Jay About Top 5 Lists

2 Posts in 1 day? Is this the best day ever? Yup! So what might prompt such a fine showing from Jay? Well, the special lady, myself, and a good friend KS hit up the Alchemist for lunch on Saturday and it got me thinking... "I been everywhere, still I'm standing tall I've seen a million faces an Ive rocked them all"! I have also been to and reviewed a bunch of places in VT and was thinking about which ones I thought really made it happen for me. So with that I present to you the Jay About Town Top 5 Vermont Eateries!

5. Tiny Thai. Essex/Winooski, VT. 2 locations, both ultra casual. This is everything you want in Asian cuisine, American style. It is cheap, it is fast, and it is bring your own booze! The food is very good, I am a huge fan of the drunken noodles but try it all, you really can't go wrong. The service is efficient and friendly. Great place to take your date for $20 of delicious chow!
4. American Flatbread. Burlington, VT. Easy, casual, but delicious. Another joint w/ an extensive and well put together beer list. This place is constantly packed and for good reason. Anytime you just want to hang w/ friends and have a 1/2 "bread" and a couple beers this place makes it happen. Not too expensive and very friendly so it is fantastic for families, college kids, and everything in or out between.
3. Simon Pierce. Quechee, VT. The last couple meals have not been as good as my usual experiences... but the bar had been set pretty high. Extensive wine list, very good and sometimes great food, courteous service... and one of the best views out there. When you add in the house mad blown glassware and homemade pottery, you have a winner. Expensive but versatile, good for brunch, lunch, and dinner.
2. Hen of the Wood. Waterbury, VT. To be fair, I have eaten here twice and both times came away impressed. I think this is the best food I have eaten in Vt but it is pretty expensive and pretty formal so it is not for every occasion. Great wine list and if you do not try the short ribs, well, there is nothing I can do for you frankly. Service is well mannered, friendly, and professional. Great experience.
1. The Alchemist. Waterbury, VT. This place nails it every time. I am a huge fan of the casual pub experience and this one is great. You could probably count the number of brewpubs that actually make good non-flat beer on 1 hand. Love the beer here, especially the Holy Cow. The food is also great. The burgers are delicious, the pulled pork quite good, even the rice and beans is good. Add in home made catsup, beer cheese dip w/ pretzels, and the sweet potato fries. I commend you Alchemist.

So there, you have it, one man's humble opinion. Don't like my choices? Let me hear it! Where should I go? What should I try again? Is there a local dish I have missed that would swing my vote? Should I try steroids, will that enhance my eating performance?

Didn't See This Coming!

Not for nothing but there seems to be alot more taint out there then anytime I can ever remember. Taint in baseball, taint on Wall Street, taint in autos... everywhere I look there is TAINT!!!!

Was I surprised A-Rod was a cheater? Nope. Will I be surprised when other folks are exposed as cheaters? Nope. Do I care? Not that much. I mean if roided up hitters were hitting off of roided up pitchers, it should all even out right? Well, except for the physics of a faster swing hitting a faster thrown ball and sending it much farther as a result. But who cares, it is fun to see home runs. This drug era is better than the coked up 80s right?

Muggie

Thanks to TH over here I think we can give the Sham-Wow guy a run for his money... I mean, sure, the Snuggie is a "great idea" but it could be even better! Seriously, how many times are you sitting on the couch canning beers, or maybe at the ball game w/ your entire family dressed like the Hale-Bop crowd? Yeah, your hands are free for beer drinking and high fiving but what happens when you have to pee? Well, here is the solution! For only $19.95 you can have that little bit of extra that says "Heck yea, I'm a guy... and it's peein' time"!

The Next Govenor of New Mexico?

I say Hell Yeah! He has already been a shaman, batman... fatman.

A Little Late But...

Some folks have seen this but, in honor of Punxsatony Phil... I present, Wall Street Wilbur! That's right, when Wall Street Wilbur sees his shadow that means 6 more months of recession!

