DINNER IN THE SKY

This one won't be all that informative. Because I can't remember the name of the caterer who brought in the food. Sorry. But the deal was that we had this Digital Sales Meeting Dinner on the top of the Thompson LES and they brought in some nice Asian fusion stuff for eats.

We had bok choy with garlic. Skirt steak with some kind of chimicurri or salsa or something. There was a "jerk" chicken that was a lot like orange chicken from a Chinese restaurant. Fried rice tied the whole thing together.

I should have snapped a shot of the view. Beatutiful views uptown and downtown. Perfect weather. Good food. Not a bad way to cap off a meeting.

STAYIN' CHEESY IN THE WEEZY

When I wished James a happy America Day he told me to "stay cheesy in the weezy" and I thought that was kinda funny. You know, because Meena and I were in Milwaukee. And Wisconsin is famous for their cheese and all.

Anyway, I'll be brief about our journey through all things awesome in Brookfield and Milwaukee and Elm Grove for a wonderful 4th of July weekend.

We started off our eating adventures on Thursday night at Mitchell's for a bit of seafood. Meena and I split some lovely east coast oysters and a big ol' lettuce wedge with some thousand island. Decadent. And awesome.

Meena moved into a Shang Hai sampler - salmon, scallops and shrimp with some sticky rice and spinach. Not bad. I had some blackened whitefish. The cajun spice and the flakey whitefish went together wonderfully.

Friday afternoon we got down with a delicious picnic in the park. Mrs. Roell manned three baby grills that produced a metric ton of hamburgers and hot dogs. We threw on some potato chips, potato salad and a bunch of bananas to make it one spectacular Friday afternoon.

Friday night we went down to Milwaukee for one heck of a spread at the waterfront hotspot, Coast. The place was peppered with gourmet stations featuring roast chicken, gyros, brats, ribs, sliders and corn. I sampled ... a few of those. Though due to over-indulgence, I'm not at liberty to divulge the exact combination of eats.

Saturday night we finished off a lovely weekend with some more fireworks in Elm Grove. Nothing too fancy on the food front - just a Miller High Life and a burger from the Rotary Club stand. But what it lacked in fancy, it more than made up for in the taste department. Those dudes made a nice burger.

Another incredible weekend in Milwaukee. Not that it's ever a surprise. It's a great city and our family is the best. We're probably going to make another trip back this summer if all goes well - and we can't wait!

DINNER BY D

I've said this before and I'll say it again ... our friend D is amazing. Like ... seriously amazing. She makes incredible food whenever there's a special occasion and actually, even when there's not. She's awesome.

That said, she rolled out the red carpet again for Meena's birthday! Early birthday, mind you. Super early. Her birthday isn't until the 15th, but we're gone the next few weekends so we thought it best to gather before and not after.

Anyway, look at that stuff up there! There was quick Korean chicken, stuffed artichokes, hummus, homemade pasta with fresh peas, scallops over avocado and shrimp with tomato and corn and that amazing dessert with incredible cream and berries.

Perfect. Just perfect.

And we also consumed about 8 bottles of wine between D, Meena, Dan, Steve, Matt and myself. Probably the lion's share going in my direction based on the fogginess I felt the next morning, but that's beside the point, right? We had a great time for Meena's early birthday!

THANKS, D! And also her lovely assistant, Mr. Naddeo.

BRING ON SUMMER

Another excellent trip back to the land of Hoosier. Those of you who read often know that going home for the race is a time honored tradition for me and missing it would be about the worst possible thing on the planet. Fortune was shining on me again this year and Meena and I went back for a couple days of Midwestern wonder, enlightenment and race cars.

And the food was pretty darn good, too.

