Lazy Man's Tailgating

Well, I guess we are all getting old. And, perhaps, a bit fed up with how we are being treated by the Jets. Not just the losing season, but the limited parking access that has broken up the old tailgate parties and even no beer policies that aren't pre-announced. This might have been the last year for the old gang.

Given the crappy weather forecast for last Sunday, some of us decided an indoor tailgate party was the way to go.

Bob, Bar Man, Bernie in the Good Seats


You will notice that we did hang up a 3B sign for nostalgia's sake. And our view of the game was much better than if we had actually gone to the game.

Better Than The Fifty-Yard Line


We brought along a new mascot too. My sister-in-law Paula Sue sent me this nifty wine-bottle holder for my birthday. I had an old bottle of Gridiron Cuvee with a picture of Don Maynard on the label that I thought would be perfect for the occasion.

Our Mascot


We did do a bit of grilling and I was in charge of the ribs. Actually, I had pre-prepared a couple of racks with my special spice rub, but I forgot them. Luckily we found a butcher shop that had some nice ones and with a couple of bottles of Hoboken Eddie's barbecue sauce we were able to save the day.

Cook Em' Low And Slow


Much better food and drink service than you find at the stadium, no two ways about that.

Just Like Box Seats


And, the best part, you have room to stretch out and watch overtime in comfort.

Ah, This Is Living


Maybe staying at home brings the Jets luck, they actually won in overtime.

Belated Christmas Cheers

Lot's of stuff going on for the Holidays, as I am sure is true for most of you. What with all of the preparations and parties and the family get-together it doesn't leave much time for bar-hopping. I did manage to stop into one though on my way to visit my sister-in-law. This one is just about a block away from the train station in New Brunswick, and it is a pretty decent brew-pub.

Harvest Moon


It is nice to see a real brew-pub these days. In New York City there were never very many and most of the ones that were once here have disappeared. Even Hearland Brewery, who kind of revitalized the concept now is what is known as a Contract Brew Pub. This means that their beer is brewed to their specifications at an off-site brewery and then shipped to their multiple locations.

Being suspicious by nature I did ask if Harvest Moon really brewed their own beer and was assured that they did. Now I saw the equipment, but some places that used to be brew pubs kept their equipment for display purposes only.

Harvest Moon's Brewing Tums


They had a nice selection but I only has time to try a couple of them.

Harvest Moon's Beer List


I decided to start off with the Elmes' Mild Manor. It was much darker than I expected but wasn't at all heavy. As advertised it did have a nice floral smell and was nice and malty. I pleasant change from the overly hopped IPAs that you find everywhere these days.

Bar Man Visting Elmes' Mild Manor


Now don't get me wrong. It isn't that I dislike IPAs, as I am sure most of you know by now. It is just that I like to be able to have something different if I want it. In fact my next choice from the menu was the Hops Double IPA. Although the hops did come through, it wasn't that over-powering. At least not to my somewhat jaded palate. It went well with my hamburger and French fries.

I would certainly stop in here again to try out a few more of their beers. I would imagine that it probably draws a real college crowd at night given its proximity to Rutgers. Not quite sure, but this looked like it might be part of the previous night's crowd. I think if you can't pay your tab they lock you in the dungeon.

Dungeoned Deadbeats


I had a wonderful Christmas with plenty of good eats: Duck, Goose, Chicken, and all sorts of side dishes. I brought my Hero's Glogg and, sadly, it didn't go over as well with this crowd as with the tailgate crew. Oh well, I made sure that there wasn't anything left over.

Although everyone was most generous, once again I didn't get my most hoped for gift, the always popular Ear and Nose Hair Trimmer. As you can see, I really do need one.

Badly In Need Of A Trim


Maybe next year.

Vegas, Baby

Well, not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But then, with a group of geezers like us, not that much happens in Vegas.

