Road Tips

Grumpy Troll - Mt. Horeb, WI

I was driving home from Madison recently and as I was passing the small town of Mount Horeb on U.S. Highway 151 I spied a sign for the Grumpy Troll, a brew pub in town that I've been to before, but it's been a long time - over 10 years - since I was last in there.  It was around 1:30 and I was sort of hungry, so I decided to stop in to get some food.  

Mount Horeb describes itself as the "Troll Capital of the World".  The Mount Horeb Trollway winds through the small southern Wisconsin town with trolls statues and signs along the roadway.  So when the Mount Horeb Pub and Brewery - which had opened in 1998 - changed its name to the Grumpy Troll Brew Pub four years later, they got in line with the local heritage and lore.

The original brewmaster at Mount Horeb/Grumpy Troll was a young man by the name of Mark Duchow.  Duchow got his start in the brewing business as a keg washer at the Water Street Brewing Co. in Milwaukee.  Duchow eventually made his way up the ladder to become the brewmaster at Water Street.  From there Duchow went to the Gray Brewing Co., then had a short stint at a small brewery in Oconomowoc.  When the owners of the Mount Horeb Pub and Brewery got ready to open, they hired Duchow as their brewmaster.  

Duchow worked for Mount Horeb Pub/Grumpy Troll for three years before going on a nomadic existence that took him to breweries/brew pubs in Iowa, Illinois, North Carolina and Texas.  In 2006, Doug Welshinger - a former Army helicopter pilot and a pilot with Northwest Airlines - bought the Grumpy Troll.  During a chance meeting with Duchow, he convinced the brewmaster to come back to Mount Horeb to run the brewery.  Within a couple years, Duchow came up with an award winning beer - the Baltic Porter - which won a gold medal at the 2008 World Beer Cup in Denver.  Duchow came up with a couple more award winning beers before leaving the Grumpy Troll in 2010 to become brewmaster and part-owner of Sweet Mullets brewpub in Oconomowoc.  

Welshinger then turned to a local brewer, Mark Knoebl, who parlayed a 1997 Midwest Homebrewer of the Year award into professional stints at New Glarus Brewing Co., Sand Creek Brewing Co., and City Brewing Co., the former Old Style brewery in LaCrosse.  Knoebl continued with the award winning brews and added more to the already deep list of beers offered at the Grumpy Troll.  Knoebl also studied at the Siebel Institute in Chicago, the oldest brewing school in the U.S.  

Toward the end of 2011, Doug Welshinger was looking to sell the business.  Annette Slocum was the brewpub's accountant and she was worried that a large corporation or an outside owner who didn't care about the people of Mount Horeb or the small brewpub would come in and snatch it up.  She convinced her husband Jack that they needed to buy the business and in March of 2012 the Slocum's bought the Grumpy Troll.  They kept the staff - including Knoebl - intact, but changed the menu slightly and gave the brew pub a much needed sprucing up with a fresh coat of paint throughout, revamping the restrooms and putting air conditioning in the kitchen.  

I found a parking spot on S. 2nd St. just up the way from the Grumpy Troll, just south of Main Street, a.k.a.  the Mount Horeb "Trollway".  (see map)  I entered the building and food a spot at the bar.  Actually, I was hoping that they had their pizza available for lunch, but the pizza oven doesn't start cranking out pies until 4 p.m. and the upstairs pizza parlor is closed during lunch hours through the week.  I was given a menu and I ordered up one of the Grumpy Trolls Over and Under Pale Ale.  

The building that houses the Grumpy Troll is nearly 100 years old.  The original location had been an ice house before the Mount Horeb Creamery and Cheese Co. built a large brick building on the spot.  Many of the dairy farmers in the area brought their cream via horse-drawn wagons.  Over the years, the company expanded and the creamery built a new building next door that allowed for the production of Swiss cheese.  As much as 15 tons of milk was processed by the creamery/cheese factory each day.  

In 1945, the building was purchased by another company who continued to manufacture cheese for over 40 years.  Once that business closed, the building sat empty for a number of years.  In 1996, the investors who started the Mount Horeb Pub and Brewery/Grumpy Troll started an extensive renovation of the building before opening for business two years later.  

I'd had the hankering for a pizza, but since it wasn't available during the lunch hours I had to look for something else.  I wasn't interested in getting a burger - I was "burgered out" on this trip.  They had a number of appetizers that looked good and even though I didn't want a burger, their burger menu looked interesting including a "build-your-own" burger that featured toppings such as jalapeños, grilled onions, applewood smoked bacon, gorgonzola crumbles and a fried egg along with Swiss, cheddar or pepper jack cheese.  Entrees included a Cajun-style blackened chicken over penne pasta, chicken pot pie, and fish tacos that were breaded and deep-fried instead of grilled.

Looking over the sandwich menu, the "Under-the-Bridge" reuben looked good.  They also had a number of wraps including an Italian wrap with turkey, ham and Genoa salami topped with banana peppers, lettuce, tomatoes and a zesty pesto mayo sauce all folded into a tomato basil soft shell tortilla.  And, of course, since it IS Wisconsin, the Grumpy Troll features a signature brat - Erik the Red Brat - that features a bratwurst from the Bavaria Sausage Co. in nearby Fitchburg that is cooked in the Grumpy Troll's Erik the Red lager beer, topped with a dijon mustard made with their Spetsnaz Stout beer, and served on a soft pretzel bun.  Sauerkraut - a must on a brat, in my book - is optional with the brat.  

I almost went with the brat, but decided upon the prime rib French dip sandwich.  For an upcharge, I got Swiss cheese and sautéed mushrooms on top.  The beef was sliced thin and piled high on a soft hoagie bun.  I had my choice of sides such as housemade chips, beer-battered fries, sweet potato tots and cole slaw, but I went with the waffle fries.  

There was a lot of roast beef on the sandwich.  The au jus sauce that accompanied the sandwich was not very salty - a welcome taste since most au jus that I encounter tastes like half a salt shaker was poured into the juice.  The hoagie bun was soft and flavorful, but the Swiss cheese and mushrooms were hardly discernible in taste.  It didn't matter, with the large amount of shaved roast beef on the sandwich, it was tasty enough.  The waffle fries were fine - a nice changed from regular fries.  But I only had four or five of them before I called it quits for the meal.  

And I enjoyed the Over and Under Pale Ale, as well.   It had a nice and distinct hoppy forward taste with a nice smooth ending.  The Over and Under Pale featured barley from Canada and hops from Slovenia, New Zealand and Glacier hops from the state of Washington.  It wasn't filling or too hoppy, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  

I'd really like to get back to get a pizza at the Grumpy Troll at some point.  But the prime rib French dip sandwich that I had was well above average in my book.  The pale ale was also very enjoyable and the overall atmosphere and service was of high quality.  Lunch or dinner, it would be tough to pass up a stop at the Grumpy Troll.  I'll just have to make sure it's not over 10 years to my next visit. 

Tacopocalypse - Des Moines

Probably the hottest place in terms of restaurant buzz in the Des Moines area over the past couple three years has been Tacopocalypse, a unique Mexican/Korean-fusion spot that livens up the basic taco with fillings such as lemongrass pork, bacon chorizo, and Korean Chicken.  Tacopocalypse's larger-than-life- owner Sam Auen is finally getting to do things in a restaurant his way.  So much has been written about Tacopocalypse over the past few years that I'm not certain I can add anything to say.  But I'm still gonna give it a try...

Sam Auen grew up in Denison, IA in west central Iowa.  He spent a lot of his early youth with his grandmother who was a devoted fan of chefs Julia Child and Jeff Smith (The Frugal Gourmet) and their shows on PBS.  By the age of 6, young Sam already had come up with his own pancake batter recipe.  By his teens, he was working in an Asian restaurant in Denison learning about the basic Korean foods that he employs in his food at Tacopocalypse.  

Pictured right - Sam Auen.  Photo courtesy Des Moines Register.

By 18, Auen - a self described punk rocker, metal-head and skateboard dude - had a kid and he decided that he needed to get some structure in his life.  He ended up joining the Army and was stationed in Tennessee for three years.  Auen once said that the Army got him ready for life working in a restaurant kitchen because he got yelled at all the time.   

After getting out of the Army, Auen's father died in the 90's and he went on a long road down drinking problems, drug abuse and a failed marriage.  He found himself working in - ironically - a Taco Bell restaurant when the bottom hit.  Pulling himself up, Auen worked his way through a series of restaurant jobs before he got hired to work in the kitchen in the contemporary Italian restaurant Cafe di Scala in Des Moines.  While working at Cafe di Scala, Auen signed on at the now closed Beggars Banquet, an old fashioned deli in downtown Des Moines.  Sam Auen caught the eye of many with his "outside-the-box" thinking with some of his food items, and also his tempestuous behavior in the kitchen.  

From Cafe di Scala and Beggars Banquet, Auen was hired by George Formaro to work in the kitchen at two of his places - Centro and Gateway Market.  Auen, who was a vegan at that time, took some of his ideas into the Centro Kitchen and Formaro let him run with it.  Auen showed Formaro that vegan food could be interesting and flavorful.  But one of the more interesting things about Auen - he never tasted non-vegan foods while he prepared them.  Formaro was incredulous when Auen told him that he never tasted the non-vegan food.  In fact, no one tasted the food as he prepared it.  But the flavors in the food he was preparing were simply outstanding to Formaro.  To this day, Formaro still is amazed the control of flavors that Auen displayed during his time at Centro.  

After a short stint at Zen, a sushi bar located in the lobby of the Kirkwood Hotel in downtown Des Moines that closed in early 2010, Auen decided to go the route of tacos and try some ideas that he had fusing Korean and Mexican food together.  He decided to try out some of his ideas at the Cumming Tap located in Cumming, a small town just south of Des Moines.  The Cumming Tap is a popular destination for bicyclists who use the Great Western bike trail between Des Moines and Cumming.  On Tuesday nights, Auen would set up shop and serve his tacos.  The tacos were outstanding and Auen gained a following for his Taco Tuesdays (which also garnered him a "cease and desist" letter from Taco John's).  

