Road Tips

Antonio's Italian Ristorante - Elkhart, IN

I stayed in the Elkhart area on a recent trip out to Northwest Indiana and I was looking for Italian food that evening.  One of the ladies at the front desk at the hotel I was staying at was telling me of an old-world-style Italian restaurant in Elkhart.  "It's kind of a drive from here," she said.  "But if you've got the time, I think it's worth it."  She gave me the address to Antonio's Italian Ristorante on Goshen Ave. in Elkhart.  (see map)

Not knowing much more about the place other than the name and address, I found out after the fact that Antonio's Italian Ristorante has a somewhat interesting past.  It started with Antonio Cataldo, a native of Gerace in the Calabria region of far southern Italy.  Antonio came to the United States in 1962 and found work at Taylor Products, a factory in the Elkhart area.  In 1966 with his feet on the ground, he sent for his wife, his three sons and his two daughters to join him in Elkhart.  

In 1979, Antonio helped his middle son Bruno start his own restaurant - Bruno's Pizza.  The youngest Cataldo son, Paolo - also known as Paul - worked in the restaurant with his big brother for a time.  In the mid-90's, a fire destroyed much of the building that housed Bruno's Pizza.  A devastated Bruno Cataldo wanted to throw in the towel and sell the business, but his father wouldn't have anything to do with that.  The Cataldo's rebuilt the business with Paul taking over the restaurant and renaming it Antonio's, using many of the same family recipes that they brought over from Southern Italy in the early 60's.  Bruno wasn't down in the dumps for long and he went on to open a new Bruno's Pizza in Elkhart.

Pictured right - Paul Cataldo in his kitchen.  Picture courtesy Elkhart Truth.

It turns out that Paul and Bruno are also world class pizza makers.  Both brothers have competed in the World Pizza Championships as individuals, and Paul has been a member of the U.S. pizza team in the championships, as well.  Paul's focaccia crust deep-dish pizza was named the 38th best pizza in the world in the 2008 Championships in Italy, while a year before Bruno's thin-crust pizza with minimal cheese took 42nd place the year before.  Paul Cataldo continues to compete in pizza competitions as a member of the World Pizza Champions Team that competes at various events around the U.S. and in Italy.  Paul Cataldo recently garnered a third place finish with a thick-crust Sicilian-style gourmet pizza in this year's North American Pizza and Ice Cream Show that was part of the Mid-American Restaurant Expo held in Columbus, OH earlier this year.  

Had I known about Paul's prowess with pizza, I probably would have gone to Antonio's for that.  But I really wanted pasta with a rich tomato sauce that evening and that's what I had my heart set on when I pulled into Antonio's around 7:30 p.m.   Entering the restaurant I was greeted by a young lady at the hostess stand.  The dining room behind her was full of people when I walked in - a good sign, I thought.  The room was made up to look like a Southern Italy terrace with rustic style walls and wood slats with faux vines hanging from the ceiling.  It was a nice little room - too bad it was full.   

I ended up being seated in what was the bar area of Antonio's.  I'm guessing that the Italian-style dining room had been added on at some point as the bar was more worn than the dining room.  Still, it was a cozy enough place to have dinner.  I was given a table in the corner, handed a menu and was soon greeted by my server for the evening, a pleasant lady by the name of Diana.  

The entree listing on the menu at Antonio's was extensive.  They had a number of pasta dishes including pasta in a house-made vodka sauce that Paul is sort of famous for, seafood ravioli in an alfredo sauce, and a pasta pescatore that featured shrimp, scallops, crab meat, clams and mussels, all served with angel hair pasta and topped with a marinara sauce.  The entrees also included either chicken parmesan or chicken marsala dish, egg plant parmesan, a pan-seared Mediterranean sea bass, and a baked salmon in a lemon and herbed oil.  

I started out getting a glass of the William Hill Coastal Cabernet that I thought was nicely priced at $6 a glass.  And it was a healthy pour, at that.  Before my entree came out, I got a house salad with a basket of fresh baked bread.  The salad was topped with a housemade oil and vinegar dressing and featured fresh iceberg lettuce with sliced cucumbers, chopped carrots and a couple of cherry tomatoes.  The bread was warm and very tasty.  

I was sort of torn between a couple three things for my main entree.  I was looking at the spicy Italian sausage dish tossed with garlic, shallots, sun dried tomatoes and Kalamata olives in a cream sauce and served with flat pappardelle pasta noodles.  The lasagna - even with the lack of a description on the menu other than "family recipe" - was also appealing.  But I ended up getting the sausage saccottini in an arrabiatta sauce.  I didn't really know what it was, but Diana highly recommended it when I asked about it.  

And I was glad that I got it.   Saccottini is a type of ravioli, only smaller, that was stuffed with a housemade Italian sausage.  The arrabbiata sauce - arrabbiata translates into "angry" in Italian - was made with crushed tomatoes, garlic and red chili peppers cooked in olive oil.  It was slightly spicy to my taste buds and it was a very zippy dish.  The small sausage-filled saccottini pillows tasted great in the sauce.  With a bit of shredded mozzarella on the top, this was exactly the type of Italian meal I was looking for that evening.  

Along with the sausage saccotini in the arrabbiata sauce, I got one of Antonio's meatballs.  It was ground veal, beef, and pork mixed together with Italian seasonings and bread crumbs and it was very good.  The pasta in the slightly spicy sauce with the meat ball mixed in was excellent.  I was able to finish the whole dish and I wasn't full, nor was I still hungry.  The meal was a perfect spot hitter for me.   

Now I'm going to have to figure out how to make it back to Antonio's to try one of Paul Cataldo's famous pizzas.  If the pizza is better than the saccotini stuffed with housemade Italian sausage and served in the somewhat spicy arrabbiata sauce that I had, then it truly has to be world class pizza.  The service was good, the atmosphere was comforting and laid back, and the food was exactly what I hoped it would be.  And I felt it was a very good value, as well.  All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Antonio's Italian Ristorante.  

Barley and Rye Bistro - Moline, IL

We just celebrated our 21st anniversary recently and since it was in the middle of the week we decided to go to some place around the Quad Cities for dinner that evening.  A place that we've been wanting to try for quite awhile but have just never gotten around to going to is Barley & Rye Bistro over in Moline.  We made the trip across the river to downtown Moline on our anniversary evening.  

Actually, my wife went to Barley & Rye with a friend one evening not long after it opened because they heard they had a burger special on the menu.  It turned out the burger special was only available during the day.  I believe they ended up just getting a drink and going somewhere else for dinner.  But I'd heard enough good things about the place from friends, especially our friend Andrea who had eaten at Barley & Rye a number of times and couldn't stop raving about the place.  

Owner/chef Jared Linn is a native of the Quad Cities who got his start in the restaurant business at an early age.  He ended up heading to Boulder, CO to learn at the Culinary School of the Rockies - now known as the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.  From there, Linn worked at an auberge in Southern France.  (An auberge is the French equivalent of a "farm-to-fork" restaurant, only with supposedly tighter restrictions on the locally grown or sourced foods they serve.)  He would buy fresh produce at local markets on a daily basis for the restaurant and after his three-month externship in France he moved back to the U.S.  

Linn ended up back in the Quad Cities area and he worked at a handful of restaurants including the now-closed Symposium Cafe in Davenport, as well as working for the Wagner family at both The Blue Iguana  and at the somewhat upscale Steventon's, both out in Le Claire.  All along, Jared was looking to open his own place with a menu that focused on serving fresh ingredients that were raised and sourced locally.  In 2012, he heard about a developer who was taking a 100-year-old building in downtown Moline and turning the upstairs space into lofts while looking for a business to occupy the ground floor.  The building had been a furniture store for years, then it was an antique/small store mall for a number of years before becoming storage space for the building's then-owner since the late 1980's.  Working with the developer, Linn and his fiancee, Lauren, fashioned a restaurant on the site, and in November of 2013 - about a month after the Linn's were married - Barley & Rye opened their doors.  

Pictured at right - Jared Linn  (Photo courtesy Quad City Times)

The first two years of business for the Linn's has been successful, so much so that they were able to make another business leap a little over a year ago.  The Linn's acquired the former Belgian Village Drive-Thru that had closed a couple years earlier and put their baking operation into the building.  Lauren Linn said that all along their goal was to bake their own breads, croissants, rolls and pastries, and space was becoming an issue in the kitchen at the Barley & Rye.  The opportunity to take over the old drive-thru was one they couldn't pass up, given that the original ovens and much of the bread baking equipment from the Belgian Village was still in the building.  The bakery - which features 16 different types of breads - has a sit down area where people can enjoy rolls and pastries with coffee, and they also supply a handful of other coffee houses around the Quad Cities with pastries.  While Lauren Linn oversees the bakery, the head baker is Derek Wing, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu culinary academy.   

After parking in the lot on the west side of the building, we went into the front door of Barley & Rye on W. 5th Street in downtown Moline.  (see map)  We had made dinner reservations for 7 p.m. because we had been told that even through the week Barley & Rye could be difficult to get into.  But it turned out that the restaurant was - maybe - 1/3 full that evening and we would have been able to easily get seated right away without reservations.  

We were seated at a corner table near the bar.  Barn-board paneling was on the walls throughout the place.  Reclaimed glass bottles - they looked like they varied from old milk bottles, old wine bottles and old glass jugs - were used as lighting fixtures with Edison light bulbs inside them.  The bar was stocked with over 100 different varieties of bourbons and whiskies - a passion of sorts for Jared Linn.  

Along one wall of the restaurant is a wonderful mural by local artist Blake Ross.  The mural depicts Linn's hometown of Moline with local landmarks and family members incorporated into the painting.  The police officer directing traffic in the mural is a nod to Linn's father, Randy, who was a longtime cop.  

We were greeted by our server for the evening, Travis, a young guy who was energetic, but seemed a little rough around the edges when it came to experience.  Not so much in his mannerisms, but in that he seemed to be rushing us from right off the bat.  We did get him calmed down enough to get a couple of drinks for us - I took a Goose Island Green Line pale ale that they had on tap and Cindy got an amaretto sour.   After two Goose Island Green Line pale ales, I ordered a third one when my entree was delivered to the table.  But I was told that they had drained the keg and I ended up getting an American Pale Ale they were trying out.  I believe it was from the BrickStone brewery in Bourbonnais, IL.  It was all right.   

The food served at Barley & Rye is all sourced locally, or as locally as they can get it.  The menu changes invariably due to the availability of the meats, fish and produce.  On one of the two blackboards on the wall near the bar is a list of local farms and butcher shops that Barley & Rye sources their food from.  All the farms are within a 20 to 30 mile drive from the restaurant and Jared Linn has a relationship with each of the farmers and butchers assuring that he knows the quality of the products he's buying.  We recognized a number of the farms listed from the Downtown Davenport Farmers Market that we go to weekly in the summertime.   

Looking through the dinner menu that evening, we found a number of interesting items to choose from.  Main entrees included a grass fed ribeye steak, pan-seared trout, buttermilk-battered fried chicken, and a number of sandwiches that included a smoked pork and Cajun sausage Cuban sandwich, a muffuletta sandwich, and a smoked bacon ground steak burger that was topped with a fried egg and a poutine topping that featured whisky marinated cheese curds mixed with Boetje's mustard.  Now, THAT sounded awesome, but I was looking for something a little more than a burger that night.    

