Still Sucks

So I was reading about the 25th anniversary of the VT Pub and Brew last week and I started to get a little nostalgic. When I was first able to drink we often went to the sister brewpub the 7 Barrel Brewery in West Lebanon and the craft beers were a revelation. When I moved back to VT in the early 00's the Pub and Brew was our go to spot. The beers were decent and the liquor pours were stiff. Then a funny thing happened... the rest of the world caught up. Craft brewing became a thing and there were delicious beers all over the place. The P&B did not keep up. In fact their beers were often flat, lacked flavor or nuance, and generally gave you diarrhea. Not a recipe for success. We just stopped going. Like the Tavern on Church Street, they still get plenty of traction from tourists, college kids, and morons... the P&B will be fine without me and my boozy buddies. I just miss it. Kind of. So on Friday I had a short window and thought f*** it! Let's hit up the P&B!!! A few of us cruised up and took a look at the bar. It was mostly empty (5PM on Friday) and looked seriously depressing. We ended up at Manhattan's Pizza which has revamped its interior and beer list and generally is a cooler more hip place to be. They got it and updated.

So I was in the Farmhouse last night and they had a collaboration from the P&B and Magic Hat... a sour IPA of sorts. Well, shoot... that is close enough to celebrate all of the things Greg Noonan and the P&B did right not? Wrong. It was flat, didn't have any depth, and was a pretty shitty beer. Well, the P&B generally makes shitty beers these days and so does Magic Hat so teaming up why would I expect two bad brewers would suddenly figure out how to make a good beer? It is too bad but the beer movement has passed these two gray beards, much the same as it once ran over Catamount brewing. It happens. Doesn't diminish the legacy but if they want to stay relevant than it is time to update and move forward. One man's opinion.

Big Day for the Birds

So yesterday was Veteran's Day, a day some people have off... some don't. I do. My special lady decided to also take it off. My children's caregiver did not. So you know what that means... DATE DAY!!!! There is not much in the way of date night these days, just date day. Take what you can get. We went for a walk without a stroller. It was a fast walk! We watched some crazy dudes wield chainsaws like butter knives and cut down our old dying maple. That was sad. As my wife said, the tree grew for hundreds of years, was taken down in 2 hours. Many thanks to you maple... you were a good friend to our home.

Next stop... Tiny Thai in the Noosk for some cheap Thai food. Place was quite when we got there, absolutely packed by the time our food came. It was fast and delicious. I had a cold ginger tea w/ a spicy Tom Yum soup, and drunken noodles. 2 lunch specials ran us $21 w/ tip. I spend $12 for a f*ing sandwich most days. Big fan. We then did some grocery shopping and I almost ruined date day and went mental at the damned auto check out at Hannafords. It is a dumpy grocery store and the thing kept misreading what we had in (or out) of our basket.  The final indignity was the 12 minutes it took me to swipe a container of hummus. I really almost lost it. My wife calmed me down and we cruised to a movie. Pretty slim pickings but we opted for Thor in 3-D. Is it Citizen Kane? Nope. But it was an enjoyable 2 hours. Entertaining, kind of dumb, kind of funny, lots of action. I was a fan and suggest seeing it on the big screen. 1 thumb and a pair of 3-D glasses up!

We finished up w/ a quick antiquing trip and then a beer at the Old Grey Shed in Shelburne. First off, I think I added the "Old", that is not really in the name. Second... speaking of slim pickings, trying to find a beer at 4pm on a Monday is pretty hard. I would say harder than you may think, but YOU, may not have the same instincts as I do and may find that quite above board. In any event. We were greeted by 2 weird old guys smoking in the doorway. Classy place, with greeters and such. Inside there were 3 spots w/ glasses in front of them. Then there was the woman who looked like a normal mom or a teacher or something (as opposed to a train wreck) drinking a Switchback solo and eating popcorn. She was just sitting there quietly drinking, not chatting or reading or anything. Odd combo? Guess I was the freak also there to see it so who am I to judge? We opted for Bud Heavies. Don't f*** w/ taps you are unsure of dear readers. My lady is pretty hardcore no? Meanwhile bartender rushed out to check out a person who had been hit by a car while riding bike. Check please. It was a nice date day.  Even when we saw the very much alive bicyclist laying like a dead person on the ground covered by a sleeping bag w/ just 1 foot hanging out.

