Me vs. The Menu

No Freakin Way

Guess where these coffee beans come from.  YIKES!

Coffee and Tea talk becomes Basil talk and then more Coffee talk

I've never been into coffee, I'm more of a tea guy.  On a recent trip to Fort Collins for work I stayed in a pretty cool hotel next to a pretty cool coffee house.  The hotel was called the Armstrong Hotel and I highly recommend it; the coffee shop was called Mugs Coffee Lounge and I would heap equally great praise on this organic / fair trade establishment.  The vegan sausage breakfast burrito was especially tasty.  The teas were fantastic as well. 

Which reminds me, I've been remiss in passing along a great little tea place we found in Toronto called Davids Tea.  If you are ever in the neighborhood, you should stop by just to see the wall of tea; if you're not around, they ship anywhere (and I promise it's worth it). 

Here's a great list of things to do with the grounds after your morning coffee.  I can't speak to everything on the list, but my Italian neighbor in Dallas used to fertilize his basil with his coffee grounds.  He drank coffee constantly (as I'm told Italians are apt to do) and his basil was some of the biggest basil I've ever seen.  My other neighbor and I used to sneak bunches at a time for pesto and such. 

Finally, here's a link to a great little diagram on how to make all those fancy coffee drinks you fancy.

Toronto Tid Bit

We got back from our extended weekend in Toronto last night and I wanted to start posting some of our experiences.  I decided rather than have some build up to the best meal winner or something, I would just simply write about the best experience first.  Hands down, the single best meal we had in Toronto was the vegetarian fare from Fressen.  The recommendation to try this Queen Street West establishment came by way of our Canadian friend Jill who practices the vegetarian lifestyle more strictly than I can imagine (more on this topic in a later post).  One of the things we liked most about Fressen was the portion sizes - just small enough so you could share three or four per couple, but big enough where you felt like you were getting your money's worth.  At $9 a plate, the price was outstanding too.  Here's what we picked for the evening:  sweet potato and ginger soup with a spicy chili sauce accent; seared cornmeal polenta suits on herbed tomato sauce and sautéed lemony garlic spinach; beer battered deep fried tempeh fish and taro chips with a tangy tahini cucumber tartar sauce; and pan seared king, shiitake and honey mushrooms on cold sesame spinach with a lemon garlic sauce.  Since Fressen only serves one dessert, we ordered it asking that the waitress surpise us with what exactly it would be.  In the meantime we wagered what exactly a vegetarian place makes for desert.  The wifey guessed a mix fruit and I suggested a flourless chocolate cake.  Turns out we were both right and the dessert was an excellent end to an excellent meal.  If you are ever in Toronto you should listen to Jill and check out Fressen.

Pickle Mecca & Pickle Misery

(BLOGGERS NOTE:  This post was written and best enjoyed while listening to the Jose Gonzalez album IN OUR NATURE.  Now sit back and enjoy...) 

We finally made it Downtown to check out Guss' Pickles and The Pickle Guy.  You can read up about each in my previous post.  In summary know this - our two experiences were VASTLY different. 

We took the F train down to the Essex stop, surfaced after our 45 minute journey, and headed south to the intersection of Grand and Essex.  We popped into The Pickle Guy first and that's when we realized that pickle purveyors prefer perfectly pristine paper money.  After walking to the closest BOA (yes we are that cheap, a $2 ATM fee means less pickles after all) we ended up closer to Guss' Pickles.  We decided to start our sampling there.  Mistake.  Whoever the lady is out front, run from her.  She's pissed about something.  Maybe it's the constant brine smell in her clothes, the overwhelming garlic breath of her coworkers and clientele, or the back-breaking cucumber bobbing by which she makes her living.  Whatever it was, she was put off that I wanted to BUY a sample and that I had the nerve to suggest she break a twenty dollar bill.  Never mind the point I was PAYING to try something, but the fact she might actually have to reach into the register and dispense with nineteen dollars in change was too much.  Anyhow, we waded through the purchasing issues and were still excited for our first try of Half Sours.  Mistake #2.  Maybe I don't like them to begin with or maybe I was already soured by Senorita Sourpuss' disposition.  Whatever it was we dropped our mostly uneaten, rightly purchased with good old American cold hard cash pickles and headed back to the Pickle Guy.  Next time, maybe I'll try making my own half sours and avoid the full sour attitude at Guss' Pickles.

