Birds in the 'Dacks!

Big weekends for the birds this weekend... my special lady and I headed out to our friend's family place in Keene Valley.  It was a great time w/ some delicious food, plenty of laughs, and one too many drinks.  I knew when I took that first sip of maple infused whiskey I was in trouble... and I was!  We cleared out the hangovers w/ a hike up Blueberry Mtn. That shit was no joke.  Only 2800 feet or so it is straight up. After 15 minutes I was sweating like crazy and trying to keep my eggs and pancakes down which was no small feet.  Once at the top though you had nice views of the surrounding peaks and could really see the environmental impact of Irene, there were some sick slides on the more vertical peaks.  After the hike we were all pretty hungry and cruised to the Noon Mark Diner for some lunch.  It is famous for its pies and they apparently ship all over the country.  We did not have pie.

Anyway, our waitress was a teenager who could not have been less interested in our table. It was like 45 minutes of being judged.  The food though was pretty solid.  I have a "dressed" burger that was a little over cooked for medium but had nice flavor.  The onion rings were also very good.  I rounded it out w/ an unsweetened iced tea for a real down home diner lunch.  It was great.  Splitting our check in 3 was another real challenge.  My advice is to just pay in cash! 

I did slip out to dinner and a movie Friday night. I tried the new Thai place on Rt. 7 that is the 16436826th iteration in the location put together by the old Bangkok Bistro conglomerate.  I had miso soup and drunken noodles.  The main course came out before my soup had cooled enough to take a bite.  The food itself was fine but not exceptional.  It did make a nice leftover.  The soup did not need the 2 huge raw slices of mushroom, it just didn't.  Afterwards I went to see The Five Year Engagement.  It was pretty funny and had a couple very funny parts.  Better renter though.  Be careful watching it w/ your partner, the character dynamics might want to make you pee in their popcorn when they are not looking to even the score!

So, we are really enjoying the Game of Thrones show on HBO.  It is hard to follow but if you get in deep it is pretty solid.  Afterwards though, Veep and Girls are tough.  Would you watch either if they were not on HBO at 10pm?  Send me a comment about Girls.  If you are not in NYC do you like it all?  Even if you do enjoy the city angle do you still hate the show?  That said I have tuned in for 2 1/2 shows even though I am pretty sure it is one of the worst shows I have ever seen? Ok then...

Future Jay

So I go into Dunkin Donuts to get a coffee and this is how it goes more or less

Cash Register Girl: How may I help you, no the caramel double shot is over there!
Me: Large coffee a little bit of cream, no sugar.
CRG: No, you have to do those one first... sorry, what was your order?
Me: Large coffee a little bit of cream, no sugar.
CRG: The double shot is there! What size? no cream? I'm sorry
Me: I would like to jam a jelly donut in your fat face
CRG: No the hazelnut, the hazelnut... what was the order again?
Me: Large coffee a little bit of cream, no sugar.

CRG:  Ok, that will be $2:25.
Me: Thanks for the 10 minutes of my life I will never get back!

I step back to wait.  Old fat guy who looks like the Game of Thrones author picks up a bag of about 12 dozen donuts. Then one girl takes a coffee that was not hers causing a commotion and then a redo of the hazelnut double shot extra cream 3 sugars for the girl who had been patiently waiting.  Why the confusion?  When an order came up an employee w/ little mastery of English would emerge w/ a coffee say something no one could understand and then point at the cup so we could all use our Superman X-ray vision to examine the contents.  What did I get in Dunkin coffee roulette?  Large coffee 2 cream (as opposed to "a little bit") and no sugar so that was good.  Tough way to start my day.

Rainy Weekend

Word is parts of the Northeast just got snow?  Fortunately not us.  It did rain and we took the opportunity to relax a bit. We did some errands and had a lovely lunch at El Cojiba.  That place is great for lunch.  A couple tacos and a beer are delicious, pretty filling, and relatively cheap for a "Flatbread" associated spot.  Later that evening we met friends at the Antidote in Vergennes and I realized I was getting old.  I had a Manhattan w/Earl Grey infused sweet vermouth that I did not care for.  My special lady and I then shared an artichoke dip that was pretty good (dipping bread was really nice) and then a burger.  The burger was actually delicious but super messy.  Great bun, well cooked, and flavorful but I needed a shit ton of napkins as it went all over the place.  Not long after we started eating the band fired up.  We were in a high booth w/ the band at out backs.  I am not sure if I was in a bad spot for acoustics but it was so loud my ears started to ache and I began to feel nauseous.  Awesome... I have turned into my parents!  That said, why do mediocre bands feel like they need to turn the music up so high?  It was not a huge or overly crowded venue and really how loud do you need to hear Huey Lewis and the News covers?  Have you ever left a concert and said, hey I really wish that had been louder! No.  And since increased volume actually distorts the sound and destroys your hearing what is the upside?  It is like selling drugs laced w/ poison right?  Or selling coffee you peed in?  Why as customers do we keep coming back to hear Spinal Tap turned "to eleven"?!  'Cause we are assholes I suppose. 