2 thumbs way up!!!

Jay About Pizzeria Uno

Yeah, that's f***ing right... Uno's!! So we played our last round of golf the other day and needed a place to have some lunch. Quick tangent, it was like 50 degrees w/ 125mph wind gusts and nobody really working there. On the bright side, at the turn we went into the clubhouse to grab a drink for the back nine. My buddy asked for "your cheapest scotch". The look of shock and disgust on the bartender's face was impossible to explain. He said that the Dewar's was the "least expensive... they did not carry anything cheap". Fantastic.

So anyway, after that tough round we were not going back into the clubhouse to get a burger w/ a side of attitude and over expensive face ripper sauce. So we cruised over to Uno's... why not?! We have known for awhile about the joys of the Uno's bar. It is a big horse shoe bar on Rt 7 across from the Audi dealership. They have decent beers and serve up a nice 20ouncer. What about the food? Well, none of us had ever eaten there so it was a risk. A serious risk. The shit looked like airport fare. I ordered a special. Caesar salad and sliders. The salad was ok not great. Lettuce was a little limp, the croutons were ok. A little under dressed which is unusual for Caesar salads in my experience. It was fine though.  The real surprise were the sliders. This is where I thought I could really be going in the wrong direction. They were good. Very good actually. The meat was of pretty good quality and they seemed like a fresh burger not an old gross fake patty. The bun was soft and not stale. The cheese was decent and the sauce was spicy and pretty tasty. It was just plain solid. I might even go back... but not too often! 1 1/4 thumbs up.

Rented This is the End last night. I had high hopes and they were not met. The funny parts are all in the trailer. It was like an ego project for a bunch of d-bags. Made me really not like Seth Rogen actually. I did enjoy Danny McBride though. I would not recommend it.  I was much happier w/ the Triumph the Insult Dog clip show I watched afterwards on Netflix.

I did my own pic above... copyright stuff.

Boom!!! Red Sox done did it again!!!!

I try not to write too much about the Sox, especially in the playoffs because I am superstitious and don't want to jinx them. I liked this team a lot this year. Winning is great but much like the '04 team it was fun to root for this group. They played hard, they seemed to enjoy being out there, and they were perpetual under dogs. The beard thing was fun and guys like Gomes just killing themselves on every play was refreshing after a couple years of assholes like Carl Whiny Crawford, and Adrian Backstabber Gonzalez. Shoot, even John Lackey, who I have never liked, came across as a fighter and someone you could almost get behind. Throw in some aggressive Koji Uehara high fives and you have something special!  So kudos fellas on making it fun to be a Sox fan.

Couple side notes. Even though a ticket to the World Series in Fenway cost $1937549874.00... the games rarely sold out this year which is unusual.  Thanks Bobby Valentine. Has there ever been a team who got less respect wire to wire than the 2013 Sox? They led the American League and all of baseball for much of the season yet made it to the top of various power rankings maybe 4 times through out the season. They plowed through a stacked Tampa Bay pitching staff after getting very little chance of winning the series. Then they did it to an even tougher Detroit staff who was supposed to have a good batting lineup as well. And against St. Louis? Even up 3-2 everyone who wrote or talked about sports for a living discounted their chances and sucked up on Wacha and the Cardinal "way". The Cardinal way? It is through Logan airport direct to St. Louis and then onto a beach in Palm Springs. No parade attached. And the unhittable Wacha? The Sox saw him once and the second time they lit him for 6 runs. And that was after he walked Ortiz every time he came to bat. I was going to tear apart the naysayer experts (often Yankee homers) like Joe Lemire, Jerry Crasnick, and Jim Caple, or even all time uber d-bag Dan Shaughnessy... but let's be positive and give it up for the good guys who saw the light. Of course our own Gordon Edes and Jackie MacMullan, but how about Tom Verducci, the only guy at CNNSI to get it right?! I will even give a little credit to notorious Yankee homers Dave Schoenfield (late but eventually) and John Heyman who finally came around to the truth by the St. Louis series (although Heyman took a few unsolicited steroids shots, never one to actually give up gracefully). Here are the ESPN experts, a little more evenly laid out. http://espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2013/story/_/id/9864637/espn-expert-predictions

At the end of the day, the team w/ the better lineup, better depth, best starter (Lester), and best bullpen won.

