of the specials that evening. They sounded interesting, but a quick look through the menu told me that they had a steak au poivre on the menu - a New York-cut strip steak with a peppercorn cream sauce on top. I'm a sucker for a good steak au poivre. Maxwell's looked like the kind of place that could make a good one.
Maxwell's also featured a domestic Kobe beef sirloin steak raised from cattle at Majinola Farms near Panama, IA. I think they actually had it wrong on the menu - Majinola Farms raises Wagyu beef and I don't think you can call it Kobe beef unless it's actually grown in Japan. I'm not certain about that, but that's what I read when I first wondered about the difference between the two. The other thing that sort of concerned me about the "Kobe" beef at Maxwell's - it was pretty cheap. It was only $22 bucks. I've had Kobe and Wagyu beef that was four times the price of what they had on the menu at Maxwell's. It was either a very small piece of meat or it was a bad cut. Either way, I wasn't going to order it.
Some of the other eclectic things on the menu included a roasted duck entree, double cut lamb chops, a Korean-style spare rib dish, and something called "Shittake Beef Pappardelle" featuring homemade egg noodle pappardelle pasta mixed with spicy marinated beef, sliced shittake mushrooms and drizzled with a soy/ginger sauce. That sounded very interesting to me.
Cindy was looking hard the jumbo scallops - homemade pappardelle egg noodles with aspargus and prosciutto ham with caramelized onions. It's topped with a cream sauce and jumbo scallops. That's what she decided to get. I couldn't find anything to sway me away from the steak au poivre and I ordered that. Cindy also ordered the spinach chevre salad and I got wedge salad for openers. We both had taken a look through the wine list and Cindy decided to order a glass of the William Hill Central Coast chardonnay. I was going to have a glass of wine with dinner (I ended up getting a glass of the Textbook cabernet), but in the meantime I switched from a Bud Light to a bottle of Lucky Bucket lager - an Omaha-area micro-brewery that I've never tried before. (There's a large Omaha influence in the Lake Okoboji region - lots of people from Omaha have vacation homes in the area.) I tried it and I wasn't impressed with the beer. I'll think twice about ordering one again if I come across it in the future.
Our salads made it out to the table and the presentation was nice. Cindy's spinach salad had goat cheese crumbles, strawberry slices and almonds on top, along with an aged balsamic vinegar drizzle. She said the spinach leaves were very fresh and loved the taste of the strawberries.
My wedge salad was actually cut into quarters with sides of both a creamy blue cheese dressing and Maytag blue cheese crumbles. The lettuce was crisp and fresh, but the great taste of the Maytag blue cheese was the winner with the salad.
Not long after we finished our salads, Kailey brought out our main entrees. Cindy's jumbo scallops with pasta dish looked scrumptious - and she said it was. The entree featured three large grilled scallops on top of the pasta along with asparagus chunks and ample amounts of prosciutto. She cut off a chunk of one of her scallops to give to me to try. She asked me, "Isn't that great," as I took a bite of the scallop. It was very, very good.
My steak au poivre looked good, but it was overcooked to more of a medium-rare versus the rare I had asked for. But it certainly wasn't a deal-breaker. And it had a LOT of fat for the cut of meat. Aah! That's one of the hazards with steak whether you're eating out or making one at home on the grill. The au poivre sauce was very good and the beef - what I could get at - was tender and flavorful. Three or four stalks of grilled asparagus came with the steak (they weren't bad - a little limp), and a side of pretty good broasted potatoes were on the side. It wasn't the best steak au poivre I've ever had, but I certainly couldn't bitch much more about it.
After dinner, Kailey came out with the dessert tray. I was sort of stuffed from the dinner and I wasn't certain that I wanted anything else for dinner. Cindy said, "Oh, come on! We're on vacation!" We decided - actually SHE decided - to order the tiramisu (made locally for Maxwell's) with two forks.
Kailey brought out the tiramisu and it was a large piece that was drizzled with a caramel sauce. Oh man, was it great! The caramel sauce was a nice addition to the tiramisu giving it another sweet little bite. We've had tiramisu at a lot of places over the years and, quite frankly, it was one of the better ones we've had.
The meal we had at Maxwell's Beach Cafe was very good. I really can't quibble about the cut of steak having too much fat on it. But you would think that a New York strip steak would be a little more lean than what I had at Maxwell's. Kailey's service was good, we liked the ambiance of the place and we felt it was a pretty good value for what we got.
As we were leaving, Julie Roth was up front at the hostess stand and she asked, "How was your meal, folks?"
We couldn't lie - it was very good. And we also knew that it would be tough to top this meal at any other Lake Okoboji restaurant while we were there.
The 8th annual River Roots Live/Rib Fest was held on August 18-19 at LeClaire Park in downtown Davenport. Once again, I was the stage manager/announcer for the festival - my 13th time doing either the River Roots Live or Rib Fest. (The two merged in 2007 - I worked all the Rib Fests up to 2006, missing only the first one in 1998. And I worked the first River Roots Live in 2005, but not the one in 2006.) This year, we were blessed with exceptional weather - the first time in memory where it didn't rain at least once during the festival. We got some pretty good rains on the day before the festival began during set up, but it was sunny and pleasant with beautiful evenings all weekend long.
Things were a little different this year, but not by much. Longtime event coordinator Marcy Hyder had resigned her position last fall to go work for the River Center in Davenport and Jason Gilliland was hired to take her place by the Quad City Chamber of Commerce. I'd known Jason for a number of years as he is the bass player for local band Jim the Mule and also has worked festivals with me helping out Rexroat Sound. Jason has a laid back manner of management - Marcy thrived on chaos and drama, so things were always fast and furious with her. And that's not to say that's a bad thing. I loved working for Marcy. Her attention to detail and "can-do" attitude made my job easier. Jason's style is, "Well, let's get this done and move on to the next thing. Then at the end of the day we can drink some beer."
I was helped behind the stage this year by Tom Swanson, the director of the River Music Experience, and his wife, Katie; Katie's parents, Mike and Michelle Monfort, handled the catering again this year. The wonderful Kate Benson and her boyfriend, Bret Dale, were tremendous help again this year for me. Of course, I can't say enough about the great work Scott Rexroat and his crew from Rexroat Sound did again this year. Nathan Judd, Eric Kranz, Tom Salata, Patrick Rifley and a number of others I'm forgetting to mention (sorry guys) did a great job with the sound, lights and staging. And I also have to thank my wife, Cindy, who filled in the gaps when she was needed.
One of the biggest changes was that we charged admission to the festival. Years ago, we had charged admission for both River Roots Live and the Rib Fest. But when the floods four and five years ago forced us to move to the streets of downtown Davenport, we couldn't charge admission then. When we moved back to LeClaire Park for RRL in 2010, we still kept it free admission. After last years festival, plans came into place to charge admission after 5 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday. "5 after 5" was the term that was used as anyone coming after 5 p.m. had to pay 5 bucks to get in. It did two things - it got people to the park early on both Friday and Saturday (people could pass out of the gate and get a stamp to get back in), and it kept the riff-raff out. Even though attendance was down by 1/3 from last year's record breaking crowds, our revenues were up tremendously - thanks both to the gate where over 10,000 people entered after 5 p.m. on Saturday night, and the sale of beer. Lines to get beer and food were shorter and there was less complaints from those who were in attendance. (Photo courtesy of Brian Barkley who got some great pictures of the event for the Quad City Chamber.)
The band line-up was still in flux weeks before the festival. Los Lobos had been booked to headline the Saturday night portion of River Roots Live, but less than two months before the mid-August date the band had to pull out. One of Los Lobos' guitar players, I believe it was Cesar Rojas, had been suffering from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and was slated to have surgery after the summer. However, the band had been asked by Neil Young and Crazy Horse to open for them on part of their tour beginning in late September. He opted to have the surgery earlier than later as he needed at least a six week recovery period before he could play again. Los Lobos was out, and after some tense moments of on, then off, then on-again scheduling, Tonic and Better Than Ezra were signed to take the place of Los Lobos for Saturday night. I'm either getting too old or I didn't pay attention to their music 15 or so years ago, but I'd heard of both bands, but were unfamiliar with any of their music.
Friday night's headliners - Keller Williams and The Travelin' McCoury's - were also performers I knew little about. Keller Williams is a troubadour who plays guitar and uses elements of folk, bluegrass, reggae and funk in his music. The Travelin' McCoury's, who backed up Williams that evening on the heels of the release of their collaborative album "Pick", are led by Rob McCoury and Ronnie McCoury, sons of the legendary bluegrass guitarist Del McCoury (he I had heard of). Jason Carter on fiddle and Alan Bartram on bass rounded out The Travelin' McCoury's. They were all great guys to work with and had quite the following. (Photo courtesy Brian Barkley.)