Auen set up shop on Saturday's at the Des Moines Farmers Market (click here to see the Road Tips entry on the Des Moines Farmers Market).  However, that didn't last more than a couple of years as Auen - always one to test the boundaries of not only food, but life itself - and the organizers didn't quite see eye-to-eye on matters.  From there, Auen entered an agreement to sell his tacos in the bar at the old Bombay Bicycle Club in suburban Clive.  When that place was sold and the new owners didn't want to renew the business relationship, Auen was more than ready to open his own place.  

He found a building on Des Moines Ave. on the north end of Des Moines' East Village. Success came in a big bang for Auen and he found that the little place was too confining - not only for him, but for his customers.  He then found a larger place about three blocks away in the heart of the East Village on East 5th Street (see map) and that's where he is today.  Tacopocalypse's success has given Auen a chance to branch out.  In April, Auen opened Krunkwich Ramen House in his old location on Des Moines Ave. (see map).  And I've heard that he is looking to open a pizza place somewhere in the East Village sometime this summer.  

I had just driven in from Minneapolis that day around 1:30 p.m. and had a 2 p.m. appointment with a dealer who was not far from Tacopocalypse.  I found a parking spot across the street and went into the restaurant housed in a nondescript building on E. 5th St.  The inside could be best described as being rather utilitarian with sort of a contemporary industrial vibe to the place.  It's comfortable, but not fancy or pretentious at all.  A smattering of young urban hipsters and business people were having lunch when I was there.  

The front counter is where you order your food that is made in the open kitchen off to the side.  The menu is on a board behind the counter.  They also have a "B.O.D." a.k.a. the Burrito of the Day at Tacopocalypse - that day's offering was a ginger chicken with fried potatoes.  It sounded interesting enough that I almost ordered that.  I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Sam Auen, but he wasn't there.  (When I told my dealer later on that I had lunch at Tacopocalypse, he asked if Sam was there.  I told him that I didn't see him, so my dealer said, "Sometimes you hear Sam and don't see him."  I didn't hear Sam either, so we surmised he probably wasn't there.) 

But I was there for the tacos and I wanted to try a couple different ones on my maiden trip to Tacopocalypse.  One of the items on the menu was a Bulgogi taco.  I'm not familiar in the least with Korean food and I had to ask the young girl behind the counter what Bulgogi was.  It's tender beef that is marinated in Bulgogi sauce - basically sesame, garlic and soy sauce - and then grilled. I came about *this* close to pulling the trigger on one of those until I saw the wasabi brisket.  Ooooo....  Wasabi and brisket - two of my favorite things in life!  I had to have one of those.  And if you're a regular reader of Road Tips, you know that I love pork carnitas.  Tacopocalypse has a braised pork taco that was just screaming for me to order it.  I figured that I could get a couple tacos and if I wanted a third one - probably the Bulgogi - I could go back and order one.

There's no alcoholic beverages served at Tacopocalypse, so don't think about even ordering a margarita or a Corona.  I ended up getting a water out of the dispenser and picked up a couple tubs of the hot sauce they have near the drink counter.  

The tacos weren't all that large and void of stuff that hides the taste of the meat.  The wasabi brisket had a wasabi sauce added to it and it had just enough of a spicy bite to grab your attention.  It was simply an exciting taste sensation.  The brisket was tender and flavorful on its own.  The soft corn tacos - made in-house - held together very well and gave the overall taste of the taco a fresh and authentic flavor.  

I didn't know how the braised pork taco was going to top the wasabi brisket taco, but it came close.  The marinade they use for the braised pork also gave it a bit of a spicy taste, but you still got the succulent flavor of the pork with each bite.  It, too, was an interesting taste.  But I would call the wasabi brisket taco the winner between the two.  

I had to get going to my appointment so I only had the two tacos, but that was more than enough for me.  I admire Sam Auen for his creativity and for taking Mexican food in a different direction.  (Or did he take Korean food in a different direction?) But, I have to say that I went away somewhat disappointed.  I mean, the tacos were tasty and interesting.  However, I had read so many write-ups on line over the past few years about how the tacos at Tacopocalypse were "end-of-the-world" great. I was led to believe they were by others who've been there before.  I thought they were very good and interesting, but not the best I've had.  But Tacopocalypse also left me somewhat intrigued enough with some of their other offerings - such as the Bulgogi taco - that I'll have to go back at some point. 

Kaufman's Deli - Skokie, IL

Less than a mile from one of my dealers in the north suburbs of Chicago is a deli that I've been wanting to go to since I was told that they have tremendously great pastrami on rye sandwiches.  However, when I went to get a sandwich there about three years ago, I found that they were closed due to a fire.  They reopened in the fall of 2012 and I finally made it there to try one of their sandwiches on a recent trip to Chicago.

Kaufman's Deli has been around for 60 years and the story of survival, perseverance, setbacks and success among the two families who have owned the place is worth telling. Maury Kaufman survived the Holocaust and concentration camps of Nazi Germany during World War II before emigrating to the U.S. in the late 40's.  He ended up in the Jewish neighborhoods of Skokie and opened up a small bagel shop that immediately garnered acclaim for their taste and quality.  Kaufman's Deli grew into a traditional Jewish deli and thrived for years before Maury Kaufman sold the place in 1984.   

Arnold Dworkin grew up as a baker's son in Chicago.  As a young boy, he would gather up bread crumbs, bag and weigh them.  After graduating high school, he got his undergraduate degree then got his law degree fulfilling his father's wish that the young Dworkin do something other than working in a bakery.  Arnold Dworkin worked as a legal aid in the army, but it turned out that baking was in his blood and he returned to the family business coming out of the service instead of practicing law.  The rye bread made in his family's Imperial Baking Co. was said to be the best in all of Chicago in the late 60's and early 70's.  

When Arnold Dworkin bought Kaufman's in 1984, he had his wife Judy and his daughter Bette helping him out in the kitchen.  Almost as soon as they got things up and going, a salmonella outbreak that was linked to corned beef at Kaufman's sickened 250 people.   Not long after, a second, but smaller salmonella outbreak that was linked to Kaufman's caused Dworkin to shut down the deli and do a thorough cleaning while replacing most of the equipment in the restaurant.  

Pictured right - Arnold, Bette and Judy Dworkin 

The salmonella setback didn't affect the perpetually gregarious and effervescent Arnold Dworkin.  Moving past the salmonella scare, the family reopened the business with the Skokie village manager and city health inspector two of the first patrons.  A year later Arnold Dworkin was awarded the Skokie Merchant of the Year.  

Arnold Dworkin died in December of 2009 and his daughter and wife continue to run the daily operations.  However, in 2011 a malfunctioning stove started a fire that severely damaged the delicatessen and forced the Dworkin's to close Kaufman's for nearly one year.  This allowed Judy and Bette Dworkin to completely rework the establishment into one large space instead of having the deli on one side of the building and the deli on the other side.  

Kaufman's is located just east of the Edens Expressway on Dempster Ave. (see map)  There's a parking lot on the east side of the building and there was ample parking as it was after the noontime lunch rush.  

Inside Kaufman's, there was a large open space that featured the deli along the east side and the bakery along the south side.  A number of tables with chairs were placed in the center of the room.  (Moments after I took the above picture, an older lady came out and asked me why I was taking pictures.  I'm guessing it was Judy Dworkin.  I didn't tell her that I was a blogger, but that I liked to take pictures of neat places I've been to for meals when I'm on the road.  She nodded knowingly and went back behind the counter.)

The deli side of the restaurant had a glass counter that was full of nothing but fish - hickory smoked salmon, smoked sturgeon, smoked lake trout and full whitefish.  They also had New York-style whitefish salad and Chicago-style whitefish salad - don't ask me the difference between the two.   

The bakery had glass counters full of cakes, cookies and pastries.  Loaves of bread were lined on shelves behind the counters as were their famous bagels.  The bakery was a popular place at Kaufman's with a lot of people milling about in front of the counter looking for baked items.  USA Today once named Kaufman's bakery as one of the Top 10 in the United States.

The menu was on the wall behind the deli counter.  As I said, I was just there to get a pastrami on rye with some Swiss cheese.  But they had pretty much about any type of deli sandwich that you can think of at Kaufman's.  They have four different grades of corned beef from extra lean to what they call "regular" corned beef depending upon the dietary restrictions of customers.  They also have three different types of pastrami - from in-house smoked veal pastrami to lean pastrami to regular pastrami.  I got regular pastrami.  Sides include Jewish favorites such as potato pancakes, lentil and knishes, they had over a dozen different types of soup, and they also had full dinners such as sweet and sour meatballs, stuffed cabbage and lamb stew.

The pastrami was sliced lean and piled high on Kaufman's famous rye bread and topped with thick slices of Swiss cheese and a squirt of yellow mustard.  It was placed in a paper bag and I went to the opposite side of the deli to pay for it at the register.  
After I picked up a bottle of water and went to pay for the sandwich, the young lady asked me if I was going to dine in the deli.  When I told her that I was, she handed me a small paper plate on which to put my sandwich.

The taste of the pastrami on rye was outstanding - exactly what I was looking for in a great Jewish-style deli sandwich.  The meat had a slightly salty taste, but had great texture and flavor.  The rye bread was equally outstanding.  I'm guessing it's the same rye bread that the Dworkin family has had since the days of the Imperial Baking Co.  

I can't believe that it had taken me that long to finally get into Kaufman's for a great pastrami on rye sandwich.  The sandwich was simply excellent.  There are some other deli's in the northern suburbs I'd like to try, but they'd be hard pressed to equal or surpass the sandwich I had at Kaufman's.  Because of it's location, it will probably become my "go-to" deli in the northern suburbs of Chicago.   