We started off with the fried calamari appetizer that was, well, interesting.  It featured calamari mixed in with Italian ham, pepperoncinis, chopped olives and tomatoes, topped with feta cheese and drizzled with a thick balsamic vinegar.  This was not your typical deep-fried calamari served at an old-style Italian restaurant.  There were a lot of tastes going on with the appetizer.  We think we liked it, once we got past the notion that this wasn't like any calamari that we'd gotten in the past.

Along with the calamari, we were served some of the bread that Barley & Rye bakes up the hill in Moline.  One was sort of a gingerbread spice bread, the other type was a cranberry bread.  The bread was served with some olive oil and it was very good.   

For salads, we both got a mixed greens plate that came with a tomato wedge, shaved radishes and julienne carrots.  And they also came with the largest croutons I've ever seen on a salad.  Half the plate had these enormous croutons fully covering the greens.  

Cindy got the zesty vinaigrette dressing with her salad and I got the creamy black pepper dressing with mine.  The salads were crisp and fresh, and while I liked the dressing I got, the vinaigrette dressing that Cindy had was outstanding.  I dipped a couple of my croutons into her dressing savoring the taste of the dressing with the house-made croutons.  

I was at a complete loss as to what to get for dinner that evening.  I didn't really want to get a steak, but I didn't want just chicken or sandwich.  I ended up going for the smoked brisket.  It was served in a house-made barbecue sauce and was mixed with fried jalapeños and feta cheese.  A side of pepper jack cheese potatoes came with the brisket.  The brisket was once again interesting.  The beef was tender and pulled apart easily.  It had a bit of spicy taste from the sauce and the fried jalapeños.  But I felt it was a little underwhelming in the overall taste.  It sort of reminded me of my late grandmother's Swiss steak - a staple from her kitchen for birthday dinners when I was a teenager.  She served Swiss steak so many times over a three to five year period that it became a never ending family joke.  I thought the vinegar/tomato-based sauce sort of detracted from the taste of the brisket.   

For her entree, Cindy got the marinated scallops - they took three large sea scallops and marinated them in white wine in a sealed package for 24 to 36 hours.  They were pan-seared and set on a plate and covered with a lemon, butter and wine reduction sauce.  Cindy got a side of the smoked gouda pasta to go along with her scallops.  She also got a glass of an Italian pinot grigio - the Stellina di Notte that she found on Barley & Rye's somewhat impressive white wine list.  She thought the scallops were scrumptious.  I had a bite and I immediately liked them better than my brisket.  Her smoked gouda macaroni side dish was also better than my pepper jack cheese potatoes.   

As I said from almost the beginning of our time at Barley & Rye, we felt we were getting rushed by our server, Travis.  He was a friendly guy and an efficient server, but he seemed to be pushing us along all night long.  We weren't in any hurry.  After he took our plates after finishing the main entree, he brought over our check for the evening.  I was like, "Whoa!  Wait a minute!  Are you guys trying to get rid of us?"  

He sort of looked at me funny and said, "Excuse me?"  

Cindy said, "Don't you guys have a dessert menu?  I mean, I would like to see what you have for desserts."  Travis apologized and got us a menu with the desserts on it.  We just thought it was really strange that desserts weren't offered, especially considering desserts are a nice profit center for restaurants.  We decided that Travis must have been pretty new to serving at Barley & Rye.  

The creme brûlée immediately jumped out at us on the dessert menu.  But there was something else that I wanted to try that caught my attention - fried bread pudding topped with a salted caramel sauce.  We decided to splurge and get one of each, even though we probably wouldn't finish both desserts.  

The creme brûlée was very good - the vanilla custard was flavorful under the hard cap of caramelized sugar.  But the fried bread pudding...   

It was one of the most decadently delicious desserts I've ever had.  The fried bread pudding balls were thick and chewy with forward tastes of vanilla, cinnamon and sugar all mixed in with each bite.  Add to all that the salted caramel sauce they poured on the top of the bowl of fried bread pudding.  It was rich and filling and so damned good.  We had Travis box up what we didn't finish of the bread pudding.  Actually, warmed up in the microwave a day or two later, it was still very good.  

I really wanted to get back to Barley & Rye to try one of their burgers and we did that just recently.  This time our server was Kody, a very good waiter who gave us room and in no way hurried us through dinner.  The overall experience was much more enjoyable on this visit.  

I had the smoked bacon/poutine steak burger - ground steak flat-grilled and topped with in-house smoked bacon, a fried sunny-side-up egg, and finished off with French fries with a Boetje's mustard/cheese curd poutine.  I also got a side of the smoke gouda mac and cheese - something that I really wanted to try on our first visit.  These were much better than the pepper jack cheese potatoes I got with my brisket.

The burger was very good.  It was cooked to a perfect medium with a hint of pink in the middle.  The burger had a great consistency and was extremely messy.  With all that was going on, I could still taste the beef very easily with each bite.  Nothing really overpowered the taste of the beef.  

Cindy thought about getting a burger, but then she got the grilled chicken sandwich.  We were seated near the kitchen on this visit and I saw this huge sandwich come up under the heating lamp.  I didn't know what it was, but Kody brought it to our table and it was Cindy's grilled chicken sandwich.  She looked at it as he sat it in front of her and she said, "Oh, my!"   

"Oh, my!" was the correct phrase for the grilled chicken sandwich.  It was topped with a salty and spicy capicola ham, Swiss cheese, crushed avocado, an aioli sauce, and finished off with housemade pickles, an onion slice, an orange heirloom tomato slice and lettuce leaves.  The first thing she did was take off the top bun and began to eat it as a regular meal.  She thought the grilled chicken sandwich was outstanding. 

While I had sort of mixed feelings about our initial visit to Barley & Rye, we felt much better about our second visit.  We felt hurried by our server on our first visit, ultimately not even being offered a dessert menu at the end of our meal or asking if we wanted an after-dinner Scotch or bourbon from Barley & Rye's extensive whiskey collection.  The server we had on our second visit was much more laid back and allowed us our space.  I fully appreciate the "farm-to-fork" philosophy owner/chef Jared Linn employs, and the space the restaurant is in is comfortable and interesting.  On our first visit, I was sort of underwhelmed with my brisket entree, but my wife really enjoyed the marinated pan-seared scallops.  But on our second visit, the smoked bacon/poutine steak burger was outstanding, as was my wife's grilled chicken sandwich.  The desserts on our first visit - once we were able to order them - ranged from very good with the creme brûlée to absolutely outstanding with the fried bread pudding with the salted caramel sauce.  We'll definitely go there for dinner again at some point.  The rest of the menu is just too interesting to pass up even with the brisket being somewhat of a let down.

 

The Dolphin - Hanalei, HI

While visiting the north shore of Kauai during our recent trip to Hawaii, it was lunch time and we were getting kind of hungry.  Plus I wanted a mai tai pretty bad.  We had passed back through Hanalei and saw a handful of restaurants along the highway through town, but for some reason we didn't stop.  We decided to go up the hill to Princeville, but didn't see anything that looked all that appealing along the highway.  My wife remembered a place on the east side of Hanalei that looked interesting to her called The Dolphin.  We turned around and headed back to Hanalei to have lunch at The Dolphin.  

Since opening in 1970, the Dolphin has been serving fresh-off-the-boat seafood to locals and tourists in both their restaurant and in their fishmarket located behind the restaurant.  In 2009, owners Douglas and Beatrice Allen opened a sushi lounge offering fresh sushi to go along with a bevy of specialty drinks.   In late 2012, the Allen's opened a second location of The Dolphin on the south shore of Kauai in Poipu.  

Allen is a fanatic when it comes to the fish he gets for his restaurant/fishmarket/sushi bar.  He only works with fishermen who share his view that proper handling and storage during the first 20 minutes after the fish is caught is the most critical time that will determine how good a fish tastes on land.  Allen stays in touch with local fishermen via satellite telephone placing orders on the spot depending upon what they're catching that particular moment.  

The Dolphin is located on Kuhio Highway next to the meandering Hanalei Heritage River.  (see map)  It is virtually the first building in Hanalei when you come from the east, not far from the taro fields that stretch across the valley just east of the town.  The river was very calm and every once in a while we'd spy a standing paddle boarder slowly making their way up river.   

There's an outdoor eating area as well as a small patio area that looked out over the river.  The weather featured off and on rain during a good portion of the day, so we decided to eat inside the restaurant.

Here's a look at what the weather was like at the beautiful Hanalei Bay, not far from The Dolphin.  It was raining near the coastline, but calm out on the bay with blue skies further out north of the island.  Hanalei Bay is now my "happy place" that I have in my head when I close my eyes and need to mellow out during a busy day.  

We found a seat at a table along the side of the restaurant.  The window was open and there was a slight breeze coming in.  Wooden planks held a tin roof in place and the dining area was decorated with bright Japanese lanterns, wood paneling, and stuffed fish.  The building has survived two hurricanes - Iwa in 1982 and Iniki in 1992.  Through rebuilding, remodeling and expansion, the Allen's have held the same philosophy of serving only the freshest locally caught seafood at The Dolphin.  

We were greeted by our server, William, who dropped off a couple of lunch menus and ran off to get us a couple of mai tai's that we craved so much.   Their top shelf mai tai's were outstanding and I made quick work of the first one while we looked through the menu.  

The lunch menu at The Dolphin was pretty short and it included fish sandwiches, a burger, a steak sandwich, a chicken breast sandwich, a handful of salads, a tuna and shrimp poké, and sashimi offerings.  The dinner menu at The Dolphin is much more extensive with entrees featuring an ever changing variety of fresh fish caught off the Kauai coast.  Beer-battered fish, steaks, and the house specialty teriyaki ahi tuna are also featured on the dinner menu.  

We went with the fresh ono grilled tacos.  It came with a garlic aioli, fresh locally grown greens, a house-made salsa and fresh guacamole.  The ono - also known as wahoo - was firm, yet flaky with a mild seafood taste.  This was a great light lunch and it more than satisfied our appetites.  

I like to find out the story of our servers when we go to restaurants on Hawaii.  It always seems there's a good back story how they ended up on one of the islands.  It turned out that our server William was a native of Kauai who went off to the mainland to go to school in South Dakota.  He met a girl from Rapid City, married her and they lived there for five years before he convinced her to move to Kauai to raise their family.  "The winters there are just brutal," he said.  He didn't have to convince the two Iowans sitting at his table about the harsh Midwestern winters, especially up in South Dakota.  

The Dolphin was one of those great little places that we like to run across when we're in Hawaii.   The fish was very fresh and very flavorful, the mai tai's were outstanding, the service was friendly and efficient, and the overall atmosphere was that laid-back island kind of vibe.  I wish we would have been able to go back for dinner at some point given how particular they are about the locally caught fish they serve.  This will give us a goal for our next visit to Kauai, whenever that will be.  The Dolphin will be at the top or near the top of our list of places to eat at when we go back to Kauai.  