We started things off on Thursday with a trip to Oakley's Bistro for lunch with the grandmothers. Meena and I both tried their tarts ... a bit of puffed pastry with various toppings and a small salad. I had salmon ... she had shrimp. Meena also started with a bit of their wild mushroom soup with truffled cream. The tarts were lovely but the soup may have been the winner. I felt like we could have used slightly more topping to balance out the dryness of the pastry. It was still delicious. Really delicious. Just sayin' is all.

Thursday night we had what was probably one of the best meals of the trip - BBQ chicken and mayo + mustard marinated asparagus on the grill. Perfection. It gets no more Indiana in the summer than that wonderful combo.

Friday afternoon we were treated to a bunch of deliciousness courtesy of Grant and Sara. Our most pregnant friends were kind enough to get us heaping portions of BBQ from a little spot in Westfield in addition to Sara's spicy cheese dip, cherries, salsa, chips, cole slaw and a terrific tomato salad. Man ... we're lucky to have friends like these.

Friday night was beef tenderloin, salad and mashed potatoes. Mom and Dad took care of the beef and the salad, the Amish of Indiana took care of the potatoes.

The beef tenderloin carried over into lunch the next day and that was just another lovely development in our weekend love affair with food. Some toasted asiago bagel and thinly sliced beef? That's lunch.

Saturday night we had a bit of a party and the grill was once again fired up to feed a small army. Dad made BBQ pork chops for the whole crew to go along with an Asian coleslaw and a handful of other delicious stuff Mom prepared to accompany. At this point you may think we would have had our fill of grilled meat but let me assure you this was very much not the case. We came to Indiana to eat from the grill and eat from the grill we did.

Sunday was, of course, the race. I drank beers liberally and devoured sandwiches with gusto. There's nothing quite like the race and there are few things more enjoyable than eating and drinking massive quantities of grub while it's all happening.

Sunday night we hit the Guggys for a post-race party filled with yellow birds, brats and a bit of scotch. And some slaw and some other stuff. Did I mention there were yellow birds and scotch? Anyway, Anne and John delivered another wonderful evening for massive crew.

Monday morning was our final breakfast and Dad once again delivered with some omelettes made to order. I had some pork, peppers and pepper jack cheese. Perfect.

Our final stop on the Indiana food circuit was the OG Jewish Deli in the Indianapolis metro area - Shapiro's. Meena hadn't ever been and it's just one of those places everyone who visits should try to hit at least once. But if you go once, there's probably a good chance you'll want to make a second visit at some point. It's just good food!

Meena had some beef brisket on a roll with mustard and mayo. I had peppered beef on rye with mustard. Man. I miss it already. I know Katz's is like ... the place. But for my money, it's Shapiro's every time.

So ... yeah. Sorry, long description. But it was a great trip and I wanted to try and get it mostly mapped out. Needless to say, we both miss home already. We've been back less than 24 hours and it's already a bit of a bummer. We miss it! But we had a great time and we're already looking forward to Thanksgiving!

BIRTHDAY PARTY

Sunday was a day we’d been waiting on for quite some time. It was to be James’ big surprise birthday party in Prospect Park and cooking (none by me) and preparation (some by me though admittedly very little) had been underway for weeks.

The payoff was amazing.

James was sufficiently duped and the whole thing came as a giant, friend and family filled surprise. The weather was amazing and as you can see, the food was both plentiful and exceedingly delicious. Just what you’d expect from Diana’s lovely mother.

I can’t remember much of the stuff featured in the spread. Not solid details. But I remember lovely pasta, pasta salad, cheese, nicoise salad, crackers, roast beef, chicken, caesar salad, olives, tuna salad, eggs, cupcakes, brownies, taco dip, cookies … man. The list goes on.

Happy early birthday to James. What do you say we do it again next year? Or maybe even next week?

MATT DELIVERS

Saturday night Meena was at a bachelorette party so I was on my own. Luckily for me, I made my way over to Matt's house and took care of dinner in wonderful fashion. James and D and I were just chillin' watching some basketball and Matt went to work on two really lovely recipes pulled from his employer, Saveur.