Charley's Steak House - Kissimmee, FL

One of the nights we were in the Orlando area for a small trade show, my colleague John wanted to go out for a big-assed steak.  Once again, he went to the concierge at the Marriott World Center and told him that we needed to go to someplace nice because I was a "top 10 most-read blogger on Urbanspoon (now Zomato)" (which he got correct this time).  The concierge suggested another Talk of the Town restaurant by the name of Charley's Steak House that wasn't far from the hotel.  He gave us directions and less than 10 minutes after we left we pulled up to Charley's Steak House in Kissimmee.  (see map)  

Like its brother restaurant - Johnnie's Hideaway - that we ate at earlier on this trip (click here to see the entry on Johnnie's Hideaway), Charley's Steak House features steaks and seafood in an elegant and comfortable setting.  The Kissimmee location (it's actually in Celebration, FL) was the first of the now three Charley Steak House locations.  It was formerly a Texas Cattle Company location - also owned by the Talk of the Town restaurant group - but it was renamed Charley's Steak House after Talk of the Town founder and CEO Charley Woodsby.  There is also a Charley's Steak House in nearby Orlando and another one over in Tampa.  

Entering the restaurant and checking in with the hostess, we couldn't miss the huge open pit grill up front.  Two chefs were manning the grill that cooks steaks to temperatures up to 1200 degrees (F) over a mix of Florida citrus and oak wood.  The smell of the cooking steaks - even with the heavy duty exhaust fan over the grill - was intoxicating for a couple of hungry guys like us.  

We were escorted by a hostess to a booth just over a wall from the grill area.  She dropped off a couple of dinner menus as well as a wine list.  Shortly thereafter, our server for the evening, a pleasant young man by the name of Talal, came over to greet us.  I started off the evening by ordering a glass of the Widmer Bros. Upheaval IPA.  

As John and I were settling in for the evening, one of the managers at Charley's Steak House, Beau Motley, came over to greet us.  He had with him a sample of their lobster bisque as a welcome to the restaurant.  I didn't notice him doing that for other patrons before or after he came over, so I asked John if he told them I was a blogger as he did with the hostess at Johnnie's Hideaway.  He said, "No, but I'm sure the concierge told them that when he made the reservations for us."  I sort of shook my head took a sip of the excellent lobster bisque.  John sort of chuckled and said, "I think you need an agent!"  

Talal came back with a platter of meat and to explain the cuts and steak preparation.  The steaks served at Charley's are either USDA prime or USDA choice cuts.  The steaks are aged 32 to 48 days by Charley's in-house aging room and cut daily by a manager.  They featured bone-in ribeyes, porterhouse cuts, filets, Kansas City strips and T-bone steaks.  They also feature lamb and pork chops, grilled chicken and, of course, fresh seafood such as swordfish, Chilean sea bass, ahi tuna, and a cedar plank roasted salmon.  

Our first item that we had that evening was an appetizer were the bacon-wrapped scallops that John first spied on the menu.  They were huge sushi-grade scallops wrapped in thick cut applewood smoked bacon and chargrilled.  They were served with Charley's housemade Jezebel sauce - it's a combination of orange marmalade in a light peppercorn sauce with a mixture of spices so secret that not even the individual restaurant managers for Charley's know the recipe.  All I have to say that it was spectacular with the scallops - which would have been outstanding without the Jezebel sauce.  We each had one and a half scallops and I told John, "If they would just keep bringing these out to us, I'd be happy."   

I got a wedge salad to go along with my meal that was topped with Maytag Blue Cheese crumbles in a blue cheese dressing.  I had to tell Talal that I grew up in Newton, IA and was sentenced as a fifth grader to visit the Maytag Dairy Farm to experience the horrid smell that goes into making their world famous blue cheese.  "I didn't eat blue cheese until I was about 30 years old," I told him.  The horrible smell of the process was burned into my olfactory glands for years and I couldn't even stand to look at blue cheese, let alone eat it.  But then a boss of mine years ago showed me that you take blue cheese crumbles and combine it with sweet red vinegar and oil on a salad and it makes for a winning combination.  Just like the crumbled blue cheese dressing that I had on the very good and very crisp wedge salad at Charley's.  

For dinner that evening, I ordered the USDA prime cut, 4 to 6 week aged bone-in ribeye.  I normally don't go for bone-in steaks, but the bone-in ribeye on the tray that Talal initially brought out looked enticing. I found the steak, however, to be just "OK".  I mean, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't spectacular in taste.  I guess I was expecting something more and maybe it's the Midwest steak snob coming out in me, but there was something lacking in taste.  However, it was thick, tender and juicy, and the cognac peppercorn sauce that I ordered on the side with the steak helped in the overall taste.  Also with my dinner, I was able to get a glass of the William Hill cabernet, a very meaty red that goes well with steaks.  

John ended up getting the Kansas City bone-in strip steak and he was more than effusive in his praise for the cut of meat and its taste.  It looked very good, too, and I sat there wishing I had gone with that.  He got his steak medium rare (as I did with my ribeye) and he was just going bonkers about how great his steak was.  I don't eat ribeyes that much and I thought I should have gone with something with less marbling as I normally do.  Still, I was happy enough with what I got.

We also got a couple of sides to go along with our steaks.  John picked out the potatoes au gratin and I got the sautéed mushrooms.  The mushrooms had a great fresh and earthy taste to them mixed in with the butter they were sautéed with.  But the potatoes au gratin were thick and cheesy with a crispy top of broiled bread crumbs that gave it a distinct taste.  The sides were both absolutely tasty.  

But they were also very rich.  And we both had some big chunks of meat that we made serious dents into.  John's bone-in K.C. strip was 22 ounces, my bone-in ribeye was similar in size.  We ate what we could, but had to throw in the towel.  When Talal asked if we had any room for dessert or an after dinner drink, we both moaned in mock distress.  There was no way we could each eat any dessert after that meal.

The manager came over to check on us one more time.  He asked how our steaks were.  As I said, I expected more out of my dry aged USDA prime bone-in ribeye.  It was good, but not the eye-watering ecstasy I was expecting from a steak like that.  I told him that I should have gotten the filet.  John was completely happy with his bone-in Kansas City strip and the bacon-wrapped scallops, my wedge salad and the sides we had were all outstanding.  And Talal's service was impeccable - the type of service you'd expect from a place like Charley's Steak House. It wasn't a cheap meal, but we'd had a good show and we were celebrating.  It was a great dining experience at Charley's Steak House.

Vintage Brewing Company - Madison, WI

It had a been a long day of travel in trying conditions thanks to a fierce Spring wind that was buffeting much of Wisconsin earlier this year.  When I finally got into my hotel on the west side of Madison I was tired and hungry.  Perusing through a local tourism magazine in my room, I saw a listing for the Vintage Brewing Company that was not far from my hotel.  One of my local dealers in Madison told me last fall that he really enjoyed both the beer selection and the food at Vintage Brewing Company and I decided to head over there that evening.  

Vintage Brewing Co. is located in a strip mall off Whitney Way in what was the former J.T. Whitney's brew pub that closed in March of 2009.  (See map)  (As an aside - at one point in time, a good friend of mine had a small stake in J.T. Whitney's, but he sold his share before they closed their doors.)  After J.T. Whitney's closed, Brittany and Trent Kraemer - who along with Trent's brother Mark owned Vintage Spirits and Grill in Madison - decided to take over the space to do their own variation of a brew pub.  With the help of friends, the trio remodeled the space and hired a culinary team headed by Andrew Hurst before opening in February 2010.  The Kraemer's also opened a small bar - The Woodshed in nearby Sauk City - in 2013 that features regional microbrews as well as some of the namesake Woodshed beers that are brewed at the Vintage Brewing Co.  

The Kraemer's fashioned the decor and furnishings at Vintage Brewing Co. as sort of a cross between a 50's-style Northwoods diner and a happenin' 60's urban hangout.  There's a lounge area near the bar that features naugahyde chairs and sofas with 60's-style lamps.  The bar area features a number of wood booths in subdued lighting.  

I was greeted by a young man at the host stand who asked me if I wanted to get a table in the dining area.  He guided me to the back area and when I noticed that the place was rather packed, I decided to look toward some seating at the bar.  I found a space at the bar and told him that I'd rather sit there and watch some Milwaukee Brewers baseball that was on the flat screen televisions hung around the bar area.  He dropped off a menu and I decided that I was ready for a beer.

One of the bartenders came over to greet me and I ordered up a Woodshed IPA, a house-brewed IPA from Vintage Brewing.  As he brought me the beer, he asked if he could get my credit card from me so he could start a tab.  I gave him my card and didn't think anything more about it.  

The menu at Vintage Brewing features a number of entrees including a bacon-crusted meat loaf, beer-battered cod, and yellowfin tuna steak served on a bed of black beans, sweet corn, rice and cilantro, then topped with a house-made coconut banana sauce and pineapple salsa, then finished with crunchy fried bananas and scallions.  That sounded like a lot of stuff going on with that dish.

Vintage Brewing Co. also features a number of sandwiches, burgers, wraps, and appetizers.  The brewpub is big on sourcing foods locally and they get their blended beef for their burgers from the venerable Knoche's Butcher Shop in Madison, artisan cheese from Saxon Creamery and Cedar Grove Cheese, and produce and from farmer-supported Fifth Season Cooperative.  A relative of the Kraemer's also raises most of the beef served in Vintage Brewing Co.  

Enjoying my Woodshed IPA, I figured out that I wanted to go the comfort food route that evening.  I decided upon Not Your Mama's Stroganoff - short beef ribs that are braised and pulled from the bone and placed in a stroganoff sauce with sliced mushrooms, onions, garlic, peas, Parmesan cheese and sour cream.  The stroganoff is served over egg noodles and then topped with a truffle oil.  I also got my choice of a side with it and I ordered up the spicy cole slaw.  That all sounded so good and I was ready to order.  

Except the guy who took my original beer order and placed my credit card at the cash register 20 minutes earlier had disappeared.  There was a flurry of activity behind the oblong-shaped bar and the handful of bartenders that passed in front of me acted like I wasn't even there. I tried to make eye contact with some of them, but they were too busy doing other things or completely ignoring me.  However, the bartenders weren't too busy to carry on conversations with a couple next to me - obviously they were regulars.  But it was getting kind of ridiculous.    

Finally, I had to get the attention of one of the other male bartenders and told him that I was ready to order.  He seemed sort of surprised and said, "Yeah, sure!  I can help you out!"  He had no idea that my card was already at the cash register as he asked if he could get my card to hold.  Once we got past the awkwardness, I ordered up my dinner and another Woodshed IPA.  