 

Schooners - Bloomington, IL

About a year ago, I came across an on-line article about places outside of the Chicago area that have what the author thought were Chicago-worthy Italian beef sandwiches.  One place that was mentioned was Schooners, a neighborhood place in downstate Bloomington.  While on a trip driving by Bloomington one day, it was close to lunch and I decided to stop into Schooners to give one of their Italian beef sandwiches a try.  

Schooners has been around since 1983 when Bob Groetken and Greg Gebbards opened the door to their little neighborhood bar in Bloomington in what was a former Pizza Hut location near Illinois Wesleyan University.  They moved to their present day location on E. Grove just east of S. Clinton 30 years ago.  (see map) Today, Bob Groetken continues to run Schooners along with his wife, Deb.  (There is a Schooners in Morton, IL, a suburb of Peoria, that seems to be similar in many aspects to the one in Bloomington. But the Groetkens are not the owners of that establishment.)  

In the summertime, Schooners opens its popular beer garden attached to the backside of the restaurant.   Acoustic and light electric music is played a couple times a week mainly on Wednesday and Saturday evenings.  

I was able to find a parking spot in the lot on the side of Schooners.  I went in and found a table in the larger of the two dining rooms in the restaurant.  It appears that the room I was in may have been an addition at some point in time as it appeared to be a little newer than the other bar/dining area in the restaurant.  There was an interesting mix of people at Schooners - I saw businessmen in ties and buttoned down shirts, and there were blue-collar types, along with a number of older people in the place.  It was a popular place for lunch.   

I was given a menu and while I had it in my head that I was going to get an Italian beef sandwich, I found that they had a number of other things to choose from.  Schooners is famous for their beer-battered chicken that was developed by Greg Gebbards years ago. "Gebby's Beer-battered Chicken" is available either as part of a dinner, or pieces are available a la carte.  Schooners is also famous for their chicken wings, as well as their huge pork tenderloin sandwiches that could easily feed two people.  House-made soups and chili are available on a daily basis along side a number of salad offerings.  In addition to their Italian beef sandwich, Schooners also has a corned beef or turkey reuben sandwich, their variation of the Central Illinois-favorite Horseshoe sandwich, a batter-dipped or grilled chicken breast sandwich, and a handful of specialty burgers.  

But I went with the Italian beef sandwich, sticking to my plan before I even stopped in.  I had my choice between potato chips or crinkle-cut fries and I wasn't enamored with either one.  I got the chips because I figured that I wouldn't be eating much more than the sandwich.  I got a Lagunitas IPA that they had on tap - a schooner size, of course.  

The beef was thin, tender and juicy.  The beef also some good Italian seasonings and spices slow-cooked into it.  The hoagie bun was light, but held together very well.  I got a side of peperoncini's to help spice the sandwich up a bit, and the au jus that was served on the side was piping hot. The overall taste of sandwich was excellent.  My only quibble would be to have some good ol' Chicago-style giardiniera available to put on the sandwich.  But in hindsight, the Italian beef sandwich at Schooners really didn't need much help in its taste and quality.  

Schooners was a neat little place, a great little neighborhood bar that wasn't fancy, but it had a nice homey atmosphere.  My Italian beef sandwich was very good and worthy of Schooners being named one of the top places in the state to get such a sandwich.  The service I had was friendly and efficient, and the beer was cold.  If you're not from the Bloomington/Normal area Schooners is a little tough to find, but it's worth the stop for above average bar food. 

Pork Shoppe - Chicago

Earlier this year, one of my dealers in the Chicago area was telling me about a Christmas party they had for their staff at a barbecue place that had opened last year.  I wasn't familiar with the place - Pork Shoppe - but I soon found that it was the second location of a highly acclaimed barbecue place in Chicagoland.  One afternoon when I was in the area, I stopped into Pork Shoppe in the Andersonville neighborhood for lunch.  

The thing about it - I should have been familiar with Pork Shoppe.  They've been heralded as one of the top barbecue places since they opened the first Pork Shoppe in 2010 in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood.  Co-owners Steven Ford and Mike Schimmel have been in the restaurant business for a number of years, teaming up when Ford hired Schimmel to work at the hip Moroccan restaurant Tizi Melloul on N. Wells St. in downtown Chicago.  

Ford started in the restaurant business when he was just 12 years old washing dishes and at 15 he was bussing tables.  He worked at a series of restaurant jobs over the years rising through the ranks, and by 1996 he was the maitre d' at the upscale Vietnamese restaurant Le Colonial.  He left Le Colonial in 1999 to open Tizi Melloul.  Schimmel, who also got his start in the restaurant business at an early age, went to work at Tizi Melloul not long after it opened and eventually partnered with Ford in the restaurant.  They closed Tizi Melloul after a nearly 11 year run to open the first Pork Shoppe location in 2010.   Jason Heiman, a Culinary Institute of America graduate and the longtime chef at Tizi Melloul, was brought along to run the kitchen at the new restaurant.  

In Andersonville, the Kingfisher Restaurant closed its doors in 2011 and the building sat vacant for a couple three years.  A couple of possible restaurants looked hard at the space, but never pulled the trigger.  Sensing a need for barbecue in the neighborhood, Ford and Schimmel thought the building would be a good place for a second Pork Shoppe location.  But they needed help in the venture, so they approached Ford's mentor Joe King whom Ford worked for at Le Colonial.  King - who founded the upscale King Cafe, and who is the owner of Rockit Bar and Grill - partnered up with Ford and Schimmel to make the Andersonville Pork Shoppe happen.  They opened the doors in May of 2015.    

The Pork Shoppe in Andersonville is located on N. Clark near where Clark breaks off as a diagonal and Ashland heads straight south.  (see map)  There is a parking lot off to the side of the building that makes it easy to get into Pork Shoppe quickly without having to search for parking along the street.  

While the original Pork Shoppe is a small counter-serve place with an emphasis on take-out, the second location in Andersonville is a much larger space with a full service bar, and two larger dining rooms.  Barn-boards adorned part of the walls of the dining rooms, interesting wooden half-barrels were used as light fixtures, plaid-covered seating in corner booths, and some playful murals that depicted three wolves chasing a pig as a take from the old children's story/fable The Three Little Pigs.  

It was around 1:30 when I got into Pork Shoppe and it was nearly deserted after the lunch crowd departed.  I was told I could sit anywhere and I took a booth across from the bar.  A pleasant young woman by the name of Molly came over to greet me and drop off a menu.  I ordered up a Lagunitas IPA from a long list of locally brewed beers they offered and enjoyed music playing in the background by the likes of Glass Animals, Phantogram, BØRNS, and Peter, Bjorn and John while I looked through the menu.  

They had a number of lunch specials on the menu including brisket tacos, a pulled pork sandwich, and an interesting pork belly pastrami sandwich.  But I was more interested in getting the meats to try.  In addition to the meaty St. Louis-style and tender baby-back ribs on the menu, they also had chopped brisket, pulled pork, pulled chicken, a mustard and spice rubbed beef try-tip, and the aforementioned pork belly pastrami that brined and spiced in house.  

I ended up getting an a la carte platter of a quarter pound each of the beef brisket and the pulled pork with a side of the baked beans.  The baked beans were mustard-based and it was a healthy sized bowl that was served to me.  The meats came in basic paper boats and the meal was served on a small cooking tray - the new hip thing that I'm seeing at a number of restaurants.  (I have to admit - last year we went out and bought four of these smaller metal trays to have at home because they're easy to handle, especially when we're taking food out to the deck for meals outdoors.) 

The beef brisket was moist and tender, as was the pulled pork.  I liked the flavor of the brisket a tad more than the pulled pork, but both were very good in their flavor.  I wasn't sure that I liked the taste of the baked beans with the mustard-base, so I added some one of the three barbecue sauces they had on the table to get them more to my liking.  

The three sauces - a Kansas City-style thick sweet sauce, a Southwest-style spicy sauce, and a Carolina-style tangy vinegar-based sauce - were all very interesting.  The spicy sauce had a noticeable bite that was sneaky hot on the back end.  The tangy Carolina sauce was fine with smooth taste, but the sweet Kansas City sauce - I thought - was the best of all three.  Mixed with the spicy sauce, the taste of both had that sweet and spicy combination that I like in a good barbecue sauce.  

But the meat was truly the star of my meal at Pork Shoppe. The brisket was very good, as was the pulled pork.  I want to go back at some point and try the pork belly pastrami.  I liked the baked beans well enough, but I wasn't quite sold on the mustard-base they use.  Adding some of the very good sweet sauce and the sneaky hot spicy sauce to the beans made them more to my liking.  The atmosphere at the Andersonville Pork Shoppe was fresh and inviting, and the service I received from Molly was top-notch.  For my first visit to Pork Shoppe, I was sort of kicking myself that I hadn't tried the original location before this.  There will definitely be more visits to Pork Shoppe in my immediate future.  

(Update - I was driving by Pork Shoppe in the Spring of 2018 and saw that it was closed.  I found out that they had closed in February of 2018.  I had been there a couple times since my initial visit, so I'm sort of bummed they're gone.)

Nick's Kitchen - Huntington, IN

I love restaurants that have a great back story and some history behind them.  In the state of Indiana, they take their grilled pork tenderloin sandwiches very seriously.  Between Iowa and Indiana, those two states have the market cornered on seriously good pork tenderloin sandwiches.  One place in Indiana claims that it was the first place to sell breaded pork tenderloins, dating back to 1908.  That place - Nick's Kitchen in Huntington - is one of the more famous places to eat in Indiana and definitely a destination.  After calling on a couple of accounts in Fort Wayne, I took the side trip to Huntington to try one of Nick's tenderloins.

Nick Freienstein was one of seven children in his family, born in 1876.  In 1888, he dropped out of school to work at a cigar factory in Huntington.  Over the next dozen plus years, Nick held a number of jobs around town including at a local grocery store and at a local confectionery shop.  In 1904, he decided to be his own boss and he started to push a hamburger cart around the downtown area of Huntington.  In addition to burgers, Nick would take pork cutlets, bread them and fry them for sandwiches.  Nick's burgers and pork sandwiches were so popular that he had to move to a lean-to structure under some stairs to satisfy the masses who kept trying to find him on the streets of Huntington.

After four years of working under the stairs, he amassed enough money to open a restaurant in what is now the present day location of Nick's Kitchen.  He now had a full kitchen to make his burgers and pork tenderloin sandwiches and he was able to sort of refine how he made the sandwiches.  A story I read involved his brother, Jake, who lost the fingers on both hands due to excessive frost bite.  It turned out that Jake was the one who was in charge of breading the meat at Nick's and he found his stumped hand were perfect to pound the pork cutlets to make them more tender.  It was sort of the precursor to more modern methods of tenderizing the pork for tenderloin sandwiches.  

In 1929, Nick sold his interest in the restaurant to two local men who ran it for a number of years, selling it in the early 50's.  That owner of Nick's Kitchen sold his interest in 1969 to Gene Drabonstot, a local Huntington man who worked for the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.  Along with his wife, Peggy, the Drabonstot's renovated Nick's Kitchen and decorated the walls with a number of railroad-themed pictures.  Their five children - two sons and three daughters - all worked in the restaurant at one time or another.  

