My trip to Newburg, Wisconsin 2009

West Allis, Wisconsin is where I was born. I lived in a suburb of Milwaukee for the first 13 years of my life, then we relocated to hell, or what some refer to as Spokane, Washington. Regardless, I turned out just fine, sort of...

My dad still lives in Wisconsin, 30 some miles north of Milwaukee in a village called Newburg where he lives with my step mom in a very rural area. My dad is also a firefighter and the local fire department holds an annual fundraiser every year in June. This "picnic" is a 3 day beer drinking, cover band featuring, carnival ride having, greasy food serving insane party. This year, myself along with my brother and our significant others took the trip to visit and support my dad. Below are a few pictures and comments from the trip including some insane food sampled along the way.

first night at my dads and he wanted us to get in on the schlitz because apparently
its back and better than ever. Not bad.

after a few beers we drove to Cousins for some sandwiches. These sandwiches are so good and so simple.
Its gotta be the bread or oregano. I had the club sandwich.

the following day we drove to Port Washington (where Dustin Diamond lives, and yes, I did see him at the grocery store)
and we got down on Friday Fish Fry at Newport Shores.

I started with a dinner salad, it was pretty standard along with the honey mustard dressing

i also decided to go with the blatz in a bottle, my grandpa use to drink this by the case when we were kids.
it tastes pretty good ice cold, pretty malty...but when warm, its a bit much.

for lunch i had the baked potato with the fried lake perch. The fish was decent, a bit dry but nothing like a local favorite.

the restaurant is right on lake michigan with a pretty nice view of the water.
the decor is dated but it works. average age of other patrons about 85.

Later that evening...

later that night we went to the first night of the fireman's picnic on the park grounds in Newburg.
we drank at home and then took it to the streets. First stop, the carny food wagon for a walking taco.

basically you get taco fixings on top of a bag of smashed doritos.
apparently i ate a lot of this, i dont remember.

the next day...

the next day we went to another part of the area called Grafton and we hit up a spot called Vino 100 for a Saturday wine tasting.

with our australian wine's we shared some garlic jack. wisconsin sure makes some good cheese.

Saturday night was fun, b. and I worked in the beer tent and served hundreds of people pitchers of beer and mikes hard. It was a lot of fun, didnt take any pictures... but feel free to check out the fire department's photos here.

sunday is the finale of the picnic, they have a parade including all the firetrucks and a lot of other things
like tractors, dancing grannies, kids, classic cars and marching .bands


after the picnic we headed to the park grounds to hang out and drink a few beers.
we stopped by the carny food wagon and got a snack. they were out of deep fried pickles so i got the deep fried cheese.

i swear this is american cheese, my brother said it was cheddar...regardless it was a
bit much. the first bite was hot and tasty, after that it became thick , strange and solid. damn, what a healthy snack.

Monday...

monday everyone wanted to go get some custard, naturally we went to Kopps.

you can read my other posts about the amazing custard at kopps. i ate mine so fast i didnt take a photo, it was hot and it was melting. I got the standard vanilla. the flavor of the day was mint chocolate chip or this other monday mystery special of chocoalte custard with chocolate covered peanuts. my brother and L. also got a burger. b, loves these burgers, they are huge and greasy.

that night we went to the firehouse to say goodbye to the locals and watched my dad cook steaks for the guys.


the last thing i remember about monday night is playing quarters with my family and a few brave locals. i fell on the floor.



Well that was it, 5 days of kicking it in the midwest.
Below is my favorite random photo from the trip:

The Bite 2008

Holy Shit! The Bite of Seattle always creeps up on me and then next thing you know I spend the following day hung over, full for weeks and sad that the Bite reminds me summer wont last forever.