One of my most embarrassing moments ever over the years at River Roots Live/Rib Fest happened just before Keller and the McCoury's were to play. Tom Swanson had been scheduled to get up and say a few words about the River Music Experience just before the band was to play. I told him at the end of it to just say, "And coming up in a little bit, Keller Williams and the Travelin' McCoury's." Only Tom forgot to say that. He walked back to where I was standing and said, "Oh, shit! I forgot to introduce the band."
I looked at the guys on the stage, they had been there for a few minutes doing line checks and making sure their monitors were working in their ears, so I figured they were pretty much ready to go. One of the rules of announcing a band is making sure they're ready to go. I didn't. I had Tom introduce the band and they all looked at us, then one another and started to play. The only problem was that they weren't ready. For the next 10 minutes, it was them playing individual instruments and each singing non-sensical lyrics to do the line checks. Quite honestly, if you didn't know they were doing a line check, you would have thought it was part of the show. I apologized profusely to their road manager/sound engineer and to the guys in the band after the show. Rob McCoury said, "Believe me, we've done a few of those in our lives."
The highlight for me on Friday night was the appearance of the legendary Nighthawks from Washington, D.C. The band was founded in 1972 by singer/harp player Mark Wenner and has included guitar greats Jimmy Thackery and Warren Haynes over the years. The Nighthawks were playing blues roots music long before the term had been coined. Wenner is still with the band, along with guitarist Paul Bell, bassist Jimmy Castle and drummer Mark Stutso. (Pictured from left to right, Castle, Wenner, Bell and Stutso.)
When the band pulled up in their van around 6:30 p.m., I went over to the gate to meet up with them. Wenner was driving and Stutso was in the front seat. I went to the passenger side of the van and Stutso rolled down his window. I was shocked as I didn't know who he was, but I certainly recognized the face. I said, "Man, you look so familiar!"
He put his hand out and said, "I'm Mark Stutso, I played this event with Jimmy Thackery a few years back. Sure, I remember you!" It was like old home week. I had a picture I took backstage of Mark and Tommy Castro, who played on the same bill that year, because they looked so much alike. I wish I could find that picture. In any event, it was another small world encounter for me.
The guys from the Nighthawks were just great to hang with. Probably the most complaints I heard from people were that they only played 50 minutes. Believe me, it was hard to give Mark Wenner the "10 minute warning" before the end of their set. They set the place on fire and the crowd was screaming for more. But there's that old show business adage, leave the people wanting more.
Saturday was a delightfully picturesque day along the banks of the Mississippi River. After some local bands played in the early afternoon, a young soft-spoken Australian guitarist by the name of Joe Robinson took the stage. Four years ago at the age of 17, Robinson won the "Australia's Got Talent" television program. Here is one of his performances from the show playing The Beatles "Daytripper" which morphs into "Lady Madonna".
Along with a bass player and drummer, Robinson took the stage at 4 p.m. and proceeded to put on one of the most electrifying performances I'd ever seen. I literally stopped what I was doing to stand off to the side of the stage to watch this kid play. This was another performance that should have gone on for another half-hour, at least. One of my all-time favorite guitar players is Eric Johnson and there were so many elements of Johnson's style of guitar playing in Robinson's technique that I had to ask him after he came off the stage if he was Eric Johnson's illegitimate son. He laughed and said, "That's funny you say that! We just played with Eric Johnson last week!"
Joe Robinson's manager, Reen Nalli, a Nashville-based agent/consultant who owns A&R Consultants, was with him. I said to her, "Hang on to this kid. He's going places."
She exclaimed, "I know! Isn't he something?" Before they left, Reen gave me a couple of Joe Robinson's discs. I have to say his music is surprisingly outstanding. Surprisingly in that I'd never heard of him before I saw him at River Roots Live.
After Robinson's set, a young songstress from around Rochester, NY - Julia Nunes - played on the south stage. She did very well, but she didn't have a chance to keep the crowd's attention after Robinson's smoking set. Nunes is one of those social media sensations with a number of her songs posted on You Tube. (Click here to see the list of what songs of Nunes' are available on You Tube.)
Here's another small world thing involving Julia Nunes. I found out that she grew up in Fairport, NY, the home of my cousin Sarah and her husband, Jim. They have a son, David, who went to Fairport High School with Julia Nunes. I told her that I had a relative who may have gone to school with her and when I told her his name, she didn't recognize it. She said, "But I graduated with 900 kids, so he may have been in my class."
I texted David and asked him if he'd heard of Julia Nunes. He texted back, "Yeah, she was a year behind me in school. She's great!" I told him that she was playing the festival and he texted back, "Really? All the way out in Iowa?" He was pretty impressed that she was at River Roots Live playing. She told me after her 50 minute set that she'd have to look up David in her yearbook. She was a very sweet young lady.
Later in the evening, another one of my all-time guitar heroes played at River Roots Live - Eric Sardinas. I first saw Sardinas at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, CA in 1998. Since then, I've seen him play a handful of other times around the Midwest when he comes out on tour. I've met him a couple times - once during a break at the show in San Juan Capistrano, and again after a show he played at the Redstone Room in Davenport about six years ago. When I told him after the show in Davenport that I'd previously met him in Dana Point, he lit up and said, "Oh, yeah! The Coach House! Great place to play!"
When he and his drummer and bass player showed up in a Cadillac Escalade, he was not a happy camper. Traffic into downtown Davenport was in a snarl due to River Roots Live and a Quad City Bandits baseball game played next door at John O'Donnell Stadium. (Oops! Sorry - Modern Woodman Park.) It had taken him an hour to go from his hotel to Le Claire Park. I introduced myself to him again and he said rather gruffly, "Pleased to meet you." When I told him that we had met before on a couple of occasions - fully knowing that he never remembered the previous two meetings - he said, "Oh, yeah. Well, good to see you again. Where's my dressing room?" I shepherded he and his bandmates to their trailer behind the stage at the park.
When it was their time to play, I went to get them to take them to the stage. Eric was much more relaxed than he was when he first arrived and we walked up to the bandshell stage. He asked me how I was going to introduce him and I gave him my quick script. He said, "Yeah, that's good, but add this..." And he gave me a spiel about his new album and about his band (Big Motor). I revised the announcement and he stood next to me as I did it. When I ended the introduction by saying, "Would you please welcome for the first time to River Roots Live, Eric Sardinas and Big Motor." He walked past me onto the stage, but not before he gave me a hearty slap on the back and said, "Great job, big guy!"
And then he started to tear the place up. Sardinas and his bass player, Lavell Price, and his drummer, Chris Frazier, put on one helluva show. This was also a tough call to pull the plug after 50 minutes. Like the Nighthawks the night before, I heard many people tell me afterward that the highlight of Saturday night was Eric Sardinas. (I took this picture with my camera phone as I was standing at the monitor board right after I told him he had 10 minutes to play. I was disappointed to have him stop, to say the least.)
Another small world occurrence happened just after Eric Sardinas played. I got Tonic up and going on the north stage and went back to the bandshell stage to supervise the changeover from Sardinas to Better Than Ezra. Chris Frazier, Sardinas' drummer, was still milling around on the stage and he came up to me and said, "Man, you look really familiar. Did you ever work any Eddie Money shows?"
I told him that I'd seen Eddie Money play, but had never worked the stage at any of his shows. Then he said, "Did you ever work any Edgar Winter shows?"
I said, "Well, 8 years ago Edgar Winter played the very first River Roots Live here at the park."
Chris said, "Well, 8 years ago I would have been the drummer for Edgar Winter. It had to be here, then. I thought you really looked familiar." Quite honestly, I don't remember him as Edgar Winter's drummer, but he remembered me. I thought that was sort of neat.
My wife got a taste of fame for the evening as she had to ferry Eric, Lavell and Chris over the merchandise tent so they could sell albums, CD's and sign autographs. She hung out in the merchandise tent for an hour with the guys and she couldn't say enough about how nice they were. "Lavell looks like this big ol' tough biker guy," she said. "But he was the sweetest guy!"
Cindy had her picture taken with the band at the merchandise tent along with a couple daughters of a friend of hers. She dug hanging out with the guys.
Cindy brought them all back on her golf cart and she told me that the line of people didn't dwindle until about 45 minutes had passed. "They probably could have stayed longer if they wanted. But Eric said he had to get back to do a phone interview."
(Below left is a picture Cindy took of Eric Sardinas at a Mississippi Valley Blues Fesitval about four years ago. It's one of the pictures I have on my computer's screen saver. I wish I would have printed out a copy and brought it down for Eric Sardinas to sign.)
After that, I had to pay Eric Sardinas in my little office behind the bandshell. He was such a great guy and extremely personable. I told him, "You know, I've been following your career since I first saw you at the Coach House some 14 years ago. I know I'm not supposed to get star-struck at these events, but when I saw that you were going to play and I got to work the event with you, I was thrilled. You always put on one helluva show and I'm thrilled to have you here tonight."