In 1981, Gene retired from the railroad and a year later he bought the old Clydesdale Inn in nearby Roanoke and renamed it Nick's Junction.  By 1989, he was transitioning out of the restaurant business and began to travel the country with Peggy pulling a vintage Airstream camper.   His daughter, Jean Anne Bailey, and her husband Kenny now run Nick's Kitchen, with Gene's son Jim with his wife Dana running Nick's Junction.  Gene's daughter Nancy Bonebrake, and her husband Jim, went out their own and opened Nick's Country Cafe in an old Mexican restaurant location in downtown Huntington in 1992 before moving to their current location on the outskirts of Huntington in 1996.   (Gene Drabonstot passed away eight years ago at the age of 80.)  

Nick's Kitchen is located on N. Jefferson Street in downtown Huntington.  (see map)  I was able to find parking just down the street from Nick's and went in around 1:30 that day.   The well-lit diner featured wood-paneled walls with old photographs of Huntington and rail yards, as well as a model train in a glass case on the wall near the ceiling.  

The place was about half full and I took a seat at a booth along the wall and took a look at the menu they had sitting on the table.  Even though Nick's Kitchen is famous for their pork tenderloins, they also serve breakfast items, and at lunch they also have pulled pork sandwiches, a prime rib sandwich, panini sandwiches, soups, salads and Nick's famous house-made pies.  

I ordered up a tenderloin with onions and pickles (mustard was available on the table).  My waitress wanted to know if I wanted fries or house-made onion rings, but I thought the sandwich would be enough.  It was served to me open faced with a good number of sliced onions on the top with dill pickles on the side.

The thing I immediately liked about the tenderloin at Nick's is that is was thin, but it wasn't the size of a hub cap like you'll find at some places.  I prefer a battered tenderloin over a breaded one, but the breading was light and it didn't have that dry bread taste to the bite.  The tenderloin was very good - it was cooked perfectly giving it a nice juicy texture, easy to chew with a great taste.  It was one of the better pork tenderloin sandwiches I've had.

A lot of times I've found the signature food at somewhat historical restaurants don't quite live up to the hype.  I can easily say that isn't the case with the pork tenderloin sandwich at Nick's Kitchen.  It wasn't heavily breaded, nor was it over cooked with the texture of leather.  This was a very good pork tenderloin that rivaled some of the best ones I've ever had.  Nick's Kitchen is definitely a destination, unless you're already in the Fort Wayne area.  But I'd say to make the trip to Huntington to give their tenderloin a try.  You'll be glad you did. 

Northwestern Steakhouse - Mason City, IA

A couple three years ago, my niece sent me a link from the Thrillist web site mentioning the most iconic restaurant in each state.  She wanted to know if I had been to the one that was mentioned for Iowa.  When I scrolled down on the list, I was surprised to see that they selected a place I'd never heard of before - Northwestern Steakhouse in Mason City.  I was somewhat incredulous that they picked this restaurant over about a half dozen other Iowa restaurants that I would say are more iconic in the state than this place in Mason City.  Then I was talking with Jeni who has the highly entertaining Jeni Eats blog site about the Northwestern Steakhouse.  She and her husband lived in Mason City for a time before moving to St. Louis and they went there for a meal one time.  (Click here to see her blog entry on the place.)  They really enjoyed Northwestern Steakhouse and I made it a point to stop in when I would be going by Mason City on my way to the Twin Cities.  I finally did stop in one time and it was around 6:30 p.m. on a Tuesday.  It turned out the wait would be at least 45 to 60 minutes.  On a second trip past Mason City a few months later, I had just a 20 minute wait for a table at Northwestern Steakhouse.  I decided to stay and eat this time.  

Northwestern Steakhouse dates back to the early 1920's when the son of an immigrant Greek Orthodox priest opened his first restaurant.  Tony Papouchis came to the United States with his father and mother in 1912 and opened Evia Cafe - named after the Greek Island the family hailed from - on South Sixth Street in 1920.   In the meantime, Pete Madourus - also a Greek immigrant - had opened a small restaurant by the name of Pete's Place on 25th Street Northwest, also known as Northwestern Row for the number of row houses that were used to house workers at a concrete plant nearby.

In 1932, Tony Papaouchis sold the Evia Cafe and went to work for Pete Madourus at Pete's Place.  Madourus moved the restaurant to a small stone building along the main road coming in and out of Mason City on the north end and renamed the place Northwestern Cafe.  During World War II, there was a small box inside the entry way where patrons had to pay a cover charge with the money going toward a relief fund for Greeks displaced because of the war.  

In 1954, Northwestern Cafe moved to what was a former grocery store on 16th Street N.W. - the present day location of the restaurant.  Eleven years later, Madourus - approaching 80 years of age - decided to retire and sold the restaurant to Tony Papaouchis (who was 72 at the time) and his wife, Flora, who renamed it the Northwestern Steakhouse.  The Papaouchis family was large - they had five boys and three girls - and most of the children worked in the restaurant at one time or another.  

A portrait of Tony Papouchis hangs from on the wall behind the cash register at Northwestern Steakhouse. 

Tony Papaouchis ran the restaurant every day, walking to his place like clockwork along 16th Street N.W.  In the summertime, he tended a garden out back that featured dozens of tomato and pepper plants, as well as other vegetables and herbs that he used in the kitchen.  He was cooking in the kitchen deep into his 90's before retiring. Tony died in 1991 at the age of 98, a year after he retired from his restaurant.  

Three of Tony's sons went into the restaurant business - John opened a Greek restaurant in Des Moines, George was the co-owner (along with partner Ron Vannimwegen) of Cafe Northwest that had a nearly 25 year run in Ames before closing a couple years ago, and Bill Papouchis - along with his wife, Ann, took over the Northwestern Steakhouse after his father retired.  Bill and Ann Papouchis continue to run the Northwestern Cafe to this day.  

Northwestern Cafe is located between two baseball fields on Mason City's north side. (see map)  There's a parking lot on the east side of the building and it was typically full when I pulled in.  A couple people were standing around outside - I didn't quite know what they were doing there as they weren't smoking.  It turned out that was the waiting area for Northwestern Cafe that evening.  The upstairs lounge was closed due to a leaking water pipe.  One of the servers said that it would be a 20 minute wait and that I would have to wait outside.  "But it's a nice evening," she assured me.  It was a little strange having to wait outside the restaurant.

After another server came to get me to escort me to my booth, it was no wonder why they were making people wait outside - Northwestern Steakhouse is not very big.  The first dining area seats only 32 people in 8 booths with a narrow aisle in between.   It was in one of the booths that I was seated.

There is a smaller dining room on the other side of a wall that seats another 18 people.  It consists of 3 - four-seater tables and a larger six-seater.  Movie posters of iconic stars such as John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe were on the walls of both dining areas.  

I was given a menu when I sat down and a moment later, my server - a lady by the name of Cindy - came by to greet me.  It turned out that she was the wife of Jim Papouchis, the brother of Bill Papouchis.  Many of the servers and staff at Northwestern Steakhouse have been working there for over 20 years.  

They don't have much of a beer menu at Northwestern Steakhouse, mainly American beers with a smattering of imports.  And their wine list is pretty pedestrian.  I ordered a Budweiser and took a look through the menu.

Most of items on the menu are steak-centric - a 20 ounce Porterhouse, an 8 ounce and a 9 ounce beef tenderloin filet, a 14 ounce New York strip, a 14 ounce ribeye, and a 14 ounce top sirloin are the main items on the menu.  All the steaks are cooked in a concoction of olive oil, butter, and a Papouchis family secret blend of seasonings.  Northwestern Steakhouse boasts that their steaks will be so tender you can cut them with a fork.  In addition to steaks, they also serve roasted chicken, pan-fried walleye, lamb chops, broiled shrimp and prime rib (on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights).  

Being a newby to the Northwestern Steakhouse, I didn't know that the place was famous for two things other than their steaks - their Greek salads and their spaghetti.  Of course, I didn't order either of those things.  I got the 9 ounce filet - rare - with a side of rice.  (A baked potato or French fries also were available as a side.)  And I got a dinner salad with an oil and vinegar-based Italian dressing.  

The dinner salad featured chopped iceberg lettuce with a dill pickle, a small pitted Greek olive, a tomato slice and a quarter of a hard-boiled egg.  It was all mixed in with the very good Italian dressing.  Along with the salad, a plate of bread slices and a generous scoop of butter came with it.  I heard one of the servers say that they get their bread fresh-baked from Hy-Vee every day.  The salad with the bread combo was a great start to the meal.

I thought it took quite some time to get a rare cooked steak to my table.  But the wait was worth it.  It was a huge chunk of meat that was swimming in olive oil, spices, and the steak's natural juices.  The rice on the side was drizzled with the same olive oil, spices and beef juice concoction the steak was sitting in.  (It turns out that is what the Northwestern Steakhouse pours on their spaghetti.  Some people believe the best thing on the menu is the spaghetti.  I'll have to go back and give that a try.)

The steak was cooked to a perfect rare with a deep red and cool middle.  I wouldn't say that it was tender enough to cut with a fork as advertised.  I definitely needed a steak knife to cut into the meat, but it was still tender to the cut.  The taste was, well, different.  I immediately liked it.  I can't really explain the taste because there was a lot going on with the steak's flavor.  I could taste some seasonings and the olive oil was a familiar taste.  It was one of those flavors that if I had a steak from Northwestern Steakhouse again, I'd immediately recognize the taste.  It was very good. 

The rice was light and fluffy, and with the drizzled olive oil, beef juices and spices it helped zip up the taste of the rice.  I got a good idea of what the spaghetti would taste like with the stuff drizzled on.  

The remnants of the steak was what was found on the upper right.  I was dipping some of the bread into the juice and oil combination and it was heavenly.  This was a great meal.  When Cindy came back to check on me toward the end and asked how I liked the meal, I immediately said, "I couldn't get in the first time I stopped here.  I'm glad I came back."  

She said, "It's good, isn't it?"  She did a good job of taking care of me during my visit.  

It's easy to see why the people of Mason City and Northern Iowa have raved about Northwestern Steakhouse for years and years.  The steak was delicious cooked in the concoction of olive oil and spices.  I didn't try the Greek salad or the spaghetti - two other signature items on the menu - but that will give me something to shoot for in the future.  They don't take reservations at Northwestern Steakhouse, so get there early to get your name on the list. The place isn't large and it's not too fancy, but it's sort of like a comfortable pair of shoes or a favorite sweater that gives you a warm and soothing feeling.  And I'm sort of embarrassed that it took me this long to discover the place.  While I wouldn't quite call it an iconic restaurant for the whole state of Iowa, it's definitely unique.  This was simply one of the best steaks I've had in Iowa.   

