Better Late Than Never: My Thoughts on This Year's Iron Fork Event

Ok, so Iron Fork took place a little less than a week ago and I attended with good friends Paula, David, and their buddy Mike.  As Paula would say, the event is our "Fork-iversary".  I met Paula and David at the inaugural Iron Fork event in 2008 and we have been good friends ever since.  Awww...

I thought the Iron Fork event last year was fantastic and a HUGE improvement on the failure that was the 2008 event.  Unfortunately, the 2010 Iron Fork did not measure up to its predecessor.  In my opinion, it sucked.

The event this year was held at a different site which had me skeptical already.  I thought a huge reason for the success of the 2009 event was the location at the Bank of America building downtown.  It allowed plenty of room, easy access to tables, and even an outdoor area with great views of the city.  For 2010, the event was held at Grand Central, a club space that occupies an old rail terminal (or so the story goes) in a gritty section of downtown.  The venue was much smaller than the BoA building and everything felt crammed.  They did have a tented area outdoors with booths and music but the music was way too loud and you had to yell to have a conversation. 

We got there early with passes that let us in at 6pm, an hour before the main crowd was let in.  We met up with our good friend Chef John Critchley, Executive Chef at Area 31 who was defending his title as Iron Fork Champion against Jose Luis Flores, Sous Chef for De Rodriguez Cuba.  Chef Critchley joined us as we picked up a few beers and inspected the tables for some good eats.  Unfortunately, there weren't many to be found.  The only standouts for me were a mango barbecued pork offered by Chef Allen's, a tuna tartar by Gibraltar, and a short rib offered by The Grill on the Alley.  Whisk Gourmet also did a great pulled pork w/ southern slaw and cornbread and laughed when I called them out for repeating last year's dish.  Hey, if it works, it works.  Most other offerings were pretty weak.  If you wanted sushi you had about 8 freakin options.  Cupcakes?  About 5 or 6 options (at least it seemed like that many).  Indoors got crazy crowded once the majority of the rumored 1200 attendees arrived.  It was impossible to get to certain areas at that point.  The outdoor tent was basically all bar food - wings, sandwiches, and an inferior frita from El Rey de las Fritas.  Let me repeat, when it comes to fritas - El Mago es El Rey!!

It was hot as hell inside the venue too.  Some sushi restaurant passed out little fans that some appreciated.  I stayed cool with Famosa beer until they ran out at about 8:30pm, a mere 1.5 hours after the main crowd arrived.  I guess bribing the beer girl for whole bottles rather than little cups paid off in the short term but cut the supply short in the long run.  Oh well, just an excuse to have the smokin' hot chicks from Bombay Sapphire saunter over with some refreshments, one of the few highlights of the night.

The battle for the title of Iron Fork Champ finally got underway and was interesting.  Chef Allen was a pretty good MC and Chef Critchley even busted out some liquid nitrogen for a dish but the panel unfortunately chose Chef Flores as champ.  Kudos to Chef Flores.  Both chefs produced dishes that sounded very tasty.  Honestly, I would've been surprised if they picked Chef Critchley as champ two years in a row.  Just doesn't seem like they would want the same dude winning year after year.  Either way, it looked like the chefs had fun competing and both put on a good show for the crowd.

We bailed on the event after the competition.  Honestly, had it not been that my friend was competing on stage I'd have exited at 7pm, a mere hour after arriving.  There just wasn't much to see, taste, or learn about and the offerings were very weak.  Hopefully the 2011 Iron Fork is a much better event. 

On the Road: Lobsters, Steamers & Bourbon, Oh My! - Beach Blast 2010 - Long Beach, Rockport, MA

Wow, you know you've lost some focus when you get called out for not updating your blog.  That's exactly what my Dad did a few days ago.  "What's up with Blind Tastes?  I can tell you must be focused on something if you haven't posted about the lobsters yet!", he said.  He was right.  Time to refocus!

