Beer Me... and Tony, Too

Was a great fourth -- warm, a cook-out, swimming, etc. And, of course (with the heat, the cook-out, etc.) some beer. I am disappointed to say, though, that I didn't make it over to the grand opening on July 4 of the new Barley and Hops Tavern in Occidental. Noah, the new owner along with his wife, Mir (wtf?), has been keeping a great blog about the renovation (much of which Noah did himself) and the beginning of the beer pub. I have to admit, having restaurant ambitions myself, I'm not sure from a logistical standpoint that Occidental is big enough for another drinking and eating establishment, even if they do serve Really Good Beer. It will be interesting to see what happens. Brew Pubs are a growing thing in Sonoma County, though, as it seems like every city must have one: Russian River Brewing Co. (Santa Rosa), HopMonk Tavern (Sebastopol), Lagunitas Brewing Co. (Petaluma), etc. I plan to visit Barley and Hops this week. I will -- I know, I know: surprise, surprise -- let you know my thoughts and impressions. Cheers.

P.S. Oh, yes, by the way: Tonight at 10:00 p.m. on the Travel Channel kicks off the new season of Tony Bourdain's show No Reservations. I'll be on the couch with, well, a beer, so see you there.

P.P.S. O.K., I have to admit, I have another reservation about Barley and Hops. Where's their marketing? I haven't heard or seen one mention of them in the papers, the blogs, etc. If I hadn't of stumbled across them by chance.... It still amazes me how restaurant people pour thousands and thousands of dollars into things (buildings, kitchens, etc.) and then have no money (or don't want to spend any) for marketing. You need the marketing, too!

Tony Comes to Town (Well, Almost...)

Just a quick update that tomorrow (Tues, Mar 11) I'm meeting my friend pm at 8:00 a.m. to film my video inviting Tony Bourdain to come hang out with me and film an episode of his show No Reservations as part of his special fan video contest. (Just watched NR tonight; great episode on Tony returning to work a double-shift in the kitchen at his former "home" of 28 years, Les Halles in New Yawk City). I'm going to pitch Tony on visiting... Sonoma County, home of the "Big O" -- organic food and wine. I've written a script, p and I have mapped out our shooting locations, he's renting a microphone, and off we go, full of caffeine and the crazy notion that we might just win this d*** thing (or at least have fun trying, which is what life...when you think about...is really all about). Wish us luck. More, of course, on this soon....

P.S. And just to set the record straight, NO, I'm NOT going to be p's "best boy". (Though I will owe him a dinner; hmmm... perhaps at...oh, I'm too distracted right now! Seriously, I might not sleep tonight.)

Me and...Tony?

OMG, OMG, OMG, this is too cool for school: Tony Bourdain of my favorite food and wine show No Reserverations is hosting a fan contest in which a selected fan will get to hang out with Tony during the filming of one his episodes. All I need to do (!) is make a no-more-than three minute video. Let's just say that wheels-are-in-motion, wheels-are-in-motion. I already have my friend PM on the stand-by, as he's a video/film guy. And I met last night with my friend MR to discuss ideas and food and wine places to suggest. (M and I met at his place, and had some of his Absinthe, aka the "Green Fairy" that's been banned for so many years because of its extremely high alcohol content and, supposidely, hallucination-causing capabilities. Let's just say you'll hear more about my Absinthe adventure in a few days, when my head clears and I can coherently write more than one paragraph.) I'm going to pitch Tony on coming to...Sonoma County. I mean, we really do have it all here, from organic produce to fantastic restaurants to taco trucks. Anyway, if YOU have any ideas on where you would suggest I take Tony when he comes to Sonoma County, let me know. Ciao.

Holiday Gift Ideas: Part 3

The countdown continues.... In my posts of Dec 12 and Dec 14, I've given you Xmas gift ideas ranging from vintage cool coasters from Virgins, Saints, and Sinners to tuffles and other gourmet goodies at EnjoyFoieGras.com. So what's the next best thing to giving great food and wine gifts? Giving books about food and wine. Here are some suggestions. And if you want to help support Every Meal A Feast, you can conveniently access Amazon.com through the "Search Amazon.com" feature on the right-hand side of this blog. Enjoy!

American Food Writing

Chocolate Obession

The Tenth Muse

My Life in France

Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork

Kitchen Confidential

Tony Comes to San Fran

Thanks to EMAF FROTB ckd for this note: Tony Bourdain will be doing a San Francisco event on Saturday, Nov. 17 from 7-10 p.m. to promote his new book No Reservations. The event will be held at the E&O Trading Company, 314 Sutter Street. The event is sponsored by the American Institute for Wine and Food, with tickets on sale at Green Apple Books. I've got a poker tourney that evening: ah, dilemmas, dilemmas!