Northside Social - Indianapolis

I was in Indianapolis recently and I had just finished a late afternoon meeting with my dealer in the Broad Ripple area of the city.  I asked him and one of his sales guys if they would be interested in going out for dinner.  The owner begged off - he had a pregnant wife at home and he needed to get back home to attend to her.  And the sales guy also said that he had had a long day and he needed to get home, as well.  I asked the owner if there was any place around the area that he would recommend for dinner.  He told me of a place that wasn't far from his business, a restaurant by the name of The Northside Social on College Ave.  "They've got really good food there," he told me.  He wasn't kidding that it wasn't far from his place.  It was literally a one minute drive of two blocks to College Ave. and a block north to the parking lot of the Northside Social.  (see map)  

Bill Ficca, his wife, Nancy, Jamie Browning, Tim Oprisu and his wife Nicole took what was a former biker bar in Broad Ripple and turned it into a somewhat chic/casual restaurant that featured comfort food, fresh seafood, seasonal foods, and influences from Mediterranean, Caribbean and Southern cuisines.  The Northside Social opened in 2010 and it wasn't the first - or last - restaurant that the Ficca's and Browning would be involved with.  With the help of other partners, they opened their first restaurant - Usual Suspects - a bistro-style place in Broad Ripple in 2006.  (Usual Suspects is currently undergoing a renovation.)  The same year, the Ficca's were involved in the opening of Casbah, a college bar that catered to students from nearby Butler University.  

After opening The Northside Social, the Ficca's, the Oprisu's, and Browning have opened a handful of other unique places in or near Broad Ripple that includes 317 Burger, Northside Kitchenette, Delicia, and La Mulita, a cantina-style restaurant that shares a building with Delicia.  The group also owns Village Cigar, an upscale cigar bar in Broad Ripple.  

The decor at The Northside Social features a lot of white throughout the place.  Subdued lighting, elegant seating, and a laid-back atmosphere gave the restaurant a trendy vibe.  The clientele was decidedly older when I first got there, but after the crowd thinned out, more young people were having late evening dinners and drinks.  

I decided to sit at the bar and I was greeted by a bartender who gave me a menu.  I started out with a Lagunitas Pils, but for my second beer awhile later I was talked into getting a PDG pale ale from the local Bier-Brewery in Indianapolis.  The PDG was hoppy, yet smooth with a refreshing aftertaste.  

When I've been on the road for awhile, I get sort of burned out on, well, food.  Some nights I really don't know what to get when I'm not hungry for a burger, or for Mexican food, or for pizza, or for Italian food, or for - whatever.  Sometimes I just need good ol' comfort food to get me out of a food funk.  And a number of things on the menu at The Northside Social caught my eye.  They had a barbecued pork tenderloin that was covered with an agave barbecue sauce and served with white cheddar grits and tri-color carrots.   They had a parmesan/herb-crusted chicken breast that came with green-chile white-cheddar mac & cheese and grilled asparagus.  And they had New Zealand lamb lollipops (chops) that were grilled and served with truffle-parmesan fingerling potatoes.  

After I ordered my entree for the evening, I started out with a 1/2 wedge salad.  It was the perfect size for me as some wedge salads can be rather large.  The iceberg lettuce was cool and crisp, and the salad was topped with a horseradish blue cheese dressing with blue cheese crumbles, crispy pancetta, balsamic-marinated chopped tomatoes, chopped red onions and house-made garlic croutons.  Had I known how good the salad would be, I would have gotten the full wedge.  It was simply delicious.  

I almost went with the caramelized scallops served with garlic-wilted arugula and oven-roasted tomatoes, but at the last moment the beef brisket called my name.  "Good choice," the bartender who took my order told me.  It featured beef brisket slow-roasted in a Guinness Stout sauce, and served on top of mashed potatoes with grilled asparagus on the side.  The brisket was fabulous.  It was lean and tender, easily pulling apart with the cut of a fork.  The sauce had a bit of a bite to the taste, but it went well with the beef.  It was a healthy cut of beef - they certainly gave me a large portion.  Along with the very good mashed potatoes and the equally good grilled asparagus, this was the perfect meal for me that particular evening.  And it was a lot of food.  I was able to finish all the beef, but left a good portion of the potatoes and a couple three spears of asparagus on the plate.  

The Northside Social was certainly a great recommendation from my dealer.  The service was a tad suspect sitting at the bar, only because the bartenders were busy most of the time.  But they tag-teamed back and forth to take care of me in an all right manner.  The brisket was simply outstanding - tender, flavorful, and a large portion, to boot.  The wedge salad was also very good, the 1/2 sized wedge was perfect given all the food that I ended up getting for my entree.  The atmosphere at The Northside Social was tony and fashionable, but still relaxed without a lot of pretension.  They had enough other interesting things on the menu that I could probably go back six times and get something different each time.  The Northside Social is a wonderful place to dine in Broad Ripple.  

French Rose Bakery & Cafe - Davenport, IA

A number of years ago, my wife and I were somewhat smitten by the pastries a young lady would make and her parents would sell at one of the farmers markets in Davenport.  She branched out to sell some of her pastries at local establishments through the week.  Suddenly, she was gone - much to our dismay, but also somewhat thankful because the decadent pastries she made were adding pounds to our bodies.  We had been hearing for awhile that she had been looking for a spot to sell her pastries, but nothing ever came about.  For a long while, her business was dormant - she was working as a bartender (more on that in a moment) - until I heard about three months ago that she had secured a spot in downtown Davenport to reopen her business - the French Rose Bakery & Cafe.  

The proprietor of the French Rose Bakery is a young lady by the name of Jennifer Ewert (pictured right).   She grew up on the west side of Davenport and studied as a pastry chef at The French Pastry School in Chicago.  Her baking facility was in an addition to her parents house on the west side of town.  Her baking prowess became so popular that she would run out of pastries from time to time, much to my disappointment on certain days.  She really wanted to get a place where she could bake and sell her pastries.  I had heard that she was looking at a former bank along Kimberly Road to put her bakery in, but that fell through - as did a spot in the East Village of Davenport that I heard she was looking at at one point.  Suddenly, she was gone.  While I was unhappy that she was no longer baking, I was sort of relieved that I wasn't going to balloon to 400 pounds from eating her great eclairs and cinnamon rolls.  

Let's go forward to 2014.  I'd met Jennifer a couple of times, but it had been a long time since I had last seen her - probably 2009 or so.  I had a buddy who owned the former Creekside Bar and Grill (now called the Bike Rack Bar & Grill) and I used to go in there on a somewhat regular basis.  One evening, I was in there with my wife and she looked over at one of the female bartenders.  She said, "You know who that is, don't you?"  I told her I didn't.  She said, "It's Jennifer from the French Rose Bakery."  Sure enough, it was!  Jennifer had been bartending for nearly a year at Creekside and I never made the connection.  (My wife always says I'm not very observant.)  

I called my buddy Randy over and said, "Do you know that you have a world class pastry chef working as a bartender?"  He never knew of Jennifer's hidden talent.  He just knew that she was a good bartender and was great with the patrons.  

In fact, it was Randy who told me earlier this summer that Jennifer was getting back into baking and that she had found a spot in downtown Davenport to sell her goods.  I was wondering where it would be - there was an old Quizno's sandwich shop that had stood empty for awhile, along with a couple of other spots that were open spaces.  But then I found out that she would be setting up in what used to be a small sandwich shop inside the former Wells Fargo building in downtown Davenport.  (In April, Wells Fargo moved to their new location a couple blocks away in the City Square building after 90 years in their iconic downtown building.)  She now does her baking a floor below her shop in a basement room that was one used to count money at the bank.

Jennifer had a soft opening on July 28, the same weekend as the Downtown Davenport Street Fest and the Bix 7 road race.  I was working the stage area for the street fest just behind the former Wells Fargo building and I went in to talk to her.  She was handing out free samples with a friend of hers who was helping out and she seemed to be getting a steady stream of traffic.  I asked her if she had any of her delicious maple eclairs that I loved so much and she told me, "No, not today.  Sorry.  But I will have them next week!"

Next week couldn't get here fast enough for me.  I couldn't get down there on Monday or Tuesday, but I did make the time to get down there on Wednesday.   The entrance to her cafe is just inside the door of 220 N. Main toward the back side of the building.  (see map)  She has a little chalkboard sign on the sidewalk pointing the way into her little bakery/cafe.  Jennifer wasn't there - she and her mother, Mary, were delivering sandwiches to a law firm in the building while I was there.  But she had a co-worker who waited on me.

The French Rose Bakery & Cafe is not big.  There's no seating and it's carry out only.  In addition to her baked goods, she also has a couple panini sandwiches on a lunch menu.  The girl working behind the counter said they're probably going to expand the baked goods and sandwich offerings as time goes on, but they're just trying to get their feet wet for the time being.  

Jennifer did have maple eclairs that day, in addition to her wonderful cinnamon rolls with a buttercream frosting.  I picked up some maple eclairs for me and I knew that my wife would kill me if I didn't bring home a couple chocolate eclairs for her.  

The eclairs are sinfully decadent with a large amount of cream filling packed inside.  The maple flavored frosting was exactly what I remembered for over five years ago, giving the eclair its signature sweet taste.  One is not enough, but two are almost too rich for me.  They are just unbelievably great in their taste.

Just this week, Jennifer received the first ever "Know Your Worth" grant from the Royal Neighbors Foundation.  She was presented with a check for $10,000 that will help with her start-up costs at the bakery.  Jennifer is hoping at some point to be able to expand her business including having her own pastry truck with her face on the side of it.  (Click here to see the full story with a video from WQAD.) 

I promised Jennifer that I would do an update after she opened up - she didn't know it was me who did the original entry on the French Rose Bakery in 2009.  (Click here to see that entry.)  While I'm glad she's back in the baking business, my waistline is screaming, "Noooo!!!"  And my bathroom scales are girding for added pounds in the coming weeks.  I'm going to have to use a lot of discipline to not keep going back on a regular basis to have a couple of the maple eclairs or a cinnamon roll.  Do yourself a favor if you live in or if you're visiting the Quad Cities and go check out the great pastries or have a sandwich at the French Rose Bakery and Cafe.

(French Rose Bakery & Cafe is open Monday's 11 a.m.-3 p.m.  Tuesday thru Thursday from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed on Saturday and Sunday.)

Q Fanatic - Minneapolis

I was up in Minneapolis earlier this year heading back to my hotel along S. Nicollet Street on the city's south side.  On my left, I saw a restaurant that I hadn't noticed before - Q Fanatic Barbecue.  It turned out that they had been open for about a month - their sign was a temporary sign on the side of the building.  I decided to go back the next evening to give them a try.  

It turns out that this Q Fanatic is the second location of what is a sort of famous barbecue joint in the Twin Cities.  Charlie Johnson grew up in Central Minnesota, the son of parents who ran an organic farm.  In addition to growing vegetables that his parents would can, the family also raised sheep and goats for dairy products.  Johnson's first true job in a kitchen was working in a pizza restaurant when he was 16.  The restaurant bug caught him and he took culinary courses at a local community college.  He then landed a job working at a resort in Vail, Colorado.  

It was while Johnson was in Vail that he decided to go the route of being a chef and he enrolled in the two year culinary program at the Culinary Institute of America.  Before graduating, Johnson had an externship at Disney's Epcot in Florida.  After graduating, he went back to Minnesota to find work, but nothing of interest was available.  He decided to go back down to Central Florida and he ended up as the sous chef at the opening of Capriccio, in the Peabody Hotel (now the Hyatt Regency Resort) in Orlando.    