 View as the tide heads out on Long Beach, Rockport, MA

Every summer for the past I-don't-know-how-many years my folks have rented a beach house in Rockport, MA on Long Beach.  Well, they actually started on Pebble Beach and eventually scored a spot next to our best family friends, the Flynn's.  Heck, I consider the Flynn's part of our family.  That's how many great times we've had together over the years.  I've been going to Long Beach since I was a wee lad and, for me, it's the best beach in the world.  Sure, there are no palm trees, no exotic drinks, no scantily clad women (besides the one we saw walking the beach whom Dad and I agreed should never wear a two-piece again), and no blue-green warm water seething with sea life.  Nope, just a long arching beach with soft sand and chilled waters backed by an elevated boardwalk overlooking it all.  I'm not sure whether it's the sand, decent surf, or all of the great family memories that make this beach my favorite of all.  It certainly isn't the cold water, that's for damn sure!  Talk about shrinkage!  Maybe it's the good beach folk, falling asleep in the bed on the front porch, or the fact that the beach quadruples in size at low tide, providing ample room for whiffle ball, bocce, and all sorts of fun.  Wait a minute, who am I kidding?  It's the beers, bourbon, lobsters and steamers!

Can't beat sleeping on the porch bed listening to the waves come crashing in

This year the annual lobster beach blast was extra special.  It was Dad's 60th and Mum had conspired for a surprise party and invited friends to "roast" Dad.  This was great for two reasons.  The first was because it guaranteed we would have a great turnout and an even better time.  The second was pure selfishness for me.  You see, I've been grooming Dad into a bourbon connoisseur for a few years now - a trip to Kentucky for distillery tours, a subscription to The Bourbon Review, alerting him when I find a new bourbon, etc - and I knew that he had passed on enough education to his buddies for there to be some nice bourbon gifts as a result.  These gifts would have to be shared, of course.  Poor me!  Wow, some of my favorites just happened to pop up - Eagle Rare, Wathen's, Pappy Van Winkle 23yr(!!), and the new Makers 46.  Dad's only mistake was leaving the Makers 46 out on the table and not tucked away inside.  It was gonzo within a few hours!

Big Ol' Bucket O' Bugs!

Dad's been sourcing our lobsters from Ken Porter at Roy Moore Lobster Co. in Rockport for years.  This year we ended up with over 50 two pounders and about 18 pounds of steamers which were both a few more than we ordered without the charge for the overage.  Great customer service, pricing, and flavor of the lobsters from Roy Moore's ensure repeat business each and every year.  It also explains why they move over 100,000 pounds of ocean-fresh lobster each year (probably more since this was written in 2004 - a good read for more info on Roy Moore Lobster Co.).  I must admit that this year's lobsters were the best I can ever remember them being.  I started my methodical destruction of lobster with my favorite part, the claws, before working my way to the tail, a few legs, a few fins, and even a little lobster roe.  The sweet meat dipped in butter tasted better and better with each bite.  I was more than willing to polish off my cousin Sarah's claws too when she couldn't handle more than the tail.  I still think it's funny when people in Miami try to tell me that spiny lobster found in Florida waters with no claws is better than New England lobster.  That's just plain crazy talk.

Lobstah, lobstah bib, lobstah shirt! ~ Photo by cousin Ben Hodson

The steamers this year weren't up to par with years past.  Their bellies were sandy and smaller than usual and kept coming separated from the rest of the clam, making a mess.  No matter, lobsters and steamers are a dirty sport best enjoyed on a picnic bench with good friends and family.  As usual, we had a few leftover lobsters that were chilled and then shelled the following morning by Dad who didn't leave much left in the shell.  That promptly turned into a nice batch of lobster rolls that my Mum put together with butter-toasted flat-bottom buns, a minimal amount of mayo, and a touch of lemon juice to perk up the flavors.  I like to add some dill flake onto mine too and managed to take down two of these bad boys shown below before leaving for the airport.  Dad's suggestion to take one on the plane was considered but ultimately rejected because I knew I'd have inhaled that roll in the car.

Lobster leftovers = lobster rolls for lunch!

It was another awesome year at our annual Beach Blast, packed with a lot of flavor.  This truly is my favorite vacation every year because I get to fully relax and just spend time with family and friends without a care in the world.  I'm already looking forward to next year!

