A Fresh Start, Kind Of

Sometimes you have to walk into a signpost to figure out where you are and where you are heading. Sometimes the idea is so simple you can only wonder about how you haven't put it all together before. Sometimes you have to wake up and have a bit of the hair of the dog to smell the breath of the dog upon you. Sometimes..., well, lets just leave it where it is.

Yesterday I decided to cook dinner, linguine in a clam sauce. I usually get this at Armando's, but I wanted to prepare it myself today. And also to give The Mysterious Chinese Woman a break from her kitchen duties. I also had vague memories of this dish prepared in a bit of a French style by the wife of a friend of mine when I spent a year toiling away in Hartford, Connecticut. Aside from clams and linguine, it also required a splash of Pernod. Bar Man, sadly, is partial to Pernod (and Ouzo). Well, to make a long story longer, during the cooking process much more Pernod went into me then into the dish I was preparing. And, by the way, it was delicious. Both the dish and the Pernod.

I prefer my Pernod in a small glass with a single ice cube.

Pernod My Way


Interestingly, I bought that glass for ten cents at a garage sale in International Falls, Minnesota. Even more interesting, it was donated by my friend Donna whose house I was staying at while on vacation. And I didn't even know it at the time. Well, I knew I was staying at her house, I didn't know it was her glass that I had bought. Life unfolds itself in mysterious ways.

Anyway, that was last night. This morning I woke up and felt the need for something other than coffee to get me going. Luckily, the Deli where I buy my morning paper has a nice selection of beers. I decided to buy a couple to freshen my palate and my outlook on the day. I chose, and for no particular reason, Samuel Adams Summer Ale.

As I sat staring at the tableau in front of me as I began to drink my morning beverage, a thought penetrated my somewhat fuzzy brain.

The Tableau


I will never go to another thousand bars in a year, have no intention of doing so. However, I most certainly will drink another thousand beers. In fact, on my way to buy the clams I stopped into one of my favorite local watering holes, Downtown Bar and Grill, and had a couple of mighty fine draft beers. One was Hennepin Saison Ale and the other, well, I don't really remember. And that is the shame. Not really being on a trek I had failed to take my camera or my note pad. And, quite frankly, I hadn't really thought about writing about what I had to drink. I don't write too often about places that I have already written about.

And then the Eureka moment. My new focus for this blog will be to write about the different beers and other drinks that I imbibe. Although I mention them peripherally in my posts, it has been more of an aside. I shall now dedicate myself and this blog to trying a wide variety of beers and drinks and writing about them.

Sure, I am covering ground that has been covered by others before, but I will do my best to provide you with the unique insights that only the Bar Man, sometimes half-in-the-bag, can bring you. And I will do my best to capture the circumstances under which the drinks were consumed. That is half the fun anyway. A Pabst Blue Ribbon consumed in the confines on one's home is a totally different experience than chugging it down with friends after a rousing game of dominoes, for example. Even it it is that Mexican Train version of dominoes that hardly anyone in my neighborhood plays. Real dominoes is serious business involving serious money with weapons within easy reach.

Serious Dominoes


Let me know what you think of this idea. The Mysterious Chinese Woman has already voiced her opinion, but it has been ignored.

By the way, I will have no comments on this morning's indulgence. I wasn't prepared and don't think I could give Samuel Adams Summer Ale a fair shake. It tasted a bit funky to me and I suspect that was due to the fur on my tongue because Samuel Adams usually turns out some pretty good stuff.

I feel like a newborn child about to embark upon his...

Who Knows

A Night Out With Friends

A couple of friends of mine, Frank and Kathy, came all the way to Brooklyn from Manhattan to have a few drinks and dinner. I don't know why I have no problem getting to Manhattan from here, but people seem to think if is difficult to get to Brooklyn from there. Only about half a dozen or more subway lines converge within walking distance of where I live. Hell, even the LIRR has a terminal within walking distance.

But, I digress. Maybe nobody in Manhattan really likes me that much.

We met up at O'Keefe's, a bar about two blocks from me and about two blocks from the subway.

O'Keefe's


I have written about this place before. It is convenient, opens early, and charges a reasonable price for their beer. It used to be a much seedier place when I first started going there, but then Downtown Brooklyn used to be a lot seedier too. The place still has its moments, but has a big contingency of Brooklyn Law School students on weekend nights. During the day it is a mixed crew of dedicated drinkers. It is a good place to pop into for a few.

I had a difficult time convincing the bartender to let me take her picture and then, after she finally consented, I managed to misplace her name.