Jay About Hen of the Wood Burlington

Anyone who has read this blog in the past probably knows I have a love affair with the Hen of the Wood in Waterbury. I have thought it was the best local restaurant in terms of higher end dinner fare for a few years now. Needless to say I was pretty stoked to learn they were opening a restaurant here in the metropolis known as Burlington. Unfortunately for me my 2 lead weights... I mean kids, have kept me and my wife from checking the new joint out. Well, we finally got a babysitter for the evening and headed for an early dinner. The space is a little off the run on Cherry Street, not actually attached to the new Vermont Hotel where it could gain most of its clientele. That said, the space is beautiful. Woodsy industrial with an open kitchen, large horseshoe bar, and plenty of exposed beams and brushed steel. If you venture back to the bathroom you can see the back kitchen and even the refrigerator and meat curing station behind glass. I arrived first and bellied up to the bar. Manhattan? Don't mind if I do. Solid presentation, good drink. My wife then showed up and ordered a bubbly rose. Service was a little slow at first but our bartender was hand shucking, checking for quality, and preparing raw oysters in quantity. The other 2 bartenders were poached from the Bluebird Tavern and are good... solid hires.

How about the menu?  Solid...and not overly expansive.  We opted to start w/ oysters and then share a few small plates.  The oysters tasted fresh, briny, and delicious. Very good mignonette. Next up we had fried squash blossom fitters. The batter was not too heavy or greasy and they were quite good w/ a nice hint of honey drizzle.  We then had creamed kale, lobster gratin, and gnocchi in a bolognese sauce if I recall correctly? The kale was a little heavy on the cream but the slightly bitter green was nice to cut that cream as well as the rest of our heavy meal. The lobster was nicely cooked and had a good flavor and texture. It was swimming in a delicious parsnip puree that was the real star of the show. Big time parsnip flavor if that can be done. The gnocchi was also nice and had good texture (not too gummy) although the ground beef/pork along w/ all of the cream and butter came back to haunt us later in the evening. F*** it, it was worth it!

We left w/ a too go bag of sweets that were pretty good, a few cookies/truffles. Overall expensive but not egregious. It was fun, I will definitely go back. 1 3/4 thumbs up.

Jay About Lucky Next Door

Forgive me for this post, I don't sleep these days so my "work" really suffers... That said, my folks came up to watch the kids on Sunday so my special lady and I went out on a lunch date. We were undecided on the right spot and then came upon the new venture from the people who brought you Pennycluse... Lucky Next Door. We immediately gave ourselves the timing rope. We would not wait longer than 20 minutes. Usually at the Cluse you can expect a 45hour wait on the weekend. You can put your name in, drive to Canada to shop, and come back later in the weekend to eat. Imagine our surprise when we stepped in and the place was empty?! There were literally 3 other patrons in the whole place. Not a great sign but f* it. The space is not huge but it is well decorated w/ a slightly industrial unfinished feel. They have a nice beer selection highlighted by a few Zero Gravity offerings.  There are a few solid cocktails offered as well. The menu is pretty concise w/ a brunch/lunch theme going on. I like a smaller menu. Stick to what you do well. We ordered a ham and apple sandwich and an avocado and hearts of palm salad to share. My lady had a delicious champagne and grapefruit juice cocktail. I ordered a beer. 12 or 20oz sir? Obviously he could not tell from my beard I was a 20oz man but whatever, I am a big boy... give me the big glass! We sat up near the window overlooking the Rite Aid which is the nexus of the Burlington junkie universe. The food came pretty quickly.  The salad had nice texture and was pretty good although pretty heavy handed on the garlicky dressing. The sandwich was very nice. Good flavor, nice ham (almost like a bacon cut), delicious cheese, and an accompanying cabbage salad which cut the heaviness of the sandwich well. Pretty reasonable cost. Service was eh, but not any worse than Pennycluse. I would like a slightly more robust scene but if it stayed an undiscovered gem I would be fine with that as well. 1 1/2 thumbs up to one of my new sit down lunch spots!