Navigating the Atlantic on my friend Ryan's SUP ~ photo by cousin Ben Hodson

 

 Sunrise on Long Beach, Rockport, MA - July 2007

On the Road: New Orleans, LA - JazzFest

This will be the first of many sequential posts in the "On the Road" category.  Why?  Perhaps because I just completed an 18-day road trip that began in San Jose and ended in N'Awlins.  I may try to fit in a few local Miami posts in between but as of right now I plan to cover NOLA, Seattle, and Portland.  There were also stops in Vegas and San Diego but I didn't really have any meals worth relaying in those places (Julian Serrano at the new City Center in Vegas was a disappointment.  Sushi Ota in San Diego was crazy good as usual but I played it basic.  Their omakase is a must do if in San Diego.  Cowboy Star in San Diego was decent for me but a total bust for my dining companions who let the manager know areas where the restaurant could improve itself, starting with cuts of beef that should never have hit the grill.  Ouch.)

Ok, enough with the babbling and onwards to NOLA and JazzFest!

This was my first trip to New Orleans.  As a matter of fact, it was my first trip to Louisiana which was awesome in its' own right since I could cross LA off of my lists of states not traveled (only 8 left including AK and HI!!).  I had flew out of San Diego on Thursday, landed in Miami Friday morning, did some much needed underwear laundry, and then headed to Ft. Lauderdale to catch and air chariot to NOLA.  I arrived around 6pm that Friday night and was picked up by a member of the bachelor party in a big white van that already had a weekend acoustic guitar purchased and ready to be rocked.  After meeting up with the rest of the group, we headed over to some hotel that I forget the name of to get the night started.  The best part about this group was that it contained some college buddies that I hadn't seen since ten or eleven years ago while "studying" at UMass in Amherst, Massachusetts.  Turns out one of the guys was playing in a band named Hi8us and touring across the country and, as luck would have it, was playing at the hotel that I forget the name of (we'll refer to it as the Forgotten Hotel from now on) that very night.

We showed up and the band was already rockin'.  Thirsty from a long day of travel, I searched out a frosty beverage that the locals call "beer".  Our luck streak continued - the hotel apparently does a crawfish boil on this particular night offering FREE crawfish, fried chicken, new potatoes, salad, bread, and all the beer you can pound until it runs out and someone has to go to the store to refill the cooler.  Talk about awesome!  When there is free beer and crawfish to be had, I check my shyness at the door and dive right in!  This was my leadoff plate...

Crappy iPhone pic of my 1st plate of crawfish, mid-domination

I mowed through this first plate, putting on a clinic of crackin' tails and suckin' crawfish heads for the rookies in attendance.  These bugs were meaty as hell with a spiciness that started out mild and then got fiery the more you sucked 'em down.  I gotta give props to the rookies who attacked the heads without reservation and became quick fans.  They probably would give props to the beers for the boost of liquid courage.  After another mini plate of crawfish and some fried chicken that was serviceable, I had enough base in my belly to feel confident about bar hopping all night long.  So, we bid adieu to our band buddies and the Forgotten Hotel and headed to Frenchman Street to check out some local jazz troupes before heading to Tipitina's to catch one of my favorite bands - the Greyboy Allstars.

 

 Frontman Karl Denson sax solo backed by the Greyboy Allstars @ Tipitina's

The Allstars put on a kickass show and the night kept moving along to a steady beat.  We bounced from venue to venue, taking in more music and having a great time.  Me and the groom-to-be found ourselves in a taxicab around 6:30am with bellies that needed sustenance.  I believe my words to the cabbie sounded something like, "Hey man, where can we get a po' boy right now?"  The next thing I knew, we were in front of The Trolley Stop Cafe.

Leaving The Trolley Stop Cafe @ 7:30am after annihilating a killer oyster po' boy

Granted, I was weathered, weary, and tired but this was an awesome oyster po' boy.  Just enough dressings to freshen up the flavors of the fried oysters themselves.  Yum, yum, yum.  I even contemplated taking one for the road and leaving it by my bed just in case I had a bout of sleepeating.