Back when I wore a younger man's clothes I used to go to Vegas two or three times a year with buddies for a long week-end of carousing. Haven't been back all that often lately but a bunch of us decided to spend a few days last week. We decided to stay downtown not only because it is a lot cheaper but it is also much less hectic than the strip. Fitzgerald's was our choice, and it was a good choice.

Fitzgerald's


It is a decent enough casino with inexpensive rooms, especially this time of year, and it is located just a block away from the central Four Corners which pretty much is the anchor of downtown. On each corner is one of the four major downtown casinos.

Binions


Queens


Golden Nugget


Fremont


Ironically, back in the days when we used to do much more gambling, the El Cortez was one of the place where we seldom, if ever, won. I say ironically, because this was the view that greeted me from my room when I opened the drapes.

The Beautiful El Cortez


I hadn't realized that the El Cortez is the oldest, continually operated casino in Las Vegas. In fact, Bugsy Siegel owned a piece of it before building The Flamingo out on the strip. It was somewhat gratifying to see that even if I can't win there, someone can.

A Winner


I can't say I won anything, but I did keep a winning slip from the slot machines to give me an incentive to come back one day.

34-Cent Winner


Also not far from where we were staying was something that just seemed to call out to me.

I Feel Like A Cold One


Four out of the five of us stopped in here for a couple of cold ones. The fifth member of our merry group was locked up in his hotel room figuring out how we could lose money on four-bet parleys. Take it from the Bar Man, these are never good bets.

John, Jon, Bar Man, and Bruce


I don't remember the name of this bar, but you really can't miss it. Just look for the big Bass Ale. The bartender, Sarah, who was a Massachusetts transplant, was quite friendly and made a nice Half and Half.

Sarah Strutting Her Stuff


Neither John nor Jon had ever been to Las Vegas before so we took a few trips to The Strip to show them the sights. One nice thing about Las Vegas is that they have a bus called The Deuce. It costs $2 (hence the name) for a one-way trip or $5 for a 24 hour pass. The bus route starts downtown and runs to the end of the strip. You can get on and off at a number of casinos along the way so it is a really good deal. Nice double decker bus too, so you can see a lot. Should have taken a picture.

Here is the gang, minus me, in front of the Paris casino which has a 1/3 scale Eiffel Tower out front.

We Will Always Have Paris (Bruce, Jon, John, Albert)


When I first started going to Las Vegas in the late 60's you could actually walk across the Strip. Now you have to use pedestrian overpasses which have both stairs and escalators. I commented that it was amazing that in Las Vegas the escalators all seem to work but in New York the public ones, like in the subways, seem to be mostly out-of-service. Wouldn't you know, the first out-of-service elevator we ran into was in the New York, New York casino. I guess they were really going for authenticity.

Just Like Home


A bit of a hike off the strip was a place we couldn't help visiting.

Haufbrauhaus Las Vegas


Most of us had manly beers.

Hoisting Our Beers (and coffee)


You may notice Jon, in the back corner, hiding his beer. That is because he opted for the kiddie special.

Jon's Beer Is The Little One


Interestingly, Jon's nickname has always been "Little Guy." It isn't just because of the little beers he drinks though.

Showgirl and Little Guy


Well, we had a great time. I actually came out ahead due primarily to my betting against the Knicks the two games they played while we were there. I used to be a Knicks fan but started to fade away when they brought in Isaiah Thomas as president and gave up my season tickets when he brought in Stephon Marbury. I could see the team's future collapse from a mile away just based upon both Thomas's and Marbury's (call me Starbury, oh please, call me Starbury) track record.

I would have been even further ahead if it wasn't for Albert (The Cooler) talking us all into throwing in money to make those parley bets. To his credit though, we won the first three out of four bets on one of them and then lost the last when at game time they announced that Duncan wouldn't be playing due to a toe injury or something. There is a story behind that too involving last minute changes to the spread and someone not checking the board before placing the bet. But we shall leave that for another time.

We had a great time and I wish I had taken more pictures. But I did get one of a beautiful sunrise as seen from our hotel window.

