Filed under: Restaurants, Darioush, Gimlut, Pasta, Sacramento, Salmon | Post a comment

The pictures dont do it justice.

Words cant describe.

It is a thing that each person must experience for themselves.

Of all the burgers I have tasted in SA, Fatty’s is king.  The location at 1624 E Commerce St is a bright yellow building, renovated and revitalized from something forgotton to a treasure.  The burgers are second to none, and the employees are happy and friendly.

I always order a Jalapeno Burger, a serving of the complimentary pinto beans, and fries.  My Favorite burger in SA, no question.

Visit the Fatty’s site

Filed under: Burgers, Restaurants, awesome, Burgers, fattys, french fries, jalapeno, San Antonio | Post a comment

One of my favorite stops during my time in Vancouver was at a small fish stand by the waterfront.  Go Fish was recommended by all of the locals (”The best fish and chips in the Northwest, eh!”), literally ALL of them.  They work directly with local fishermen to bring their customers incredibly fresh seafood, at very reasonable prices.  Under normal conditions, I was informed, the line extends around the block during lunch hour.  Lucky for us, it was raining!  No wait, but seriously great food.

Deciding that it would be best to grab some cold beverages to accompany the food, we headed over to the Granville Island Brewery….Happiness ensued.

I got a scallop burger, which was probably the most inventive take on a burger I have ever seen.  Incredibly fresh, incredibly tasty, and not too heavy (thankfully, as I had to work through a sampler from the Granville Island Brewery as well).

heaven

Qualicum Beach scallops, caramelized onions and sweet chili sauce.  Coleslaw on the side.  Heaven.

Additionally, we got a plate of the famed Halibut Fish & Chips, which was awesome.  Great tartare sauce. Incredibly sweet and relatively light, I can understand why people wait in line and keep coming back.

We sat down in the Granville Island Brewery, which is a really nice, bright spot on Granville Island (The market on Granville Island deserves a post of its own).  The combination of the brewery and Go Fish made this meal really incredible.  Totally a great time.

Allow me to repeat myself: scallop burger (upon writing this, they may have called it a sandwich…judge for yourself). S C A L L O P  B U R G E R.

Go Fish closes at 6pm or whenever the fish runs out.  They are also closed Mondays.

Link to the brewery website:

http://www.gib.ca/

Maybe I should write more on this, but I think the images can speak for themselves.  Highly recommended.

Robson St. Hefe, Gibitter, Brockton IPA, Cypress Honey Lager

Filed under: Burgers, Restaurants, Sandwiches, awesome, beer, burger, fish, fish & chips, fresh, Go Fish, Granville Island, Granville Island Brewery, Halibut, Qualicum Island, scallops, Vancouver | Post a comment

No excuses, lets jump right back in to some bites.

The next few posts will chronicle my recent trip to the Pacific Northwest, dining in and around Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, B.C.

Below is a picture from the bar @ the Irish Heather in Vancouver, B.C.

no caption needed

Filed under: Restaurants, B.C., Bar, The Irish Heather, Vancouver, Whiskey | Post a comment

Last week I went out to Pam’s Patio, located at Wurzbach and Lockhill-Selma, and had a great meal.  Usually I end up there for lunch on a weekend, since it is a little far for me to reach during the week.  A little while ago, they began to do a dinner service on a few select nights of the week.  It has since spread to be Tuesday - Saturday dinner service, and it is great.

‘Patio’ is in the name, which would lead one to believe that the owner is proud of said patio.  They have every right to be.  Especially this time of year, the patio is decidedly where it is at, in fact. During my recent dining experience there the patio was full the entire time, people in fact waiting longer to make sure they were seated outside rather than in.