Obamamania!!!! Hey, you know what? When you try to nationalize banks and tell people what they can and cannot make in a free marketplace do you know what that is called? Socialism! Yeah, it works great! Led France to surrender to their shadow, and Russia, that worked out well. Next thing you know we will be fighting over firewood and dungarees while Obama takes off his shirt and hunts for tigers! Start to think about the consequences of your actions Mr. president, you are heading down a dark path.

Saw the movie Pineapple Express this weekend. I really liked it. I admit that I enjoy lowbrow stoner humor in the vein of Cheech and Chong so take this for what it is worth. I just thought it was silly and entertaining and even the parts I knew were coming, like putting a foot in the windshield, still killed me. 1 3/4 thumbs up.

Crap, I gotta go... important business meeting @ American Flatbread!

Super Bowl Recap

Usually the Super Bowl has a ton of hype, people spend way too much money on commercials, parties, strippers... uh, I mean food, and then the game itself sucks. This year nobody exactly knew what to make of the game, the teams, or the scene but it all worked out ok. The game itself had a hew decent moments but for the most part was pretty sloppy. The Steelers defense is quite good and Arizona's was not terrible so this should be expected. At the end of the day the game could be encapsulated in 2 plays... at the end of the first half Arizona is on the 5 and looks ready to score and tie it up or take the lead. Of course, at this moment Kurt "I Want to Be Like Brett Favre and Turn the Ball Over on My Way to the Hall of Fame" Warner tosses a bad pick to James Harrison who then made an amazing 100 yard return. How did no one tackle this guy who was winded after 5 yards? How do you throw a 5 yard interception into double coverage? How do they make boneless chicken wings? The second play was game winner. Ben Rothegjhgjlsgdaljhgburger made a great throw to Santonio Holmes in the corner of the end zone to negate a Cardinal's comeback and ice the win. Holmes was triple teamed... the catch is that not one of the three guys thought they should get within 7 feet of him. The Card's d-back Rogers-Cromartie sucks. He got absolutely abused last night. I also enjoyed how he gave up on plays after being beaten. The QBs in this game are funny, Big Ben is like an ugly girl w/ a good body, it is pretty terrible until the very end (12 beers deep and it is dark). Warner on the other hand is the girl who looks great in clothes but terrible naked (huge stats but always a couple of crippling plays). I have no first hand experience of any of this mind you... and my wife is like Joe Montana (the whole package, except the nose...and she is a girl). Tons of bad penalties in the game too. I give the game as a whole 1 thumb up, entirely for the fourth quarter.

What did we have for dinner? A very nice and clean tasting Pad Thai. Not as sweet as a restaurant but felt very healthy. We also had some very labor intensive pork dumplings. Great flavor but they got a little messed up in the frying. The bird tag team yielded great flavor, but the presentation was comci comca... that's French, surprised you didn't know! Oh yeah, I also knocked down a few Pabst tall boys!

Commercials? OK. I liked the koala punch but the rest of the commercial was grating. GoDaddy.com? You stay classy! I liked the baby talking shit to his golfing partner, didn't care for the Clydesdale's, thought Conan was funny, Baldwin so so, really liked the 2 second High Life ad where the fat guy just yelled "High Life!". Tough economy.

The Boss @ halftime? I don't care what anybody says... it was great. Springsteen is a great performer and this was the best half time show I have seen... well, the Janet Jackson was pretty good too! OK, that's it for now... I am exhausted, and need a hot tub!

F*ck You Phil!

I know this will be covered in more detail by the f*ck you penguin blog but I could not help but add 2 cents. That rat bastard Punk-satony Phil always sees his shadow. It's 30 degrees here and we have a damn cold front coming later in the week. You can't do me a solid just once Phil and maybe neglect to notice your shadow? Just once?!

BTW... love the new Olympic training tool employed by Michael Phelps. Anyone else notice that Usain Bolt absolutely destroyed the field when he ran the 100 yd dash at the Olympics. He is from Jamaica. Just sayin'...