After a couple of years at Capriccio, Johnson moved on to Boca Raton and worked at several high-end restaurants.  His high school sweetheart, Jodi, had moved down to be with him and they ended up getting married when they were living in Florida.  Both wanted to get back to Minnesota to raise their family (they have five children) and Charlie took a job developing the restaurant and kitchen at the-then new Radisson Hotel (now the Courtyard Marriott) in downtown St. Cloud.  From there, he took a stint as the Executive Chef and Events Coordinator at the Green Haven Golf Club in Anoka, MN on the far northwest side of the Twin Cities.  

After four years at Green Haven, an opportunity arose when the Johnson's had a chance to buy a bankrupt Italian restaurant in Bloomington, MN.  They successfully ran The Italian Cafe for 8 years before Charlie developed a case of ulcerative colitis.  Due to the longterm uncertainty of his medical condition, they were forced to close the restaurant and Charlie spent a couple years trying to beat his debilitating condition.  

During his downtime, Charlie saw a growing trend of barbecue places around the nation and he felt there was a void of barbecue places in the Twin Cities area.  (He's a smart guy - there still IS a void of barbecue places in the Twin Cities.)  He dove headfirst into learning the art of low and slow cooking over a six-month period.  When they found a former pizza place in a strip mall in Champlin, a suburb on the far northwest side of the Twin Cities, Charlie and Jodi were ready to take their next step in life.  They opened the doors to Q Fanatic in 2007.  At first they didn't have a lot of money - Charlie had no income during the time he was recuperating from his medical condition - so the inside of the restaurant was pretty spartan.  It took them a couple of years to get enough money up to buy a second smoker.  

Q Fanatic turned out to be a big hit.  It was consistently voted as one of the best - if not THE best - barbecue in the Twin Cities year after year.  It was even featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on The Food Network, but I didn't see that episode.  (I'm not a huge Guy Fieri fan, but I have visited some places in the Midwest that he's been to.)   In 2015, the Johnson's found a building at the corner of 60th and Nicollet in South Minneapolis that used to house a former Peruvian restaurant.  Once again, they put together a restaurant on a shoestring budget and eventually opened their second location in March of this year at 6009 S. Nicollet.  (See map)

The Q Fanatic location in South Minneapolis is not a large place by any means.  It features just a handful of tables and possibly sat only a dozen people.  It was my guess that they were hoping a number of people would get their barbecue to go.  It was clean, well-lit and somewhat cozy.  They had some good music playing in the house - American-roots and blues music from the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Johnson and Johnny Cash.  

Had I known that they were still undergoing a soft opening, I probably would have waited going in for my first visit.  They didn't have their beer permit as of yet (Johnson said in an article that he needed to sell more brisket), and the regular menu they had at the new location was pretty limited.  In fact, the menu was basically a sheet of paper stapled to the board above the counter.  

They only had brisket, pulled pork and pulled chicken available that evening.  Sides included baked beans, fried potato wedges and a house-made potato salad.  Since beer wasn't available, they did have pop or water.    

They didn't really have a sampler platter available yet, but the guy at the counter suggested that I get a 1/3 pound of brisket and a 1/3 pound of pulled pork.  I also got a side of baked beans to go along with it.  "Do you want a couple biscuits," he asked holding up what looked like two cut pieces of French bread.  Sure, I took the biscuits.   He served it up in an aluminum foil container tray.  The presentation wasn't fancy, but I don't care for fancy barbecue that much.  

Q Fanatic makes all their sauces in house - they have up to seven different barbecue sauces at their main location (and they may have all of them now that they've been open for awhile in South Minneapolis), but that evening they only had their espresso sauce (sort of a sweet sauce with a touch of a coffee taste), and mild honey barbecue sauce.  I tried some of the espresso sauce with my meats.

The brisket was tender and moist, it had a nice smoke ring around the outer edge, and the bark on the outside had a nice combination spice rub.  It was slightly spicy, but it wasn't overpowering.  This was some pretty good brisket.

The pulled pork, too, was moist, tender and tasty.  It had a nice little smoky taste to it and it went well with the sweet espresso sauce.   I certainly enjoyed the pulled pork, but I thought the brisket was even better.  

The baked beans were also very good.  I added some of the sweet espresso sauce to the beans, but they didn't really need it.  The sauce wasn't that thick, but it had a bit of a spicy edge.  Mixed in with the beans were chunks of meat.  Not the best I've had at a barbecue joint, but still well above average.  

I'm hoping the next time I make it back to Q Fanatic they'll be up and running on full steam.   As I said, had I known that they were open for less than 45 days, running a limited menu, and still not having a license to sell beer, I may have waited a few more months before going in.  But what I had on my initial visit was very good.  The brisket was excellent, the pulled pork and the baked beans were very good, and I liked the sweet espresso barbecue sauce.  Q Fanatic's South Minneapolis location isn't big, nor is it fancy, but it's all about the barbecue.  Damned fine barbecue.  

 

Go Fish - Princeton, IA

Princeton, Iowa is a small Mississippi River town about 15 miles up stream from the Quad Cities.  We used to go out there a number of times years ago to hang with friends on the river and at some bars on either side of the Mississippi.  Getting older in life and realizing that it's a long way home after a long day of boating, we haven't been out there all that often.  But a place in Princeton has been getting some positive feedback from friends who have traveled out to check it out.  On a recent Friday evening, my wife and I made the drive to Princeton to have some drinks and food at Go Fish Marina and Grill.  

Marina's up and down the river have been closing up over the years and Bill and Annette Hamilton realized that when they came up with the original plan for Go Fish over 10 years ago.  Coupled with the lack of a  convenience store that was close to the river for boaters to dock up, go grab some drinks, snacks, bait, whatever, they felt they had a great idea for a marina/convenience store with an upstairs bar/restaurant.  Bill built much of Go Fish on his own and in the latter part of 2006, the Hamilton's opened their doors.  About three years ago, local Princeton residents John and Krista Kay bought the place from the Hamilton's and they continue to run Go Fish today.

Go Fish is located right on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River across the railroad tracks from U.S. Highway 67  in the heart of Princeton.  (see map)   Since it was a Friday night, the parking lot was packed but we were able to find one spot open.  (Parking is also available for motorcycles by the building and for more cars on the street down from Go Fish.)  Now, I had been to Go Fish a couple times previously with friends, but it was during the winter and we were only there grabbing some beers during the day.  So, this was the first time for me during the summer and the first visit for my wife - ever.  

The convenience store is no longer in business on the ground level of Go Fish - it's now a seasonal bar.  They had a band that night - a local Quad Cities group by the name of Remedy who played a mix of contemporary and classic rock.  A good crowd had shown up to hear the band play who started at 8 p.m.  I grabbed a vodka lemonade and Cindy got a UV Blue and cranberry to start out with from the young lady in charge of the downstairs bar.  

After a bit we decided to go up the stairs to the restaurant/main bar area.   The inside of the bar/restaurant at Go Fish is open year round and this was the first time that I'd been there when they had the outside overhead door open from the bar to the patio.  

The tables were full inside and out when we first arrived and we were met by John Kay, a tall and friendly kind of guy.  He said that it would be about a 45 minute wait if we wanted to get a table on the deck and about a 30 minute if we wanted a table inside.  Quite honestly, we didn't know if we were going to eat, so I told him that we'd probably wait at the bar to see what we're going to do.  

We ended up grabbing a couple seats at the tiki bar on the upper deck.  We were greeted by the bartender, a blonde haired lady by the name of Diana, who initially told us - then reminded us on a couple three occasions after that - that she was from Chicago.  We were still working on the original drinks when we sat down.  The only thing that we didn't like about the tiki bar and the upper deck is that they allowed people to smoke there.  I was under the impression that Iowa law said that no smoking could be in an outdoors area where food was being served.  But we learned long ago that some small towns along the Mississippi have their own set of rules when it comes to being on the river.   

The views from the upper deck up and down the Mississippi were spectacular.  I remarked that it wasn't quite the views we saw in Hawaii, but it was still a nice view.  It was a nice evening with a light wind at our backs as we looked out at the river finishing our first drinks.   One thing that sort of struck us as strange were the lack of boats on the river.   We remembered from years ago that large numbers of boats would be going up and down the river on a Friday night.  One of the more popular places along this pool in the Mississippi is Princeton Beach which was visible from the upper deck of Go Fish.  Years ago on Friday afternoons, a number of boats would already be lined up along the beach getting spots for the weekend.  From our vantage point, we could only see - maybe - six boats along the long beach on the island that sits just north of Princeton and across from Cordova, IL.  I had read an article a couple months ago that boating registration in the state of Illinois were down 30% from a peak about six years ago.  Tough economic times and stricter open container regulations that are being enforced on the waterways - including the Mississippi - could be a big part of the reasons why boating is down along the river.   

We were looking over the menu at Go Fish and most of their food was the typical bar food - burgers, appetizers, salads, wraps and sandwiches were the main items on the menu.  They had a handful of entree items such as fish and chips, sockeye salmon, and grilled or breaded fish tacos on the menu.  And I understand that Go Fish is sort of famous for their huge breaded pork tenderloin sandwich.  Go Fish was a 2014 finalist for the Best Pork Tenderloin sandwich in Iowa given out by the Iowa Pork Producers Association.  

One thing I saw on the menu were a number of drinks they featured at Go Fish.  I was ready for another drink and I asked Diana if they served a good mai tai there.  Since our visit to Hawaii, we haven't been able to find any place that served the same quality mai tai's that we experienced during our time on Maui and Kauai.  She said that they made their mai tai's with both light and dark rum and a special mix.  I told her that I'd sign up for one of those.  

She couldn't make it at the tiki bar, but she had one of the bartenders at the main bar inside make it for me and she brought it out when it was ready.  This thing was packed with rum and was very tasty.  This was the best mai tai I had since we got back from Hawaii and it would have rivaled any of the ones we enjoyed while we were on the island.  

I finished my first one later on and I ordered another one from Diana.  She brought my second one back to me and she said, "I don't think the same person made this one."  Whoever made it forgot to put a shot of dark rum on the top of the drink.  I pointed that out to Diana and she grabbed the glass from in front of me and ran it back to the bar.  She brought it back and it looked exactly like the first one.  "I thought it looked different," she said.  And it tasted just as good as the first one.

I would have been happy sucking back mai tai's all night (also reasonably priced at $7 each), but Cindy was getting hungry.  She wasn't hungry for a big meal, but she wanted to get something in her stomach.  We decided to split a plate of grilled and blackened mahi mahi tacos and an appetizer.  We asked Diane if we could get the appetizer and the tacos at the same time.  She said that would not be a problem.

Well, it didn't quite work out that way.  About 20 minutes after we ordered, someone from the kitchen came out with our appetizer - a basket of deep fried dill pickle chips.  We had our choice of a ranch dressing, a garlic-parmesan dressing or a Cajun aioli sauce to go with the pickles and we took the Cajun aioli.  There weren't a lot of pickle chips, but they did taste pretty good along with the somewhat spicy Cajun sauce.  We figured we paid about 56 cents per pickle chip given the number in the basket versus the $9.00 cost of the appetizer.  To us, it didn't seem like it was that good of a value.  But it was enough to keep us happy until we got our order of fish tacos.