They bartender who took my order never came back the rest of the night.  My meal was brought out by another bartender who was having trouble figuring out who had ordered the stroganoff.  Service was a little less than desirable sitting at the bar that evening.

But the food more than made up for the choppiness of the service that evening.  The pulled beef was tender and very flavorful in the creamy rich stroganoff sauce.  The sliced mushrooms were fresh and had a great earthy taste in the sauce.  The quality of the flavor of the beef stroganoff was simply outstanding.  

But what got me was how great the spicy cole slaw tasted.  It was a creamy cole slaw that had a cool beginning followed by a fiery spiciness that just crept up and zapped my taste buds.  The spicy cole slaw was equally outstanding.  This was a meal that was an utter and complete spot-hitter.  

When I was ready to cash out, I had to get the attention of another bartender - this time a female bartender who tried to get me to order another beer.  I declined the offer and asked for my bill and credit card.   It took four different people to wait on me at Vintage Brewing Company, but the service was indifferent and somewhat uneven.  

Other than the rough service I encountered seated at the bar, the overall meal at Vintage Brewing Co. was very, very good.  I thought the Woodshed IPA was also good and went well with the meal.  The stroganoff was some of the best I've tasted and the spicy cole slaw was a very memorable side dish.  While the service was a bit of a downside to the overall experience, I would have no problem recommending Vintage Brewing Company for a good meal and good beer. 

Jasper's Cafe - Glenview, IL

I had an early morning meeting with a potential dealer who moved into a new location just off Waukegan Rd. in the far  northwest suburb of Glenview.  There's a number of restaurants up and down Waukegan that I've visited - and there are more that I would like to visit.  One of those places is a breakfast place called Jasper's Cafe.  After my meeting, I headed to Jasper's Cafe for some breakfast. 

Owner Chris Kappa opened Jasper's Cafe in April of 2011.  There evidently had been a Jasper's Cafe before, but not at this location.  Jasper's Cafe offers breakfast and lunch in a contemporary casual setting.  

It was around 9:15 when I got into Jasper's Cafe.  (see map)  Parking is plentiful in the back of the restaurant.  I was greeted by a young woman at the cash register/hostess stand (next to a large orange juicing machine) and shown to a table in the middle of the restaurant.  She got me a menu and said my server would be with me momentarily.  

The restaurant is comfortable and well lit with a line of windows facing the front of the restaurant.  Large booths with cloth padding line the wall along the windows.  Sturdy wooden tables and chairs are interspersed in the main dining room.  In the back of Jasper's Cafe, they feature a room for breakfast or lunch meetings or for large groups.  

The menu for breakfast consisted of a number of egg skillet dishes, omelets, French toast, regular and oven baked pancakes and crepes.  The lunch part of the menu was filled with burgers, sandwiches, salads, soups, and wraps.  They have an espresso bar at Jasper's Cafe and I started off with a double espresso to get me going after getting up so early for the meeting.  

I ended up ordering the blueberry crepes with a side of bacon for my breakfast.  I was sort of disheartened to see that it was served with blueberry compote as some that I've had in the past were basically nothing more than pie filling.  But the compote was actually very good - sweet with a hint of a lemon taste and a very forward blueberry flavor.  The blueberry compote was on both the top of the crepes and folded inside.  The crepes were light with a bit of a crispy texture.  I'll have to say they were outstanding crepes.

The bacon was also pretty good.  I'm not big on crispy bacon, but the bacon served at Jasper's Cafe was thick and they gave me four slices with breakfast.  Overall, this was a very good breakfast.

The service at Jasper's Cafe was efficient and it didn't take long for the food to get to me.  They have an extensive menu for breakfast items and although the baked pancakes were somewhat intriguing, I was more than happy with my blueberry crepes. They're open until 3:30 p.m. daily, so get there early and enjoy the food at Jasper's Cafe. 

A Little BBQ Joint - Independence, MO

I was traveling with a colleague in the Kansas City area recently and he wanted to try some good authentic KC-style barbecue.  We were on the east side of the metro area in Independence and a place that I'd heard about wasn't far from where we were.  We drove to a place called A Little BBQ Joint along U.S. Highway 24 in the heart of Independence, not far from the Harry S. Truman Library.  (see map)

Like many barbecue places, A Little BBQ Joint got its start in the backyard.  Don Bauer and his son Fabian are the owners of Glory Days Custom Shop, a company that restores classic cars.  In their spare time, the Bauers would do some barbecue in their backyard for family and friends.  Fabian was the main guy with the smoker, mentored by Ed "Fast Eddy" Maurin, a long-time championship pit master in the Kansas City area.  Fabian impressed enough people who eventually talked him into opening his own barbecue place in Independence.  

The Bauers opened A Little BBQ Joint in April of 2013.  Fabian Bauer installed a pellet smoker, one that was designed by "Fast Eddy" Maurin and marketed by Cookshack. On their first day they sold out of everything.  It got to a point that they were selling up to 500 pounds of brisket, 300 pounds of pork and 14 cases of ribs each week.  To help out in the restaurant, Fabian's sister Amy joined the family business, and he hired Nick Alonge as a pit master for the restaurant. 

The building that A Little BBQ Joint is housed in looks like it could have been an old repair shop at one point in time.  A large garage door faces the east side of the building.  The Bauers used their expertise in metal fabrication of classic cars to outfit the restaurant.  Car seats from classic cars are used in the booths, one of the bench seats up front for people waiting for tables to open or for "to-go" is from a 1967 Cadillac.  Forged into the bar is the front end of a 1965 Chevrolet Impala.  

The decor is fantastically creative.  The Bauers fabricated everything in the restaurant from the bar to the tables to much of the automotive-inspired decor.  Everything from old car doors to shop tools to the top of an old school bus are used inside and out of the building for functional, yet whimsical decorations.  Even if you weren't hungry, a stop for a beer and a look around at the decor would be worth it.  And I would be remiss in telling you that the men's restroom is one of the nicest - and most interesting - that I've encountered in a barbecue joint.  

We were seated at a table in the center of the restaurant during the noon lunch rush.  A lot of people were getting barbecue to go, but the restaurant was over half full on what was a beautiful Spring day in Kansas City.  Our server, Margo, came over with a couple menus.  She asked if we wanted anything to drink and my colleague spied that they had Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap.  How appropriate for a barbecue joint with a decided blue collar feel!  We both got a PBR while we looked through the menu.  

While the food offerings aren't overly extensive at A Little BBQ Joint, but there's enough of the staples of barbecue to appease most customers.  Ribs, pulled pork, brisket, burnt ends and chicken are the main attractions.  A number of sandwiches are available as well as a handful of appetizers such as onion rings, chicken tenders and chili cheese fries.  

It was Wednesday and the special that day was the bacon-wrapped smoked meatloaf for $8.99.  That's what my colleague ordered that came with two sides.  He got fries and potato salad for his sides.  And it was a thick slab of meat loaf, at that.  They definitely didn't skimp on the size of the meat loaf served at A Little BBQ Joint.  

I went with a two meat sampler plate with brisket and pulled pork.  I knew I wanted baked beans as my side, but I wasn't certain what I wanted for my second side.  The spicy cole slaw caught my eye and I asked Margo how it was.  "Oh, my gosh," she gushed.  "It's my favorite!"  I took her word for it and got the spicy cole slaw.

All the meats at A Little BBQ Joint are smoked without sauce.  But they provide three different sauces on the tables.  The Sweet Sister had a nice Kansas City-style thick and sweet taste to it.  The Mad Housewife sauce had a bit of a zippy taste with what seemed like the Sweet Sister base.  But the Mad Mother-in-Law was definitely an attention getter.  It snuck up on the back end with a definite spicy taste.  I mixed some of the combinations to test with the brisket and pulled pork.

I'm big on barbecue sauces, but if you aren't then you'll still like the brisket and the pulled pork at A Little BBQ Joint.  The brisket was thick sliced with a nice little smoked taste to the beef.  It was tender and cut easily with a fork.  It was excellent brisket.  The pulled pork was on par with the brisket.  Moist and flavorful, the pulled pork also had a distinct smoky flavor that was pleasant but not overpowering.  

The two sides didn't disappoint either.  The spicy slaw was, well, spicy!  I mean REALLY spicy, but in a very good way.   The sweetness of the slaw helped balance the overall spicy taste.  It was simply outstanding.  But I can't even begin to tell you about how much I liked the baked beans.  Normally, I have to add some sweet and spicy barbecue sauces to most baked beans that I get at other barbecue places.  But the baked beans they have at A Little BBQ Joint were an exception.  They had a sweet, somewhat spicy and nice smoky taste to them.  I did add a bit of the Mad Housewife sauce to the beans, but they didn't need the boost in taste or texture.  They were very, very good on their own.  

My colleague was more than happy with his smoked meat loaf.  He remarked that he was going to get some ribs, but he couldn't pass up the temptation of the smoked meat loaf.  And he was glad he went in that direction.  It did look good and I may have to go back there on a Wednesday at some point to give it a try.    

A Little BBQ Joint is certainly getting a following for diners on the east side of the Kansas City metro.  I've eaten at a number of outstanding barbecue places in the greater Kansas City area over the years and I'd have to put A Little BBQ Joint up there with some of the best.  The barbecue was outstanding and I can't say enough about the taste sensations of the spicy cole slaw and the baked beans.  The sauces they have were also very good.  Margo's friendly and efficient service just heightened the experience we had at A Little BBQ Joint.  Go for the food, linger for the decor and enjoy your visit to A Little BBQ Joint. 

San Diego

My wife and I recently celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.  We had planned on going to Hawaii on United Airlines and Hilton Honors points, but for the week of our anniversary the hotel we wanted to stay at was full and flights to and from the islands on points were all booked.  Now, if we wanted to go out the week before or the week after our anniversary week, we could have done it.  But my wife was adamant that she wanted to go somewhere nice for our significant anniversary.  We both had never been to San Diego before and there were actually some pretty reasonable fares out of Chicago, so we booked a week long vacation for Southern California.  