We started with a brussels sprouts salad that featured tons of those lovely little cabbages shredded lovingly by Matt on a mandolin. He added a few other things ... parmesan, walnuts, mustard oil, chili oil. Awesome. Just a little bit of crunch and that nice, rich cheesy, walnutty flavor.

He followed up the first hit with some amazing mussels. He cooked them in a mix of wine and oil and lemon and spice. I think. And those lovely little bits came out perfectly flavored and cooked to perfection.

Matt, this one was Epic. Even if we won't ever get James on board with these delightful treats, I hope this is just the first of many of these dinners.

EASTER RECAP // BACK IN THE BUILDING

Hello again! We're back from Milwaukee and I'm happy to report we had a very lovely time. We saw tons of family, watched a mountain of sports (even golf!) and had lots and lots and lots and lots of food. I think I packed on some poundage. I hope not but I think it's true.

Anyway, we started out Friday night at the Westmoor Club in Brookfield and I was treated to a hearty helping of that Wisconsin specialty I'd heard so much about over the years ... fried fish from a Friday night fish fry. This wasn't the church basement variety (which I'm told is the real deal, Holyfield) but I was pretty pleased with my walleyed pike and its crunchy shell. Meena had a mix of seafood including scallops, fried shrimp and fried haddock. She wasn't in LOVE with all of it, but I know the haddock was well received. Anyway, it was a fun night and I really enjoyed the chance to experience a Wisconsin tradition (partially) with Mr. & Mrs. Roell.

Saturday night we had part of the family over for a wonderful Italian feast capped off by a cake expertly decorated by my nieces. Mrs. Roell threw together a wonderful spaghetti with meat sauce while Kenton and Shauna mixed up a nice ceasar salad. I helped with a bit of bruschetta and Mrs. Roell finished it all off with some cheese and tomato in the oven. Delicious.

Sunday we had a lovely Easter spread capped off (in my opinion) by a delicious ham. I ate my weight in this ham and I believe I can pinpoint this as the source of those additional pounds. I'm pretty sure. Mrs. Roell also had green bean casserole, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. Oh, and rolls. So delicious. So plentiful. So awesome.

After a flight back to NY and my class in Midtown, I was back in Brooklyn enjoying an incredible Monday night taco night Meena had thrown together while I was learning. She ditched the "taco seasoning" and mixed up her filling the old fashioned way. She used:
- ground beef
- onion
- garlic
- cayenne pepper
- chili powder
- oregano
- cider vinegar
- brown sugar
- tomato sauce
- chicken broth
- cumin
- sea salt

Wow. Topped off with a bit of tomato, salsa, lettuce, sour cream, cheese and hot sauce? Are you kidding? I mean, just awesome. My wife is the best.

Great trip. Now we're back in Brooklyn and I promise, I'll be good about updates this week.

UPDATE: Just wanted to note a couple things I missed here:

1. Shauna made deviled eggs for the big Sunday dinner and although she hates eggs and does not eat them, she made very delicious deviled eggs. Meena watched what was happening and I hope they appear in our home very soon.

2. Kenton was indeed the foreman on the cake decorating construction site. Our nieces were tasked with handling most of the heavy lifting, but Kenton made sure it all came together in an edible way rather than descending into something that might have caused icing comas in unsuspecting eaters.

SORRY

Sorry friends. I've been very bad about updating lately. It's been a week!

But we've had some circumstances. We both got super ill, work got crazy, my sister came to town ... it was just nuts. So I have a few photos and I'll throw them up here. Just get you a quick recap of some highlights.

Here’s the rundown of all the yummy stuff we’ve had recently:

Friday:

Dan and Steve rolled out the red carpet with some amazing stuff. Our fantastic dinner included:
- sweet potato soup
- walnut and pear salad
- brussels sprouts with walnuts
- salmon with chipotle aoli

Insane. Thanks, dudes.