Sardinas said, "Aw, man. That's beautiful. I really appreciate it." We hugged it out in the office before he left to go back to his dressing room trailer.
Cindy had told me that Sardinas had sold a number of albums during the hour the band was at the merchandise tent. I decided I wanted one and I went back to the trailers to see if I could pick one up from him. Lavell Price was standing outside the trailer and I said that I wanted to pick up an album. He said, "Yeah, we have a few left in here. Come on in."
He led me inside the trailer and he said, "We're selling them for $20 bucks." Eric was on the phone back in the bedroom area of the camper/trailer, doing a phone interview with someone on the west coast.
As I was getting ready to hand Lavell my money, I heard Eric say, "Lavell! No! No! Do not take his money! Give it to him!"
I turned around to see Eric with the phone to his head with one hand, waving furiously with his other hand. Lavell sort of shrugged and said, "He's the boss!" I gave Eric a quick wave of thanks as I exited the trailer. Ah, one of the fringe benefits of being the stage manager.
One of the pitfalls of being the stage manager is that I don't get to take in many of the performances of the bands. Quite honestly, as I said before, I really wasn't familiar with either Tonic or Better Than Ezra. I did recognize a song that Tonic did, "If You Could Only See" which got some airplay back in the 90's. But Better Than Ezra was more of a college radio station band 15 years ago and I was unfamiliar with nearly all of their songs except for cover versions of songs by Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones. I was able to watch some of Better Than Ezra's performance from out at the sound board at the front of the house. I'm sorry, they may be nice guys, but I wasn't impressed. (Better Than Ezra photo courtesy Brian Barkley.)
Two other bands who played on Saturday were The Steepwater Band, a Chicago-based band known for their blues and Midwest-style rock. All the guys in the band were extremely impressed with the venue and the festival. Two of the guys, Jeff Massey and Joe Winters, were telling me of a horrible experience at a festival they were supposed to play the night before in Minnesota when the promoter couldn't come up with the money in advance. "The guy told us that he could pay us $400 in cash, and give us the rest in the form of a check," Jeff told me. "But then he said, 'You can't cash it until next Wednesday.' "
When I asked what they did next, Joe said, "We cut our losses, packed up our stuff and left. I mean, they CHARGED us for parking! $10 bucks to park! And we were the headlining band!"
Since we were paying them in cash before their performance, I joked, "Well, you'll notice that your payment is a little lighter because we charge $20 for bands to park and we just take it out of your pay rather than you having to pay up front." They both got a good laugh out of that. The guys in Steepwater hung out after their show and were great guys to be around. Before they left, they popped up to say good-bye and gave me one of their discs. The CD is pretty damn good.
The last band who finished out River Roots Live on Saturday was a Denver-based alternative-rock band by the name of The Congress. Not to be confused by a show-band from the Washington D.C. area with the same name, these three guys - Jonathon Meadows, Scott Lane and Mark Levy - were easy going fellas who cranked it up and put an exclamation point on the festival. I got to hang with them quite a bit during Better Than Ezra's set and afterward during their load-in. They were telling me of their brutal schedule that had them driving about 3000 miles in a week. "Our booking agency must hate us," Scott told me. "We have a relatively easy trip tomorrow to play up in Cedar Rapids, but after that we go to Lawrence, Kansas, then over to Lexington, Kentucky, then back down around the Southeast." But he said it was all right, they just love to play. The guys also gave me a copy of their CD. I've played it a couple times in my car and I'm impressed with their music.
Jason Gilliland told me during the festival, "If you ever decide to hang it up doing this gig, you've got to give me a two year warning. I'll need to have your replacement shadow you for a year. I guess I didn't realize all the stuff you really do during River Roots Live."
I always think at the end of the festival that I'm gonna have to think long and hard if I want to continue to do the job. But for the most part, I have fun doing what I do. The bands enjoy the fact that there's someone in charge to make sure things run smoothly, but more importantly the people who come to SEE the bands are the ones I care about more. It's no fun for anyone when bands are not on time or when there is too long a lag between acts. My job is to make sure that things run like clockwork around the stage area. And when that happens and no one complains, I did my job. And, once again, I heard of no complaints other than from a few people who thought a couple three bands would have played longer. And I happened to agree with them. So, I'm happy about that.
I won't be giving Jason my "two-year-warning" anytime soon... (Photo courtesy Brian Barkley.)
Starting off on our journey to Northwest Iowa and Lake Okoboji for our summer vacation this year, we worked our way up the Avenue of the Saints and stopped for lunch at a spot I had once eaten at a few years ago, Mulligan's Brick Oven Grill and Pub in Cedar Falls, IA. Located near the University of Northern Iowa, Mulligan's has become one of the more popular places to grab a casual lunch or dinner in the area. It's also one of the more popular sports bars in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area, as well. We got there just after 2 p.m. after the bulk of the lunch time rush.
Mulligan's is owned and managed by Cindy Bramblett and her partner, Nick Zubak. Zubak also runs a construction company in Cedar Falls, while Bramblett was also the General Manager at My Verona, an upscale restaurant in downtown Cedar Falls. My Verona was forced to close in July when owner Russ Wasendorf, Sr. tried to commit suicide after losing nearly $200 million of investor money from the collapse of his Peregrine Financial Group. Wasendorf had opened My Verona after moving his company's headquarters from Chicago to Cedar Falls about three years ago. It's apparent that there is no tie between Wasendorf and Mulligan's as the place was still open and serving lunch when we were there.
Mulligan's is located just off the 18th St. exit of the Iowa Highways 27/58 expressway (see map). It is also right next to one of the many miles of bike trails that criss-cross the Cedar River Valley in the area, making Mulligan's a popular stop for bikers. A couple bikes were locked up on the bike rack in front of the restaurant when we pulled up.
Since it was well past the lunch time rush, we had our choice of sitting in the bar area to right as you come in, or in the dining room to the left, or outside on the patio. It was a little breezy and very warm, so we decided to sit inside in the dining room. The dining room was double tiered with high-back booths on the upper level, and a lower level with tables and chairs. The room had huge floor to ceiling windows - actually they were more like doors - that looked out onto the bike path. With a lot of sun that day, the room was well lit and we opted to sit in the comfortable high-back booths on the upper level.
Our server for our visit, C.J., was a pleasant girl in her 20's and she dropped off a couple menus for us to take a look at. Mulligan's is famous for their brick oven pizza. They have well over a dozen specialty pizzas to choose from (two sizes only), or you can build your own pizza with the choice of honey wheat or traditional white dough, sauces that include a basil pesto, olive oil or traditional tomato, over 15 different types of herbs, veggies or fruit toppings, 8 different types of meat toppings, and 8 different choices of cheeses including fresh mozzarella. We were seated near the pizza oven and the fragrant smell of a pizza cooking inside the oven almost made me pull the trigger on getting one. But I really just wanted a sandwich more than anything else.
Mulligan's lower dining area above left - Mulligan's stone oven above right.
I was looking at a couple sandwiches that they had under their "Brick Oven Subs" header on the menu. The Meatball and Marinara sub featured homemade meatballs topped with smoked provolone and romano cheeses and then finished off with their homemade red sauce. The other one that caught my eye was the Sicilian sandwich that consisted of ground Italian sausage, pepperoni slices, sliced prosciutto, then topped with mozzarella, romano and parmesan cheeses. The toppings are finished off with fresh oregano and basil after it's baked in the brick oven.
Another thing that caught my eye was their roasted garlic and blue cheese Cajun burger - a blackened hamburger patty topped with a melted roasted garlic butter and blue cheese. That made my stomach do jumping jacks, but the wonderful smell of the pizzas and sandwiches from the brick oven was overwhelming.
Cindy was having trouble figuring out what she wanted from the expansive menu at Mulligan's. She wasn't certain she wanted anything heavy, nor did many of the sandwiches sound appealing to her. She began to look over Mulligan's appetizer menu and decided upon getting the Santa Fe spring rolls - crispy, deep fried wraps filled with cilantro-lime chicken along with black beans, shredded lettuce, corn, roasted red peppers and what was described as a "hint" of jalapenos. Pepperjack cheese also were in the Santa Fe spring rolls. She also got a side salad with oil and vinegar dressing with a side of creamy blue cheese dressing.
The Sicilian sandwich was calling my name and I ordered that. I got my choice of sides including fries, cole slaw, potato salad or cottage cheese. I ordered fries. The waitress asked me what kind of bread I wanted on my sandwich and I had my choices between white, multi-grain wheat or ciabatta. I took the white hoagie bun.
Cindy got her salad first and it was a good sized bowl of greens with some veggies mixed in. She said she thought the blue cheese dressing was homemade as it was very good.
The spring rolls and the Sicilian sandwich came to the table not long after Cindy finished her salad. Quite actually, the spring rolls were enough for two people with three spring rolls sliced in half. They were filled with the chunks of grilled chicken and a medley of veggies. Cindy took a bite of one and said they were very good. She said, "I can't tell if these are homemade or if they're from a food distributor. Either way, they're good." She offered me a bite later on and while I thought they were good, it wasn't anything that I'd crave in the future.