We had an early morning flight out of Chicago with a brief layover in Denver.  By the time we landed in San Diego it was only 9:10 a.m. - a full day was ahead of us.  By the time we got our bags, picked up the rental car and sat down for breakfast in La Jolla it was 10:30.  Sure, let's just jet out to San Diego to have breakfast.  

The weather during the week we were in Southern California was cooler and a bit more wet than usual.  I think we may have seen 70 degrees (F) on a thermometer once. We were there during the "May Gray - June Gloom" period where it's cloudy in the mornings before the sun burns off marine cloud layers around 11 a.m.  After that, brilliant sunshine was the norm for most of the week with temperatures in the mid-60's (F) for the most part.  But all week long we had a lot of people apologize to us for the cool weather.  My wife packed a lot of sleeveless tops, shorts and sandals, but realized after a couple days that she wasn't going to wear any of them.    

We spent just three days in San Diego proper - the other part of our vacation we spent up in Dana Point, about 60 miles north of San Diego (or right about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego), and in Carlsbad, about 30 miles north of San Diego.  Both are coastal communities with expansive beaches.  And we had hotels near the beach in both of those cities.  

Dana Point is one of my all-time favorite places to visit.  I first went there about 25 years ago on a manufacturers trip, then was back five years later for another manufacturers function.  More trips to Southern California for business found me in Dana Point in subsequent years and I thought if there was any place in the world I'd like to live other than Iowa, it would be in Dana Point.  The Dana Point Harbor is one of the more picturesque places I've ever seen.  When we were planning the details of our trip to San Diego, I insisted that we go up and spend a couple three days in Dana Point.  And we're glad we did.  

During our time in Dana Point, we took some time to make the short drive over to see the Mission at San Juan Capistrano.  We took a self-guided walking tour around the mission accompanied by a device that was sort of like a telephone where you punched in a number to listen to a narration of what you were looking at.  

The courtyard plaza of the mission featured a beautiful display of roses and flowering bushes.  Now, I love looking at flowers and I sort of found it more interesting to see the different colors and smell the fragrances in the courtyard than looking at some of the recreated rooms of the mission.   

The mission was founded in 1776 by a Franciscan order of Spanish Catholics.  The chapel shown below at the left is the oldest continually used building in California dating back to 1778.  The chapel is known as "Serra Chapel" after the Franciscan friar Junipero Serra who founded 9 missions from Baja California all the way up the coast to near the San Francisco Bay.   The ornate chapel was definitely a highlight in the tour with paintings, original woodwork and a quiet reverence.  

The mission also featured the ruins of the "Great Stone Church" that was modeled after some of the great churches of Europe.  Construction on the church began in 1797 and was work was completed in 1806.  A 6.5 magnitude earthquake in nearby San Diego in 1800 caused major cracks in the walls of the sandstone/limestone structure that were immediately fixed.  However, an 7.0 earthquake on Sunday morning December 8, 1812 toppled the bell tower and the roof of the church's chapel killing 40 local worshipers and causing extensive damage.   Services were moved to Serra's Chapel and were held there until the roof collapsed in 1891.  

The mission's bells were salvaged and built into stone wall for continued use.  The bells tolled for celebrations and for announcing the death of local residents.  Depending upon the age or sex of the person that died, a combination of bell rings would tell the community if an old woman or a young boy passed away.  

By the turn of the 20th century, the Mission at San Juan Capistrano had fallen into complete disrepair and dereliction.  In 1910, Father St. John O'Sullivan came to San Juan Capistrano to recuperate from a stroke and chronic tuberculosis.  He immediately saw the historical significance of the old mission and set about to repair the place one building at a time.  The first thing he did was to replace the roof of Serra Chapel, then he oversaw the systematic reconstruction of much of the mission over the next few years.  Although he wasn't expected to live much longer after he first came to the mission, Father O'Sullivan lived until 1933 and is buried in the cemetery garden near the Serra Chapel.  

Of course, one of the things I wanted to see were the famous Swallows of Capistrano.  The cliff swallows would begin to return to Capistrano in late February with the bulk of them coming in mid-March annually.  However, one thing that we learned while we were there - there aren't any swallows at the mission.  If you click on the picture to the left and look in the corners or under the apex of the roof you'll see the mud nests that swallows had built in the past.  There used to be hundreds of these nests at the mission but a combination of construction projects a number of years ago that destroyed many of the nests and urban encroachment around the mission has caused the swallows to nest elsewhere.  Attempts to coax the swallows back to the mission have failed so far - we heard mating calls of swallows that were being piped in via hidden speakers near the ruins of the Great Stone Church.  But while we were there we read about a plan to build plaster nests on a movable wall sometime within the next year.  Good luck with that...

 San Diego is one of the very few U.S. Cities that I have never been to, but always wanted to visit.  (San Antonio is another one - but I was just there last week for a business conference.)  We've always heard great things about the city from people who have either lived there or who have visited the area over the years.  The first thing we did was venture up and out to Point Loma and visit the Cabrillo National Monument.  The views of Coronado, San Diego Bay and down into Mexico were spectacular.  

We stayed in the historic Gaslamp Quarter, an entertainment/restaurant/hotel district in downtown San Diego.  The Gaslamp Quarter has had somewhat of a nefarious and sordid past.  In the late 19th and early 20th century, it was the home to a number of hard-edged saloons and bordellos.  By the 1960's, it featured a number of pornographic bookstores and theaters, massage parlors and businesses that catered to the sailors that were stationed at the nearby naval base.  However, in the early 1980's the city made a concerted effort to clean up the neighborhood restoring and preserving many of the buildings and redeveloping the area as an entertainment and civic destination.  It had a very vibrant feel to the area, especially at night.   

Just to the east of the Gaslamp Quarter was Petco Park, the home of the San Diego Padres.  It turned out that the Padres were going to be in town while we were there and we took in a game one evening.  (Look for an upcoming blog entry on Petco Park.) During the day and when the Padres aren't in town, the area beyond the right field fence is and urban park called the "Park at the Park".  A handful of people from nearby office buildings were enjoying lunch on the park's bleacher seats that overlooked Petco Park.  

And a trip to San Diego has to include a trip to the world renowned San Diego Zoo.  We were able to get a small discount on advance tickets from the concierge at our hotel and we went to the zoo early one morning.  First of all - if you ever plan on going, make sure you're in shape.  It's a fairly hilly property and I was very sore after walking around for nearly five hours - and I'm not certain that we saw everything the zoo had to offer.  Secondly, even though it was the middle of the week and school was still in session for most of the Southern California area, the place was just overrun with grade school aged - and younger - children.  Excited children.  Obnoxious children.  Inconsiderate children.  So, if you go on the weekend or through the summer, you can pretty much guarantee yourself that you'll have to put up with the kids, only more of them.   

The first thing we encountered after entering the zoo was a volunteer helper who gave us a map and gave us some tips of where to go and what to see.  The secret, he told us, is to go counter-clockwise around the zoo starting in the northeast corner.  But he also pointed out the more popular exhibits.

Popular exhibits that included the giant panda bears.  Pandas first came to the San Diego Zoo in 1987 on loan for about three months by the Chinese government.  In 1996, the zoo worked out an agreement with China to bring two giant pandas and their little pandas to San Diego on a permanent basis.  There are now three giant pandas at the zoo including this guy who was slumbering in the tree tops while a long line of people tried to catch glimpses of the bears.  

Bears are big - not only in size, but it popularity - at the San Diego Zoo.  The polar bear exhibit was one of the more popular places at the zoo.  It featured a large pool where the bears frolicked and cooled off.  It was feeding time when we were there and we caught this bear chomping on some lettuce that was thrown into the pool located on the other side of the glass of the viewing room at the polar bear exhibit.    

Baby animals were big news at the San Diego Zoo.  The baby giraffe pictured at the lower left was born less than 48 hours before our visit to the zoo.  A baby jaguar was born back in March, but we didn't see it when we went by the exhibit.  

   
There was also a baby gorilla at the zoo (above right).  This little guy - who has been clutching on to his mother since he was born last Dec. 26 - was a big hit with the crowd that particular day.  The 34-year-old mother gorilla - an endangered Western Lowland gorilla - gave birth to her little boy without human help.  But that was hardly surprising to zoo officials - this was the sixth baby she'd given birth to.  

Even the orangutans had a little gal who captivated onlookers with her adept skills at climbing and swinging on the ropes.  (Pictured left)  This little orangutan was just about 19 months old and was playful and rambunctious, much to the consternation of her mother who was trying to take a nap under a burlap blanket.   

"Koalafornia Dreaming" was a part of the newest exhibit at the San Diego Zoo, Australian Outback.  The koala bears that were on display at the zoo were part of the largest colony outside of Australia.  Since the koalas only feed on eucalyptus leaves, the San Diego Zoo had their own patch of eucalyptus trees on-site.  In fact, many of the indigenous foods they feed to many of their exotic animals are grown on-site.  

And there were two brown grizzly bears at the zoo that we stopped and watched for about 15 minutes.  These two brothers - Scout and Montana - were born in Idaho, just outside of Yellowstone Park and were transferred to the San Diego Zoo about 8 years ago after their mother began to teach them how to forage food in human-occupied areas of the park.  A volunteer was on hand to talk about the two bears and he said that imprinting the young bears at an early age was dangerous, not only for people, but for the bears who wouldn't know how to properly forage for food in the wild.  Although the volunteer didn't say, I'm certain the mother was probably "dispatched".  (I've seen nature shows on television where adult bears showing similar proclivities had to be euthanized.)  The two young cubs were sent to San Diego and set up in their own environment where they continue to live and play together.  

After our time at the zoo, we explored parts of Balboa Park located next to the San Diego Zoo.  (Actually, the zoo is located in Balboa Park.)   The 1200 acre tract of land was placed into reserve as a public recreational area 180 years ago making it one of the oldest parks in the U.S.  Ornate buildings, museums and green space are the core of Balboa Park, but we found an area that really grabbed our attention.  It was the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden.  

One of our combined hobbies at our home is gardening and we are the proud owners of over two dozen rose bushes of different varieties and colors.  When we encounter rose gardens in our travels, we always stop to "smell the roses", so to speak, and to get ideas for possible bushes to plant in the future.  The rose garden at Balboa Park gave us a ton of ideas.  The three acre tract features 1600 rose bushes with 130 different varieties of roses.  It was simply stunning to see - even if we didn't have rose bushes at our home, it would have been worth the time we had looking over the garden.  