Bashful (and anonymous) Bartender


I ordered up a beer, a Brooklyn IPA I think, but I wasn't taking notes and was mostly chatting with my friends.

Bar Man Beer and Frank


My friend Kathy and The Mysterious Chinese Woman preferred wine to beer.

Kathy and Mysterious Chinese Woman


We were going to take a bit of a walk around the neighborhood and then pick a restaurant to get dinner. I suggested we head up Smith Street to see what we could see.

We didn't get far before we came to Trout. Now this place has been around for awhile and is part of a bar complex that also includes Gravy and Pacifico. Somehow they are also all connected to the pizzaria next door to Gravy. They kind of occupy the whole extended corner of Smith and Pacific. All are kind of funky in a bit of a contrived way (except for the pizzaria, which is genuinely funky) but for some reason I have never been into Trout before. I figured this was as good a time as any to pop in.

Trout and The Crowd


It is designed to kind of have a fishing shack look to it and I guess it pulls it off if your fishing shack also doubles as a junk yard. Not a bad look.

Fishing Shack/Junk Yard Funk


The Mysterious Chinese Woman said it looked a bit like my apartment. I pointed out that in my apartment I had glasses made out of glass.

Bar Man, Beer, and Plastic


I think I had a Brooklyn Lager this time around. The place was okay, but I don't like to drink my beers out of plastic unless it is a necessity. It shouldn't be a necessity in a bar. I might give it one more shot to try out the food. I have eaten at Pacifico and the food was decent and the portions huge. I did have one bad experience there, however. It was on Cinco de Mayo, 2006 and you could check out the cause of my dissatisfaction if you are interested. Anyway, I bring this up because I ended eating at Bar Tabac that day. And that is where we went to eat tonight as well.

I have written about Bar Tabac numerous times so I won't go into it here. Suffice it to say that everyone enjoyed their meals. My hanger steak was great and of course the mussels that we shared were delicious, as always. I still maintain they are the best I have ever had in a restaurant.

No pictures though, everyone said they had had enough and we were to just sit down and have a dinner like normal people. I was flattered that they thought we could.

Beer Glass Testing

Some of you may know, by now, that my brother-in-law Jim is not exactly an innocent bystander in my traipse through degradation. Here is my first post upon the start of this downward spiral"

Saturday, January 01, 2005
The First Small Steps

Well today was the start of my 1,000 bar epic. It was a bit touch and go as to whether or not I would get off to any kind of a start today. Last night my wife and I went over to my mother-in-law's house for New Years Eve and spent the night. A sister-in-law and my brother-in-law were also there. Today two more sister-in-laws showed up along with another brother-in-law and three young neices. Prospects were bleak until late in the afternoon when we decided to make coffee to go with desert and realized we were out of milk. My brother-in-law, aware of my quest, suggested that we go out to buy some. On our trip we managed to stop at three bars in New Rochelle, New York.

Well, without even having the opportunity to take a nap, who shows up but the usually late, but this time early, Jim.

Hello, Am I Early


So, here we are. I have a refrigerator full of beer and Samuel Adams has sent me two of their newly designed glasses. Hmm, this is a tough call.

Free Glasses


Jim and I were not about to just dive into the hype of the new glasses. We had to test these glasses against our usual glassware.

Belgian Ale Glass


Stolen Beer Mug


But we soon got down to the serious tasting.

Quaffing With A Purpose


Having tried out the old style glasses we then tried the new and improved Sam Adams vehicles for beer delivery system.

Not Just Your Grandfather's Mug


They give you about half a dozen reasons why this mug is superior. Some of which are just poppycock. For example, they extol the "innovative" lip whereby the lip on the inside of the rim creates turbulence that releases the flavor and aroma as the beer enters the mouth. Well, all of my beer glasses have this, and I think it is just a by-product of how glasses are made.

The top-most rounded shape is supposed to collect the aroma of the beer, and this I tend to believe. But then, this is nothing new.

One of their claims, that the thinner walls and rounded shape maintains proper beer temperature longer is simply balderdash. How can less insulation maintain temperature better. Every beer delivery system that I owned seemed to keep the beer colder then these glasses. They get a failing grade on this one. Thinner glass means your beer gets warmer faster.

But, who lets beer sit around long enough to get warm anyway. They were kind of cool looking, and they were free.

Beer drinking always get a bit competitive at times. Please note the redness of my face has to do with my day in the sun at the Yankees game, not my straining to beat Jim at our arm-wrestling drinking competition.

And The Objective Is?