My sandwich had an ample amount of ground Italian sausage, pepperoni and cheese on top. I couldn't really see much of the prosciutto on the sandwich, but with all the things on the Sicilian sandwich, it was pretty busy to begin with. The first bite yielded a wonderful taste sensation of spicy sausage and pepperoni with a nice cheesy taste. The bread was crunch on the outside, but chewy under the crown of the outer crust. It was a very good sandwich. The fries, however, were a little pedestrian and very salty. I didn't concentrate as much on those as I did on my sandwich.
Before we left, I needed to use the restroom to wash the excess cheese and sauce off my hands. I walked through the bar area at Mulligan's and it featured a square bar with a number of tables and booths around the room. A large number of flat panel televisions were interspersed throughout the bar area making it look like Mulligan's was THE place to go to in the area to watch a sporting event. A number of articles on UNI athletic teams were hanging on the walls of the bar area, as well.
We were both very happy with our meal at Mulligan's. Our server, C.J., was attentive and friendly. The dining area was bright and inviting. And I was impressed with the bar area with the sports motif and multiple televisions. I would like to get back to Mulligan's to try one of their pizzas. It's not far from my dealer in Cedar Falls so maybe I'll have to go back there at some point.
The fourth hour of The Today Show on NBC Monday thru Friday features Hoda Kotb and Kathy Lee Gifford. Their "gal Friday", Sara Haines, who is a contributing correspondent and social media director for the show, grew up in my hometown of Newton, Iowa. Sara recently went back to Newton to do a report on the Maytag Dairy Farm, makers of the famous Maytag Blue Cheese. Click here to see the report as it was shown on the Today Show last week. (There is a 30 second commercial at the start of the piece.)
Haines is the daughter of Dick Haines, the former president of the Maytag Company, makers of top quality washers, dryers and other home appliances. Maytag was founded in Newton and was the economic base of the community since the early 1900's. However, in 2006, the Whirlpool Corporation completed a takeover of Maytag and a year later the company shut down the Newton manufacturing facilities for Maytag citing high operating costs. It knocked the town on its economical ass for awhile, but its been making somewhat of a comeback over the past couple of years.
Maytag Dairy Farms began in 1919 when Elmer Maytag - the son of Maytag Washing Machine Company founder Frederick Maytag - purchased farm land north of Newton. He purchased some Holstein cattle and began to produce milk for the family and the workers at the Maytag Company. The Holstein cattle that Maytag Dairy Farm used were some of the finest in North America, winning many competitions in the 30's and 40's.
In 1941, Frederick Maytag II, who had taken over the Maytag Company from his father, heard about a new process to make Blue Cheese out of cow's milk from researchers from Iowa State University. (Before, blue cheese was made only out of sheep's milk.) Working with his brother, Bob Maytag, Fritz Maytag had a cheese processing plant and brick storage caves built at the dairy farm and began to make the world renown blue cheese.
Mel Campbell was tabbed by the Maytags to oversee the dairy operation and ran the business until he retired in the early 70's. His son, Donn Campbell, took over for his father in 1973 and ran the company until his death in the early 90's. Donn Campbell, who was a great guy, forged the marketing that saw Maytag Blue Cheese become a nationwide, then worldwide, known entity.
Upon Donn Campbell's death, longtime Maytag Dairy Farm employee Jim Stevens took over the helm of the operation. Stevens was hired just after World War II doing menial jobs such as scrubbing the mold off the blue cheese wheels. In the early 60's, he was promoted to plant manager and in 1973 he was named Vice-President and farm manager. Stevens retired in 2004, just a year short of 60 years working for the Maytag Dairy Farm. Myrna Ver Ploeg took over the president's chair from Stevens the year he retired.
The Maytag family held onto the dairy farm and was not part of the Whirlpool takeover of the appliance company. Today, the Maytag Dairy Farm annually makes over 1 million pounds of not only blue cheese, but white cheddar, Swiss, Edam and other varieties of cheese. Click here to see their current catalog of all the different cheese and gift packs the Maytag Dairy Farm has to offer.
When I was growing up, if you were a 5th grader in the Newton Community School District, it was a rite of passage in life to tour the Maytag Dairy Farm. Actually, I've said for years that you were sentenced to tour the Maytag Dairy Farm.
First of all, it stinks. The vat where they form the cheese emits an ungodly smell that is a cross between decaying food, an uncleansed locker room and the aftermath of a night of vomiting. When you're 11 years old, that's a smell that is permanently burned into your olfactory system. And after the tour was complete, we were given samples of blue cheese on a cracker. There was no way that a kid would eat the cheese after having to go through the tour and smelling the horrible odor and actually seeing the form of blue mold growing on the cheese. I remember knocking my cheese off into the garbage and eating the cracker. It was nearly 20 years before I finally got over how something that smells so bad during the manufacturing process tastes so damn good in its finished state.
I was just starting out as a rep on the road in 1986 when the guy who hired me - and taught me a lot about exquisite dining and foods - was completely amazed that I lived in Newton, IA, home of Maytag Blue Cheese. When I told him my story of how I wouldn't eat blue cheese if my life depended upon it because of my grade school experience, he said, "You don't necessarily eat it on its own. But adding it with other foods helps enhance the taste."
One evening, we were at a restaurant and he ordered a dinner salad with crumbly blue cheese with oil and vinegar. It turns out the restaurant was serving Maytag blue cheese. He said, "You know, this is the best blue cheese there is. You really need to have a salad like this at some point." The next time I had the chance to have a salad with crumbly Maytag blue cheese with oil and vinegar, I ordered it up. And I liked it. A lot. I've never looked back since.
Maytag Blue Cheese is served in some of the finest restaurants across North America and is known as being one of the best blue cheeses in the world. You sort of take the cheese for granted when you grow up in Newton. But when you travel around and tell people where you're from, you can tell they're a foodie when they say, "Oh, hey! Newton, Iowa! The home of Maytag Blue Cheese!" For over 75 years, the Maytag Dairy Farm has been producing some of the best cheese in the world. Instead of running away from the reality that a dairy in my hometown was world renown for the first half of my life, I've long since embraced the fact that the Maytag Dairy Farm is, indeed, a pretty big deal.
Back when I began my blog in 2005 (Wow! Coming up on 7 years of Road Tips!), I didn't have much of a vision or voice as to what I wanted for my entries. One of the very first entries I had was on Johnny V's Classic Cafe in West Allis, WI, a suburb of Milwaukee. Johnny V's has to be one of my all-time favorite diners. This is a place where I've gotten breakfast at 8 a.m., at 7 p.m., and at 2 a.m. It also features a number of comfort food entrees and excellent gyros. While in the Milwaukee area a couple months ago, I made a point to go have breakfast at Johnny V's and give more of an in-depth view of the place.
Johnny V's opened in May of 1992. John Vassallo, Sr. had worked in a restaurant for a good portion of his early life before he went to work for a food distributor. Looking to run his own place, he and his wife opened their diner in May of 1992. That's John Vassallo, Sr. in the picture above. A year and a half later, their son - John, Jr., a local bar owner/restauranteur - became involved in the business. John, Jr., known as Johnny V, had been somewhat of an entrepreneur over the years from running a flower shop to owning a jewelry store to running a Subway sandwich shop to owning a couple bars Johnny V took over the business from his parents and ran it until 1996. Some other business ventures - including a second Johnny V's in West Bend - began to sour for Johnny V in 1996, so his parents and his brother, James (Jamie) came back in and took over the original Johnny V's in West Allis. Jamie Vassallo continues to run the restaurant these days.
Johnny V's is located on the southwest corner of a strip mall on the east side of S. 84th Street, between Greenfield and National, south of the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds (see map). I'd had a meeting in downtown Milwaukee early in the morning and on the way out of town I stopped by Johnny V's for breakfast. The place was about a third full around 9:45 in the morning.
The restaurant's interior mainly pays homage to a combination of vintage Coca Cola paraphernalia and American patriotism. Either that, or they were lazy in taking down decorations for the 4th of July from a couple months before. I was greeted by a young lady who led me to a booth along the west wall of the restaurant. She dropped off a menu and said she'd be back to get my order in a bit.
The breakfast offerings at Johnny V's are not unlike many other diners of its kind. Pancakes, waffles, omelets, skillet dishes and cereals. They have a number of breakfast specials they run daily from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m., but they do serve breakfast around the clock. As I said, there has been more than once that I've had breakfast well after midnight after a full day at Summerfest.
One of my favorite items on Johnny V's breakfast menu is the eggs with gyro meat. It's a large platter of eggs, cooked to order, and a hefty side of sliced gyro meat along with a good sized bunch of hash browns. It had been a long time since I had that at Johnny V's, so when the waitress came back to take my order I didn't hesitate one bit when ordering it up with eggs over easy and whole wheat toast.