Saturday, Allison came to town and we begun having a total blast. Meena was a touch sick so we had Cube 63 the first night. But followed it up with a trip to Buttermilk Channel on Sunday morning for another awesome brunch. I had the salmon platter and the ladies had some eggs benedict. That’s not the real name they use there. But that’s what it was. We also had a side of their homemade breakfast sausage. Heaven in a patty, folks. Get it if you go.

Sunday night we hit Lucali for Allison’s first experience with Brooklyn’s finest. They delivered on an artichoke pie, a hot pepper pie and a basil + shallot pie. Artichoke was just OK but the rest were insane. So, so good.

Monday night we just got ill with some Bocca Lupo. It was weird because their power went out and we couldn’t eat hot stuff. That sucked. But the food was still awesome. Allison and I had some spicy ham tea sandwiches. Allison had a truffled egg tea sandwich. I had some pickled veggies. Meena had an awesome sausage panini. Bum night for these dudes but we’re still in love with them. They’re the coolest dudes in the neighborhood and we’ll always go back. No matter what.

We finished Allison’s run with a bit of Zaytoons delivery. Just some app samplers and a couple sandwiches (shawarma and merguez).

Wednesday night was lost night and Meena and I just called in some more Cube 63. Minimal. I think I just had one roll. Meena had one. I had some soup. We weren’t that hungry.

Thursday night, last night, was a Szechuan Garden night. I had some sezchuan pickles, szechuan pork dumplings and hot and sour. Meena had beef lo-mein.

So we’re off to Milwaukee tonight for the next few days. I’ll take photos and try to have another recap when we get back. Sorry for the delayed posts, friends. We’ve just had a whirlwind around us the last few days!!

LA STORY

You know how Hawaiians hand out those lovely leis filled with sweet smelling flowers the moment you step off a plane or into a lavish Maui hotel?  Truth be told, I’ve never actually been so I’ve never experienced it first hand ... but I’ve still heard about it.  Seen it on TV, you know. Magnum P.I. and stuff.

Well, I had a similar experience when I landed in LA. Only instead of native island flowers strung together to form a necklace, I was taken immediately to In-N-Out Burger and handed a cardboard box containing some paper napkins, ketchup packets, an "animal style" burger and “healthy” fries.  I have nothing against Hawaii and its customs, but the award for best welcome ritual most certainly goes to LA.  No contest.  While the fries were just a hair short of totally awful, these dudes made a fast food burger that erased any hint of travel fatigue and road weariness.  Flowers are nice, but animal style rules.

 

So that was our welcome.  And our journey through LA and Venice only got better.

 

Thursday morning Laura took us to this coffee spot on Washington and I can’t really remember its name.  It’s the only one there.  Anyway, I just had coffee, but Meena had her first of several Mexican themed breakfasts.  This one was probably the worst one she had, but I’d say she was cool with it.  Cool with the nourishment, anyway.

 

Thursday night we wound up in the Valley at Laura’s parents’ house for some delicious snacks, an amazing dinner and an insightful documentary on BBQ rib culture in America.  Mrs. Kaufman got us started with a healthy selection of tapenades and a hunk of cheese that was just incredible.  I can’t recall what it was, but it was herbed and packed with flavor.  I’m a Wisconsin cheese fan but this one was awfully special …

 

Mr. and Mrs. Kaufman got dinner fired up on the grill and we were treated to an assortment of baked potatoes, grilled vegetables, flat iron steak and grilled tuna.  The tuna got a lovely Italian marinade that injected some serious notes of garlic and balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Lovely.  The meat had a bit of a peppery marinade and gave it a really nice bite. 

 

We finished dinner off with a bit of berry pie and vanilla ice cream that was worth every calorie.  I know I sound pretty lame saying that but hey … I’m getting older .. I gotta watch it.  Anyway, it probably wasn’t good for me but it was one hell of a slice of pie.