After about 4 hours of sleep I was up and at 'em again.  My roommate for the weekend and I both needed some fuel to get going.  I had sadly slept through the text inviting me to Elizabeth's in Bywater where they serve praline bacon so I figured, "why not another po' boy?"  We walked from the hotel towards Canal Street and happened upon The Pearl Restaurant & Oyster Bar which I had heard about previously from a friend and figured they probably made a decent po' boy.  The sweet woman at the counter filled us up on iced tea (unsweetened for me) and delivered a couple of shrimp po' boys to go.  After a quick stop at Meyer the Hatter, the South's Largest Hat Shop that sadly ended without a new headwear purchase, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with the rest of the gang at the van to head to Jazzfest.  Unable to contain myself, I devoured half of my shrimp po' boy on the walk back and finished her off in the van.  This po' boy was just OK and didn't have much in the way of dressing (tomatoes, lettuce, mayo).

 Galactic jams for the masses behind some dude's giant head

We got to the fairgrounds, grabbed a few beers, and headed to the main stages.  We caught the end of the Band of Horses set and then headed over to the big stage where Galactic, another one of my favorites, was playing.  Pearl Jam was set to play on this same stage later so we traversed through the masses and finally found a spot to setup camp for the rest of the afternoon.  There were thousands upon thousands of people at the fairgrounds and tons of vendors with good eats.  It wasn't long before I suggested a crawfish pie to the bachelor and he went and scored us a few.  After that it was strictly a liquid diet of Miller Lite while we watched Galactic jam.  Irma Thomas came out and belted out a tune with the boys.  She is featured on their latest release, Ya-Ka-May.

Yat Ca Mein - sobering revival

Speaking of Ya Ka May...  I was hungry and spotted a sign for "yat ca mein" and had to give it a shot.  I first sampled yat ca mein (yakamein, jakamein, yat ka mein) at Cobaya Gras back in March when Chef K, Chef Chad, and Chef Mike put their spin on it and I was eager to check out the traditional version while in N'Awlins.  Yat ca mein is basically spaghetti noodles in a beef broth with beef, scallions, and 1/2 a hard boiled egg floating around (I had already scarfed up the egg in the above pic).  The best description I've found is on my buddy Chef Chad's blog, Chadzilla, so click the link and get yourself some free knowledge.  The version at the fairgrounds was nice and spicy, reviving me from lack of sleep and many beers on a muggy day.  I was ready to go for a few more hours now and headed back to the group to catch Pearl Jam who put on a kickass show.

We left the fairgrounds and headed to a sports bar to watch game one of the Celtics/Cavs series.  What's for dinner?  Another po' boy of course!  My third po' boy of the day came in the form of a crawfish po' boy with ample dressings.  This po' boy was better than the shrimp one I had from Pearl but not as good as the oyster one from the Trolley Stop.  After watching the C's blow a nice lead and the game, most of the guys went back to the hotel to nap.  Knowing that would be the death of me for the night, I powered on with the Best Man and stayed to watch the Mosley/Mayweather fight.  The fight was a real snoozer after the first couple of rounds, so much so that we left with a few rounds to go because it had "judges decision" written all over it and we were to catch another killer jazz band, Soulive, at the Blue Nile on Frenchman.  After Soulive jammed a drum circle broke out and a few local horns players came in and added their touch to the music.  It was, in an obvious word, awesome.  So awesome, in fact, that once again I found myself in a cab at 6:30am headed to the hotel, doing my darnedest to avoid another po' boy attack.

Sunday morning we woke up and a few of us planned to hit up Commander's Palace for their jazz brunch.  CP's is a classy joint and requires a collared shirt and/or blazer to be worn while dining.  I had the requisite collared shirt but I still felt underdressed as most of the locals who were dining there did so in their Sunday best.  Next time I visit, I'ma do it with the proper duds.  I ordered a mint julep and looked at the menu where my eyes immediately focused on the words, "Eggs Cochon de Lait", and it's description, "Smoky braised pork debris over black pepper and rosemary biscuits with soft poached eggs, winter mushrooms and bourbon-bacon fat hollandaise".  Just typing that gave me a heart attack.  Anything that combines the words pork, eggs, mushrooms, bourbon, and bacon has got to be good.  An appetizer came with the entree so I went with the Turtle Soup which was rumored to be a house specialty.  For the also-included dessert, I went for the Creole Bread Pudding Souffle, aka the "Queen of all Desserts".  A few Bourbon Smash's later, our meal arrived.