So, I ordered what I still consider the best item on the menu: the Torta Valencia.  I would put this up against any sandwich in the city, no question.  In fact, I would put this sandwich up against anything, period.  It is offered with either beef or turkey, and while I lean towards the turkey, they are both great.  Direct from the menu: “An authentic grilled Mexican Sandwich with sliced Choice Beef, Melted Provolone, Guacamole, Lettuce, Tomato, & Marinated Red Onion“

New on the dinner menu were a few Thai dishes, which was interesting and usually means a few more healthy options for a discerning diner.  I tried Pam’s take on Tom Ka Gai, and was not disappointed.  This soup definitely stood up to any Thai restaurant I have been to in town, the main difference seemed to be that Pam’s just had more actually items in it.  Thus, it came of as thicker than what I usually receive from Thai places.  And lets keep it real: coconut milk is awesome.  Enough said.  My fiance got some kind of Thai beef salad, and while she was plus/minus on it, I thought it was good.  Either way, a word of warning: if you have an aversion to cilantro, don’t order it.

Pam’s Patio rocks.  They have a great selection of healthy dishes, pizzas, soups, sandwiches, salads.  In addition, the dinner menu (the menu has since been augmented)  includes entrees of fish, among more usual fare, as well as wine and other bevs.  The ambiance and positive vibe brings it all home though, and this is definitely one of my favorite spots in all of San Antonio.

Filed under: Restaurants, Sandwiches, beef, Pam's Patio, patio, San Antonio, Sandwich, Tom Ka Gai, Torta, Valencia | Post a comment

I know that I recently posted about this place, but I have been back since and grabbed one of their Kobe burgers…WOW.

I think they run about $8.50, which is pretty pricy… but I consider it worth it.  Among the other items on the menu, this one stands out for me around lunchtime.  Definitely worth checking out!

Filed under: Burgers, Restaurants, Alamo Heights, beef, Burgers, cappycinos, Kobe, San Antonio | 1 Comment

Jason Dady, chef/owner of The Lodge, Tre Trattoria, and Bin 555, has a new venture:  Two Bros. BBQ Market located at 12656 West Ave. Ste. B.   Quite a departure from his other restaurants (which we love), Two Bros. is nonetheless another hit for this talented chef.  We ordered a “4 Bros.” family pack to-go order, and we were more than pleasantly surprised.  This particular pack came with 1 lb. of brisket, 1/2 lb. pulled pork, 1/2 lb. chopped beef, 1 lb. pork ribs, 2 sausages, 4 chicken thighs and 4 pints of sides, all for $54.99.  The BBQ was great: flavorful, tender but lean, obviously pit-cooked rather than oven-baked.  Importantly, it was “clean” tasting without the MSG so many BBQ places liberally use on their meats (ever wonder why people often get headaches after eating certain BBQ?).  Our sides were two pints each of beans and coleslaw.  The beans were good, though not your traditional BBQ beans.  Our group was plus/minus about the beans but loved the tangy coleslaw.  Other sides offered include creamed corn, mac and cheese and potato salad.  Appetizers and desserts are also available, but we didn’t try any this trip.  BBQ is available by the quarter pound or in four different packs (”2 bros., 4 bros., 10 bros., and 24 bros.”) All in all, we fed six adults with this pack and had left-overs.  Two Bros. has a great patio, and a large beer and wine selection.  Yes, they serve wine (full and half bottles) with BBQ!  Finally!   We’ll definitely be back and suggest you give it a try.  It’s between Nakoma and Bitters, on the east side of the street, “in the back,” off of West Ave.

Filed under: Restaurants, BBQ | Post a comment

“We always knew, those days would forever last

And all those friends we had would never pass

But they did and the numbers grow small

For a time we had it all

Like to see you again some time

I’ll try to call, my old friend”

From “Old Fiend,” by JJ Cale

Here’s to an old friend who helped shape my life. I wish I had called you more often.

Riding my exercise bike this week, I was listening to JJ Cale’s, “Old Friend.” A phone call interrupted my workout. It was my dad calling to tell me that my high school journalism teacher, Jenelle Cowen, had passed away.

With “Old Friend” still playing in the background, the wheels stopped spinning and the tear started flowing. I wish I could have seen my old friend one more time.