 

Friday morning Meena and I hit this place called Three Cubes or Three Squares or something in Abbot Kinney for brunch.  A W E S O M E.  I think this might have been one of the best meals we had.  Meena had:

-  huevos rancheros w/ chiles rellenos

Alec had:

-   smoked salmon, fried eggs and bacon

Perfect meal.  A few cups of coffee and an hour later and we were ready to explore.  Sorry I don’t have photos of this one.  I might later (took them with the film camera).

 

Friday night we hit the lovely Primitivo for a selection of tapas that lived up to the hype Laura had given it prior to our arrival.  We had some amazing bacon wrapped dates (MIDWEST STAPLE ALERT!), a super bleu cheesy endive salad, a cured meat plate, kampachi crudo and fried calamari. 

 

I think the dates and the kampachi were the real standouts.  Though the bleu cheese endive salad was pretty stellar. 

 

Saturday Laura took us on a tour of Venice that included this place Brickhouse Café or something.  We had breakfast.  It was OK.  I think Meena had something Mexican again.  The service was some of the most laughably terrible service I’ve ever had in a restaurant.  And Meena lost her scarf there.  But the food wasn’t bad.

 

To make up for it, Laura took us to this place that serves mini-doughnuts.  It’s called Zelda’s corner and it’s right off the boardwalk (which wasn’t a boardwalk where we were and I found that incredibly misleading, FYI).  Now, I’m not a doughnut fan.  Not at all.  I actually hate them.  I never eat them.  But something about the fact that these dudes were hand-making these little bites of fried dough right in the window while you waited drew me in.  I only had one.  One was all I needed to recognize that if all doughnuts were like this one, I might actually like them. 

 

It was a weird little thing.  It was still a little molten from the hot oil bath it had flailed around in just minutes prior.  It was coated with cinnamon and sugar.  It had elements of everything I hate about doughnuts but for one reason or another, I loved it.  Also, I think it was like $3.50 for a dozen.  Rad.

 

Saturday night we hit this joint called Wabi Sabi back in Abbot Kinney for some final night sushi stylings.  VERY nice, friends.  This place is a winner.  We had:

- fried rock shrimp

-  miso soup

-  spicy tuna rolls

-  spicy salmon rolls

-  yellowtail and green onion rolls (it’s yellowtail and scallion in NYC baby!)

-  some special shrimp roll with all sorts of fancy schmancy stuff on it

 

The sushi was totally no frills.  It wasn’t all packed up with spritzes of sauce and streaks of this and that. Just solid, delicious, FRESH, straight-forward sushi.  I like.  I like very much.

 

Sunday morning, our final morning, we hit this joint called the Firehouse.  It’s this strange combo of breakfast, lunch and sushi.  I guess we were sitting in the breakfast/lunch zone.  Sushi was on some other side of this gigantic space.  I don’t know.  I didn’t go look.  I was just told.

 

Anyway, Meena had this open-faced burrito type thing with all sorts of eggs and onions and cheese and salsa and chicken.   It looked positively delicious.  Laura and I both had a breakfast burrito with chicken.  It was packed with eggs, chicken, sour cream and some salsa verde.  Not bad.

 

The real highlight, oddly enough, of The Firehouse was this chipotle garlic sauce they had on the table.  AWESOME stuff.  Just a subtle, smoky heat with a punch of garlic on the finish.  Stellar.  I forgot to ask if it was their blend or something they bought.  It was in a squeeze bottle so the origins were shrouded in mystery.  I guess I’ll never know.  And I guess I’m OK with that.

 

So as you can plainly see, we had an awesome trip.  Great food, great friends, so so weather.  Ha!  We also had a bunch of wine, some late night Jack In The Box (yuk!) (we were drunk!) (leave me alone!), incredible macaroons from Jin, crap Mexican and a bunch of weird drinks from the Coffee Bean (when in Rome, right?).  Thanks so much for taking care of us, Laura!