Eggs Cochon de Lait @ Commander's Palace

It's fitting that this was the best picture I took with my trusty iPhone on this trip because it was the best damn thing I ate on this trip.  The pork was tender and the eggs added their runny awesomeness to the pile.  The bourbon-bacon hollandaise?  I don't think that needs any commentary.  Just read those words again and if it doesn't sound completely, mind-numbingly, heart-stoppingly awesome you probably need to reconsider getting up in the morning.  This was a very rich dish and it left me reeling on the ropes, uncertain if I could even take a bite of the Queen of all Desserts when it arrived.  I found the will to continue though and found the Queen to be one helluva dessert.  The souffle was topped with a meringue that was browned nicely on the top, making the dish a little sweeter than I thought it would be.  I enjoyed it a lot but had to tap out halfway through.  The only thing that sucked about this whole meal was when I agreed to play "credit card roulette", knowing that I had 33% chance to lose and that 33% chance meant 100% with my gambling luck as of the past 2 years.  Oh well, it was a fantastic meal and I had a great time reliving the past few days while tapping my feet to the jazz trio who livened up the room with some classic New Orleans tunes.

We rode the trolley back to Canal Street, the rumbling of the street car on the rails and its' screeches and squeaks sounding off like a jazz band drum solo with a horn buzzing in.  My feet were still tapping.  In fact, I don't think there was a time over the whole weekend where my entire body wasn't moving to some sort of beat.  The heartbeat of New Orleans seemed to sweep me off my feet with soulful food and soulful music and that made for a perfect ending to a long road trip.

SBWFF - The Best of the Best

I am a pretty lucky guy when it comes to having kickass friends and this past week my luck peaked when I was offered a ticket to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival's Best of the Best event.  I was told that there was a ticket available for me right before I left for a NY-Boston business trip and I was beyond excited.  I'd never been to one of these big SBWFF events for the masses so I was eager to see what it was like.  I was so excited, in fact, that I left nothing to chance after 4 days of nasty rain and snow in the Northeast and elected to take a 6am flight back to Ft. Lauderdale to guarantee that I would be back for this event!

Rallying after two hours of sleep, I met up with my friends Paula and D and we headed over to the Fontainebleau.  After a sort of awkward "champagne reception" where a singer belted out both the French and US national anthems, the doors opened and the crowd moved into the main ballroom.  The first stop was the main table where each received a wine glass along with a little holster that allowed you to carry your wine around your neck so your hands were free to chow down.  This was key because most, if not all, eating was done standing up by the booths that served the food.  It was also extremely emasculating to be standing there with a wine glass necklace on.

We made our way to the back and, after a bite of braised shortrib with a creamy, parmesan-laden polenta, found ourselves staring at Miami Beach's own Andrea Curto-Randazzo of Talula plating up some meatball sliders with ricotta and "Sunday Sauce".  At first I was a little surprised that they went so simple with a slider.  After all, they were a local restaurant with a chance to impress and draw in customers.  The slider was a winner though, with the subtle coolness of the fresh ricotta and chiffonade of basil taming the warm ball of meat and sauce.  Apparently others thought it was a winner too as I saw many a guest walking around the ballroom with one in their hands.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of most of the dishes that we tried and even more surprised to see that many of the exhibiting restaurants were plating offal in the likes of trotters, livers, tongues, and even head cheese.  The crispy pig trotter from Fig in Charleston, SC was an early favorite of mine.  It was served in a paper cone with some microgreens and a beet mustard that had a beautiful fuchsia color to it and an even more beautiful flavor.  I trotted my way back to that booth for seconds.  A dish I found surprisingly good was the kimchi stew with bbq Korean kogi and tofu from Chicago's Urbanbelly.  The stew was piping hot and loaded with flavor from the kimchi and bbq kogi.  Another favorite of mine came from another Chicago restaurant.  Charlie Trotter's booth served a 72hr braised oxtail ravioli with umeboshi, curried squash, and shaved bonito.  Delicious!

