Tasty Texas

On a quick trip to Texas we ate at two different restaurants. The first was Marty B's at Bartonville, TX It appears to be a relatively new restaurant but there were no flaws in the service. In fact, our server went out of his way to accommodate the finicky tastes of our granddaughter who asked for a salad with no tomatoes, cheese, onions or chopped eggs. She also ordered mac and cheese with no bread crumb topping.

BBQ and TexMex are the featured items, I had smoked pulled pork tacos that were huge and very tasty. My grandson had a bacon burger big enough for two people. Sue had smoked brisket tacos. Our daughter in law had a beautiful and tasty dinner sald and Sue's son had Texican Tamale Cake, a sweet corn griddle cake topped with smoked meat and a house made slaw with a side of charro beans.

Everything is locally sourced, organic and hormone/antibiotic free. Dinner for six with two beers was only $106.00. This is a great place! Plus, they have a hitching post in case you ride your horse to dinner! We will go back.

We flew home from Dallas Love Field and got to the airport early enough to have dinner. We ate at the Cool River Cafe inside the secure area of the airport. This is a restaurant and bar rather than a fast food hole in the wall. Our server was very nice but they were out of Stella Artois beer.

I ordered the Soy & Honey Salmon with molasses bourbon butter, crispy fingerling potatoes and broccoli. This was a large serving and well prepared. Sue had the Pasta Fernando, hickory grilled chicken & shrimp on trumpet pasta with spinach and peppers in a Grana Padano and Arevalo sauce. Again, a larger than expected serving and very tasty.

For dessert we had a Makers Mark Pecan Bread Pudding and a chocolate lava cake, both of which were excellent.

The only problem was we ordered a Sam Adams draft beer and a “dobel-rita” which came in a plsner glass filled with ice and very little margarita!. The beer was $9.00 and the margarita was $19.00!! RIDICULOUSLY OVER PRICED!! I guess that is why the drink menu has no prices on it.  I should have known better. Total price of dinner for two: $98.00!  Next time it will be Dickey's BBQ.

Lobster, It's what's for Dinner at the Five fishermen, Halifax,NS

Lobster, It's What's For Dinner!

We had the recent good fortune to visit Nova Scotia which offered me the opportunity to try to eat my fill of culinary crustaceans.

Lobster is in season in Nova Scotia year round, but that may not be the case in a particular area where you are located. The season rotates through various geographical locations depending upon the time of the year. While fresh lobster may not be available in one city, a ten mile drive could bring you to an area where it is available. Of course, frozen lobster is always available.

While Poutine, french fries with cheese curds covered in brown gravy, may be the go-to fast food of Canada, Lobster is the signature dish of Nova Scotia. Roadside bars have portable signs in their parking lot that say “Beer and Lobster, Enough Said” You may have Lobster Benedict for breakfast, a lobster roll sandwich for lunch and a whole lobster for dinner. I like Nova Scotia. But if lobster is not for you, Nova Scotia also offers an amazing selection of other fresh seafood as well “Canadian AAA Steaks”. This is a grading system similar to “USDA Prime”. It is a tender, tasty, but more lean steak than it's US counter part.

We had a wonderful meal at the Five Fisherman restaurant in Halifax, NS. The building itself is of great historical importance for the City of Halifax.

In 1818 the parishioners of St Paul’s Church of England opened the building as a school. It would become the first school in Canada to offer a free education. It is for this reason that the building has the distinction of being the First National School and is a protected Heritage site.

The building changed hands to its new proprietor, Anna Leowens. She started an Art school, the Halifax Victorian School of Art. Before coming to Halifax, Anna was the governess to the children of the King of Siam, an experience she would later write a book about called “Anna and the King of Siam”. That book would be translated into the Broadway musical, “The King and I”.

The building was then taken over by the Snow family. John Snow & Co. Funeral Home would play a significant part in two of the world’s greatest disasters processing the victims of the Titanic disaster and the Halifax Explosion, the world's largest explosion prior to the Atomic Bomb! If you are not familiar with this. It is worth a google search. This appears to be the basis of the many reported hauntings throughout the building.

Our meal began with a Shrimp Cocktail for Sue and three different types of Fresh Oysters for me. The oysters came with fresh ground horseradish, hot sauce and a Mingonet White Wine dipping sauce, yum!

The wine list at the Five Fishermen is extensive, with world wide selections at reasonable prices. We had a Jost winery, Tidal Bay. Tidal Bay is a designated viticultural area wine made from the L'Acadie grape. It is a perfect accompaniment to seafood and only $19.00 per bottle.