After an evening of testing we decided, we decided...Hell, I have no idea what we decided.

The Aftermath


The poor beleaguered Mysterious Chinese Woman moved through ashamed and abashed to downright horrified.

The Horror, The Horror


By the way, my brother-in-law Jim is an accomplished artist. Here is a piece of his that I have hanging on my wall.

A Piece Of Work


A very talented fellow who sets up stages and installs sound and lighting systems and got stoned just walking into Willie Nelson's bus to get his roadies to help with the heavy lifting. He brought me back a guitar pick when what I really wanted was a spittle coated roach right from Willie's lips. Ah, but I love him anyway. However, if he ever does any work for a Snoop Dogg concert...

Yankees Football

Today was a great New York summer day. Sunny but not too hot with relatively low humidity. And the subway just two blocks from where I live was actually running this Sunday. This was good, because in about half an hour it can whisk me to Yankee Stadium. My good friend Allen gave me tickets to meet him and a bunch of his buddies so up to the Bronx I went.

I always allow myself plenty of time to have a relatively decently priced beer before the game and, in my opinion, this is the place to get it.

Yankee Tavern


Of course they can't serve alcohol before noon, this being a Sunday. Who would think that in a city like New York they still have such archaic blue laws. Not too long ago they changed the law so you can at least buy beer in stores before noon on Sundays. Note, in New York you buy beer in grocery stores, not in liquor stores. I guess after about a dozen years someone figured out that everyone going to a Giants or Jets game on Sunday drove over to New Jersey to pick up their tailgating supplies. This, obviously, hit New York's pockets.

But, shortly after a meatball hero, noon arrived and I had a Sam Adams Summer Ale.

Bar Man, Noon, and Summer


Only time for one quick beer because the game started at 1:05 PM and getting to our seats wasn't any walk in the ball park.

For starters, we were in section 33. One might think that would be between sections 34 and 32. You would have thought wrong. Sections run from 34 to 2, even numbers and then from 1 to 35 odd numbers. I went into the section 34 - 32 entrance and then got to walk all the way around the tier level to section 33. But, on the way, I got a postcard perfect picture of the construction in progress of the new retro-stadium being built across the street.

Postcard Perfect


Now, finding our section was problematic, but finding our seats was downright bizarre. You would think if your ticket said Row E you would go to Row E and then find your seat. Well, following the entirely logical numbering scheme of the sections, you find that there are two Row Es. So, seeing the first row with Seat 1 on the aisle, we moved on down to find our Seats, 24 and 25. Hah, you get to Seat 12 or something and run into a railing. The seat directly above Seat 12 is Seat 13 on the second Row E. Our seats were back on the aisle one row back from the first Row E. I guess this provides work for ushers because there was mass confusion up through the third inning by which time everyone finally found their seats. New Yorkers pride themselves on their sophistication, but I bet people in Kansas City don't take this long to park their butts in a seat at a ballpark.

But, I digress. Our seats were really good.

Good Seats


And here I am enjoying a freaking $10 Heineken. I switched to the more modestly priced $8 Bud-Lites after this one though, but I still tipped the guy $2 for each beer.

$10 Beer, Outrageous


Well, if you are going to go to but one Yankees game a year, which is about my limit, this was as good a one as any. I am originally from Minnesota so, although I have switched my allegiance from the Vikings to the Jets, if you grow up hating the Yankees, you will always hate the Yankees.

Ah, I digressed again. This was one hell of a game. The fourth inning lasted longer than many games I have gone to.

21 to 4


But, everyone was a good sport about it.

No Butt Touching Though


There wasn't much of a crowd by the time the game ended (a comeback by Tampa Bay to push it into extra innings would have been exciting). Still, I used the old excuse of letting it thin out a bit before catching the subway home to pop in for one for the road.

I was going to head in here, but it was just too crowded and too loud.

Stan's, But Not For Bar Man


Instead I went to my favorite combination bar, bowling alley, and souvenir shop in the world.

Simply The Best


Oh, I forgot the part about the Cocktail Lounge. A stretch if ever I saw one.

Cocktails and Gowns (not).


Only the highest caliber Cocktail Lounge can ignore the protocols and serve their Tanqueray and Tonic in a plastic glass.

The Plastic Adds A Certain, Essence.


While I was having my drink, a guy asked me if I knew of any decent bars in the area. Hah, little did he know who he was talking to. I told him a bit of what I knew and gave him my card.