Beautiful Sunrise


For those of you who have never been to Las Vegas, I strongly recommend that you visit. It is a relatively cheap vacation, especially if you don't gamble, and it is a city like no other.

Birthday Indulgence

December 4th was my birthday and the Mysterious Chinese Woman decided to indulge me by treating me to dinner and my favorite restaurant when it comes to being indulged. That restaurant is Chanterelle.

Chanterelle At Night


I apologize for the poor quality of the photo. I am still getting used to a new camera and without a tripod, which I wasn't about to lug around, it is hard to hold the camera steady enough to get a good quality shot. The facade doesn't really do the restaurant justice anyway, not when it is covered by scaffolding, at least.

We had half an hour to kill before our reservations so I decided to stop into Walker's for a quick beer.

Walker's


This picture turned out a bit better but, sadly, my stay did not. I have been in here many times before and always had an enjoyable time. Tonight, however, it was very crowded and there was only one bartender. The bar was pretty full but I did find a spot to stand at the end nearest the windows. The bartender was at the other end of the bar making cocktails for one of the waitresses. No problem with that. However, when he finished he never looked around the bar but then started talking to customers at his end of the bar and made another round of drinks for them. Okay, maybe they had finished before I came in. But then someone walked into the place, headed to the far end of the bar and the bartender served him. All during this time he never seemed to glance at my end of the bar so I couldn't catch his eye. Given that I only had half an hour I decided to just leave. I can only assume that they were short-handed for some reason and this is, by no means, typical of the service that I have received in the past.

But there was no shortage of service at Chanterelle. It is located on a rather obscure corner in Tribeca at 2 Harrison Street, a short little street that can be difficult to find if you don't know where you are going. That doesn't stop this place from being popular though, you have to make reservations a month in advance and it was packed, as usual. I have never been there when it hasn't been.

Not having my beer at Walkers I decided to share a champagne toast with the Mysterious Chinese Woman before getting serious.

Here's Looking At You


They have a somewhat limited menu but it changes about once every four months. Because I was celebrating I opted for the six-course chef's selection with the wine pairing. The only choice you get is the dessert. They also have a three course menu where you have more to chose from. The wine pairing is impressive right off the bat when they set out all the glasses that you will be needing to get through the wine.

Anticipation


Now I am not going to be able to give you the names of all the wines I was served. The wait-staff was gracious enough to let me take pictures, but I didn't really want to hold them up by taking notes as well. If anyone recognizes the bottles where you can't make out the names, feel free to post a comment and let me know what they are.

The meal started off with a nice sake. It was quite light with definite hints of melon and paired well with the first course of sushi. All the wines paired well, of course.

Sake


Sushi


There was a nice assortment with the air-dried tuna being the most unusual and, in my opinion, the bay-scallop cerviche being the best.

Next up was what I think was a Chardonnay. Can't be sure of this one because it was fairly sweet, almost like a desert wine, but not quite. It was served with a nicely crisp goose liver on a bed of risotto and potato. Again, the wine nicely complimented the sweetness of the liver, which was delicious. The potato risotto was a bit bland, but that wasn't bad because it offset the liver's richness.

Chardonnay?


Goose Liver with Risotto and Potato


We were just warming up at this point and the next pairing was a Chardonnay. This Chardonnay had the more traditional Chardonnay taste and was served with turbot, mild and firm bodied.

Chardonnay


Turbot


Our next serving featured a lovely red wine, rich and luscious, paired with perfectly done lamb. I wish I could remember what was served along side the lamb, but I don't. I can tell you that it was very good though and I ate it all.

Red Wine


Lamb And Mystery Side


The next course is always one of my favorites, the cheese plate. One year I went here for my birthday at lunch-time because it was impossible to get reservations for that evening. They offer a somewhat more abbreviated menu and the cheese course wasn't available. When I expressed my disappointment the owner said that their cheese man was in and maybe he would accommodate me. He was more than happy to do so and so I was able to indulge my self with a fine selection of cheeses and a nice port.