Walking into the Pickle Guy was a totally different experience.  From the get - you actually "walk into" this store; Guss' Group prefers to camp outside what I assume is their store.  Once inside you are immediately met by several things - 1.) A lively, entertaining, and extremely friendly staff 2.) FREE samples 3.) others who proudly share your pickle enthusiasm and 4.) tons of things to choose from.  We tried the full sours and were blown away...we'll take a pint.  Olives - we'll take a pint of pimento stuffed, a half pint of greek, and another half pint of garlic stuffed.  Mustard?  They got that.  Fresh?  Yes, please - half a pint.  Finally, we decided to try FRESHLY ground horseradish.  When I say "fresh" you should know the friendly guy in the gas masked at the door didn't move until I ordered it.  That's fresh.  All in all we could not have been happier with the Pickle Guy and more disappointed in Guss' Pickles.

Oh well, Now we know.

Beacon for Dinner?

Saturday we found ourselves up in Beacon, NY.  Beacon is a great little town just 80 minutes North of the City on the Metro North Commuter Railroad.  We go from time to time to visit the Dia:Beacon.  The D:B is a great museum designed into a former Nabisco distribution center.  We like some of the work there so much (particularly Richard Serra's work) we became members and get up there whenever the mood strikes.  It's a short walk from the railroad stop and even has a great Cafe in the bookstore.  The Cafe serves light fare including coffee and pastries. Sandwiches, salads, entrees and soups are prepared on the premises, using locally grown organic ingredients whenever possible. This summer we'll probably get up there with a picnic basket, a bottle of wine, and our folding bikes.

This time we were there to support a friend's Gallery Opening.  The opening was great to see and the four photographers did a fantastic job of demonstrating some alternative process imagery (something the wife is REALLY into these days).  After the opening we decided to walk around Downtown Beacon and cruise Main Street.  We went into a bike store (I ordered a t-shirt - gotta support your local shops).  We stepped into a great wine store called the Artisan Wine Shop.  The manager Tim is quite friendly and obviously knows way more about wine than me; we talked his ear off about the wines we recently tried on our last visit to CraftBar.  Finally, we came to a little gem of a place - Poppy's where they proudly boast "BURGERS - FRIES - VEGETARIAN" on the door.  I have to say that the burger was one of the best I've had in some time.  The beef was grass fed, no hormones, and local; yielding a very juicy patty.  The sides were sweet potato chips and tasty as well.  All in all a great experience.  I would highly recommend stopping by on your next visit to Beacon.  We'll be back and might see there!

Service Compris

We are back from Paris and I'm starting to get a little tired so I'll just post a few things tonight. Check back later this week when I'll talk about our great dinners during our visit. For now, it's important to note the restaurants and cafes where tip is included in your bill generally note this to the customer. Usually it's done by noting "service compris" or "service included." The typical percentage is 15% and is usually noted on the bill as well. But, do you still need to tip on top of the "service compris"? Some people say the French don't tip, and that's not true. It's just like anywhere, if you feel the services was particularly well performed it's not uncommon to add an additional amount. If you feel the service was poor, it's acceptable to argue. Just expect to haggle in French as apparently there is no translation for "slow service with an attitude." All in all our service was friendly and timely, deserving of the included tip; with even a couple of experiences being exceptional and deserving of additional tip. Too bad Paris is so expensive and we're so broke having flown all the way in from New York. Oh well...