For the final part of our trip, we spent some time in Carlsbad, CA, about 30 miles north of San Diego.  We spent our nights at a Hilton Garden Inn just across the highway from a bluff that looked down on a long and wide beach.  During check in, the manager asked what brought us to Carlsbad and I told him that it was kind of a vacation/anniversary celebration.  He asked what year it was and I told him that it was number 20 for us.  After coming back from dinner that evening - my wife's first In-N-Out burger experience - there was an ice-filled bucket with a bottle of champagne and a couple of champagne glasses sitting outside our door.  A nice little note accompanied the little surprise thanking us for staying at the hotel and a congratulations for 20 years of marriage.  I called the manager and thanked him for the very unexpected and very unnecessary gift, but my wife and I were both touched by the gesture.  

Upon the long ago suggestion of a friend of mine, we spent a day in the Temecula Valley wine country.  Located just east of the city of Temecula about an hours drive from Carlsbad (see map), the area is the home to around 30 wineries and growers.  We were told that the topography of the area - which funnels cool moist Pacific air into the valley - is a perfect place for hardy grapes to be grown for bold and robust wines.  The wines that are available from Temecula Valley wineries are some of the most underrated - and unknown - in America.  It was a cool and somewhat rainy day in the valley - they were happy they were getting rain considering California is in the throes of an epic drought.   

We visited a handful of wineries that day which included Calloway, Doffo, Cougar and Monte de Oro.  (A couple three smaller wineries we tried to visit were closed and only open during weekends.)  Our first stop was at the Calloway Winery and Vineyards.  I had heard about Calloway wines - even though they aren't sold in stores.  The founder of the winery - Ely Calloway - is probably more well known for his golf equipment than his wines.  Calloway was in the textiles industry when a love for wine led him to Temecula in the late 60's and a meeting with horticulturist John Moramarco.  Moramarco felt that the Temecula Valley had the right combination of a 1600-foot plateau, moist climate and the sun that shined through the misty clouds to grow robust grape vines.  Calloway and Moromarco first planted grape vines in 1969 and within four years Calloway retired from the textiles industry to focus solely on the winery.  The success of the winery showed skeptics that quality grapes could be grown in Southern California and spawned a growing industry in the valley.  

After selling the winery in 1981, Calloway then invested into a small golf equipment company in nearby Palm Springs.  He eventually took over full ownership of the company which became Calloway Golf.  Calloway moved the company to Carlsbad and his "Big Bertha" driver became a worldwide sensation.  Calloway died of pancreatic cancer in 2001.  By the way - the wines at Calloway, especially the bold reds, were very good.

The Doffo winery may have been the most unique of the wineries we visited.  Nestled on 15 acres at the far end of the Temecula Valley, Doffo had a small wine tasting room with an outdoor patio.  The view from the winery was one of the more stunning vistas in the valley, even on a dreary day.  (The above picture of the windmill in the vineyard was taken at Doffo.)   

Owner Marcelo Doffo - an Argentinian by birth whose grandfather had immigrated to Argentina from Italy - not only has a passion for wines, but for racing and collecting vintage motorcycles.  There were dozens of motorcycles on display around the outbuildings of the winery as well as the body of an Indy car racer and a vintage Lamborghini in a garage near the wine tasting room.  

Our stop at the Cougar winery was the last of the day (we were getting a little lit up from all the tastings) and we learned that this little family winery was the first in California to import and plant Italian Estate grape vines such as Lambrusca, Sangiovese, Sagrantino, and Aglianico.  They have expanded to include more Italian grape vines to supplement their signature wines.  The white wines we had at Cougar were very good, as well.  We took a quick look around the facility and found the barrel aging room that was part of a small dining area for the on-site gourmet delicatessen.  On some evenings, they have live music in the tasting room at Cougar.  

One of the funny things about our trip to the Temecula Valley wineries - at each place we visited they were trying to get us to sign up for their wine club.  We were sort of interested in some of the Calloway wines until we told one of the Calloway guys that we were from Iowa.  He looked at a list and found that they couldn't ship wine into the state.  Iowa law says that only a licensed wine carrier can only deliver wine into the state - and that ain't Fedex or the United States Postal Service.  To stem any attempt other wineries made to get us on their wine club list, we immediately told them we were from Iowa and we couldn't take part in their wonderful wine club offerings.  That worked.   

In a nutshell, that was our trip to San Diego and Southern California.  Oh, you'll read about many of the restaurants we went to including a trip to the Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, eating fish tacos in San Diego, and a quest to find what was called the best burger in California.  (It was a major disappointment.)  Other than the cool weather, it was a great trip and it was fun to go and do and see an area that we weren't overly familiar with.  I'm sure that we missed some places in San Diego that we needed to see, but we'll just have to save them for the next time we make it out to Southern California.  

Twisted Cork Bistro - Omaha

Out in Omaha calling on dealers during a recent trip, I decided to grab some lunch at a place that was recommended to me a year or so ago - Twisted Cork Bistro just off Pacific near I-680 on the city's west side.  (see map)  I learned that it was a restaurant that used locally grown preservative-free foods, offered no high-fructose corn syrup in any of their products, and procured fresh salmon from the highly regarded Trident Seafoods in the Seattle area.  I was on board with this place long before I went there.  

Darrell Auld and his wife Laura worked in a number of Seattle restaurants before they moved to Omaha in 2007 to be closer to her family.  Darrell was a chef and Laura did pastries and desserts.  Looking around Omaha, they decided that they needed to do something different than the regular steak-type fare that Omaha was famous for.  They came up with a concept of bringing the Pacific Northwest - complete with wines, beers, and fresh seafood - to Omaha, combining that idea with locally grown, farm fresh foods from growers in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa.  

Pictured right - Laura and Darrell Auld 

The Auld's opened Twisted Cork in March of 2008.  Darrell Auld sources his natural-raised grass-fed beef from Hollenbeck Farms in Elmwood, NE; their range-free chickens come from Plum Creek Farms in Burchard, NE; the natural cheese that Twisted Cork uses comes from Branched Oak Farm in Raymond, NE; and their fresh-baked buns and breads come from Le Quartier, an artisan bakery in Omaha.  Many of the wines they feature on their wine list come from Pacific Northwest vineyards and wineries in Washington and Oregon.  You'll also find a number of eclectic beers from not only local breweries from Nebraska and Iowa, but they also feature beers from breweries located in Colorado and Oregon.   

It was around 1:30 when I made it into Twisted Cork.  On the right as you come in is the bistro area of the restaurant.  It featured a handful of small tables and a selection of wines on display.  The bistro side was fairly  full, but there were a couple tables open on the tavern side of the restaurant.

I was greeted by Laura Auld who directed me to a table to along the south wall of the tavern area.  She left off a lunch menu and asked if I wanted anything to drink.  They had a number of beers on tap and I saw the distinctive Kona Longboard Lager tap handle.  "Ah! You have Kona Longboard on tap," I said to her.  

She said, "Oh, yeah.  We just got it in a couple months ago.  We're big on anything to do with Hawaii."  I explained to her that while I did like the Kona Big Wave better, I'd take the Longboard lager.  

The tavern side of Twisted Cork featured a small bar with a number of tables and chairs in the area.  A small cove featured a large picture of Seattle's Space Needle paying tribute to the Auld's former home city.  

The menu was interesting, to say the least.  They had a number of small plates that could be shared tapas-style including smoked salmon, seared shrimp, salmon poke and lahvosh - an Armenian-style flat bread that Twisted Cork topped with sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, artichokes, basil and three different types of cheese.  

The J.D.F. tacos were appealing to me - they were two blue corn tortillas filled with a miso-glazed salmon and topped with a bacon mayo, avocado aioli, pico de gallo and rice.   The Oregon tuna melt sounded good, as well.  It featured albacore tuna topped with a Whidbey Island sauce and white cheddar cheese and served on herbed ciabatta bread.  

To make matters worse, when Laura came over to see if I'd made up my mind she told me that they had just pulled the brisket out of the oven if I wanted either the brisket hash mixed with chopped gold potatoes, a horseradish quark cheese and topped with a fried egg; or the Bistro Reuben.  I had to take some more time to figure out what I wanted.  

I ended up getting what was initially recommended for me to try - the TC Burger.  Food Network called this the Number 1 burger in Nebraska and it featured beef from Hollenbeck Farm mixed with pork and special spices.  The burger patty was topped with melted white cheddar cheese, pickled red onions and sat on a slaw mixture.  The burger patty was served on a Le Quartier artisan bun.  Kettle chips and a blue-cheese slaw came with the burger.  

The first bite told me that this was an exquisite burger.  There were a lot of taste sensations going on - the beef/pork mixture gave the burger an interesting texture, but it was very flavorful.  The pickled red onions gave the burger a sort of a sweet taste.  The bun was spongy, but firm.  It was an excellent burger - one that it was worthy of the accolades that it has received.  

Laura Auld came over to check on me and asked me how the burger was.  I had a mouth full of a big bite when she asked and all I could do was give her a double "thumbs up".  It was a wonderful burger - as was the overall experience at the Twisted Cork Bistro.  The menu was impressively interesting with many items that I wouldn't mind coming back and trying in the future.  The beer list was equally impressive featuring a number of great beers from small local and regional breweries.  The decor and ambiance of the place was fresh and comfortable.  I've been looking for a more upscale bistro-style restaurant toward the west side of Omaha for awhile.  I think I may have found a new "go-to" place in the Twisted Cork. 

Florida's Fresh Grill - Cocoa Beach, FL

In Orlando for a small trade show earlier this year, my colleague John and I had packed up our gear and decided to drive over to the Atlantic coast to see if we could find a restaurant in Cocoa Beach that offered seaside dining.  When we got there, we found that there weren't a lot of places that were along the coast at all.  A couple of the places looked like fish shanties that served deep fried shrimp and seafood.  Wanting something a little nicer, we stopped into the Cocoa Beach Hilton hotel and asked the desk clerk where a great place to get some seafood in town would be.  After initially telling us that the restaurant in the hotel had some of the best seafood in town, I thanked her for the recommendation and then said, "No, we'd like to go to where the locals would go for good seafood."  She immediately pointed us to a very nearby restaurant by the name of Florida's Fresh Grill.  

