Good Coffee

I get a free coffee from Wexler every time the Yanks win and the Sox lose on the same night (and vice-versa). Coffee's been flowing my way steadily in the last few weeks...

I take it sweetened with victory.

Damn This Is Good Coffee!

Last Night: Queen of Sheba

The mission - delicious, not-too-expensive dinner for four pre-theater in the west 50's. I was tempted to hit a few old standby's - Basso 56, Uncle Nicks, but one of our party had been to Queen of Sheba before and recommended it. Darling-Girl had been craving Ethiopian for months. We tried The Ethiopian Restaurant on the UES - it was ok, but the food fell a little flat. Seemed like a good opportunity to try another Ethiopian.

The food at Queen of Sheba was delicious from the start. We first had the Dabo, which is a thick Ethiopian bread served with a fire-red dipping sauce. It was superbly tangy and spicy. We also had the azifa, which was a cold lentil + onion mash served with injera. We ordered a bottle of South African Sauvignon Blanc, which had a distinctly smoky taste that I didn't particularly care for.

Unlike most Ethiopian restaurants I've been to, where they encourage you to order a few entrees for the table, QoS actually charges a $5 per person sharing fee, which I found to be sort of obnoxious. For the four of us, we ordered 2 vegetarian combos, one taste of Ethiopia combo, and one other beef dish. The meal comes all served on a large tray of injera with a basket of extra bread on the side. All the dishes were rich and savory -- you can taste the slow cooked stewed flavors of meat, beans and spices - each little pile of stew with it's own special flavor. The platter contained beef, lentils, peas, chick-peas, collard greens, green beans and some other things I couldn't exactly identify.

I'd say the food was definitely richer and more flavorful than "The Ethiopian Restaurant". D-G didn't notice the difference. Zagat rates Queen of Sheba at a 23 for food, which frankly seems a bit high. But it's probably the best the best Ethiopian I've had in the city so far, so I guess it makes sense that it would be top-rated in its cuisine.

One of the biggest problems with the restaurant was the service -- and the decor wasn't so great either. Zagat agrees - they rate Decor and Service both in the mid-teens. Darling-Girl arrived last and I had to get up and go to the bar to ask for a wine glass for her and she didn't receive a glass of water (despite specifically asking for one) until after we were done eating. Instead of getting the two vegetarian meals we ordered, we got two meat meals and only one vegetarian. The decor was rather plain, and frankly, a little bit dangerous. A napkin on the table next to us was about 2 seconds from catching on fire from a candle (I saved the day) and there was a very sharp edge of broken glass on our table-top. The table decoration was a laminated paper print-out of an African cloth... not so classy San Diego.

The meal + wine (no dessert) came to $100 for the 4 of us. Which isn't terrible... but a C-note at Nick's takes you much much further.

I'll Take It To Go: Sapporo

Sapporo is one of my top favorite restaurants in the city, hands down. I stop by there anytime I'm even remotely in the area. It's great for the sit-down date, the quick beer and snack, the solo soup slurp... but can it handle the takeout. Survey says - YES!

I'm actually a bit surprised. I find that noodles often don't travel well. I stopped taking out hand-pulled Chinatown noodles because they're mushy in twenty minutes and the broth gets flat as it cools.

But Sapporo's Ramen held up beautifully. One container of Tan Tan Men (office favorite) and one Miso Ramen (for the spice-averse) plus 2 orders gyoza served 3 of us. Wonderful! The soup was still steaming even after the subway ride, the noodles were firm and tasty and the gyoza was the perfect porky vinegary compliment to the rich spicy sesame soup. I'll never get tired of this place, although I do miss DJ Kenta.

What a Waste

Farmers dump milk into a field in Ciney, Belgium, to protest European Union officials' failure to agree on an aid package for the continent's dairy industry, which is facing falling prices. Approximately 4 million liters of milk were poured during the protests. More details from NPR.

I guess they're making a pretty bold statement here. But it's a terrible waste. And it can't good for the fields. Also sad. Are they hoping to dump a day's supply in order to drive up the price... that's a stretch.

Meanwhile... Kenyan Farmers are eating dying livestock. If they only knew what was going on in Belgium. Nutritious whole milk being fed to the ground while thousands starve in drought-stricken lands.

Brat Pack

Bratwurst Backpacks.

Very cool. The long German brat on the little crusty roll is one of my favorite street-foods ever. No one's selling them in New York... Maybe this little gimmick'll bring em to the big app. Any entrepreneurs out there thinking of trying something new and different and super-delicous?

Last night: Dogmatic

Apparently Dogmatic's been open for a year. Not sure How I missed it.

Getting there was tough. Had to walk past "Harvest in the Square" - an exclusive tented tasting event where the elite take over the paths and sidewalks of the park to taste the finest foods and wines of the Union Square/Grammercy district. Annoyingly taunting to walk right past the delicious-smelling charcoal-grilled shrimp kabobs and free-flowing wine with the rest of the commoners.

Dogmatic is delicious. And Overpriced. And Over-Modern. It's a Gourmet Sausage System.

Tiny hollowed-out crispy-chewy baguettes contain one of 5 farm-raised hormone-free sausages (chicken, beef, pork, turkey, lamb) and one of six signature sauces (cheddar jalepeno, horseradish mustard, truffle gruyere, etc). I had pork sausage (fattiest) with horseradish mustard, which paired very well of course, and Darling-Girl had the Turkey Sausage (the leanest) with the Sundried Tomato Feta sauce.

Dogs come with sides -- we chose grilled asparagus and coleslaw, both quite yummy. I went back for a second side - Mac and Cheese which is made with the truffle gruyere blend. Rich, cheesy and bordeline stomach-ache-inducing.

The highlight of the whole experience might be the sodas. The homemade ginger ale was sweet, sharp, and spicy - very well balanced with the in-your-face ginger flavor that I crave. The coconut soda was quite unlike anything I'd ever had. Seemed like fresh coconut milk mixed with a seltzer -- the soda result is light, refreshing, and just barely sweet. I think next time I'll try the grape...

The dog/side/soda meal rings in over $10, which is a bit much for a single hot dog and some asparagus spears, but when you factor in the delicious sodas, it seems like its worth it. The draw for me is that I want to taste everything (especially sodas). 1-year anniversary party on October 13th includes free give-aways and guaranteed fun times. I think I'll be there...