Still, 2 restaurants and they both had very solid food at very solid prices.  One odd aside, on Friday we cruised over to the Luening's bar upstairs and it was not awesome.  First off the place was filled w/ old people w/ a table or two of rich parent college kids.  So that was fun.  Secondly, the place smelled really bad.  I think it was cheese but if not then feet and B.O. and it was a pretty darn close call.  We shared a gross Old Fashioned.  The apps we shared were ok.  There were these French Onion Soup balls (hahaha balls), that were tasty.  The peperoni platter was pretty good as well.  Yup, I had pepperoni and balls... what are you going to do about it?!

Go Sox!   Too soon?

DUUUUDE... Happy 420

Not sure what it all means but the kids up at UVM sure seem happy about it?

Seriously?

So, it is Monday and the common question is, "How was your weekend?".  Well, supper club was fantastic. We did an IPA testing and Heady Topper narrowly squeezed past Dogfish 60 minute. We also had a Momofuko recreation that included slow cooked pork shoulder.  It was fantastic!  Otherwise we kind of got screwed. Our cat Boomer was not eating on Saturday.  That is very unusual.  Not as unusual as his f*d up swollen cheek!  And not nearly as unusual as the stinky smell coming from the wound on his cheek.  Abscess.  We had to take him into the emergency vet to get it taken care of.  $100 just to walk in the door.  So how did I spend my sunny warm weekend?  Getting my cat a funny hat.

Why Church St is Great

Last night we were walking down to Flatbread for a beer.  Of course coming the other direction was a crazy dude most likely on some sort of drugs.  He yelled at me for a little bit and requested that I say P-L-E-A-S-E.  Not sure for what.  We tried not to make eye contact and just slip by.  Then he threw a stick at my buddy T-Pain.  Sure why not.  He was out yelling at pedestrians in front of Starbucks today.  You go crazy guy!

Today we were heading down to grab some lunch.  Coming towards us was a kid who looked straight out of School Ties.  He had nerdy glasses, a sport coat, slacks, and a green and blue striped prep school tie.  Of course he stared us down while singing loudly the Peter Tosh classic Legalize It.  Ok, sure.  Last time we would run into our pal Smokey Joe?  Hell no!  In the lobby of our building we were waiting for the elevator when our pal came cruising through the building (needless to say we do not have any security). This time he claimed he was fighting to legalize pot.  I said "you go chief", which pleased our friend.  He exclaimed "I am always fighting the fight!". Possibly trying to legalize acid as well?  Fantastic.

No Big Red sightings.  Yet...

Whoa!

I recently became aware of a mystery of epic proportions... I had to pass it along!  http://vtsasquatch.blogspot.com/

BTW, my lady and I had dinner at the bar at Bearded Frog last night.  I had a burger.  It was a little overcooked but ok.  The fries are really very good.  They are thin like McDonalds but very crispy.  Delicious.  The service was good and there was a very good deal on a flight of scotch.  You get to pick 3 3/4 ounce pours from any of their single malt selection for $16.  Not too shabby.  We went w/ a 12yr old Dalwhinnie that was tough on the nose but very smooth and drinkable, a more caramel color 18yr old Glenlivet that was nice, a little medicinal, but all around smoother on the palet but harsher in the throat, and then the 16yr old Lagavulin that was smoky peat as all get out.  Hit you in the face from first smell but was very rounded w/ plenty of earthy smoke, tobacco, and a hint of vanilla.  Nice.

Jay About the Shelburne Corridor

No not the one on the North side of town... the one in the dirty South down towards Charlotte way.  We met up w/ some friends there Friday night to spend some time in 2 of the nicer spaces in the area and shoot the shit of a drink or two.  First stop was the Shelburne winery for a little music.  The wine is not great but there is a white, the Cayuga that is drinkable.  Beyond that we sat at a nice table on the second floor by the window and listened to Mike Colbourn bang out some acoustic tunes to benefit the Champlain Valley Head Start program.  As an added bonus we were able to sample some delicious beet salad and very tasty pulled pork.  I can't believe it but I might have to stop eating pork.  I love it but it does not love me.  My stomach is always a mess after a pork meal, particularly the pulled pork variety. 