Johnny V's service is pretty prompt and the breakfast showed up at my booth in less than 15 minutes. The gyro meat at Johnny V's is different from a number of Greek restaurants I've been to. The gyro meat is almost like slices of tender minute steaks. They have a great texture and are easy to cut with a fork. A couple small tubs of homemade tzatziki sauce came with the gyro meat. The eggs were good sized and the hash browns - although I only had a couple bites of them - were also very good. But the gyro meat was the star of this breakfast. The taste sensations that I remembered from years gone by came back with the first bite. It was as good this particular day as it was nearly 15 years ago when I first had breakfast at Johnny V's.
I can't remember ever having a bad meal at Johnny V's. I've had their homemade meat loaf (which is very good), their pot roast entree (also wonderful), and their blueberry Belgian waffles - all of which have been very good. It's far from fine dining at Johnny V's, but it's a spot-hitter if you're looking for comfort food. The service is good, the price value is above average and the food is also above average. Johnny V's has never disappointed me in the past and they certainly didn't on my most recent visit.
Over the years, I've found that sushi in the Midwest, especially in smaller cities, is usually a hit or miss kind of thing. That's why when I agreed to meet with the co-owners who run an audio/video dealership we sell to in St. Cloud, MN over sushi last year, I was a little less than eager to meet up with them at the place - Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse. However, the sushi was surprisingly excellent, as was the hibachi steak that we had, as well. When I was in the St. Cloud area earlier this summer, I set up another lunch appointment at Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse. This time, I was actually looking forward to the meal.
In May of 2010 when a lot of restaurants were closing up due to the downturn in the economy, Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse opened their doors on the corner of S. 2nd St. and S. 2nd Ave. in Waite Park, a small connected suburb to St. Cloud's Southwest side (see map). Pat Rogosheske is the managing partner in the place. Rogosheske was born and raised in Japan and had about 25 years of restaurant experience before opening the doors to Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse. The restaurant has thrived on the strength of great food at a good price. Rogosheske does a lot of promoting of the restaurant through in-house specials and discounts.
The entry way of the restaurant features a cozy waiting area and hostess stand. The bar is off to the left as you walk down the hall to the main dining room. There's a sushi bar opposite the regular bar with a number of booths in a lounge nearby.
The main dining room features six hibachi stations where the chefs give diners a "Benihana"-type experiece, complete with all the hibachi chef's food tricks. As I said, we had both sushi and hibachi last year and it was very, very good. On this visit, we opted to sit at the sushi bar, conduct some business and have some lunch.
We took a look through the menu, but one of the guys told me they had some killer lunch specials. As I said, one of Pat Rogosheske's marketing plans is offer discounts and specials - especially during lunch. One of the daily lunch specials that is your choice of two sushi rolls with a cup of the miso soup for $9.95. Now, that's a killer deal. I remembered their spicy tuna rolls were very good from the year before, so I ordered two of those with the miso soup. One of the guys from my dealer ordered a couple rolls on his own with the soup while the other guy ordered a the sushi roll and five pieces of sushi special. The time to make the rolls and sushi gave us ample time to go over programs, numbers and get caught up with what was what.
The sushi/sushi roll was the first thing to come out. The presentation was very nice with the roll in the middle with the five pieces of sushi spoked out from the center. Remarkably, the sushi is as fresh as fresh can be for a sushi place in St. Cloud, MN. It doesn't have a fishy taste to it - something I've run into in much larger cities.
After finishing the miso soup, our sushi rolls came out. The spicy tuna rolls were, once again, outstanding. They had a nice texture to the bite and a nice little spicy zip to the taste. I was overly happy with the rolls, but I was thinking I wanted to try something else.
The other guy who got the same special as me also thought he needed a couple pieces of sushi, so we ordered up about 8 more pieces that we shared between the two of us. The smoked salmon was delicious, as was the maguro tuna. I remarked, "This is so unbelievable that you guys can have this good of sushi in St. Cloud. I'd put this place up against sushi places in much larger cities."
One of the guys said, "Oh, yeah. We've had sushi in a lot of places and we think this place is one of the best we've ever had. I'll tell you, it blows away most of the sushi places in the Twin Cities."
Thanks to these guys, I've had some pretty good and memorable meals in St. Cloud over the past few years, but it's tough to beat Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse for great sushi. The lunch specials are a bargain, but the sushi can be a little high priced. But, still, to get sushi that good in a small market is worth the extra price. After two visits to Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse, I can't say enough good things about the sushi at the place. It's truly remarkable and - surprisingly - very good.
I have a small dealer in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago who I see from time to time. We had a meeting one evening recently and afterward I asked him if he wanted to go grab a bite to eat at Smokin' T's, a nearby very good barbecue joint that he turned me on to a couple three years ago. (Click here to see my entry on Smokin' T's.) He begged off citing family plans, but he said, "Hey, if you're looking for a fun place to eat, there's this place up the road in Wauconda that has these outrageously great cheeseburgers and duck fat fries." That piqued my interest and asked him to tell me more about a place called Bulldogs Grill. He said, "It's like a 50's diner, but they have a chef and all these wild cheeseburger concoctions. It's about a 10 minute drive from here." Even though it was in the opposite direction of my hotel that particular evening, on my way out of his place I decided to take his enthusiastic advice and hang a left instead of going right at the stop sign down the road to go up to Bulldogs Grill.
From what I can determine, Bulldogs opened around 2009 in Wauconda. The small Lake County town was undergoing a transformation from a sleepy lakeside community to a restaurant destination for the people in the area as well as vacationers. Aaron Aagerwal had been a chef for a number of years and his friend, Joe Kafka, had once been a bartender before he entered the corporate world of banking. After Kafka was laid off after the banking crisis in 2008, he decided to partner with Aagerwal to open Bulldogs Grill in an old restored building on Wauconda's Main Street. Today, Bulldogs sits smack dab in the middle of a number of cafes, pubs and other restaurants in downtown Wauconda.
I drove in front of Bulldogs Grill just around 7:30 p.m. on a weeknight evening (see map). There was a parking spot just down the street and I was able to pull in easily. Because Bulldogs also sells ice cream by the scoop, there were a number of people that were milling about in front of the place enjoying their cones. I walked in behind a family of five people and had time to take a look around the place before I ordered at the front counter.
The main area as you come into Bulldogs is set up like you'd find a 50's style diner. The area was heavy on the black and white tile, bright fluorescent lighting, a counter with old style stools, and art-deco style tables and chairs on the opposite wall from the counter. Bulldogs also had a number of pictures and articles on the wall touting the awards they've won in the short while they've been in business.
Bulldogs Grill features a "Man Cave" in the back part of the restaurant that has somewhat softer lighting, a couple of flat screen televisions that were turned on to baseball games, some posters and a smattering of tables. It was more spacious than the front area, but it was still cozy enough. I figured that I'd just sit back there after I ordered.
I went back up to the counter as the family was just finishing up with their order. Looking over the menu board, in addition to the burgers, Bulldogs also has a number of hot dogs on the menu including the "Baconator" - a bacon-wrapped hot dog, deep-fried, then placed on a bun before being topped with chili and cheese. Oh ho ho! My arteries hardened up after reading that! They also have Philly cheese steak sandwiches, pulled pork and chicken sandwiches, as well as a handful of Mexican entrees including tacos, enchiladas, and deep-fried fish tacos that are marinated in a chile lime sauce, and a number of wraps and flatbread sandwiches. And Bulldogs Grill is famous for their award winning wings made in a homemade Buffalo sauce. For the health conscious, they also have soups, salads and a kids menu. Kafka's and Aagarwal's philosophy is to buy their food fresh and local, and to provide a great value for what they serve.
But I wanted a burger. And with 36 different burgers on the menu, Bulldogs Grill has a wide array of toppings and combinations to choose from. I was interested in about four or five of them - The Area 51 burger (named after the secret testing military base in Nevada) had green chiles, pepper jack cheese, guacamole and a spicy mayo on it. The Shroomer had mushrooms and provolone cheese on it. The California BLT burger had avocado, bacon, cheddar cheese and chipotle mayo on top of the 9 oz. burger. And just the regular bacon cheeseburger looked interesting to me.
The menu also features a "challenge burger" - the Bluto Burger. If someone can eat the four 1/2 burger patties, grilled onions and pepper jack cheese with Bulldogs apple barbecue sauce, with each burger topped with 3 pieces of applewood smoked bacon, jalapeno cream cheese and then finished off with a stack of onion rings - along with a pound of french fries - in 30 minutes or less, you get a t-shirt and your name on the Bluto Burger Hall of Fame. While I was standing in line to order, a waiter brought out this Bluto Burger to two young guys, both of whom were going to share the plate (above right). But as you can see by look and posture of the one guy, they were beginning to have second thoughts about what they ordered.