For the last few years it has become an annual tradition for myself, babs, leroy and carbo to over indulge. Apparently over 500,000 people attened the 27th annual event this year over the span of three days, we went on Sunday. Carbo and I attempted to take the monorail to the center to meet our eating partners but it was broken down. wtf. So we walked over to the Seattle Center and all met up by the fountain. As always our first stop was The Alley, now hosted by Mr. Tom Douglas. For $9.50 you can sample seven items from a handful of Seattle restaurants and all proceeds from The Alley benefit Food Lifeline. The menu changed from Fri-Sun and after looking them all over, I really wish I would have been able to sample Friday's menu. Anyway, below is the plate followed with what is represented.

Gelatiamo
Chocolate Gelato - Delicious, smooth, rich in flavor but low in fat, this is Gelatiamo's Chocolate Gelato
Volterra
Porchetta Sandwich – Pork roasted with garlic, fennel and herbs on a rosemary roll
Al Boccalino
“Ancient” Roman Meatballs – Meatballs with red wine, honey, cumin, celery and fresh peas
Crush
Crispy Skinned Blue Prawns with Corn Soup and Basil
Green Leaf
Grilled Beef with Lemongrass – Thin-sliced rare beef steak and pork belly grilled on a lemongrass skewer and served with an anchovy pineapple dipping sauce
Lola
Cumin Scented Leg of Lamb, Pita, Tzatziki
Brasserie Margaux
Smoked Salmon Éclair – Smoked salmon and dill éclairs with goat cheese, capers and Walla Walla onions confit Balsamic glaze

My favorite taste was the corn soup from Crush, followed by the pork sandwich from Volterra...as a group traveling with a Fishatarian, we did some trading of bites too. Another part of The Alley is the wine tasting that we also always particpate in for $6.50 you can sample two Washington wines and listen to some smooth jazz. (Get your grown on. )I do not know much about wine, nor do I really remember what I drank....except for the dare I took to taste the blackberry wine, which was not awesome even though the presentation bottle was covered in medals.

After leaving the Alley we headed to the beer garden but not before grabbing some snacks to take with us. Below are a pork sandwich and beans from Famous Daves and some Schezuan green beans from Twist.

The sandwich was pretty tasty, not very memorable though...and the beans were too sweet

These green beans were really good, and the sesame seeds made them extra tasty!

While waiting for L. to meet us we kept laughing about the horrible California Pizza Kitchen cheese pizza that Babs brought into the beer garden. It was hot mess. I am so disappointed in myself that I dont have a photo. When L. arrived we walked out and he hit up Bambuza to get a plate of grilled chicken skewers and some soba noodles, I also dont have a flick of this plate, but it was good and well....exactly what you would expect. We also grabbed a few egg rolls, which were really nice. Babs rushed off to get in the corn line and when we walked up she was there with 4 ears of corn. Perfection.

After the corn we headed down towards the part of the park we had yet to visit and stumbled upon this small lane of little restaurants with small bites...aka "Just A Bite" This is where we ended up finding the 1st place winner for best entree at Divine for their spanakopita. While waiting in line for the greek feast someone showed up with some pasta...which I never got to taste!!!

Besides the spanakopita (which holy shit, I cant find a photo) we also had some phyllo stuffed with pork on top of arugula... and some lavender ice tea.


I was really impressed by Divine's food and I think I will plan a special trip to dine at their location up on Roosevelt. After this I really thought we were gettin close to being done, but instead we headed back to the wine garden and shared a nice bottle of red wine and got down on some of the free Ghirardelli chocolate squares.


After the wine, we decided it might be time for some dessert and we were on the hunt for some strawberry shortcake. Instead of the shortcake, we ended up at Klaissique Kollections’ where L. got a sundae and carbo ordered us some amazing catfish. The catfish won second place in the best entree competition and it was one of the best things I ate all day! Babs also threw a couple fried mozzarella sticks to the mix, but I really at this point have no idea where all the food was coming from!

Brownie Sundae!

Fried Cheese!

CATFISH!

Really at this point we should have just walked home, instead we walked right into another beer garden....and then realized there was an entire section of the Bite that we didnt even visit...oh yeah we needed to find the Alligator on a stick. Too bad they were out of gator but leroy found another replacement. Cheesecake dipped in chocolate on a stick...

I almost died just after taking a few small bites.