Sue had Acadian Shellfish Tagliatelle, clams, shrimp, mussels and fresh herbs in white cream sauce with fresh sorrel sprouts. It was very rich and totally delicious.

I had the Classic Lobster dinner, a whole lobster with roasted potatoes and Chef's selection of vegetables that included carrots, broccoli, along with yellow and green zucchini. It more than met my wildest expectations.

Sue's dessert was a cherry tart with whipped cream and toasted almonds. I had a crème brulle' with currents, strawberrys and a pane of sugar glass. This was a great meal in a beautiful location in downtown Halifax, NS

The Five Fishermen is a multi-level restaurant with a bar area, dining rooms upstairs and down, private dining and an oyster bar as well as al fresco dining. It is a must visit place in Halifax and we highly recommend making reservations ahead of time It is always a busy place, but the service never suffers.

The Five Fishermen is located at 1740 Argyle Street, Halifax NS B3J 2B6, Phone: (902) 422-4421
Email: fivefishermen@graftonconnor.com

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TEENY TUCKER at BB King DAy 2018

TEENY TUCKER at BB King DAy 2018



This is raw video of Teeny Tucker at the 2018BB King Day symposium. It was an amazing jam session of Blues Masters at work.



Much more to come in the future weeks.

Here is a link to a new 60 sec  PSA we did for the BB King DAy Symposium 2018. 

It has a bit more detail than the 30 sec version. If you like the blues and American history please join us there. It's free! Click the link to see the video.

https://youtu.be/ihD7ijnKnDw

The 4th annual BB King Day Symposium is September 6th at Mississippi Valley State University. The subject of discussion is "suffering Songs" the relationship between Native American and African American music and dance. This is a free event and will be followed by a"jam session" at BB King's Club Ebony featuring some of the World's best blues musicians.

Click this link to see the 30 second public service announcement for the event.

https://youtu.be/1M6VmtO07gE

The Tenderloin Room Bananas Foster preparation

Here is a link to the video of the Bananas Foster preparation at the Tenderloin Room at the Chase Park Plaza in St. Louis, MO.

Click this link to see the video  https://youtu.be/UfOEyoEjdqU

The Tenderloin Room, St. Louis

The Tenderloin Room inside The Chase Hotel complex, at Kingshighway and Lindell is a St. Louis institution when it comes to classic fine dining. 

In the tradition of many classic restaurants, the Tenderloin Room is family owned and operated and has been “The Place” for such stars as Frank Sinatra, George Clooney and most of the “A List” people that visit St. Louis . The Tenderloin Room has retained the look and feel of the elegant restaurants from years ago – plush and comfortable without being “clubby”.  The dining rooms are finished with elegant hard woods and brass chandeliers. The tenderloin room is definitely a steak house legend.

The tenderloin room serves gourmet cuisine that is perfect for romance, business and pleasure. the intricate interior design is a work of art. One look at the bar area and it's stained glass ceiling will assure you the tenderloin room is a one of a kind dining experience,

I had mentioned that it was our anniversary when I made our reservations, and when we were seated with found a “congratulations” greeting card signed by the entire staff. That was a very nice touch and set the stage for a wonderful dining experience.

Many items are prepared table-side, including appetizers such as shrimp, herring, smoked salmon and more. Sue had the shrimp cocktail and I had a perfect Carpaccio. I also tried their famous US Senate bean soup and it was very good.

Sue choose the 10 oz fillet mignon and I had the pepperloin, twin, tenderloins, after all this is a steak house. Both came with their twice baked potato ( just the filling, no skins to deal with) and grilled fresh asparagus with Parmesan. We took the option of having their house steak sauce served table-side and it was amazing. Booth steaks came cooked to order and I literally cut mine with a fork!

The Tenderloin Room also has vegetarian and gluten free selections as well.

Because it was a special night, we had a Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine, with the smoothness of a Rhone and the full body of a Bordeaux. Salute!

Sue had another table-side specialty for dessert, their Bananas Foster. A visual experience like no other, and of course, the taste was equally excellent. I couldn't pass up the home made, warm, bread pudding with ice cream, honey and cinnamon. It the perfect end to a perfect evening!

The Tenderloin Room is a must do dining experience in St. Louis.