By the time I got around to order, I had found out that the duck fat fries were only available on Friday nights. Sort of a bummer, but, oh well, that was fine with me. But I saw something else that got my attention - garlic parmesan fries. And they were only something like $2.50 for a small side of them. I decided on getting the hangover burger - the 9 oz. never-frozen patty topped with a fried egg, bacon and American cheese to go along with the fries. And to drink, I got a couple bottles of ice cold Capital Supper Club beer. I was given a number and went to find a seat back in the "Man Cave".
It takes a while to get your food at Bulldogs Grill. Good burgers take time to cook. Plus the kitchen area isn't all that large and when they get a good sized crowd in there they can get backed up. The food orders are picked up at the counter next to the kitchen and brought out to the table. The wait staff yells out the number and the more they have to yell the number to get the attention of the person whose order they have, the louder they get.
I'm glad I got in when I did. Even though they closed at 8 p.m., they had a large group of motorcycle riders - mainly older gentlemen - who came in and ordered food just before they closed. About 20 of them came back and took over the remaining tables in the back room. It suddenly became a little loud and crowded back there.
After about a 20 minute wait after I ordered, a waitress came back with my burger and fries. For a small order, I knew the fries would be too much. Just looking at the size of the burger, I knew this was going to be a lot of food for me to try to finish. In fact, the burger was so big that I had to cut it in half before I could even handle picking it up.
The taste of the burger was very, very good. Even though the egg slid off the burger when I made my first bite, I could get enough the taste of it to know that it went well with the taste of the fresh burger meat. The crown of the gourmet bun had a crispy outer shell with a light and chewy inner core. Two large pieced of bacon criss-crossed the burger and the American cheese was thickly melted on to the burger, itself. The flat grill taste of the burger was delicious. It was a very outstanding burger. And a great value for $6.50! I've had burgers like this for nearly twice the price that didn't taste as good as the one at Bulldogs Grill.
The parmesan and garlic fries were as good as advertised. They were covered in parmesan cheese that had crusted onto the fries. I couldn't find any hint of fresh garlic on the fries, but I was guessing that it was there because they had a wonderful forward garlic taste. I was glad that I didn't have to talk to anyone else that particular evening because my breath would have warded off vampires for a two-mile radius. If this was a small order, I'd hate to see what a large order would be. A small order would easily satiate two people, if not as many as four, mainly because they were so rich. I could only finish about a quarter of what they brought to me.
They brought out a double cheeseburger to one of the guys who were in the motorcycle club. He sort of looked at the two 9 oz. burgers piled on top of one another in wonderment. The size of one burger is huge at Bulldogs Grill - you can almost imagine what two look like.
This is the second time my small dealer in the far NW suburbs has turned me on to a great place to eat. Maybe I need to go see him more often, especially in the late afternoon. The burgers at Bulldogs Grill have been voted the best in Lake County for the past couple of years. And it's no wonder. The burger I had was simply one of the best burgers I've ever had. I don't know how they could get topped, unless they open a second location - just like they recently did in nearby Grayslake. Bulldogs Grill is a long way from most places in the Chicagoland area, but if you're ever around the far north suburbs you need to seek the place out. You won't be disappointed.
My friend, Randy Brekke, has been extolling the virtues of a west-side Davenport restaurant - Tommy's Cafe - for a number of years. He kept telling me, "Their food is pretty good and you get good portions for what you pay." One morning after walking through the Farmers Market at the Freight House and in the adjacent parking lot at Modern Woodmen Park, we decided to go get some breakfast. We stopped at Tommy's and I have to say that what Randy was telling me was spot on. It was a lot of good food at a reasonable price. The only problem is that I didn't have my phone with me to take pictures of the place. On a recent Sunday morning, we headed back over to Tommy's for breakfast, this time with phone in tow.
Tommy's Cafe could be categorized as a "blue-collar" type of place. I would lovingly call it the quintessential "greasy spoon" joint. Located on West 3rd Street (see map), it's in the middle of an area that has been cleaned of blight over the past 15 years. There's parking on the street in front of Tommy's, but they also have a small parking lot with a rear entrance behind the place.
Tommy's has been around since April of 1987. That's when Tom Jones opened the doors to a small place on West 3rd that had only counter seating and a handful of tables or booths. While he was learning his way around the kitchen, Tom's mother, Joan, waited on tables while his father, Roy, made pies, pastries and bread for the restaurant. Tom's parents had run other businesses in the area and they taught Tommy everything about running a business. Tom's future wife, Chris, began to work in the restaurant after she graduated from high school. They were married in September of 1990.
In 2003, now with three children, Tommy and Chris added a new section to the restaurant effectively tripling the size of the place (above right). Their kids work at the restaurant - Casey is a cook and daughters Kayla and Bailey work as waitresses. Everything at Tommy's is made from scratch - the Jones' say it helps keep their costs low and the quality consistent.
One other thing that Tommy's is famous for are their pastries and donuts. I took a quick picture of their baking trays before they were picked bare in the mid-morning. They have cinnamon rolls, turnovers, long johns - just about anything a bakery would have for morning pastries. And we heard they were good. Before Cindy even ordered breakfast, she ordered one each of a blueberry, raspberry, cherry and apple turnover, just to make sure she'd have them before they ran out. I said, "What are you getting so many of them for?"
She said, "I don't know. We can give some to the neighbors or I'll take a couple to work."
We got into Tommy's around 10 a.m. one recent Sunday morning.Even with the additional space, Tommy's is consistently full for breakfast. We were lucky to find one booth open in the original part of the restaurant. A waitress came over with a couple glasses of water and menus for us after we sat down.
The menu at Tommy's has the standard breakfast fare - eggs, omelets, pancakes, French toast and waffles. They also feature a number of lunch items including burgers, sandwiches, salads and comfort food like hot beef sandwiches. The have a breakfast special called the 88 - eggs your way, bacon, sausage and 3 pancakes. It was pretty cheap - I think it was $3.95. Cindy ended up getting that.
I was sort of torn getting between getting French toast, a waffle or an omelet. We'd had a neighborhood party the night before and I was feeling a little fuzzy that morning. I decided that I needed an omelet - sausage, mushroom and cheese. I got whole wheat toast on the side and a glass of milk.
The only problem I have with Tommy's is that when they expanded the restaurant, they didn't expand the kitchen. Because of that, you are generally waiting quite a while for your food. That's happened to us both times we've been to Tommy's. About the time that we were getting antsy for our breakfast - over 20 minutes after we ordered - the food was brought to our table.
Cindy's 88 special breakfast featured three fluffy pancakes - she prefers them thin and well-done - two sausage links, two pieces of bacon and a couple eggs over easy. She didn't get any toast, but I did. She said, "I want to trade some toast for these sausage links." She doesn't care for breakfast sausage all that much. Turns out she could have gotten four slices of bacon instead of two and two.
My omelet was thin - as I like it - and was filled with sauteed mushrooms, sausage chunks and American cheese. Cheese was melted on top of the omelet. I black-peppered it up and dug in. It was good, not the best, but it was above average. It was certainly a big omelet - it filled up the plate. With somewhat of a hangover, it tasted pretty darn good.
Cindy said her breakfast was "fine". Even though the pancakes were too fluffy for her, she said that she liked them. She gave me a couple bites of the pancakes and they were all right. I think my wife makes the best pancakes in the world and it's tough to beat that gold standard for me. But the ones at Tommy's were good.
After eating, we went up to the counter to pay (Tommy's is a cash only establishment) and to grab our sack of turnovers. On our first visit, we witnessed a rather ugly encounter with a customer who had called in for an order of a dozen donuts, only to find that someone had made off with the dozen before she showed up. And there were no donuts left on the trays behind the cash register. We thought that if she put up such a fuss for Tommy's donuts, they must be pretty damned good.
After we got home, the temptation was too much for Cindy. She got into the bag and pulled out the apple turnover. She exclaimed, "Oh, my God! This is great! Now I know why they go so fast!"
The next day, I had one of Tommy's turnovers - the blueberry one. It was light, flaky and extremely good. It had a sugar frosting on the outside and the flaky layered consistency of a good Greek baklava. The blueberry filling was just the gravy on what was a wonderful pastry. If I were getting a dozen rolls or donuts for someone, I'd go to Tommy's before I'd go to Dunkin Donuts.
With the four turnovers at $1.35 each, our bill came to just under $20 bucks. That was a lot of food for little money. Tommy's is a great value with good food. Breakfast is their highlight, but be prepared to wait for a table and then wait for the food. It's nothin' fancy, but it's worth it.