For years, an old world Italian place by the name of Silvestri's occupied a space in a strip mall along Atlantic Ave. in Cocoa Beach.  After it closed a couple three years ago, local restaurateur Bill Walters - who is a managing partner in Bonefish Grill and Outback Steakhouse locations in the Merritt Island area - and his wife, Susan, leased the location to do their own non-franchised restaurant.  The Walters opened Florida's Fresh Grill in June of 2013 specializing in fresh caught seafood along with steaks, chicken dishes and what has turned out to be an off-the-chart burger.  More on that later on.

Florida's Fresh Grill is located in the Banana River Square strip mall in Cocoa Beach near a large Publix grocery store.  (See map)   The front of the restaurant is rather nondescript with a green awning and white columns underneath.  We went in and were quickly greeted by Susan Walters at the hostess stand.  The dining area was full at the time as were a number of tables near the square bar in the center of the restaurant.  She told us that we would be able to be seated in 20 to 30 minutes and asked if we'd like to sit at the bar.  

We took a couple seats at the bar and I ordered up a Florida Lager from the nearby Florida Beer Company in Cape Canaveral.  As we were waiting for our table, a lady seated next to me at the bar was served one of the Cravable Classic Burgers they have at Florida's Fresh Grill.    I said, "Oh, my God!  That looks great!"

She said, "Oh, it is.  They use ground brisket for the burgers here.  They are off-the-chart."  

I asked if I could take a picture of her burger for posterity.  She didn't mind in the least. I told her that I was all set to get seafood that night, but I would have loved to have tried the burger.  She said, "Yes, this is great.  But you guys need to try the Corvina fish special that they have tonight.  It's fabulous."  

While we waited for our table to come open, we sat and talked with the lady whose name was Alison and who was wintering in Florida.  She was from the Boston area and this was her first winter in Florida.  "My company went through a change a couple years ago," Alison told us.  "It turned out that I was on the road most of the time and didn't really need to come into the office in Boston all that much.  I sold my place in Boston and bought a place just over the border in New Hampshire for tax reasons.  I found that I could tele-commute from my home when I wasn't on the road."  

Alison said that she figured that she could live just about anywhere with the new set up in her company and she started to look around at other places to live.  She found a great deal on a condo for the winter months on the east coast of Florida and all she had to do was convince her boss that it was as cheap to fly out of Orlando - if not cheaper because of all the tourists flying in and out of the area in the winter.  "I left just after Thanksgiving and I'll go back to my place in New Hampshire the first of April."  Just in time for the Red Sox season to start, I pointed out.  "That's exactly the reason I'm going back when I am!"  

We marveled at the timing of Alison's decision to winter in Florida given the record snowfall they had in New England this year.  "Yeah, a lot of my co-workers in Boston aren't happy with me," she said between bites of the big burger.  "Or, I should say they're jealous."  

We were having a good time talking with Alison who - for vacations - has traveled to Africa multiple times.  John has been to Africa as a founder of a missionary group known as Water for South Sudan.  Listening to their tales of travel to Africa and the people they've met on their respective journeys made us lose complete sense of time.

I figured we had sat there for over an hour - I had three beers - when our bartender said, "Hey, did you guys have your name in for a table?  There's a bunch of tables open."  

John went over to talk to Susan Walters about our table and she said to him, "Oh, my gosh!  I called your name at least three times!  I figured you guys left."  We were seated at the bar not anymore than 20 feet from the hostess stand and we sure never heard our name being called.  But that was quite all right - the conversation we were having with Alison, the snowbird from Boston, was very entertaining.  

We were seated at a table near the bar and given menus as we sat down.  Our server, Chris, came over to greet us and made sure that we were OK with drinks.  He told us of a couple specials, one of which was the Corvina special in a lemon butter sauce with capers.  Garlic mashed potatoes came on the side.  Our new friend at the bar spoke about the special with so much conviction that we both couldn't say no to getting that.  

But first, we ordered up a couple appetizers.  John decided we should get some calamari - it was lightly breaded and flash-fried, then served with a house-made marinara sauce and a somewhat spicy - and very good - pepperoncini dipping sauce.  The calamari was an outstanding start.  

I had a hankering for shrimp and they had a wood-fired seasoned shrimp special appetizer that evening that sounded pretty good.  And it was better than pretty good, it was fabulous.  Plump shrimp were lightly grilled and seasoned with herbs, then served on a plate with a romaine lettuce leaf bed with scattered kernels of sweet corn.  A somewhat spicy sauce came with the shrimp.  Florida shrimp is always good and this was no exception.

Our entrees came to the table not long after we finished sharing our appetizers.  The Corvina filet was lightly grilled and topped with the lemon butter sauce that had a thicker consistency than I expected.  Capers were generously sprinkled on top of the fish.  A side of garlic mashed potatoes also came with our fish entree.  The fish - which is also known as a drum fish in other locales - was light, flaky and very tasty.  It was rich, but not overly filling.  The Corvina special was just that - special.  For a Midwestern boy who doesn't get a lot of seafood, this was a meal from heaven.  

Even though I was more than full after the appetizers and the Corvina fish dinner, I still needed to have a piece of Florida's Fresh Grill's key lime pie.  Hey, when in Florida you have to try the key lime pie at each place were you eat that offers it on the dessert menu.  The key lime pie this particular evening was very good.  It was sweet and sour in taste, a great graham cracker crust and it was very rich.  I think I ate about two-thirds of the pie before I threw in the fork.  I let John have the rest of it.  

Even though it wasn't on the coast looking out over water, I'd still give Florida's Fresh Grill high marks for their food, the ambiance and the service.  It was a memorable meal for both John and I considering we're both somewhat land-locked where we live and don't always get ultra-fresh seafood like they serve at Florida's Fresh Grill.  The conversation we had with Alison from New England was more than entertaining and it helped the fact that we didn't get back to our hotel over in Orlando until about 10:30 that evening.  But the hour trip over and back was definitely worth it.  It was as near of a seafood overload that I had on my visit to Florida. 

Rack House Kitchen and Tavern - Arlington Heights, IL

I was calling on an account in the far northwestern suburbs of Chicago on a recent visit there and it was past 7 p.m. when I left the dealer.  I was making my way back toward my hotel when I passed a place on Algonquin Road in Arlington Heights (see map) that piqued my interest.  I took a turn and headed back to try a place by the name of the Rack House.  

With a name like the Rack House, I figured that it was probably a barbecue joint.  I was partially correct - they do feature smoked meats in the restaurant.  But the focus of the sports bar/restaurant centers upon the number of food items they serve that are flavored with bourbon.  A "rackhouse" (also known as a "rickhouse") is a building where aging barrels are stored in whiskey making operations.  The Rack House has a long drink list that features "moonshine" drinks, bourbons, Irish whiskey, and single malt Scotch.  

But they also have an in-house Southern Pride smoker that allows them to smoke ribs, brisket, pork butt, chicken and sausage.  They also smoke chicken wings and salmon in the larger smoker.  The Rack House uses hard woods to smoke the meats allowing for a "low and slow" cooking technique.  

The Rack House opened in March of 2013 in what was a former Boston Blackie's location.  When the father-son owners of Boston Blackie's were indicted on a nearly $2 million bank fraud scheme in 2010, all of their Chicago-area restaurants closed up.  Partners Luke Johnson - who owned the LM Bistro in the trendy River North area of Chicago - and Matt Lewandowski - who owned the Trademark Tavern in Lombard - bought the building and renovated it into the Rack House.  They closed their respective eateries and concentrated on their new venture in Arlington Heights.  

It was around 7:30 when I got into the restaurant.  I was greeted by a hostess who asked if I wanted to eat in the bar area - filled with a lot of flat screen televisions and a lot of people - or in the dining room which was a little more laid back and rather quiet.  I went with the dining room.  And I'm glad I did.  I was escorted to a dining area that featured a gas fire place with a large flat screen television above the hearth that was tuned to a basketball game.  The hostess dropped off a menu and soon thereafter my server for the evening, Rachel, came to take my drink order.  I got a Lagunitas IPA, one of nearly two dozen beers they feature on tap  It was served to me in a pint-sized Mason jar.  

In addition to the barbecue items on the menu, the Rack House also features the normal sports bar/restaurant appetizers, a number of burgers, salads and wraps, and a number of sandwiches.  They also had a handful of entrees that included a ginger/soy-marinated skirt steak, apple cider-glazed pork chops, and a smoked beer-can chicken (available on a limited basis).  

I was leaning toward getting the "Over Easy" burger which consists of a burger patty topped with Swiss and cheddar cheese, strips of bacon, caramelized onions, a fried egg and finished with a whiskey BBQ sauce.  But I had been getting burnt out on burgers up to that point and I thought I needed something else.

That's when I saw that they had grilled fish tacos.  I'm a sucker for good grilled fish tacos (you know that if you're a regular reader of Road Tips) and the ones at the Rack House seemed promising.   The fish was seasoned with a blackening spice, then topped with shredded pepper jack cheese, garlic aioli sauce, and shredded cabbage and served in three soft flour taco shells.  A medley of tortilla chips came on the side, but those were mainly throw-aways - the fish tacos were actually pretty damned good.  The blackened seasoning gave the tacos a bit of a bite, but the garlic aioli was a great touch.  I usually make my fish tacos at home with a chipotle/mayo sauce that really gives it a bite.  But the garlic aioli may have turned my head in a different direction.  It was far from a heavy meal - something that I didn't need that evening.  It was simply a spot hitter. 

