Taste of Orlando

As a last hurrah before heading back to work, I packed up the family last week and headed to Orlando. Here is a snippet of what we were eating (and drinking) during our three day visit.

Ethos Vegan Kitchen |  601-B South New York Avenue, Winter Park

Nothing combats the lingering effects of a late night arrival better than an all vegan brunch. Because of their relatively early opening, the family and I drove to Ethos Vegan Kitchen in Winter Park to fulfill our vegan brunch needs. For whatever reason, I had avoided this place every time I previously visited Orlando. As soon as I walked through the doors, I wondered what I had been thinking. This place was love at first sight. Big windows, interesting artwork, a high brow bar and low brow seating all flowed together to create an aesthetically pleasing restaurant. All that would be for naught if the food wasn't good. No need to worry, this place was absolutely toothsome.

Ethos' brunch menu is less extensive than their typical daily one. Still, despite its scaled down appearance, I still did quite a bit of waffling. Decisions, decisions. In the end the breakfast burrito called my name. The burrito is stuffed with tofu scramble, home fries and vegan sausage and smothered in vegan sausage gravy. I loved the combination of tofu, sausage and home fries and the sausage gravy was some of the best I've had. Anywhere. Ever. The completely smothered burrito just sort of melted right into my mouth. The only downfall of it was you couldn't eat it with your hands. A small price to pay for such a delicious dish. J-Fur ordered a cinnamon bun and Ethos' newest brunch offering, the breakfast skillet. The cinnamon bun was perfect. Soft and full of flavorful cinnamon. This is how all vegan cinnamon buns should roll. The skillet seemed like it would be right up our alley considering it included tofu scramble, lots of sauteed veggies (like onions, green peppers, red peppers and broccoli) breakfast sausage, home fries and cheddar cheese. Unfortunately the skillet was a bit too oily (yes even for me). Two perfect items, one good one. I'll take that every day of the week.

Erin McKenna's Bakery NYC | 1642 East Buena Vista, Orlando

We visited Erin McKenna's Bakery a few years ago after a Walk the Moon concert at House of Blues. The show ended pretty late and we high-tailed it over to the bakery, getting in the door right before closing. We ordered a cupcake and, well, I wasn't super impressed. This is what they eat in New York? No thank you. After two visits to Brooklyn last summer, I felt that I could definitely say New Yorkers know how to eat. So Erin McKenna's Bakery got one more shot.

I'm glad it did. We ordered two cupcakes (for J-Fur), a pineapple upside down cake (for me) and a shot of frosting (for Z-Bot). The two cupcakes were both moist and delicious. Neither was saturated with sweetness. I was surprised, being a total fruit dessert fan, that I actually liked the chocolate cupcake (not pictured above because it was already eaten) slightly better than the berry one. The berry one had a lingering aftertaste of something that neither of us could place. The chocolate was wham, bam, thank you maim with nothing hanging around after. Neither cupcake could hold a candle (is that a thing people say?) to the pineapple upside down cake. Again, perfectly moist, sticky, with big pineapple rings. This cake is what all fruit desserts should strive to be. I tried to eat only a little and save the rest for later but that didn't happen. I scarfed the entire thing right then and there. #NoRegrets. I didn't eat any of the frosting shot because Z-Bot was too busy wearing it on her face like a dessert badge of honor. She loved it.

The most amazing part of Erin McKenna's bakery? Everything is not only vegan, but gluten free. Normally I can tell when things are gluten free. Erin McKenna's did a great job masking it. I look forward to my next visit to Disney Springs just so I can eat these desserts again.