Tonight they didn't serve a port, which surprised me a bit, but a another very nice wine that did the trick. A large selection of cheeses is presented for you to choose from. The very knowledgeable young lady who did the presenting described each of the cheeses and helped you make your selection. You could have one of each, if you wanted, but by this time I was getting a bit full so I settled for four.

Wine


The Full Cheese Selection


My Selection


The last course did come with port and you had a selection of desserts. I chose something called, I think, Maple Delight and it featured several maple themed deserts. My favorite was the maple ice-cream with threads of candied ginger sprinkled on top.

Port


Dessert


Now by this time I really was stuffed, but it wasn't quite over. An after dinner coffee is always in order and, as you might imagine, it would not be served alone. I have to admit, the coffee was delicious but I simply could not eat any of the treats it came with.

The Coup De Gras




I wish I could have gone into a bit more detail with the wines and menu, but then this blog would have run on for pages. I should have asked if I could have kept a copy of the menu, but that would have seemed a bit to un-cool and touristy. Not like taking the pictures didn't. But I wasn't the only one taking pictures, just the only one taking them of the wine bottles and the food.

A Visit From Jim

The Mysterious Chinese Woman invited a friend of hers to stop by for lunch after they had been to the Brooklyn Botanical Guardian making Christmas centerpieces. They both do volunteer work there, usually conducting tours for school-groups. Today was just a fun day. But I was on the hook for making lunch. I did a meatloaf using a recipe from Good Eats, fried potatoes tossed with lemon and rosemary, and boiled baby carrots (hey, everything can't be spectacular). My brother-in-law Jim must have sensed something because he showed up just as the meatloaf came out.

My Half-Eaten Meatloaf's Good Side


After lunch my wife and her friend wanted to watch some movie she got from Netflix that I had already seen so Jim and I decided to go out for a beer. He had never been to Downtown Bar & Grill so I took him there. They still had all of the beers from their beer tasting available so I had the Midas Touch again. Then we noticed a set of new glasses in wooden stands, kind of like a mini yard of ale. They were promotional glasses for Kwak.

Kwak Tap


The full name of this beer is Pauwel Kwak and it is brewed by Brouwerij Bosteels in Belgium. It is a Belgium Strong Ale and weighs in at 8% alcohol. The color is a nice golden orange with a good sized head. Has a spicy nose and the taste is spicy as well. Jim thought it was quite hoppy but I didn't really notice that taste coming through.

Kwak In Its Glass And Stand


Of course there is a story behind this glass and it is similar to the story behind the yards of ale. Pauwel Kwak was a brewery and the owner of an inn back when Napoleon was still kicking around. The name of the inn was De Hoorn and it was a stop for mail coaches. The coachmen were not allowed to leave their coach and horses unattended so Mr. Kwak had special glasses blown that could be hung on the side of the coach. Well, we didn't have to worry about our coach and horses as we hoisted our Kwaks.

Jim And Barman Hoisting Our Kwaks


Now the one bad thing about these glasses is that you can only put them back into their stands. The round bottom doesn't allow you to set them down on the bar. I can imagine that after tossing back a few that is a mistake that will be made and mishaps will occur. At least they don't make you put down a huge deposit to use these glasses. Last time I was in Jekyl and Hyde's they made you put down a $50 deposit for the privilege of ordering a quite expensive yard of ale. Really not worth it, in my opinion.

Oh, the story about the yards of ale was that they were designed so that the ale could be handed up to the coachman without him needing to leave his perch.

Bottom Of The Stand


All in all it was a nice afternoon. The beer wasn't bad and had a funny name and a cool glass. It doesn't take much to amuse me. We stopped at the nearby Cody's for a beer and then popped into Queen where I had a couple of excellent Manhattan's made with Wild Turkey and Jim, who was still hungry after eating half of my meatloaf had a beer and a couple of grilled octopus tentacles. I should have taken a picture but, for some reason, forgot. Next time.