For taking a chance on a place that I just happened to spy as I was driving by, I can't say that I was disappointed in the Rack House.  Far from it - I liked the laid-back and welcoming atmosphere, Rachel's service was professional and efficient, and the blackened grilled fish tacos were very good.  I wasn't full, nor was I hungry after I finished my meal.  I would like to get back to try some of their barbecue at some point.  But for what I had this particular evening, I was very happy with what I got.  (Picture courtesy The Daily Herald)

BJ's Brewhouse - Kissimmee, FL

When we were down in the Orlando area for a trade show earlier this year, my colleague John and I had finished up the day and were looking for a place to lounge out and have a couple drinks and some food.  I found that there was a BJ's Brewhouse not far from the hotel and we decided to head there for dinner.  

This is not the first time I've been to a BJ's Brewhouse - the first time was when we were in Boulder on a day trip during a trade show in Denver about 8 years ago.  (Click here to see that entry.)   At that time, there were 66 BJ's Brewhouse locations in 11 states.  Today, there are 150 BJ's Brewhouse restaurants in 18 states.  

The first BJ's Brewhouse opened in Santa Ana, CA in 1978.  It all started when two men - Bill Cunningham and Michael Phillips - owners of a Burger King franchise in Southern California wanted to expand their franchise empire but were halted by the company who decreed that franchisees couldn't own multiple locations.  

Cunningham and Phillips then looked toward owning a pizza restaurant.  But not the typical Southern California pizza restaurant at that time where you had to wade through screaming kids, ordered your pizza at the counter and basically had to wait on yourself.   They wanted an upscale sit-down place with good Chicago style pizza, beer and good food.  

With only two years experience of running a Burger King, the men opened BJ's Chicago Pizzeria in Santa Ana, CA in 1978.  The place became an instant hit.  They eventually opened six BJ's in the area and business was booming.  For years, they garnered awards for having the best pizza in the Los Angeles area.  

In 1991, they turned to their accountants - Jerry Hennessy and Paul Motenko - to see how they could scale back their day-to-day involvement in the business.  This intrigued the two accountants who immediately agreed to take over running the six restaurants, even though they had absolutely no experience running a restaurant.     

Pictured right - Paul Motenko and Jerry Hennessy.  Photo courtesy Orange County Register.

Hennessy and Motenko went on an aggressive campaign to expand BJ's by expanding the number of restaurants, buying up other chains, adding brewpubs to the mix, and making franchises available to buy.  Motenko and Hennessy ended up buying out Cunningham and Phillips remaining shares of Chicago Pizza and Brewing, Inc. in 1995 and turning the existing locations into BJ's Brewhouse locations.  

Hennessy and Motenko left BJ's Brewhouse in 2008 handing the reigns over to Jerry Deitchle.  During the Deitchle's leadership, BJ's Brewhouse saw unprecedented growth in the number of franchises.  In 2012, restaurant industry trade magazines called BJ's Brewhouse one of the fastest growing specialty restaurants in the nation.  (Hennessy and Motenko subsequently opened a small chain of fast casual burger joints in Southern California called Stacked.  It was called the first restaurant where customers placed their orders via a table side iPad.)  

It was after 8 p.m. by the time we got into BJ's Brewhouse located in a shopping area on the north side W. Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee.  (See map)  We were seated in the dining area in a small booth.  We were given menus and our server for the evening came by to take our drink orders.  I got a Piranha Pale Ale, a house-brewed pale ale that I've had before during a previous visit to a BJ's Brewhouse.  (I later found that they had Kona Big Wave Golden Ale on tap.  I would have gotten that had I known they had it.  But the Piranha was very good in its own right.)  Industrial garage doors opened to an outdoor seating area.  

The contemporary and ornate bar area featured a load of colorfully back-lit bottles of display beers and liquor bottles.  A large flat screen television was featured in the middle of the back bar.  I would have had no problem bellying up to the bar at this BJ's Brewhouse.  

The menu at BJ's Brewhouse is large and varied.  There's the upper crust appetizers such as calimari, Thai shrimp lettuce wraps, chicken pot stickers and Mexican-style spring rolls, as well as the normal chicken wings, mozzarella sticks and potato skins.  Main entrees included Moroccan-spiced salmon, grilled pork chops, parmesan-encrusted chicken and an oven-roasted mahi mahi.  Sandwiches and burgers were also plentiful on the menu along with a number of salads.  BJ's Brewhouse also had steaks and pasta dishes on their menu. 

I saw something that piqued my interest on the menu - the mahi mahi grilled fish tacos.  The fish was topped with chipotle mayo and a spicy Santa Fe sauce, and finished with shredded cabbage, sliced carrots, sliced red onions and cilantro.  They also came with an avocado cream sauce and fire-roasted tomato salsa with tortilla chips on the side.  The fish tacos were very good.  They did them right by not putting any cheese on top of the fish and toppings.  The lightly grilled mahi mahi was flavorful and moist.  The combination of the chipotle mayo and the spicy sauce gave the tacos a nice kick in the taste.  

Being that BJ's Brewhouse started out as a pizza place nearly 40 years ago, they still have pizzas on the menu.  Their pizza includes deep-dish pizza selections in four sizes.  John ordered a small (9") BJ's Classic Combo that hit all my favorite toppings - sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms.  Sliced seasoned tomatoes also came as a topping with BJ's Classic Combo.  I had made quick work of my two fish tacos and John asked me if I wanted to have a piece of pizza.  I couldn't say no.  The pizza was good - not as good as some of the better deep-dish pizza places in Chicago that I like - but it was fine for what it was.

Everything was fine up to the end - our server forgot about us.  I could have used another beer, but he was nowhere to be found.  He didn't bring back our bill, either, when we were ready to leave.  John had to find another server to try to find our guy.  We finally got the bill - the only hiccup of the evening.

If you find a BJ's Brewhouse along the way, you can expect good food that is a notch up from a normal brewpub.  While none of the food seems to be outstanding, it's still worth a stop if you can't figure out what you want to have for lunch or dinner.  The beer they serve - both the ones they brew and the others they support - is very good.  I normally don't like chains, but BJ's Brewhouse sort of breaks the mold for a chain restaurant.

La Mie Bakery - Des Moines, IA

My wife and I went to Des Moines for a weekend getaway earlier this year and one of the places that she wanted to go to was La Mie, a bakery/eatery that I was familiar with, but had never been to before.  Actually, I was rather impressed that she knew about La Mie.  I'd been wanting to check the place out and we had the chance to do that for lunch when we got into Des Moines.  

The story of La Mie starts with two brothers - Steve and Joe Logsdon - who decided to get into the restaurant business together.  They opened an Italian restaurant - Basil's - in a food court in the Locust Mall food court in downtown Des Moines.  That venture went so well that they soon opened a new venture - Basil Prosperi - in the skywalk system.  

The partnership between the brothers came to an end in 2003 when Joe Logsdon broke away to start La Mie and Steve Logsdon started Lucca.  At first, La Mie was known for its artisan breads and pastries before getting into more of a deli/sandwich shop.  It was a destination for many looking for authentic croissants and quality fresh-baked bread.  

Behind the scenes at La Mie, Joe's wife Christina was doing little things such as running the restaurant's booth at the Des Moines Farmers Market and helping out in the restaurant from time to time.  Christina grew up in a family who liked to cook, but working in a restaurant was not on her list of things to do after she got her degree in textiles and clothing from Iowa State.  However, her professional career consisted of working in some retail stores and not in the design of clothing.  Feeling a little disjointed, Christina tried selling real estate for awhile before deciding to become a stay-at-home mom for the couple's children.  Pressed into duty by the success and growth of La Mie, Christina started to work at the restaurant in 2007 primarily running the front of the house.

Pictured right - Christina Logsdon.  Photo courtesy Des Moines Register.

After a couple of years working together, Joe and Christina were thinking what they could do to add value to La Mie while keeping the core of the business philosophy intact.  It was at that time when Christina decided to enroll in the highly acclaimed French Pastry School in Chicago to learn the art of baking.  One of the best - if not THE best - pastry schools in the U.S., Christine took a six month course to learn how to make cakes, sweet rolls, chocolates, tarts and what has turned into her signature dessert - macaroons.  The world class pastry chefs who Christina studied under taught her the meticulous style that transferred to her work of art desserts that she (along with an assistant) make daily at La Mie.   

It was a busy Saturday afternoon when we pulled up to the parking lot behind La Mie which is located in the Shops of Roosevelt strip mall along 42nd Street just north of the I-235 freeway.  (see map)  The narrow place was packed when we made our way to the front of the restaurant to stand in line to place our order.   

The menu for La Mie is located on a chalk board behind the front counter.  Ready-made sandwiches, sides and drinks were in the coolers up front.  On a table behind the front counter were a number of breads, pastries and baguettes.  I've heard that La Mie's croissants are fabulous and was looking to pick some up.  However, they were all gone from the table.  The croissants are usually the first thing to sell out at La Mie during the course of the day.  I thought I could maybe get a sandwich made with a croissant.

But it turned out that wasn't possible.  The only problem I had with La Mie's menu was that the sandwiches that you could order were as is - they won't let you pick your bread, pick a cheese, pick the meat, etc.  I'm sure it's to help speed up the process of ordering and making the sandwiches, but I felt that the menu was a little shallow and restrictive. 

I ended up getting a tuna salad sandwich mixed with nuts and raisins and served on a homemade focaccia bread.  It was fine, but I think it would have been even better on a croissant.  The tuna salad was all right - the nuts and the raisins gave it a different taste, but I was fine with what I got.  

Cindy ordered up the smoked salmon salad - a smoked salmon filet on top of fresh greens topped with a sliced hard-boiled egg and sliced red onions.  She was told that red wine vinaigrette would come with the salad, but when it was brought out to her it came with a small container with ranch dressing.  She said she was all right getting the different type of dressing, but did admit later on that she thought it would have tasted better with the red wine vinaigrette.   

We thought about getting some dessert to go, but the line was still about a dozen people deep by the time we finished.  We decided to deep-six the desserts and let someone who was waiting for a table to take ours.  

And my wife was happy with La Mie and that's all that counts.  Sure, it's an eclectic place with an interesting menu and it's tough to beat the fresh baked goods in the place.  Like I said, I thought the menu was a little shallow and unwavering.  Still, I was fine with what I got for lunch.  I didn't need much for lunch that day and the tuna salad/focaccia sandwich was good and filling.  I would like to get back at some point to buy some of their croissants, but it will have to be early in the day.