To this day, I still hear that voice saying, “Rod Lake, there are only two reasons to have a misspelled word in your story—ignorance or laziness—and I don’t think you’re ignorant!”

I took that challenge and tried my best to never be ignorant or lazy when writing a story.

She touched the lives of many young, wannabe journalists. I know because many of them from my small Kansas high school journalism class reconnected this week to recall the life of Jenelle Cowen.

We’re all old friends tied together by a teacher, an educator, a journalist. Each of my old friends had their favorite “Ma Cowen” story. All of them wished they had seen their old friend one more time.

But before you think this trip down memory lane has strayed too far off topic, it’s also a story about food. “Ma” Cowen loved food. She took us to competitions, to camps, to newspaper offices and to seminars. Everywhere we went she took the opportunity to teach us there was more to food than a drive through window.

Like many thing, the lessons didn’t sink in until later in life. When I became a stay-home-dad 16 years ago, my culinary skills were in a deep recession. Today, I like to think I can get around the kitchen.

Many of “Ma’s” favorite foods are staples at our home. She would be happy that we now celebrate cooking and good food (and wine!) at our house. Here’s a toast to you, my old friend.

Jenelle Cowen, rest in peace.

Filed under: Recipes | 1 Comment

Last night I put together one of my favorite recipes, and one of the easiest: Miso soup.  This is a great light meal, and is really good when its cold out or as a first course.  Another advantage to this meal is you can really add anything you want on top of a few basic ingredients, making it awesome for utilizing spare vegetables around the kitchen.

The necessary:

Dashi bouillon

Miso Paste

The optional (that I used in this incarnation):

Chives

Green Onion

Tofu

Seaweed (The toasted kind that is used for rolling sushi)

Dashi is a  common Japanese soup stock, usually made with bonito flakes and kelp. The kind that I used is known as dashi-moto, and that means something to the effect of “instant dashi”.  There are other kinds of dashi:

> katsuo, which is made without kelp

> konbu, which is made with bonito flakes

> niboshi and iriko, which are made with different kinds of fish

> koi dashi, which is made with vegetables.

Miso paste is a fermented soybean paste, and there are numerous types.  Most cooks use a mixture of different types to garner the taste they are after.  I purchased mine at Tim’s asian grocery, but there are also a number of different types available at Central Market.

Ok so here is where things get really easy.  My method for Miso soup is this: 1 teaspoon of Dashi bouillon per cup of water, and eventually (dont add yet), 1 tablespoon of miso paste.  This is the basis for the whole meal.

So in a pot, add, we will say, 6 cups of water.  Add 6 teaspoons of dashi on medium heat.  Once simmering, you can add in tofu if you would like, or move on.

Next, extract a few spoonfulls of the broth and add to a bowl which should contain miso paste equal to the number of cups of water you are making; for us, 6 tablespoons of miso.  Mix the water and miso together and then add back to the stock.

It is important not to let the soup come to a boil after this point.

Now, add anything else you want to add, for me that includes chives and toasted seaweed, and voila!

Filed under: Recipes, Soups, awesome, chives, dashi, easy, fast, Miso, quick, Seaweed, soup, tofu | Post a comment

Yesterday I stopped by Cappycino’s in Alamo Heights for a bite to eat at lunch.  This spot has great ambiance, and is nestled in between Alamo Heights staple Cappy’s and a The Twig, a little book store.  The service was spot on, and my white chili soup was awesome.

mmmmm....

Cappycino’s shares a patio with neighboring Cappy’s, and the spot is a bright and comfortable location in Alamo Heights.  I spotted a brick oven on the way in, so I decided to try one of their oven-fired pizzas.  I thought that the options were a bit limited as far as pizzas were concerned, but settled on the spicy shrimp pizza.  It was great.

This is a great little spot to try out if you haven’t already, and with a menu covering soups, salads, sandwiches, pizzas, burgers, and a full bar, Cappycino’s has something for just about everyone.

Filed under: Restaurants, Alamo Heights, cappycinos, patio, pizza, soup, tea | Post a comment