Bonus review for Apple/I-tunes. F*** them!!!!  I have rented 4 movies on my Apple TV. The first played ok. The second froze to load half way through the movie.  The third and fourth will not load. I called Apple and after being disconnected was told that they do not service I-Tunes.  Apple does not service Apple I-Tunes. The support for I-tunes was a 15+ minute wait. Emails went unanswered. I finally got through to support the next day after another long hold and got a refund. I still have not seen Iron Man 3.

Jay About Saint Louis

How did I end up in St Louis you may ask?  Wedding. So out went, sans wife and kids. Sleep was great but otherwise I don't really like going to weddings w/out my wife anymore. Not looking to hook up w/ bridesmaids and not looking to get blackout drunk so really I am just missing my dance partner. Anywho, St. Louis is an interesting city. Not like cool interesting but like odd interesting. Very small but spread out.  There is no traffic. The houses are mostly small brick numbers. It seems friendly enough I suppose and pretty livable. The cool section is not cool though and it is not really nice or special in any way. It is just very nondescript. I suppose that is fine. It is like that super average person drinking a boring beer, eating a burger no cheese at the local Applebee's. I was staying at the Moonshine Hotel on the Delmar Loop. It was nice. Big clean room, nice shower, friendly service, not expensive, nice rooftop bar. The loop itself is supposed to be very hip. It isn't. It is fine, there are a couple places to eat and some ok bars, and a couple comic book stores and vintage clothing stores. But it just doesn't have that "something". It is a safe but slightly seedy area. For instance, there was a nuisance abatement van in the local gas station all weekend, and a random guy tried to get in my parents' rental car, but I never felt unsafe.

Highlights? I had a very nice lunch at the Mission Taco joint. It had good, well seasoned fresh tasting ingredients. I would say it is similar to El Cortijo locally but quite a bit better. I had Neploata (?) or cactus, a beef brisket, and a slow roasted pork shoulder. All three were great. Service was not awesome. It was pretty inexpensive. Interesting sidebar... St. Louis seems to be pissed that Bud sold out to a non-U.S. company. They do not sell it in decent places and treat it like Old Milwaukee. They do have a bunch of local breweries and a large selection of different beers. None of them are good.  Schafly in particular is a bland over malted glass of crap. But they love it? Ok, That night we had a party at Pi pizza.  We had mostly deep dish style pies. They were ok. I mean, pizza is never really that bad right? This was good, I liked it fine. Pretty solid apple pie. The next morning I stopped by Piccione Pastry shop. Store hours say it opens at 9AM. Door was still locked at 9:30. This was not atypical. While generally friendly, service was slow and a little blase. Save for the Moonrise which was very attentive. The pastries themselves were good.  The bomboloni, or donuts... were awesome. The meringue cookie was a little dry but pretty good. To be fair I ate that one when I came back drunk after the wedding so, you know, take that review w/ a grain of salt. Finally, the Blueberry Hill. A total tourist trap owned I think (at one point) by Chuck Berry. They have a walk of fame by the way which has all sorts of funny characters. So back to the Blueberry. They stole their food from Denny's. It was terrible. Pretty good Bloody Mary. The walls were covered w/ chatchkies and all sorts of crap. We did have fun playing BuckHunter on a big flat screen for awhile. Otherwise it is a pass.

The arch is actually pretty impressive. So there you have it. No reason to go there unless to want to chill out and watch a ball game. But if you do go it will be fine and you will probably have a fine time?