Summer Travelsplosion

Ive been gone for the better part of 3 weeks including a stint in San Francisco and time in NYC , New England, and Chicago. I have been eating healthily. 

Here are some highlights.

NEW YORK CITY

 

Shopsin's General Store is a rather special place for me.

It has a history in the west village and moved twice because of real estate shitbags and high rents. Now it is in a stall at the Essex Market (at Delancy. A nice transfer hub for a bunch of metro trains)

A friend of mine told me about this place a few years ago and I bee lined it straight there the first chance I went back to NYC. The owner Kenny is notoriously hot and cold (justifiably) with customers. They have about 300 things on the menu. Many of which are riddled with experiments and playful and deliberate deconstruction of food that may otherwise be standard or trendy or boring . I feel like the family that runs this joint is some hold of old New York (at least from as far back as the 70's) I love the customer isn't always right approach. I love the creating of good food with the mind of a dadaist.

I really hope Kenny and Shopsin's stick around so I can become a regular. Also there is a steady stream of metal provided by their metalhead server.

 Joe's Pizza. Get a slice if you are in the village. I think there is one near 14th St too. Its a good slice. I wont ever recommend the best burger or slice because that is trite. But its an institution and it was in Spiderman or something.

 

The French Diner.

Small grungy little bistro. The dude that owns it remind me of a Chris Delia character.

Pleasantly cramped and cool frenchy snacks and what not. Just like it as a hangout spot. Different.

In the village also. On Orchard off of Houston

Russ and Daughters.

I hope this place stays open for another 100 years. I also think it might be the only business ever that honors its female members in the name. Anyway, I have a total boner for lox, and pickled fish, and bagels and all that shit. Candies and cookies and everything else all crammed into this spot make it easy to walk out with some stuff to fill your fridge and pantry. Old school but irreplaceable. Fuck a ride up the Chrysler building or whatever. Spend the 20 bucks on herring and put it in your fucking mouth.

 

A friend told me about TMS. I wanna go real bad whether it sucks or not. I just need to find out what its like. They have several locations. I was told about the Williamsburg joint.

 

Cool little spot I hit up before going to the Comedy Cellar on Macdougal.

 

 They have some peculiar food. I think it to be an off kilter izakaya spot. I had avocado tofu and grilled mackerel. Worth a peek

Pawtucket Rhode Island.

 Vegan and Veggie spots. The bakery was off the chain. Crazy cupcakes and pastries. I dont sweet tooth that hard but it's fucking repping. Garden Grill is one of those vegan/veg exceptions where I would eat here with out being dragged there by diet restricted band dudes. Decent plate ups and solid food. Especially for a small New England town outside of Providence.

Providence RI

Suprise spot. There was a janky breakfast place on the other corner but we went here instead. WEIRDLY cheap. Good bar program and great food. Especially for Provi. I had a fucking Chartreuse with my meal. Coffee was solid. Homie got a pulled pork benedict that was insane. Cool unpretentious folks. Definitely hit it up. We know we will. Something like 180 for 8 people. And 3 of us had booze. 

Sadly after all the record shopping I did not get a single LOBSTER ROLL. bummer.

---------

Kingston NY>

Amazingly air conditioned punk/metal/music bar. 

Above average food. Weird burgz and some veggie options and brunch.

Tight craft beer game.Fun place to place and gotta love them drink tickets.

 CHICAGO

I was staying in Logan Square. Made some trips downtown to try and learn the city from the inside out.

Logan has tons of hipster/higher end type bars and food joints. Could get old quickly as a resident but there are some places worth checking out here and there.

Revolution Brewery.

Pretty heft menu of bottles and a grip of rotating taps of craft stuff brewed there. Apparently crusing it (according to a beer distributor friend) All beers are available in sample size so you can build your own tasting if you want. I went for 4 or 5 tasters. Got a nice buzz on and increased my palette a bit as well.

 My girl is the Sous Chef here. Lotta small to medium plates. Gin centric cocktail bar. Small but alright. Easy build a "tasting menu" of sorts by ordering all over the menu. Enjoyed.

 \\JALAPENO GRILL\\

 

 4 dolla haurache de lengua. Sue says it sucks but it was a good breaky with horchata. She's food 

 jaded.

Good coffee game. Even had kyusus for making jap tea. EVEN HAD THE TEMP RIGHT 

Hipster hell hole but good shit.