My Card



And little did I know, he had been on my website that very morning and knew who I was after he saw my card. He and his buddy and wife were here for a beach volleyball tournament out on Long Beach on Long Island. I have a friend who lives out there and we chatted a bit about bars in that area. They live in Venice Beach, California. Dennis Hopper lives there and I am a big fan of his (almost as good an actor as Steve Buscemi, and both of whom could play me in the movie of my life). Anyway, we exchanged embraces and vowed to keep in touch.

Christine, Sergio, and Denny


After finishing my drink I toddled off to the Subway for what I hoped would be a quick nap before my brother-in-law Jim showed up. No such luck. For once in his life he was early. However, you will have to wait for my next post to see what mischief we got into.

But, just to give you a teaser, here is how the normally placid Mysterious Chinese Woman reacted, ashamed and abashed. I, of course, took the moral high ground and blamed everything on her brother.

Ashamed


Abashed

Guillotine - A Correction

In yesterday's post I indicated that Joseph Ignace Guillotin invented the guillotine and subsequently was himself executed by one. As a fan of mine, Russell McBride, let me know, Bar Man was wrong on both accounts.

Joseph Ignace Guillotin did not invent the guillotine, though his name has forever been associated with the machine. Dr Guillotin did propose the use of a mechanical device to carry out the death penalty.

He did not die on the guillotine, he died from a carbuncle on his shoulder.

That is it, no more posting the historical equivalent of an urban legend. From now on I check my facts.

Belated Bastille Day

Well, today I tried again and met with some success. It wasn't exactly like the street fairs of yore, only two blocks were closed down and most of those were set up for the pentaque courts and, of course, a small guillotine. Pity poor Joseph-Ignace Guillotine who lost his own head on the device he designed.

The Courts and the Justice System


The action started right outside one of my favorite restaurants in the neighborhood, Bar Tabac. The closest you will come to an authentic French bistro right here in Brooklyn.

Bar Tabac


As you can see, I really was here for their Bastille Day celebration, 2007.

The Proof (isn't he a member of U2?)


I tucked into a typical French bistro meal of mussels, snails, and French fries (served with both catsup or ketchup and mayonnaise. Delicious, and delivered with a nice bread to sop up the sauce from the mussels.

Bar Man Tucking In


I had a Grimbergen draft which, unfortunately, came in a plastic glass. I guess that is because of the street fair. One good thing about Rudy going bye bye is that they are a lot more lenient about letting you drink at street fairs. I have nothing bad to say about Rudy; for an anal retentive, morally ambiguous (do as I say, not as I do, thrice married and adulterous) control freak he would make a good president. Ah, and he is really good at picking his close associates. I think it would have been cool to have Bernie Keric as our Secretary of Homeland Security.

But, I digress. Grimbergen is a Belgian beer that was first brewed in 1128 at the abbey that Saint Norbert of Xanten built for the Norbertine monks in Grimbergen. The beers are now brewed by Alken Maes brewery group. Not a bad beer at all. Dark and hearty.

I also had a beer outside just to celebrate my freedom to do so.

Ah, Free To Swill


I headed up the street a bit and outside of Boca Coca, a nice Peruvian restaurant and bar, they had a food stand. It looked and smelled great. And most certainly not your ordinary street food fare.

Peruvian Street Food


What caught my eye was the smoker. It was made out of an old oil drum and Martin, the fellow manning it, brought it over from Peru. He said he was cooking ribs and they would be ready in about an hour or so. He assured me that he would save some for me.

Martin Manning His Smoker


I figured I would head down to Angry Wade's for a pint or two while I waited and passed this place on the way.

A Trap


I would have passed this store by but for a Betty Boop lunch box with an alarm clock and a wristwatch inside. Pockets lighter by $24.99 I walked out with my prize.

Soon I was at Angry Wade's where I could get a reasonably priced beer. Even though I have numerous free drinks coming to me due to my wager with Wade that I could indeed have a drink in 1000 bars in a a year, I wasn't about to waste any when it was Happy Day and beers were only $2.50

Angry Wade's


I had a couple of beers, a Samuel Adams Summer Ale and a Blue Point Toasted Lager and admired my recent purchase.

Bar Man and Betty


Don't ask about the fan, but think Mysterious Chinese Woman, only $2.99, it's hot...well, you get the picture.

So, after about an hour I headed back eager to get the ribs that Martin was going to save for me. Well, guess what? Martin was nowhere to be found and this was all that was left of the ribs.

My Ribs


There were a couple of scraps left and I took those just to get a taste. They weren't bad, nice and crispy on the outside and still juicy. It would have been nice to actually have had a whole serving though. I shall return to Boca Coca and hunt Martin down and make him answer for this.