Lemon Shark Poke |  7600 Dr Phillips Blvd Suite 102, Orlando 

Lemon Shark Poke wasn't on the list of places I bookmarked before going to Orlando. It was more of a whim...sical move (clang!). We wound up here because after walking Disney Springs, J-Fur said she was hungry for sushi. I Yelped sushi and Lemon Shark Poke came up with a hot and new designation and a lot of really good reviews. It wasn't too terribly far away so we headed in that direction

Lemon Poke Shark can best be described as what happens when a sushi joint copulates with a choose-your-own-food-adventure restaurant like Chipotle. You start by picking a style. You can get a bowl, sort of like deconstructed sushi, or you can get a sushirito (sushi that is as big as a burrito). Next, you select a base. This can be won ton strips, white rice, brown rice, black rice, salad or a combination of any two. J-Fur combined brown rice and the won ton strips in her bowl. After that, you pick from various proteins. The only vegetarian friendly one offered is tofu. Finally, you fill the rest of the bowl with various pickled and fresh vegetables, sauces, seasonings and seeds. J-Fur's bowl was awesome. It was full of vegetables that tasted fresh, not like they had been sitting around a while and tasty tofu. The crunch of the won ton chips and the soft, chewiness of the rice offered a pleasing food dichotomy. She ate her bowl quickly and was very satisfied. If they story ended there, we would've left and thought man, Lemon Poke Shark was a fine place to eat. But it didn't end because J-Fur was so satisfied with her meal that she decided to take a sushirito to go. She wasn't quite as pleased with it because she didn't put any won ton strips in so they sushirito lacked the crunch that she so thoroughly enjoyed from the bowl. I thought the sushirito was really good. So good that I started researching Tampa sushirito places before I pulled out of the parking lot.

Z-Bot also ate at Lemon Poke Shark and this is my only complaint about the place. She is very picky and only wanted some rice, carrots and corn. The employees kept asking are we sure she doesn't want some type of protein. We said no because she doesn't eat meat and she isn't really a tofu fan. Unfortunately that left her bowl rather small and yet she was charged full price. I know the employees felt bad, that's why they kept asking if she wanted more. Maybe a way to do some rice and veggies a la carte for the picky eaters might be something to consider.

The District at Mills 50 | 1221 N Mills Ave, Orlando

After spending some time at My Little Town, an indoor play area that Z-Bot absolutely adored, J-Fur and I wanted to track down some kombucha on tap. We could've gone to Market on South, but I was still full from breakfast and I couldn't bear going there without eating. Most of the other places I bookmarked that had kombucha were already closed. That meant a visit to The District at Mills 50.

I bookmarked this place because it was a store that was full of various vegan items. When we arrived I was quite pleased to find they had a lot more vegan food items than I thought they would. I perused the coolers, checking out the various nutmylks, pizzas and drinks that they had for sale. I approached the bar and asked the barista about the tapped kombucha. He said it was a watermelon mint one. Unlike Market on South, which taps Humble Bumble kombucha, the District serves the Orlando City Kombucha brand. This was our first experience with Orlando City Kombucha. Both J-Fur and I were pleased that the watermelon mint was light and refreshing and not overburdened with mint (in fact, I wasn't even sure the mint was in there). Definitely a pleasing kombucha.

I didn't plan on eating anything but the giant peanut butter brownies on the bar looked fabulous so, I ate dessert. Again. After ordering the brownie, the extremely friendly barista asked if I wanted ice cream on it. Sure, it's vegan, why not? He then asked if I wanted homemade caramel on it. And that, my friends, is how my simple brownie became an elaborate dessert. But boy was I glad I did it. All three of those food components played off each other nicely. The ice cream, which has a coconut base, didn't even taste like coconut. The chocolate and peanut butter of the brownie were, well, a match made in vegan heaven. The caramel sauce was a great finishing touch.

Lazy Moon Pizza | 11551 University Blvd, Orlando 

Lazy Moon Pizza came about because Z-Bot said she wanted pizza. This place was extremely close to the District, so we rolled into the parking lot and pulled up the menu. J-Fur asked for the Asian tempeh salad with ginger dressing (pictured above). Z-Bot said she was super hungry so we ordered two slices for her. I almost got myself a slice because Lazy Moon offers vegan cheese but the brownie had down me in.