After that we hopped across the street to the Fiddlehead Brewery and its attached pizza joint Folino's.  The space is also very cool w/ a sparse industrial look that is softened by the wood fired pizza oven that provides warmth and a measure of comfort to the space.  There are some weird dead birds of prey scattered about so keep an eye out.  There is no bar and not nearly enough tables to fill the ample space which the proprietors claim is thanks to draconian town zoning laws, which I do not doubt for a second.  That said it is a weird layout that makes it seem like you are eating in a warehouse.  There is not a very good area to casually drink a beer either (which you have to bring from the outside).  It would be a great place for a fundraiser or party type thing.  The pizza itself was ok, not great.  The crust was pretty good.  It was thin and crusty w/ pretty solid flavor.  The sauce was a little thin as well... flavor wise.  The toppings were also a bit spars.  Price was reasonable, service was typical smug.  It is probably the best pizza in our location and we will probably hit them up for take out once in awhile.  I still have high unmet hopes from the Fiddlehead folks but they are not a complete disaster.  I would like to see more folks go the way of the Alchemist.  Yes it is one note and expensive but it is a fabulous note and the people that work there are friendly and solicitous... somehow realizing it is a business and not your basement. 

Apparently others agree... Heady Topper was the tops in the 7 Days local brew bracket.  By the way, more often than not I find that paper to be a rag that is not well researched or written but the recent article by Paul Heintz on the Vermont EB-5 program is an interesting read.  I think he has some more digging to do and dots to connect but it was a solid read.

I Kan't Spel so Gud

I can't believe it but my special lady claims by blog is filled w/ spelling and grammatical errors.  I told her she smelled funny.  Jaybird 1, special lady 0!!!  Send me a comment and let me know what you thing about my Wu-Tang style, I beseech you.

OK, w/ that unpleasantness out of the way... Yesterday was free cone day at Ben and Jerry's.  What does that mean?  Well, in Burlington, VT that means a crazy line around the block in 38 degree weather for so so ice cream.  One, it is cold out.  If it was not free would there be any other reason to get ice cream in the winter?  Two, who has time to wait half an hour in the middle of the day for a small ice cream cone?  Three, a small cone costs what, $2?  Is your time really worth only $4 and hour?  Shit, minimum wage is like $7.50 or something.  You are actually giving money away waiting for that cone!  Maybe I just hate lines.

Well if that was a kick in the brain imagine my surprise to see the even longer line for free Boloco burrito day!  At least you are getting warm food on a cool day and the line was mostly filled w/ poor unemployed college kids.  I mean they probably drank a beer smoked a joint and came down to hang outside and chat up other co-eds waiting for sub par "mexican" food.  Still, the line went way down the block and again was probably 1/2 an hour to an hour wait for a not good burrito.  Is that good value?  Can you imagine if the Tavern had free beer day?  The line might stretch to Winooski!

New Place to Get Not Slim?

Well sign my skinny fat ass up!!!  So the new sandwich shop Stackers opened in the old Vermont Sandwich Co. space on the corner of Pearl and Winooski this week.  I was looking for something new and different and that seemed to fit the bill.  I cruised up and it looked like there was a decent crowd.  Nope.  Some newscaster w/ a camera man was interviewing the owner.  The space is pretty sparse and the menu is lean but that is not a big deal.  It is definitely take out, there were no seats.  So I stepped up to the counter and ordered the "Cuban" while the awkward interview went on behind me. 

"What would you like sir"
"I will take..."
"...and we really put our blood, sweat in tears into the place."
"...the Cuban.  Please hold the blood and sweat, I will take the tears however, they nourish me."

Meanwhile I am glancing back hoping to get a creepy cameo on WCAX or whatever crappy newscast this will certainly be.  So I am ready to pay and 2 things happen.  One, the interview is set up in such a way I cannot really get to the "register" without it getting weird.  Second, there is a woman in front of me who is acting like this is the first time she has ever ordered and then paid for lunch.  Was she a model planted for the TV camera?  If so that station needs a bigger budget, she was not very attractive?  Here is the process... you pick up your sandwich, tell the money taker what it was, they quote a price, you put your money down, your receive your change... you WALK AWAY!  Finally the pain ended and I was in the queue.  Oh, this may be the problem... no register.  The clerk was using a calculator and a box of cash.  A register is one of those things you get prior to opening any kind of retail operation right?  It wasn't like the liquor license, or exotic cheese, or neon sign?  It is the f*ing cash register, you get it right before or right after the meat, bread, and keys to the front door?!?!

Ok, so how was the food?  It was alright.  The slow roasted pork had nice flavor but was fatty and a bit greasy.  The mustard, the ham, the pickles, and the swiss were nice.  The bread was a soft sesame roll that was good but there were a few issues.  The sandwich was not cut in half.  That is a pain?  The biggest issue was that the meat was sort of warm but not very warm.  So it was like a sandwich that had been hot but was left out and got cold.  And then it quickly got soggy and the bread got very soggy.  So, while I generally liked the flavor of the sandwich the execution was a big whiff which I think is odd.  This is a sandwich shop not a high end gastro-experience.  For $7 for a small or $9.50 for a large I want it to be a good sandwich not a luke warm soggy mess.  So I think it has potential and the ideas are good but Stackers has some wood to chop before I put it in Bueno Y Sano territory.  I hope I got on TV... I was looking hot today.