I did a less than favorable review for the burgers at JL Beers in Fargo last year (see that entry here) and I heard from a couple people who suggested that I try a place called Three Lyons Pub, an English Pub on the West side of Fargo. (Actually, I don't know where Fargo ends and West Fargo begins.) I had been out in Western North Dakota for a couple days and took a direct hit to my windshield from a rock that was kicked up by a truck in front of me. A major crack developed in my windshield, so I made an appointment at a Safelite Glass location in Fargo to get it repaired. I had some time to kill before I could get my car in and since it wasn't far away from Safelite Glass, I decided to go to Three Lyons to get a burger for lunch.
Three Lyons Pub is located in a strip mall on the south side of 13th Ave. E. in West Fargo (see map). The owner, Blair Thoreson, opened the doors of the place in 2005. Thoreson wears many hats - not only is he the owner of the Three Lyons Pub, he is also a medical program writer for Microsoft in Fargo (the largest Microsoft campus outside of the Seattle area is located in Fargo), and he has also served the Fargo area as a North Dakota state representative since 1998. Because he is so busy with other endeavors, Kent Larsen runs the day-to-day operation for Three Lyons Pub. He's helped out by Michael Anderson who runs the kitchen, and Liz Swanson and Ryan Ellingson who co-manage the bar area.
Blair Thoreson - pictured right
I was a little apprehensive when I saw the exterior of Three Lyons Pub. As my old neighbor, George, used to say about some Irish pubs, "They put up a couple Irish flags in a strip mall building and call it an Irish Pub." I was afraid that Three Lyons may fall under that description, only as an English Pub in this case. But I was pleasantly surprised when I entered to find a spacious dining area with high wooden tables with sturdy metal high back chairs, a long wooden bar to the left and a homey, pub style decor down to the pictures of Winston Churchill on the walls. Ornate antique style lamps hung from the ceiling over the bar area. The back wall was made of brick and featured three flat screen televisions. In fact, there were flat screen televisions located throughout the place.
I had my pick of seats in the place as it was after the lunch rush, so I just decided to sit up at the bar. One of the young ladies working the bar came over with a food menu and asked if I wanted anything to drink. Since really all I had left that particular day was to get my windshield fixed, I ordered a pint of Smithwick's, one of nearly 20 beers Three Lyons has on tap. Their beer menu is extensive with a number of domestic, import, craft brews, and cider beers available. I've never been a big fan of the cider style beers, but they had six different ones to choose from at Three Lyons.
Although I was told to try the burger at Three Lyons, they had a very interesting menu that included a dozen appetizers, three soups - including a corned beef and cabbage soup that sounded interesting to me, salads, sandwiches and a bevy of main entrees called "Her Majesty's Finest" which included Wellington Sliders - three small beef Wellington pastry puffs served with garlic mashed potatoes and Guinness beer gravy; Pasties - two puff pastry shells filled with ground beef with rutabagas and onions; Bangers and Mash - two pork sausages served with the Guinness gravy and garlic mashed potatoes; and a Shepherd's Pie - ground beef, carrots, onions and celery topped with garlic mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese. The beef Wellington pastry puffs sounded very interesting to me.
They also had a hot beef or hot turkey sandwich that was paired with garlic mashed potatoes and topped off with the Guinness gravy. That actually sounded good to me - after a week of travel and eating all different types of food, some comfort food would have been welcome at that point. They also had a London Broil sandwich featuring thin slices of steak on a French bread bun with your choice of two toppings that included sauteed mushrooms, sauteed onions and peppers, horseradish sauce, and jalapenos. One other interesting sandwich was the Messy Jessy - pulled pieces of turkey topped with a homemade barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese and your choice of either pickles or jalapenos. But, nope, I was there for a burger.
And their burger menu was rather interesting, as well. You can get a regular hamburger or a turkey burger and build your own by adding cheese, veggies, bacon, etc. But they also had a number of "signature" burgers including the "Klaus" - a burger with sauteed onions, jalapenos, bacon and cheddar cheese (jalapenos were very prevalent on many items on Three Lyons menu); the "Helle" - topped with, once again, jalapenos, bacon, pepperjack cheese and then sprinkled with the hot Chinese Sriracha sauce; the "Reu-burger" which wasn't a burger at all, but featured grilled corned beef and sauerkraut with Swiss cheese and 1000 Island dressing. They had a blue cheese/bacon burger, a burger with American cheese and barbecue sauce, and a patty melt burger.
But the burger that caught my eye was the Mushroom Swiss cheese burger. When the bartender asked me what I wanted to order, that's what I told her I wanted. Except I also asked if I could get some bacon on the burger, as well. For a dollar upcharge, she said it would be no problem. Kettle potato chips come with the sandwich, but she told me for a small upcharge I could get a side of fries with a side of the Guinness gravy. I quickly signed up for that.
It wasn't that long of a wait for the burger and fries to come out. The burger patty was covered with Swiss cheese and an ample amount of mushrooms - canned, not fresh - and sat on the bacon. The bun was big and fluffy, but it was a little dry and didn't really add much to the overall taste of the burger. While the burger was good, I couldn't call it outstanding. The bacon, cheese and mushrooms helped zip up the taste of the beef which was average, at best.
The fries were also average, but the Guinness gravy was worth the price of admission. Thick, savory and flavorful, it was better than dipping the fries in ketchup. I even dipped the burger in the gravy for a couple bites. The Guinness gravy was outstanding.
While the burger at Three Lyons was all right, I don't know if it was better than the one I had last year just down the street at JL Beers. It seemed to be a bit more flavorful, but still not one that I'd deem as excellent. But for pub fare, the burger was fine. As was the service from my bartender. Three Lyons Pub is a nice little place with a pretty good - but not outstanding - burger. If I were to make it back at some point, I'd want to try some of their more traditional English fare.
A new Neapolitan-style pizza place opened in the Quad Cities earlier this year - Crust Stone Oven Pizza over in Bettendorf. They had a soft opening in May with a grand opening in early July. My wife and I were both very intrigued by this place as it sounded like it was an upscale, gourmet pizza place - something that probably won't go over well with the vast majority of Quad Citians whose pizza preferences are 180 degrees out of kilter as to what real pizza is all about. On a recent Monday evening - our weekly date night - we decided to take a trip to Bettendorf and try a pizza at Crust.
Crust is the brain child of Quad City developer Mark Roemer and chef/managing partner Brian Olsen. Roemer is no stranger to the restaurant business in the Quad Cities. He once owned the Startling Line in downtown Davenport - then Brady Street Pub - then he opened and co-owned Harrington's Pub in Bettendorf. He also owned the Jimmy John's sandwich shop located next to Harrington's, as well as a Jimmy John's location over in Moline. In 2008, he opened the popular Pints bar on Utica Ridge Road in Northeast Davenport. He subsequently sold his interest in Harrington's Pub and opened Pints locations in Iowa City and Elmhurst, IL.
Roemer recruited Olsen to work with him at Crust. Olsen is the former chef at the upscale Red Crow Grille, just across the street from Crust's location on 53rd Street in Bettendorf (see map). Roemer bought what was the old Country Style ice cream/Hawaiian Style coffee shop on 53rd Street, then eventually it turned into a restaurant called Seeds that didn't last long. The place has ample parking to the west of the building.
It was about 7 p.m. when we got into Crust. We were greeted by a young hostess who took us into the main dining room to the right. (It had rained heavily about an hour before and even though it had cleared off and was a pleasant evening, they had the outdoor seating area closed.) The combination of the tin ceiling, wooden floors, and wooden walls adorned with old time pictures of Italy made for a rather echo-y and loud sound environment. A number of flat screen televisions sort of dressed down the dining area. The room was about half full when we were there and we were having trouble hearing one another from across the table. I can almost imagine how loud the place is when it's packed - and I understand that it has been packed many times during its first few months of business.
The bar area is to the left as you come in. It features a nice dark walnut bar that seats about a dozen people, along with a number of high tables and booths. The decor is similar to the dining room with the same tin-tiled ceiling, wooden floor and walls, with pictures and flat screen televisions on the walls. But the focal point of this area is the large oven in the corner.
The stainless-steel clad oven is part of the pizza prep area at Crust. They had two prep chefs and a pizza chef working the area the night we were in. The oven has a domed temperature of 900 degrees (F) with a hearth temperature of 625 to 720 degrees (F). Even though it is gas-fired, the stone oven design mimics the heating qualities of a wood-fired oven. They hand form the thin-crust pizzas at Crust - no rolling pins or pizza presses. And in order to be considered Neapolitan-style, the pizza must cook in no more than 90 seconds. I could really feel the heat of the oven just 15 feet away from it when I took this picture.
We were seated at a table in the middle of the dining room. Our server for the evening, Ryan, greeted us. OK, I have a disclosure I need to make on this one. Ryan was the son of the late wife of my good friend who owns Creekside Bar and Grill. Ryan was one of the cooks at Creekside who came up with some pretty good sandwich combinations while he was there. (Click here to read about his delicious "Two-Tone Sandwich".) Before his mom passed away earlier this year, Ryan decided he wanted to get out from behind the bar and away from the grill and became one of the first waiters hired by Roemer and Olsen at Crust. I had seen Ryan on a handful of occasions since he had been hired at Crust and we talked about the pizza there. He had filled me in on the style of pizza and what the restaurant was like before we went. He did a good job of selling us as we were eager to give the place a try.