Boy, two slices was a mistake of gigantic proportions. These slices are not your typical Papa John sized slices. One slice was the size of Z-Bot's torso (I guess that is why their website says you have to eat their pizza slices with two hands). No wonder slices cost four dollars each. Needless to say Z-Bot could only finish one slice so J-Fur ate the other. That meant her salad went untouched. No worries, I ate it the next morning for breakfast.

Drunken Monkey | 444 N Bumby Ave, Orlando
Our final stop on the trip (only because the Humble Bumble taproom we visited afterwards wasn't open despite the sign that said it was open on Sundays) was Drunken Monkey coffee shop. This place offered numerous vegan coffees, pastries and sandwiches. It also has some non vegan and meat items as well. I wanted a flavored latte. I looked at the list of Drunken Monkey flavorings that they had right by the counter. This was quite an extensive list. Flavors like cherry, lavender, chocolate, etc. I would estimate there were about 25 plus different choices. I love that the coffee shop lists right on the flavoring card, which ones are better when paired with chocolate and which ones are vegan. That saved me from asking a ton of questions. I ordered a cherry and dark chocolate iced latte with hemp milk. Yep, you read that right, hemp milk. First coffee shop ever that had hemp milk as a dairy alternative.

Whoa. For those of you that love coffee, this is probably not the place for you. I couldn't even taste coffee beneath the cherry and chocolate flavorings. I do love a good coffee but even more than that, I love a good drink. This latte was a great drink! My only regret was that I had but one latte to give to my body. If I could've handled the caffeine, I would've gone down that latte list trying multiple flavors. I guess I know where I will be getting my coffee fix next time I am in Orlando.

That's it. That's our weekend in a vegan nutmylk shell.

Taste of Brooklyn (Part 2)

Only three days in Brooklyn, eh. That's simply not enough time. So, I went back. This time I spent three and a half days there! But with no wedding to attend, I was able to get in even more of good vegan eating. Here is a snippet of what I was eating and drink when I wasn't eating bagels.

Chickpea & Olive |  Smorgasburg, East River Park

I crawled out of bed our first day in Brooklyn feeling just a wee bit hungover. Thanks to some shenanigans caused by the federal government in conjunction with a rogue hurricane, my evening flight had morphed into a redeye with a 3 a.m. arrival. My only eats for the past twelve hours had been the free goodies that the airport crew passed out in order to appease their angry clientele. I needed some real food and I needed it now. Thankfully it was Saturday and that meant that Smorgasburg was raging over in East River Park. Chickpea & Olive here I come. Smorgasburg can best be described as a culinary free-for-all crammed into a space about the size of church parking lot. On the Saturday we visited, Smorgasburg was extremely crowded. Had it been just J-Fur and I, I probably wouldn't have been aware of all the people around me, but Z-Bot was along divaing it up in her giant jogging stroller. I steered that monstrosity (magnificently I must say) through throngs of bearded hipsters that always seemed to be going the opposite direction of me. You know exactly what I'm talking about.

Eventually we found our way to Chickpea & Olive. This vegan eatery is famous, at least on Yelp, for its beet burgers. I halfheartedly looked at the menu but really I had known what I was going to order since the day I left Brooklyn two months earlier. It was the beet burger melt with avocado or bust for me. The burger was served on thick toasted bread and sliced in half. I walked with it for a bit looking for some open space to relax and enjoy it. Talk about food porn. People walking by kept eyeing my burger and commenting on how amazing it looks. I'm pretty sure I heard a few catcalls as well.

When I finally found that coveted open space, I dropped everything and took a bite. I don't say this lightly: that was the most flavorful veggie burger I've ever had. The beet burger, vegan cheese and avocado all melded together into a blissful bevy of flavors and textures that held together bite after bite. The thick, toasted bread offered a salty, crispy backdrop of support for the burger to rest its magical head. Some people might balk at the price (13 dollars with avocado added). To those people I'd say, stop treating this burger like your typical veggie burger and start treating it like the hand crafted piece of art it is. You'll quickly realize 13 dollars is a steal.