We had finished our appetizer and we were enjoying our drinks, looking out at the peaceful Mississippi River and listening to the music below us.  We weren't in any hurry to get down the road, looking at some of the boats coming and going from the boat ramp down below.   One of the boats that was going into the water from the boat ramp was this beautiful vintage Chris Craft boat that was built - we were told by someone standing by us who knew the boat owner - in 1965.  We felt sorry for the poor guy trying to guide it into the river as he was having trouble backing up the trailer that had a swing neck.  (Unless you grew up on a farm, maneuvering a trailer with a swing neck is tricky.)  There were probably two dozen people along the side of the upper deck watching this guy try about a half dozen times before he finally got it lined up and into the river - to the somewhat sarcastic applause of those watching from the deck.  But it certainly was a beautiful boat.  

It was a good 20 minutes after we finished our appetizer and we still didn't have our tacos.  I asked Diana if our tacos were on the way and she was very busy.  She didn't look up as she was grabbing cans of beer and sort of tersely said, "I just checked on them and we're backed up 30 minutes in the kitchen."  I could tell that she was stressing out a bit and I reassured her that we were not in a hurry in any way, but we were concerned that since the appetizers came out without the tacos - as we had originally asked they come out together - that possibly something may have happened.  

About 10 minutes later, a guy from the kitchen came out with a couple plates for the people seated next to us.  These people sat down after we did, ordered their food after we did, and they were receiving their food before we got our tacos.   On one of the plates was the mahi mahi sandwich and when he asked, "Who had the mahi mahi," I immediately raised my hand.  

Then I saw that it was the sandwich and Cindy said, "We had the tacos, not the sandwich."  I told the guy that these people ordered after we did and we still hadn't received our mahi mahi tacos.  He was incredulous, apologized and ran back to the kitchen.  Less than five minutes later our tacos showed up.  Diana didn't acknowledge that we finally got our tacos.  But she was busy, and that was all right. 

The tacos seemed to be hastily put together.  The fish didn't  have much - if any - blackening seasoning on them and they only provided one lime wedge for the three tacos.  Cindy has to have lime or lemon juice with nearly every bite of fish and I just let her have the lime to go with her taco.  I was going to ask Diana for a couple more lime wedges from behind the bar, but she was busy and someone must have pissed her off because she was suddenly not the friendly person she seemed to be an hour before.  I don't think it was us that upset her, but she seemed somewhat overwhelmed.   

The tacos were, well, all right.  They had a cole slaw and cilantro mix along with a pineapple pico de gallo on the tacos.  The tacos were fine, not great, but not the best.  We weren't disappointed with the tacos or the service - we didn't expect much going in regarding the food, and we were not in any hurry to move from our spot.  

With that all said, we enjoyed our time at Go Fish.  Other than the fish tacos they forgot to serve us and our bartender's slowly growing somewhat surly attitude, it was a large time hanging at the tiki bar.  In fact, when we left later that evening, she shook both of our hands, thanked us for coming out and said that we needed to come back at some point.  And we will - they have a bloody mary bar on Sunday's starting at 11 a.m. and serve peel-and-eat shrimp and oysters-on-the half shell.  And I'll want to try a burger and their pork tenderloin sandwich at some point.  Go Fish isn't very fancy, the food is typical bar food, and service can be slow at times mainly due to the crowds that they draw.  But the views of the Mississippi River - especially on a nice summer evening - are beautiful and relaxing, and they make a killer mai tai.  It's just too bad that it's about a 30 minute drive from our house.   

Johnny's Beef and Gyros - Joliet, IL

Always on the lookout for a good Italian beef sandwich, I've been trying to find places in and around Chicago that serve up one of the iconic sandwiches.  I read about a place that started out in Joliet, but now has a second location in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood - Johnny's Beef and Gyro's.  (This is not to be confused with Johnnie's Beef in Elmwood Park, IL.)  On a trip toward Indiana down Interstate 80, I stopped off at Johnny's to try one of their Italian beef sandwiches.  

Johnny's is co-owned by brothers Johnny and Nick Anastopoulos - Johnny is actually six years younger than big brother Nick.  The Joliet location has been open for a number of years and the brothers opened their second location on N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago in 2013.  Both locations continue to do stellar business with sandwiches, gyros and hot dogs.  But they're getting well known for their burgers, including the Big Daddy burger that features a double burger topped with cheese, gyro meat and a cucumber sauce.  They have a Big Daddy challenge where a customer must eat what amounts to two Big Daddy's (four burger patties, double the gyro meat), plus an order of chili cheese fries and a large glass of Italian ice in under 30 minutes.  Only a handful of people have been able to complete the challenge.  

I got off I-80 at the Houbelt Road exit and went north about a mile.  In a strip mall caddy-cornered kitty-cornered from the Joliet Regional Airport is a strip mall.  In the corner of the strip mall, there was Johnny's Beef and Gyros.  (see map).  

It's not a large place, it seats probably around 50 people.  In warmer months, they have an outdoor patio to the side that would nearly double the seating capacity.  The menu is above the counter and that's where you place your order.  I ordered up an Italian beef sandwich with mozzarella, giardiniera and sweet peppers.  I almost got a hot dog to go along with it - I love Chicago-style hot dogs - but I ended up just getting the sandwich on its own.

And that was a probably a good thing.  It was a big sandwich.  The Italian bread was probably 8 inches in length and it was cut deep and piled high with sliced Italian beef that was covered in shredded mozzarella cheese and pickled sweet pepper slices.  Liberal amounts of spicy giardiniera topped off the sandwich.  The bread was fluffy and chewy and held together very well with all that was on the sandwich.  The beef was moist and tender, and seasoned very well.  With all the different taste sensations going on with each bite, I couldn't help but go, "Mmmmm..." a couple of times.  This was a very good Italian beef sandwich.  

Sometimes I get a hankering for a good Italian beef sandwich when I'm traveling on the south side of Chicago to or from Indiana on Interstate 80.  Portillo's is usually my go-to, but there aren't really any locations that are close to the interstate. With Johnny's only about a mile north of Interstate 80 (and less than a mile east of Interstate 55), it's the perfect stop to grab a very good and tasty if you're driving by.  I enjoyed the Italian beef sandwich immensely and I would say that Johnny's Beef can certainly hold their own against many of the more established and famous Italian beef places in the Chicago area.     

Le Centre by Georges - Lyon, France

About 8 years ago on a trip to France with a number of our North American dealers, I stayed at the same hotel in Lyon - the Hotel Carlton.   One of the dealers, John Barnes from Denver, was telling me that the restaurant next to the hotel, Le Centre by Georges, was owned by a highly-rated and award winning chef and it was his goal to have a meal at the place when we were there.  He invited me to join him for lunch one day when we had some free time on our own, but I ended up going out with a couple of my dealers who made the trip over.  He spoke highly of the restaurant and I felt bad for not having lunch with John that day.  He was such a friendly guy and he tragically died of a heart attack less than three years after our trip to France.  On our trip to France earlier this year, I finally had the chance - along with my colleagues who made the trip - to go to Le Centre by Georges one evening.  

The Georges behind Le Centre by Georges is Georges Blanc, a highly respected and award winning restaurateur and hotelier whose eponymous restaurant in Vonnas, FR has held three Michelin stars - the highest award available - for 35 years.  Georges Blanc came from a family lineage of chefs - his mother was the chef of the family restaurant and inn before Georges took over in 1968 after graduating from culinary school and a stint in the French Navy (as the chef for an admiral).  Georges' grandmother - Elisa Gervais, also known as La Mère Blanc - ran the restaurant in the family restaurant garnering her first Michelin star in 1929 and a second one two years later.  She was famous for her Bresse chicken dishes - Bresse chickens are French-raised and are considered the finest table-served chickens in the world.  Georges Blanc is the chairman of the French association that oversees the proper way to raise Bresse chickens and they're still served in his restaurant today made with the same recipes handed down from his grandmother.

Pictured right - Georges Blanc

The inn in which the family's restaurant was located dated back to the early 1870's.  After Blanc took over the restaurant, he transformed the inn into a high-end boutique hotel.  He eventually took over other properties near the inn, adding a farm-to-fork bistro, three more hotels, a spa, shops and a garden area making the Village Blanc in Vonnas - about an hour north of Lyon - a famous and popular French getaway place.  

In addition to the two restaurants Blanc runs in Vonnas, he also owns seven other restaurants including Restaurant Le Saint Laurent in Macon, Restaurant Rouge et Blanc in Romaneche Thorins, and two restaurants in Lyon - Brasserie Le Splendid and Le Centre.  Each of the Georges Blanc restaurants have a different personality and menu.  

My colleagues and our host from our factory met up in the bar at the Hotel Carlton to have a couple drinks before walking literally next door to Le Centre which is located at the corner of Rue Grolée and Rue Jussieu on the peninsula between the Saône and Rhône Rivers in central Lyon.  (see map)   The restaurant, which opened in 1990, features contemporary fixtures mixed with large arching windows.  Along one wall were a number of proverbs or quotes in French from famous philosophers, artists, statesmen and authors such as Confucius, Oscar Wilde, Thomas Jefferson, Woody Allen and Henri Matisse.  

We were escorted upstairs to a small dining area that had similar decor to the main dining room with more proverbs and quotes on a wall, then around a corner to a smaller room with wonderful historical photographs of Lyon that was semi-private with one large table with 10 place settings.  There were only 8 of us there that evening as two of my colleagues didn't make the trip to France this time.  

Le Centre is basically an upscale steakhouse serving Black Angus beef.  And they had something on the menu that night that basically caught our interest - a 1 kilogram bone-in chunk of beef (about 2.25 pounds) that they would carve at the table.  It was served family style with fries, veggies and a salad before the meal.  We signed up for 4 of those bad boys after debating whether or not we should just get 3.  After I pointed out that the bone was part of the weight, we went with 4.  

Of course, we needed to have appetizers before the meal.  One of the plates featured a coconut-battered shrimp that came with some greens and a Rochefort cheese dressing.  I'm not big on coconut all that much, but these were pretty good.   

And foie gras was part of the appetizers, as well.  I love foie gras, but it doesn't like me because it's so rich for my stomach.  But it seemed like it would be a waste if I just left this chunk of foie gras on the plate with a balsamic drizzle on the side.  I had to have a couple bites.  It was killer.  

The salad was a mixture of greens, endive, tomatoes and red onions and topped house-made croutons with a creamy ranch-style dressing.  Everything was crisp, cool and fresh.  

But the highlight were the cheesy rolls that they served with the salads.  These had a hard outer edge with a wonderful cheesy taste and a spongy inner core that was warm and flavorful.  Oh man - I could have eaten a dozen of these things.

Finally, the steak came out - two at a time.  We had ordered a medium and three medium rare, so two of the medium-rare ones came out first.  As two waiters brought out our sides and placed them on the table, two other waiters were cutting the meat on carts next to the table.   