Longman.
A Michelin starred gastro pub. Very very similar to where I work in Seattle.
I believe there to have been some chef crossover.
Solid food. Good bev program. I wouldn't drag anyone here but they know what there doing.
Kind of felt like I just got off and got a shifty here. I want to go again and see em pull out the Michelin stops.

 

Duck confit hash and some truffled vin shmutz. Homemade sourdough and jam.Okay way to start a day.

Wanna check this out. On Milwaukee

Cool German bar best looking food I have seen from any place. (IE Schmidts, Prost, Alstadt, ETC)

Awesome beer store/bar. Cheap brew. Tons of micros. And strangely inexpensive bourbon and whiskey. Even 6 dollar chartreuse.

George's Family joint in Oak Park. Quick pregame diarrhea before standing around at a Frank Lloyd Wright house. Might I recommend the TUNA VOLCANOS?
My compatriot used the term to describe certain "time of the month" imagery.

Maple Skin

Volcanos

Hobo Skillet. With a side of pancakes and toilet paper (not pictured)

I stopped off here before going to meet my beer rep buddy for an event he was doing. Pretty easy to drink 5 caipirinhas/mojitos. The bartender was chatting me up as I stayed way too long. Alright cuban snacks too.

Met a homie here for some brews. He's a beer rep and they had an event. Cool beer spot with a garten in back.

That concludes my Tour. More posts to come and hopefully not as long.

Home and Abroad

Fruit Salad. Kiwi. Naner. Fennel Frond. Watermelon. Strawberry

Garden Stuff. Sorrel. Speckled Lettuce.  Soy Vinaigrette. Nasturtium Flower. Arugula. Celery Leaf.

KNEAD BAKERY

SF

Nice lil smoked trout on grilled levain.

Meatballs, veg and poached egg.

A Cookbook I want

Jesus Juice was Coke and Wine flavor. Ala Calimotxo or Hote. Hibiscus Beet was out of control. I had the Vietnamese Coffee. As good as it sounds.

Then to State Bird.

Never stand in line for shit, ever, but it was worth it. They got carts they roll around with food and mark a card a la dim sum. You can order larger plates and bev from the menu.

Duck Liver Pate. Corn/Almond Ragamuffin things.

Pork Belly w Stone Fruit and Cilantro/Jalapeno. Had some adobo acidic sauce on it. Nice.

Halibut Tartare. Nori Chips. Black Garlic Aioli. Mashed Avocado. (this was TIGHT)

Mushroom Farro Spezzato with Smoked Egg Yolk (this was especially tight)

Bone Marrow. Mushroom. Pink Peppercorn. BREAD

Choco Mousse with Berries. Sesame Crackers w Tahini White Chocolate. The crackers were banging.

Melon Granita. Coconut Tapioca. Shiso. Cucumber. Nice and Fresh.

Lemon Curd and Poppyseed Cake with Stone Fruit and Cherry.

 

Mokutanya. Unexpected visit to a wicked Yakitori spot in Burlingame of all places. Glass partitions and tatami mat seating. Noteworthy foods. Monkfish liver in torchon type servings. In slightly acidic broth.  Hamachi Collar. Spicy Lamb. Beef Tongue. Chicken Skin. Quail Egg. Cool ass spot.

 

Alemany Farmers Market

Nice little avocados.

Sour Grapes and Blood Limes. New to me California produce.

Green Walnuts. Im assuming available because of interest in Green Almonds. These are pithy and starchy like banana peels. Not very edible compared to young almonds. Im letting one dry out in my apartment now.

Nice Dates

Totally awesome mushroom vendor. The Yellow Oysters were amazing. Never seen Namekos before.

 

 Mission Chinese. Cheap. and Good.

Eel rolls were good. Squid Ink Noodle with Lamb and Harissa Yogurt. Also good.

Salt Cod Fried rice  w Chinese Sausage. ok. I like my Salt Cod Salt Cody.

Fun Place. Almost dont even know if you are in the right place.

 

 

  

Finally, my maiden voyage with my new to me smoker. Top left to bottom right. Pork Shoulder. Goat. Lamb Shoulder. Chicken legs. Pork Sausage. Sockeye. Tomato. Avocado. Corn. Also did some asparagus and even put a pot of baked beans in there. Looking forward to more of this.