Tony Brings A Tear

How appropriate that on the night Tony Bourdain tackled my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, on his Travel Channel show No Reservations, my beloved--and first place (yes, you read that right!)--Cleveland Indians turned a triple play while soundly defeating the Minnesota Twins, 8-3.

Overall, I thought the show was excellent, though the first part was heavy on eccentric Cleveland, and we really didn't didn't get into the food until the second part. I loved the tour of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (did you know you can rent that for a party or dinner?) and of the ethnic restaurants.



What did bring a tear to my eye was the mention of "stadium mustard." Here's the scoop: Cleveland's old Municipal Stadium used to be the home for the Browns and the Indians. It was a huge (70,000-seat), old, drafty place yet filled with memories. Some of my strongest childhood memories are of going, either alone with my dad or with my dad and friends, to Indians games, one of the highlights which would be having several (hey, I was a growing boy!) foot-long hot dogs slavered in Municipal Stadium's brown mustard. This was a delicious concoction, heartier than that French's yellow stuff yet without the strong bite of a good Dijon. When Municipal Stadium was torn down, lost too, was the stadium mustard....


...until recently. I had heard rumors and quickly confirmed them last night during a late-night Google fest: stadium mustard lives! The stadium mustard Web site looks as funky as old Municipal Stadium used to, and to me, that's part of the charm. My check is going in the mail this week for a case of this all-natural, delicious, and memory-inducing condiment.


So thank you, Tony, for showing us new places to see and try...and for taking us back to old places and old times and old foods that shouldn't be forgotten.

Tony Alert: Part 2 (or maybe 3 or 4)

Mark your calendars now: this Monday, August 27th, is a not-to-missed episode of Tony Bourdain's television show No Reservations. Tony travels to Cleveland, Ohio, (birthplace of one particular blog host) for an in-depth (O.K., superficial and very skewed) culinary and travel-related review of the Big City. In Tony's television trailer for the Monday night show, he calls his Cleveland foray "the best show ever." So you know it's gotta be good.

Monday night, 7:00 p.m. (I think) and 10:00 p.m. on the Travel Channel.

Tony Alert: NEW SEASON

This coming Monday, July 30, marks the kick-off of the ALL NEW season of Tony Bourdain's television show No Reservations. FROTB (Frequent Readers of This Blog) know that Tony's show is my favorite television food/travel show. Tony, to me, blends: a former chef's knowledge of food...with an insatiable appetite to see new places...and a Hunter S. Thompson-ish ability to write. In short, it's good stuff. Don't miss the first new episode on Monday, 10:00 p.m., the Travel Channel.

Plus, there's MORE: For the August 27 show, Tony travels to CLEVELAND. That's right: CLEVELAND. Home of LeBron James, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Indians, and, well...I said LeBron James, right?

Anyway, in honor of Tony going to Cleveland, here's a recipe for Deep Fried Breaded Lake Erie Perch from charter fishing captain Tricky Dick (http://www.trickydick.com/). Enjoy.

~ 3 lbs filleted Yellow Lake Erie perch
~ 2 eggs

~ 10-12 soda crackers (or "pop" crackers, if you're from Ohio)

~ Frying oil to cover the cooking fillets completely

Beat the eggs until well mixed. Coat each fillet completely with the egg mixture, then roll in the cracker crumbs. Drop the fillet into the hot oil, and cook until golden brown. (Be careful not to overcook.)

Tony & Ireland

Last night's No Reservations was wonderful. Tony toured Ireland, which of course has quite the history and quite the food adventures. To get in the proper spirit, I drank a nice cold (sorry, UK) pint of Guinness. It was heavenly; smoky, chocolate-y, with that chewy texture. As usual, my favorite part of the show is at the end, when Tony summarizes his visit and the place. This time he left us with the hope that while Ireland is growing bigger and, even, more together, "...one hopes it never changes too much."

Tony Alert: June 4

All---Just a quick note that on Monday June 4 (7:00 and 10:00 p.m. PST) on the Travel Channel is one of my favorite food/travel shows: Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. This episode features Ireland, where I would LOVE to go to one day. There are many reasons to watch the show, including Tony's Hunter S. Thompson-ish take on life and the fact that he's a great writer. But most of all, he tries to dig below the surface of things. It's one thing to simply report on what's what, but it's quite another to try to decipher what that thing really means. And Tony tries to do that with each episode. Check it out.