Next we went back to Babs and leroys spot and drank some more wine on their deck...this Bite really takes the cake as far as food consumption. I would even venture to say that it comes close in the most alcohol consumed category.

See you next year Bite of Seattle, better bring more gator. Divine your spanakopita better be just as good if I have to take a damn bus to eat it and take a picture.

Los Angeles: Sun, Food and Tres

I haven't been to LA in years...until last week. For my birthday I decided to purchase myself a gift and that was buying tickets to see Mary J. Blige and Jay Z at the Hollywood Bowl. After a few cocktails one night I mentioned I was going to a friend, who in turn told another friend and next thing you know we all ended up in LA and booked rooms at The Standard.

Well, this is a food blog so lets get started.

Day 1.
After getting off the plane and heading to our hotel we stopped at Los Burritos on Sunset (4929 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles) The "natural juices" sign caught our attention as well as the big outdoor patio. I guess this is a chain spot with close to 10 locations around the city.

I went with a chicken taco and a fish taco. The chicken taco was tasty and fresh and the salsa came right on with just the right amount of heat. The chicken was nicely cooked but it needed a bit more seasoning. I also enjoyed the fish taco which was extremely deep fried making the sour cream so-so necessary to kill the dryness. The fish was coated in what tasted almost like a curry seasoning. We also got some chips, cuz i LOVE chips. This was a nice quick meal before we hit our hotel for some draaaanks.


So we hit the liquor store and grabbed some drinks and then we did this...


After the show we did a mini pub crawl back to the hotel where we ended up eating in The Standard's 24/7 Restaurant. Several of us at the table ordered the chicken sandwich which was pretty damn good, it came on a big spicy jalapeño biscuit. The chicken was fried and the soft biscuit was a great touch. I ended up eating half at the spot and the other half the night before we left straight out the mini fridge in my room. Both times the sandwich was great, if anything it just needed more mayo. Oh yeah, and it also needed to not be like 12 bucks without a side. Welcome to Hollywood.

Day 2.
One thing pretty awesome about The Standard is their pool and with the sun blazing at 930am two of us took advantage of the opportunity. We ordered two cups of coffee and then TWO carafes. Our first carafe was some sort of coconut margarita. This was the truth. It wasnt an overpriced weak ass cocktail it came correct with the alcohol and the coconut flavor was amazing.

By the time we ordered our second carafe we had made a new friend, Bruno, our poolside server. Bruno was amazed at the fact that the two of us were that ready to party on a Thursday morning. He was a good dude and on our last day at the hotel he gave us a hug goodbye. Don't worry Bruno, we will be back.

The second carafe was a watermelon mojito. Again, the drink was nice and the flavor was so natural it did not taste all gross and sugary. I cannot figure out how they got these strong fruit flavors without syrup. I am a fan of the carafe even though they set you back at 40 dollars a piece! The thing is, one drink is $12 so why not make a budget decision and go for the goods.

We waited for everyone to get up and then we all needed to eat. One place on everyones list was Roscoe's. It was a meal we all shared together and it was really chill. All of us were feeling the effects of partying and traveling so a nice meal of grease and carbs was totally appropriate. With 5 locations in the LA area we ended up at the one closest to our hotel in Hollywood.

I went with the SCOES which is basically 1/4 Chicken cooked southern style and 2 waffles. A few others ordered this as well. Someone also ordered an omelet and RB went with some smothered chicken, grits and greens. I tasted all of it except the omelet. This place rules. I loved the chicken and thought it was exactly as I expected = BOMB, and the waffles were perfectly cooked. The tastes really do come together and you need to eat a piece of chicken with a bite of waffle dipped in some syrup. It is the truth, ain't just a gimmick.

We did some shopping then took a nap. Later that night we ended up across the street from our hotel at this strange little place called Cabo Cantina (8301 W Sunset Blvd). This place was everything I imagine Spring Break would be. Girls with half shirts, guys with backwards visors and loud obnoxious music. Earlier in the day we were intrigued by the signs of good cheap tacos and drinks. Apparently we missed happy hour because our tab ended up being ridiculous. Again, welcome to Hollywood. The margaritas we pretty good, a little sweet for me.