These were serious chunks of beef.  It took the waiter about five minutes to slice and remove the bone and fat from the beef.  We all waited patiently as they completed their carving.   

This was one of the medium-rare steaks before we dug in.  I've had Europeans tell me that they just can't get beef there like they can in the United States.  But this looked pretty darned good to me.  

Cameras came out from every direction at the table to document the food fest we were getting ready to have. We had multiple bottles of the Domaine Chevalier Pere et Fils Ladoix Crux, a full-bodied red that went well with the beef.  

The steak was very good - some of the best steak I've ever had in all of my travels to France.  Flavorful and juicy, the steak was lean and tender.  Along with the steak came frites (French fries) that were cooked perfectly with the crispy outside and the flaky and moist inside, mixed vegetables, a type of creamed corn, and fresh bread rolls.  Alas, they were not the wonderful cheese rolls.  

We were almost able to finish all four of the chunks of beef.  The medium-rare ones went quickly.  Only a couple guys were focused on the medium steak.  It was a lot of food and I was stuffed.  Well, until they brought out the dessert menu.  I had to try the lemon tort with an orange merengue topping.  Oh, God, was it good!  It was light, but still very rich.  I couldn't even begin to finish the whole thing, but I was very happy to have a few bites.  

Above right is a decadent chocolate cake dessert that was covered with a white cream frosting, then drizzled in creamy milk chocolate and served with a scoop of caramel ice cream.  It just looked decadent and rich.  I was offered a bite, but I was getting to the limit of bodily explosion if I had another bite.  

Finally, one of my colleagues got what was basically French toast served with dollops of a maple-flavored spread.  My colleague John said this thing was heavenly, but very rich.  I was happy with what I got with the lemon tort/orange merengue dessert.  But looking back, the French toast with the maple spread would have been the thing for me to get. 

During our meal, I thought a lot about John Barnes and the food that he raved about during his visit 8 years ago to Le Centre by Georges.  Finally having the chance to eat there, I could fully understand what he was raving about.  Everything - from the appetizers, the salad, the steaks, the sides, the desserts, to the wonderful wine we had, and even the service - was excellent.  One of my dreams would be to get to Vonnas to experience George Blanc's 3-Michelin Star restaurant, but just being able to eat at Le Centre by Georges was a wonderful treat.  

Paia Fish Market - Paia, HI

During our recent return to Maui, we made it a point to spend more time in the Upcountry of the island as well as spending more time along the north shore - primarily the small town of Paia.  Paia has pockets of touristy areas, but it's nowhere near as bad as Lahaina on Maui's west side.  We really felt we didn't give either Paia or the Upcountry much of a look over when we were on Maui six years ago.  This time, we spent a considerable amount of time in Paia and we ended up having lunch at a place that my wife wanted to give a try - Paia Fish Market.  

The Paia Fish Market opened in 1989 when Paia wasn't much more than a small plantation town on the way to Hana.  It quickly became known for their fresh fish tacos and their fish burgers.  Lines stretch out the door most days with people waiting to order food at the Paia Fish Market.  

The owners of the place are DeWitt Lickle, who is also a local artist known as Kalani Lickle; Lickle's wife Moon Greene; and Yuri Soledade.  It turns out that Soledade is a world class surfer with over 15 years experience as a professional surfer.  Click here to check out Soledade riding the big waves (up to 80 feet tall) on the north shore of Maui at the World Surf League event at Pe'ahi Beach - also known as Jaws because of its massive wave breaks - in January of this year.  The group also owns Nuka, a sushi restaurant in nearby Haiku.  

The Paia Fish Market is located right in the heart of Paia at the corner of the Hana Highway and Baldwin Ave. that goes south into the Upcountry of Maui.  (see map)  Parking around the place can be pretty tight at times, but there is a municipal lot down and across the street that we used during our trips to Paia.  

It's not really a fish market where you can go in and get fresh fish to take home, but a laid-back Hawaiian restaurant.  The inside of the place isn't all that big and is populated with community-style picnic tables that can seat up to 8 people.  It was after 2 p.m. so the crowd wasn't too bad, but interestingly while we were there, the crowds grew again and the legendary "line out the door" developed again.  

The menu for Paia Fish Market is located on a board above the order counter with the open kitchen in the background.  Of course, seafood is the main item with entrees, sandwiches, appetizers and their famous mahi mahi or ono fish burgers.  A seafood pasta dish is available, as well as good old fashioned fish and chips.  For people who aren't looking for seafood, Paia Fish Market also serves up a burger using beef from the Maui Cattle Co., or a grilled chicken sandwich or entree.  

We were going out for a good dinner that evening and I didn't want a lot of food so I ended up getting the grilled fish tacos.  They had a grilled fresh catch in soft corn tortillas topped with lettuce, tomatoes and a house-made salsa.  Chopped cabbage was off to the side and a healthy portion of Cajun rice came with the tacos.  The tacos were tasty - nice and light.  I even shovled some of the Cajun rice onto the taco to give it more of a zippy taste.  I washed my tacos back with a couple of the Maui Brewing Company's Bikini Blonde beers.  

Cindy went with the mahi mahi sandwich.  It was served open faced with chopped lettuce, a tomato slice and shredded cheese.  It, too, came with the Cajun rice.  She didn't eat it as a sandwich - she basically ate it as a knife and fork meal.  She enjoyed a glass of pinot grigio with her fresh mahi mahi.  She thought the fish was excellent.  

We really enjoyed the lunch we had at the Paia Fish Market.  This longtime local favorite serves up the freshest fish available in a setting that harkens back to the days of Paia being a plantation town on the north shore of Maui.  It's not fancy, the food is very good, and it has a very laid back and fun attitude about the place.  

Q39 BBQ - Kansas City

Kansas City is the capital of barbecue - plain and simple.  If you asked someone from Kansas City to name the five best barbecue places in the city, they'd come up with seven.  One would think that a place could become saturated with barbecue joints, but that's not the case in K.C.  New ones seem to pop up on the landscape every year and one that opened a couple years that has been generating a lot of buzz in the barbecue community in Kansas City is Q39.  

Rob Magee grew up in New Jersey and at a very young age he figured out that he wanted to be a chef, mainly because chefs can go wherever they want to and the young Magee always thought he'd end up in Hawaii.  He took courses at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and after he graduated 30 years ago he took a job in Dallas.  It wasn't quite Hawaii, but Rob stayed in Dallas for seven years before moving on to become an executive chef and a food and beverage director for hotels in Houston, Charlotte, Denver and Nashville.  In 2000, he ended up getting hired on as the food and beverage director at the Westin Crown Center in Kansas City.  A year later, he ended up as the executive chef at the Kansas City Airport Hilton hotel and it was there where he caught the Kansas City barbecue bug.  

Pictured right - Kelly and Rob Magee.  (Picture courtesy Kansas City Business News.)

In 2002, Magee formed Munchin' Hogs, a competitive barbecue team that ended up competing in up to 40 different barbecue competitions annually.  Twice Munchin' Hogs was named as the top team in the nation and they were consistently in the Kansas City Barbecue Society's Top Ten on an annual basis.  

Magee continued to run the restaurant at the Kansas City Airport Hilton - Cafe Weatherby - but he had many of his Munchin' Hogs favorites on the menu alone with other American dishes.  Of course, like many other rib joints that I've eaten at over the years, people told Magee that he needed to open his own place and focus just on barbecue.   In April of 2014, Magee - with his wife, Kelly - opened Q39 in the old Oriental Feast restaurant on W. 39th Street in the Midtown/Westport neighborhood of Kansas City.  (see map)  About two months ago, Magee announced they would be opening a second Q39 location in Overland Park, KS in the former 

It was just before noon when I made it into the parking lot for Q39 and it was already packed.  I found a space behind the building situated in a small strip mall area along W. 39th St. and went in.  The interior of Q39 was completely gutted by the Magee's and with the help from REALM Architecture + Design based out of Phoenix (they were the ones who also did the internal work on the BRGR Kitchen + Bar restaurant that I visited here) they transformed the space into what it is today - an open dining room with sort of a rustic/contemporary industrial look with an open kitchen area in the back.  Communal tables were set up in the middle of the dining area with a bar area up toward the front.

Along a back wall of the dining room, Magee has many of the trophies he garnered in his years of competitive barbecue competitions on display.  From 2006 to 2012, Munchin' Hogs won over 50 Grand Champion trophies and countless Reserve Champion trophies at competitions around the U.S.  

I ended up seated at the bar for this visit to Q39 as many of the table were filled in the dining area.  I squeezed in between a couple guys finishing up their early lunches and I have to say the barbecue on their plates looked scrumptious.  The bartender/server - Ryan - gave me a menu and asked what I wanted to have to drink.  I gave a quick glance to the beers they had on tap and immediately ordered up a Boulevard Pale Ale.  

They do barbecue a little differently at Q39.  For the lunch crowd, they smoke their meats over night to assure the barbecue is fresh and flavorful for the noontime crowds.  For the dinner crowds, they begin smoking their meats in the morning to make sure that they'll be serving fresh barbecue that evening.  They never smoke their meats and hold them to warm up later at Q39.  Everything served at Q39 - from their bacon (which is brined for 3 days and then smoked), their sausage (it took Magee four months to learn how to make sausage), their burger meat (it's ground in-house with a mixture of Black Angus certified brisket and chuck), and even their sides including a potato salad made with tarragon and a spicy pickle slaw with jalapeños that they put on top of their burgers.  They also make their own smoked chipotle ketchup in house at Q39.   

If you read Road Tips regularly, you know that I like to try a little bit of everything when I try out a new barbecue place in my travels.  Q39 has a sampler plate on their menu that allowed me to pick three meats for my lunch.  I picked brisket, pulled pork and a small rack of ribs.  For my side, I got baked beans.  A small square of corn bread came with the meal - I don't care much for corn bread at all.  (How's that for a guy who grew up in Iowa?)

The brisket and the pulled pork was moist, tender and flavorful.  They were both served with a bit of a very good house-made Kansas City-style sweet and smoky sauce with a small container of sauce on the side.  The portions were generous - the brisket slices were thick and about 8 to 10 inches in length.  The ribs were meaty with a smoky flavor and easily pulled from the bone.  This was top-notch barbecue in my book.

The highlight - for me - were the baked beans that Q39 makes in-house.  The baked beans featured pinto beans, burnt beef ends and a nice sauce that I didn't have to doctor up with barbecue sauce.  I loved the baked beans at Q39, they were some of the best I've ever had at a barbecue restaurant.  

It was a lot of food for lunch - I don't think I had dinner that evening when I got up to Omaha later in the day.  I was still stuffed from lunch.  But it was all good at Q39.  The brisket, the pulled pork, the rack of pork ribs - all were excellent in flavor and texture.   Ask me what my favorite rib joints are in Kansas City and Q39 has now joined the mix of the ones that I really like that I can recite off the top of my head.  There are some world-class barbecue places in Kansas City and Q39 is easily part of that top echelon of rib joints.  Rob Magee never did end up working at a restaurant in Hawaii and it's a good thing for those in Kansas City that he didn't.