Charlie Trotter's 72hr braised oxtail ravioli with umeboshi, curried squash, and shaved bonito - photo by Paula of Mango & Lime

 Morimoto's Pork Belly w/ congee - photo by Paula of Mango & Lime

We eventually made the decision to attempt to get a dish from Masaharu Morimoto's booth where the only real line in the entire ballroom had formed.  The Iron Chef made sure to plate every dish himself and did so with a smile and a little banter for each guest.  Morimoto is just a class act all around.  His dish was very good and the pork belly stood out to me for being extremely tender and minimally fatty.  We ran into Sara from All Purpose Dark who told us that the foie gras bon bons from Naomi Pomeroy of Beast in Portland, OR were a must try so we sauntered over for a taste.  Dozens of little foie gras bon bons sitting atop cracked pepper shortbread and topped with a quince-champagne gelee looked like royalties on a plate.  The cool, rich flavor of the foie played nicely with the quince and sweetness of the shortbread.  We went back for another round that we called "dessert" and were able to score the last two available.  Sweet, indeed.

 

Beast's foie gras bon bons w/ quince-champagne gelee and cracked pepper shortbread - photo by Paula of Mango & Lime

I was determined to find the booth for Boston's own O Ya, owned by Tim Cushman and named one of Boston's best year after year.  I had just had dinner there Thursday night with my mum and it was a fantastic meal.  I found the booth serving a hamachi sashimi with viet mignonette, fried shallots and basil and walked up to grab a bite and introduce myself.  Tim and I spoke for a second before he motioned to one of his employees and told him I'd been at the restaurant the night before.  Turns out it was the sushi chef who created many of my dishes right in front of me that night!  Funny stuff!  

McCready's Scallop & Pork Jowl w/ Sunchoke Pickle - photo by Paula of Mango & Lime

My favorite dish of the night, hands down, came from Sean Brock of McCrady's in Charleston, SC.  My buddies Chadzilla and Chef K have been telling me to visit Sean's joint next time my travel brings me to Charleston but after this dish I may have to make a special trip.  I also know he is a bourbon fan.  Sean had an immersion circulator at the back of his booth set to 69.2C with cryovac'd scallops taking a nice bath.  They were plated with a magnificent crispy hunk of pork jowl and sunchoke pickle that provided a refreshing crunch.  I cannot for the life of me remember the sauce that was on the plate but I remember it being salty and awesome.  This was an incredible dish.  After we finished, D spotted Rev Run of Run DMC and went over to compare Adidas kicks.  A woman in a skinny white dress looked familiar to me.  Turns out it was Real Housewife of NY, Kelly Bensimon, who I had seen recently for the first time sans clothing on the pages of the latest issue of Playboy magazine.  Let's just say the airbrush guys deserve a raise...

Overall, I thought the Best of the Best showcased many dishes that were worthy of the title.  I was happy that it wasn't too crowded and we were able to try many dishes without having to wait in long lines.  Perhaps the $350 ticket price had something to do with that?  I enjoyed the event and left weathered, weary, and tired.  I think I managed to try about 15-20 plates (including those I went for seconds).   We headed to Scarpetta for a bourbon nightcap before heading out so we could avoid the mob scene at the valet stand.  People have asked if I would do this event again.  For $350?  Not likely.  The event showcased some fantastic dishes and top shelf wines and bubbly but $350 is about $100-$150 too much for a stand-and-eat-dinner if you ask me.

Burger Bash Blunder

I'm usually good for about a handful of dumb mistakes each year so I guess it's fitting that I made my first one yesterday, a mere 18 days into the new year.  I was working on scheduling a business trip around a big meeting in NJ on February 23rd.  I usually do a Boston trip at this time of the year so I booked a flight into NJ and then on to Boston, returning on Friday, February 27th.  I wasn't too happy that I had to book the flight on JetBlue out of Ft. Lauderdale because I prefer to fly American Airlines out of Miami but the fares weren't even in the same solar system so I went with JetBlue.  Plus, I'd be getting back at a reasonable time on Friday night so it worked out...or so I thought.