I got down on fish tacos. The spicy mayo like salsa sauce was a nice touch. The fish was a bit fishy but the overall dish was pretty good, but the portion was way too much for me considering I ate a basket of chips and downed two drinks.

More drinking ensued and then we hit a club. After the club we hit another mexican spot by our hotel called Pinches Tacos. The outdoor deck was nice because the LA evening weather was super comfortable.

I ate two chicken taquitos which were great and they were on some real budget food because they only set me back $4.50. The guacamole was tasty and fresh, I also liked the flavor of the chicken mixed with the cheese. Damn, I love taquitos...keep reading.


Day 3.
Day 3 included a quick morning stint at the pool with a fruit plate and one drink. Then next thing you know we headed out for some shopping over on Fairfax. After shopping L. and I got scooped by his Dad and we headed over to Pasadena and had a really nice meal at Cafe Santorini. I had a big seared ahi tuna salad which was dusted with a light lime ginger dressing. The salad was really what I needed after all fried food. Then again, the friend wonton chips on top of the greens were quite tasty. While we were eating we got down on a couple bottles of champagne which made the whole meal even more enjoyable.

Once again I will make the announcement about me and dessert and how they just don't mix. HOWEVER, this was no joke prolly the best Tiramisu I have tasted in a long long time. I am not sure if it was the tasty cocoa powder or the fine custard coating on the rum soaked lady fingers. The raspberry sauce that the dessert was sitting on was also amazing, it was fresh and made with real raspberries.

So after dinner we went back to the hotel, drank a lot, celebrated J.'s bday and stayed up til like 430am. This was the night I went back to my room and pounded water and ate the other half of that chicken sandwich.

Day 4.
I rallied the troops so we could get up early because we were hours from having to get on the plane to come home. Before we left we had two things to do. The first was to hit Santee Alley for some shopping. We really wanted to get breakfast first but it didn't seem to work out. (Thanks for nothing A.)

So we ended up in the Alley, had to pay 50 cents to go to the restroom and then stumbled upon some street side mexican food. Once again I went for the taquitos. What made these different from the Pinches taquitos was the dripping cream and the nice hot sauce. The chicken wasn't as good but the sauces more than made up for that.

Because it was our last day we were on a mission to eat and eat and keep eating. I think I was trying to eat off three days of partying. While we were waiting for RB to hustle some jeans and some shirts we ended up getting down on some sidewalk grub. This $2 treat was one of the best things I ate in LA. Corn coated with butter, hot sauce and cheese. Damn.....

Tres

So the very last thing we had to do was hit Venice Beach. This was the perfect end to our trip because we got to walk around and enjoy the last bit of sun. After 2 hours of walking around we got hungry again. We really set out to just get a snack but ended up with more food than a small army would need. You would think that at a place called Big Daddy Pizza we woulda just grabbed a slice....but we didnt.

I went for the chicken chunks and fries. Uh...this was a whole chicken that they blew up and then fried the busted pieces. The chicken was sitting on top of sliced potatoes "fries" which were undercooked and nasty. I am still also not sure why they need to serve this to you in a damn tortilla bowl? Whatever, I ate a few chicken bites covered in the best thing on the dish (RANCH) and then it hit the trash. I do not even know what the hell that chicken was seasoned with.

L. got some fish and fries and also went for the churro. Nothing like some fried fish and some fried dough. He claims it was all good, but damn he got those fries too and they were not whats up. (Wait...hold up, is that t-shirt a picture of MJB and J Dilla!?!??!)


Before I say farewell, I need to leave you with one more picture from our Venice Beach snack time. A. ordered a turkey leg....and boy was it disgusting. What the hell. No comment. Don't worry, she didnt eat it.


Goodbye LA! I didnt eat that many meals but I know I gained 2 pounds! I am gonna bet most of that came from the drannnnnnks.