Johnny's Italian Steakhouse, Des Moines, IA

We recently had the pleasure of dining at Johnny's Italian Steakhouse in Des Moines, Iowa. What defines it as an “Italian Steakhouse”? Their website desscribe the origin as follows;
Growing up during prohibition and the Great Depression in the Valley Junction neighborhood of West Des Moines, Iowa, John Stamatelos often received 25 cents from government tax collectors in exchange for insider knowledge on the locations of his father’s illegal corn moonshine stills. Happily accepting the cash, the youngster would then lead the G-men astray to spots where stills were long since abandoned.
Stamatelos turned those quarters into seed money for converting his own house into Johnny’s Vets Club in December 1946. Since liquor by the glass was still illegal, he operated the club as a speakeasy. Playing host to community dignitaries and locals alike,

Meanwhile, another Johnny on the other side of town, Johnny Compiano, and his wife, Kay, opened Johnny and Kay’s Restaurant—a humble one-room dining area and bar. Compiano’s love for cooking started in New Orleans while serving in the Coast Guard, and his iconic Steak de Burgo soon become a nightly attraction. Aside from their mutual love of hospitality, both Johnnys laid claim to the best de Burgo in Iowa—one adhering to the Italian style of cooking with olive oil, while the other used butter, garlic, and heavy cream.

In 2001, Heart of America Group owner Mike Whalen created a modern-day tribute to the concepts fostered by Stamatelos and Compiano. Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse, with 18 restaurants in 9 States honors the same spirit of service and culinary flair as the storied gentlemen sharing this emblematic first name.

Johnny's Italian Steakhouse by the numbers: 13 appetizers (we explained to him that toasted Raviolis were invented in St. Louis), 11 pastas, 7 seafood dishes, 6 steaks, 4 soups, 3 chicken dishes and even more specialty items.

We started our dining experience by sharing a house salad. This Italian dressing salad was more than enough for two.

Three different people suggested I try “Johnny's Chanel No. 5”. I had to think twice about ordering something named after a French perfume at an Italian steakhouse, but I gave it a try. It is Lobster, shrimp, artichokes, prosciutto and cheese ravioli in a garlic cream sauce. Don't hesitate, go for it. It was delicious!

Sue had the Snapper Basilico, a red Snapper fillet, fresh basil, garlic, yellow and red cherry tomatoes, and shaved Asiago with a fresh red sauce. Again, an excellent entree.

Our server was a very attentive without being overbearing, even when he tried to convince to have dessert as he brought a tray of beautiful examples to entice us. Unfortunately for us, our entrees were huge portions that left no room for anything else!

The restaurant has an upscale ambiance with tables, leather booths, curtained private dining areas, an outdoor patio with a fire pit and a comfortable bar area. We thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience at Johnny's Italian Steakhouse.

For reservations and more information go to johnnysitaliansteakhouse.com

Nick's Bar and Grill, Des Moines, IA

Nick's Bar and Grill in the Des Moines suburb of Clive, Iowa is a great place to eat that reminds of the old Supper Club style of restaurant minus the relish platter. The restaurant side is paneled in hard woods with comfortable booths. The Bar side is also finished in hard woods and is a comfortable place to have a cocktail as well as a meal. There is patio seating as well.

Our waitress, Maureen,who has been there for more than a decade, was very pleasant and shared a few stories with us as well. She said it is known as a family restaurant where a lot of “deals” are made in the back room. I cautiously asked if she meant Mafia Family Deals and she laughed and said “no, just political deals”. It seems that Nick's is a favorite meeting place for well known politicians during the Iowa caucuses! The like of john McCain, Rand Paul and others have been known to meet in the private dining room to hash out their positions for upcoming elections.

Since 1996, Nick’s has been known in the Clive community for being the “go to” restaurant for a power business lunch or dinner. Our relaxed environment along with home cooked food and drinks at a very reasonable price is what has customers coming back on a regular basis.

The atmosphere at Nick’s is perfect for a quiet evening date. The dinner menu is filled with great tasting dishes, wonderful desserts and reasonably priced drink specials. I had a bourbon on the rocks and it came out as a double pour. Sue had a cranberry margarita martini and it was also a good sized pour.

We started with Sue having a house salad with blue cheese dressing. I had a cup of Southwestern style corn soup. Sue's main dish was the Linguini Carbonara with bacon, mushrooms and a cream sauce. It was a large portion and absolutely delicious. I had Pork Medallions in a mustard and sage Cream Sauce with a side of Cole slaw. The meat was so tender I cut it with my fork and the mustard/sage combination was perfection! I also had an IPA draft beer with dinner.

We were too full to even consider desserts as neither of us could finish all of our entrees.

Nick's Bar and Grill is fine dining at a very reasonable cost. Our total bill was only $58.00! we will definitely go back to Nick's Bar and Grill.

Nick's is located at 9769 University Ave. Clive, IA Phone 515 221 1338