Ryan playfully played it up as if we were just other customers that he didn't know coming in off the street. He asked if it was our first time to Crust. Why, yes, young man! It certainly is! He then pointed out a card that was on the table that explained what Crust Stone Oven Pizza was all about. And it was in deep detail because this was definitely not Quad Cities-style pizza and it needed to be explained.
The card talked about how they prepare and serve a traditional Neapolitan-style pizza at Crust. They adhere to strict guidelines set out by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (they had it wrongly spelled as "Vera" on the info card), a world-wide organization that trains and certifies chefs and restaurants for Neapolitan-style pizza. The flour they use for their homemade pizza dough is a "00" quality - superfine, that is - wheat flour from the Antimo Caputo flour mill in Naples, Italy, one of the most highly regarded flour mills in the world for pizza dough. They don't use any blends with the dough, and use only fresh yeast, water and salt when they make it daily.
The high heat of the oven gives the crust a light and airy texture, with a slightly charred top and bottom to the crust. The description card also said that Neapolitan-style pizza is also designed to be somewhat "soupy" in the middle. That's caused from the moisture of the fresh sliced (not grated, shredded or processed) mozzarella, the thin pizza sauce, and the 90 second baking time.
Speaking of the pizza sauce, Crust uses San Marzano plum tomatoes that are imported from the Mount Vesuvius region above Naples in Italy. I've bought San Marzano canned plum tomatoes in the past for my homemade marinara sauce and they are very good. A little bit of tomato paste is added to the San Marzano tomatoes to give the pizza sauce at Crust a little sweeter taste. But other than that, you get the fresh taste of the tomatoes in the sauce.
After looking through the information card, we picked up the menu to look it over. In addition to Neapolitan-style pizzas, Crust also featured a number of unique appetizers such as grilled asparagus, house marinated olives and something called 312 Beer Battered White Cheese Curds - cheese curds covered in a beer batter made from Goose Island Brewery's 312 Urban Wheat Beer. For people who were just looking for sandwiches, they also had a black angus burger, as well as a grilled chicken homemade pita.
They had a number of specialty pizzas on the menu and the first thing that caught our eye was that they were not cheap. We've had Neapolitan-style pizzas before, and we know that because of how thin the crust is usually one person can easily eat a 10 to 12 inch pizza. While we weren't surprised on the cost of the pizza - $10 to $16 dollars depending on the toppings - it surprised one family who came in with their two children. Almost as soon as they sat down behind us, they got up and left. My wife told me, "The lady took a look at the menu and said to her husband, 'We can't afford this place!' " I'm sure they've had more than one episode like this at Crust since they've opened.
Ryan came back to take our drink order. They have a nice wine list - both by the glass and by the bottle - and a nice eclectic beer list, as well. My wife ordered a glass of the Kenwood Jack London cabernet ($11 bucks a glass - ouch!), and I ordered a Bell's Two-Hearted Ale. Ryan came back moments later and said, "I was afraid of this. We sold out of that over the weekend and we haven't gotten any more back in." He suggested a Founder's Ale Dirty Bastard beer and I told him I'd give it a try. "For two bucks more, I can put it in a big mug." I signed up for that.
When Ryan came back with the drinks, my wife had already made up her mind that she was getting the margherita pizza - fresh mozzarella and basil with the San Marzano tomato sauce. I saw that they made their own Italian sausage in house. Ryan said, "They grind up the pork butt in the back, add seasonings and make it in house. It's good."
I asked him if I could add anything to the Italian sausage pizza, like pepperoni and some of their wild mushrooms. He said, "Absolutely! In fact, the mushrooms we use are three different types of mushrooms." Interesting. Ryan told me that any pizza can have added toppings and that the Spinach calzone on the menu "is more or less a suggestion." He told me that you can build your own calzones with any of the toppings they offer on the menu. The only problem is that the menu A) doesn't have a list of toppings other than what is offered on the pizzas; and B) they don't tell you how much extra in price each topping will be.
Ryan then entered the orders on an iPod Touch embedded in a folder he was carrying. I'd seen this before at restaurants in the Chicago area and up in the Twin Cities, but never at a place in the Quad Cities. They were definitely high-tech at Crust. (The iPod Touch could also scan credit cards, as well.)
Because of the high cooking temperature, we knew it wouldn't take long to get our pizzas to the table. In fact, it was well less than 10 minutes from the time we ordered to the time a young lady brought our pizzas placed on large ceramic plates to the table.
My wife's margherita pizza (above left) had a pretty dark-edging around her crust. Large leaves of fresh basil were laying on the top of the slices of melted fresh mozzarella with the pizza sauce swirled in. It really was a good looking presentation for a pizza.
My pizza (above right) had an OK amount of toppings. There could have been more pepperoni and mushrooms on the pizza, but I was OK with it. The sausage was sort of chunky and ground at the same time - no doubt pleasing those who prefer the ground sausage style of Quad Cities-style pizza.
The pizza was certainly Neapolitan in style. The outer crust was light and had air pockets with a slightly charred taste to it. The inner crust was thin and a little limp - not soggy, but rather a sort of moist texture with a charred flour taste. Once again, I thought they skimped a little on the toppings, but I liked what I was eating.
One thing that I thought they needed to do at Crust was provide a little dish of the pizza/marinara sauce to dip the outer edges of the crust into. When Ryan came around to check on us, I suggested that to him. He said, "That really sounds like a great idea!" He left and soon came back with a small bowl of the sauce. Ryan said, "Here, try this. No charge." The crust in the sauce was a nice little touch. The fresh tomato taste with a hint of the tomato paste was wonderful. It was about as fresh of a tomato pizza sauce I've had on a pizza.
Ryan also said, "You know, real Naples style pizza isn't cut into pieces. People in Italy usually just pull off the bites like you would with a loaf of bread. Or some people just sort of fold it over like a calzone. But we decided that people around here wouldn't understand, so that's why we cut it into pieces." No, I'm sure they probably wouldn't. Just having this style of pizza in the Quad Cities was probably enough to make some people's head explode.
My wife thought her pizza was a little overcooked. She wasn't certain she liked the stone-charred taste of her pizza. She looked at the bottom of one of her pieces of pizza, then folded one of mine over to see if was the same. When she saw they were similar, she sort of shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'll eat it." It wasn't like it was completely burnt on the bottom. It did have dime to quarter-sized char spots on the bottom, but it was far from being totally burnt.
We traded pieces of pizza, even though my wife doesn't care for mushrooms (but she's getting better, especially if they're fresh). Her margherita pizza was pretty good as far as a margherita pizza goes. I asked her if the wood-fired margherita pizza over at Pagalo's Pizzain Milan, IL was better. She thought for a moment and said, "Yeah, I think I like that one better." The crust is thicker over at Pagalo's and I think she didn't like the charred taste at Crust.
Thanks to the thinness of the crust, we both easily polished off our two pizzas, but we'd clearly had enough. When Ryan came around to try to entice us into either a caramelized marshmellow pie with white chocolate and fresh raspberries, or a root beer float made with real vanilla bean ice cream, we had to pass. "Hey, I have to give it a shot," he explained. Suggestive selling at its best.
The bill at Crust was a little bit of a shocker - $48 bucks before tip. My wife's wine was the same price as her pizza. And my beer - at 8 bucks for a 20 oz. mug - was a little on the high end of my scale. The other thing was the hidden cost of the extra toppings - $2.50 each. My $12 Italian sausage pizza suddenly became $17 dollars. Now, I'm not saying that is all bad. The pizza was very, very good. Ryan's service was great, but I'm sure it's not just because we were there. We watched Ryan operate his other tables and his interaction with the other customers was just as smooth and friendly as if he knew all of them as well as he knew us. It's just that we know a lot of people in and around the Quad's are going to bad-mouth this place, primarily because of the style of the pizza and the price. We decided that Crust Stone Oven Pizza is one of those "special occasion" types of places where you only go there for birthdays, to impress a date, or for a business dinner. It's not a family restaurant, nor is it a neighborhood pizza joint. I'm just hoping the concept goes over well and they're able to get people in the Quad Cities realize this is about as authentic of a Neapolitan-style pizza you can get without having to go to Italy.
Update - Fall 2020 - Like many restaurants caught in the pandemic, Crust was forced to close its doors in early December. As I said in the blog post, Crust was sort of a special-occasion place for us as it did have a tendency to be on the higher end of the price spectrum when it came to the cost of dining there. But Crust had expanded into Chicago-style deep dish pizza and thin-crust tavern-style pizza over the years. Although expensive - which probably helped its demise - it was quite possibly our favorite place to get a pizza in the Quad Cities.