I stopped back at Brazen Head of a Chelsea Rye Stout to drown my grief over the missed ribs (and had a free bagel with salmon cream cheese and onions) and then headed on home.

All and all it was a most enjoyable day.

Bastille Day, Bah!!

Well, today is Bastille Day, or at least its anniversary. And all of the papers seemed to think that it was going to be celebrated today in my neighborhood. Well, all of the papers got it wrong. The streets were crowded, but with cars, not pentague courts. There were signs saying that the streets would be closed on Sunday though, and there was a sign inside Bar Tabac saying that the pentaque tournament would be Sunday as well. Oh well, what can you do. I live close-by so I will head back.

Luckily, I stopped into Brazen Head on my way to the street fair so my disappointment was mitigated a bit by a few beers under my belt.

Brazen Head


It was a bit of luck that got me to pop in here today. The bartender, Vicki, doesn't usually work on Saturday so meeting her was a stroke of good fortune. She was most entertaining and we had a lovely chat as I sampled some beers.

Vicki Pulling An Ale


Brazen Head usually have a couple of cask conditioned ales on hand and I always like to try them. You may remember my write-up on one of their recent Cask Ale Festivals. They usually have three or four of them every year.

The beer Vicki was pulling was a Cricket Hill Belgian Summer Ale. Well, that is what the sign on the cask said. It is actually Cricket Hill Jersey Summer Belgian Ale. But why quibble. Cricket Hill is, as you might imagine, located in New Jersey. Fairfield, to be precise. I had never heard of it until today though.

The Jersey Summer Belgian Ale is quite nice. Not as heavy as a lot of cask conditioned ales, but a lot heavier than most summer ales. It didn't have much of a head and reminded me a bit of some of my attempts to make a home brew. It had a nice malty taste to it, but not over-powering. It was nicely drinkable and at 5.5% alcohol isn't exactly a session beer, but won't put you on your back either.

They also had a cask conditioned ale labeled Butternut Stout. I am not sure who makes this or if it was properly labeled. I just has a small taste of this and I didn't particularly care for it. It tasted a bit sour to me although Vicki said the cask had just been tapped. Well, some people like a bit of sourness to their beer. I don't mind it in some Belgian ales, but it just didn't seem to go with this one.

Vicki and Bar Man Sampling Beers


I also had a Red Seal Pale Ale that I found to be quite pleasant. Red Seal is brewed by the North Coast Brewing Company located in Fort Bragg, California. This was a good quaffing beer, no overpowering flavors to it, but quite pleasant. Another 5.5% beer so you do get a bit of bang for your buck.

Vicki said her favorite beer on tap was the Chelsea Irish Rye Stout. She gave me a taste and it was so good that I ordered up a whole pint. This is brewed by the Chelsea Brewing Company located right in downtown Manhattan. This brewery, much like Brooklyn Brewery, turns out a lot of good beers and seldom turns out a clunker. I like to visit their pub and restaurant located right nest to the brewery too. It is right on the Hudson River and you can easily forget you are in one of the busiest cities in the world.

But, I digress. The Irish Rye Stout was fantastic. Light for a stout but with dynamite flavor. It poured dark and had a nice light toffee colored head to it. You definitely got hints of coffee flavor too, as well as chocolate. You also get a hint of a kind of spice and rye at the back of the throat, kind of like an afterthought. At a hefty 7.5% this goes down way too easily. Vicki said that although she really liked it she could probably only drink one. Bar Man is not so sure about himself. It is a dry stout so it doesn't have that cloying sweetness common to most. I could easily sit on the deck, if I had a deck, grilling hamburgers or something and drinking this all afternoon.

This sign caught my eye on the way out. I am not sure if those who are in Jeanne Palfrey's little black book would agree though.

Happy Hooker


Well, you can probably understand why I wasn't all bent out of shape by there not being a Bastille Day Street Fair today. Now I have something to look forward to tomorrow. I had planned to grab a bite to eat though, so I headed to the Waterfront Ale House where I had a nice crispy red snapper salad and a bottle of Brooklyn Brewery's Local 1. I have written about this beer before, but let me say again, it is a great Belgian style ale brewed right in the heart of Brooklyn.

Bar Man and Local 1


Tomorrow I shall try to Bastille Day Street Fair again so stay tuned. No stopping off on the way either. Maybe I will cash in one of my free drink chips at Angry Wade's and then stop into Bar Tabac for mussels. Yesterday Bar Tabac was packed though, so I suppose it will be even more crowded today.