Sitting at my desk today, I decided to take a little break and surf the internet for a few minutes.  I can't quite recall what made me think of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival but that is when my dumb move dawned on me - I had booked this business trip at the same time as SBWFF and now wouldn't be in Miami for the Amstel Light Burger Bash!  "Dammit!" was all that could be heard from my office at that moment.  It was such a bonehead move.  I tried checking flights to get me back into Ft. Lauderdale around 5pm but no dice.  My proverbial goose was cooked.

So now a ticket I purchased about 4 months ago is useless since I won't even be in Miami.  I would like to sell the ticket to someone who is eager to stuff their face with burgers and beer on the sands of South Beach.  If you or someone you know would like to buy my ticket, please comment and we can work something out.

2010 Taste of the Grove

Yesterday with football on all day and with the the Taste of the Grove food festival ending early due to the cold and rain, I didn't have a chance to walk into the Grove to check it out.  Today the temperature dropped even lower than yesterday and the wind picked up but the rain held off enough for me to walk down to Peacock Park to get some lunch at the Taste of the Grove.  All things considered, it was pretty good.

I left the house wearing a t-shirt and sweater.  It was pretty cold but I knew I wouldn't be gone more than an hour and I like to soak up a nice chilly day here in South Florida.  In hindsight, I probably should've worn a hat too because the wind while walking down the hill of South Bayshore and at Peacock Park was howlin'!  When I got down to the event, I hit up the ticket booth for $10 worth of tickets and went to search for my lunch.  There was a band playing some good jazz/funk music that people were enjoying and there was plenty of cover in case it did rain. 

I first spotted Ideas Restaurant's booth and went for some white bean soup with chorizo ($4) to help me warm up a little bit.  The soup was nice and warm without being too hot.  I liked the bits of chorizo and the flavor of the soup but there was some sort of pulp in the soup that was very stringy.  The texture just threw the whole dish off for me.  I'm not sure it was worth $4 either.  I finished off the soup and went in search of something a little more hearty.  I stopped by Panorama's booth and liked the looks of both the raviolis de aji de gallina and the lobster ceviche but the tax was too high at $6-$8 each (I forget the exact prices).  I just didn't feel like getting more tickets to give it a try and I was in a hurry to make it back to my place to watch the Patriots/Ravens game.  Glad I rushed for that...

I saw the booth for Atchana's East/West Kitchen and remembered that they had some good value there last year and figured that I could fill up on something with the 6 tickets I had left in my pocket.  I checked out the menu and saw something simmering in a foil pan and figured that was a good option.  Turns out it was curried chicken and rice which could be had for $5.  "How hungry are you?  This is a pretty big plate..." was the reply I got from the guy in the booth after asking for a plate the curried chicken.  He wasn't kidding.  He set up a nice pile of rice and ladled some of the yellow curried chicken on top.  Then he let me know they had some hot sauce if I wanted, which made me happy.  I squirted on some hot sauce and found a standing table in the sun to dig in.  I'm not sure if I was seeing things when I saw the curry in a foil pan, or if it was really that cold but by the time I took my first bite the dish was barely warm.  No matter, it was good.  The rice was a little sticky and clumped together but I'm certain the cold had a lot to do with that.  I thought the flavor of the curry was deliciously sweet without being overpowering and it made for a great combination of spicy/sweet when I worked in some of their hot sauce.  There was plenty of chicken in the dish and the vegetables were nicely cooked while staying crisp.  I'd like to give this one another shot when I can get it hot off the stove.


I stuck around for a few minutes while the band played on through the wicked winds that battered the park.  I noticed that Johnsonville Brats had a HUGE setup in the back by the stage.  It was some sort of mobile big rig with a bunch of bbq grills.  There were about half-a-dozen people standing at the booth, most likely workers that were to man the grills and pass out marketing schwag.  Talk about Ma Nature making a mockery of your PR efforts, geesh!  It must've been two days of standing around chatting in the cold for that poor booth. 


It was not the best conditions for the Taste of the Grove this year but the vendors showed up and did their best.  The cold weather keeping crowds away did allow me to have two dishes in about twenty minutes though and that curried chicken dish was pretty darn good albeit a little cold.  Perhaps there will be "Another Taste of the Grove" this year when the weather is a bit warmer?