Georgetown Cupcakes | 111 Mercer Street New York, New York

When my cousin suggested we pay a visit to Georgetown Cupcakes I have to admit, I was quite hesitant. My other vegan cupcake experience in New York, at famed Babycakes, had not gone over so well and I didn't want to waste precious calories on lackluster vegan desserts. When she told me that the place had been featured on some famous food television show and that they have a cupcake camera where you can sit at your computer and watch people make cupcakes all day, my desire to visit dropped even more. Can you say gimmick? But J-Fur and Z-Bot were interested and my cousin espoused their cupcake virtues to no end so I decided to part with some of my precious calories and give their vegan cupcake a go.

The one vegan option that was being sold on the day we visited was apple cinnamon. I could handle that. I'm all about fruit desserts. The cupcake was not overly sweet and moist. Just that in itself made it a better experience than Babycakes. But the pleasure was only beginning. The apple cinnamon cake was topped with an incredible icing that was really creamy. Best of all, this creaminess was not created by fake butter (or at least it had no fake butter taste). A fantastic vegan cake! I hate to admit it but ever since I ate that cupcake, I've been unable to go more than 12 hours without checking in on the cupcake cam. Sometimes I even find myself loosening...nevermind.

The Pulp & The Bean | 809 Franklin Avenue Brooklyn

I had four goals during this visit to Brooklyn. The first one was eat a beet burger from Chickpea & Olive. The second was to get a donut sundae at Dun-well Donuts. Once those two were out of the way, I set my sights on finding some Brooklyn Kombucha on tap. If there is one thing Tampa has going for it right now it is kombucha. I wanted to compare the two cities, see if they were as far apart as I imagined. I conducted an online search for kombucha on tap and the closest one to where we were staying was The Pulp & The Bean, a coffee shop in Crown Heights. Unfortunately the kombucha was all out. I wasn't really in the mood for a latte but Yelpers had kept talking about the soy rose latte, so I got one iced. I wasn't blown away by it. For one, it wasn't sweet enough for me. When I drink coffee, I like it to be sweet. The cool thing was that the latte wasn't overly expensive. I think I even paid less for it than some of the ones I get in Tampa. One thing worth noting about the Pulp & the Bean is their excellent customer service. I loved that even though they were four customers deep the barista ran thru my entire order to make sure she got it right.











Hungry Ghost | 253 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn

I achieved goal number three by walking about a mile and a half to Hungry Ghost. The only reason the walk matters is that by the time I arrived, I had to piss really bad and there isn't a space for this at Hungry Ghost. I ordered my kombucha, grape is what they had on tap, and I drank it way too fast. It went down smooth, it was unique (not a flavor I had in Tampa before). It didn't strike me as being any better or worse than Mother Kombucha here in St. Petersburg. That's a good thing (both for Brooklyn Kombucha and Mother Kombucha). After chugging, I went across the street to Starbucks and waited in a long line to use their restroom. Best I could tell is that none of the other coffee shops in the area, and there were a lot, had a bathroom either. That's the only reason I could see so many people in Starbucks when there were a lot of other options around.

00 + Co | 65 2nd Avenue, New York

My final goal this trip was to pay a visit to 00 + Co. I mean there just isn't anything creative going on with vegan pizza in Tampa. If they have any it is simply some fake cheese thrown over their normal crust and sauce. At 00 + Co, vegan is at the center of everything they do. I convinced a large group of friends to join me here so we shared three different pizzas. There was a smoked carrot pizza topped with crimini mushrooms, shaved fennel and parsley-mint pesto. I loved the cheese and balance of flavors on this pie. We also ordered the confit and tomato arugula pie. This one didn't quite have the pizzaz of the carrot pizza. It left me wanting more. The farro sausage pizza was also really good, with a nice spiciness to it. The dough at 00 + Co was incredible. It was charred and chewy. The table also got an order of zucchini noodles and farro. This was my favorite dish of the night. I thought the farro sausage performed really well when placed on top of zucchini. 00 + Co is definitely not cheap. It is the kind of place that vegans can go when they want to splurge and have a nice romantic evening. That being said, I recognize the time and effort required to make vegan cheese so I can fault them for pricing their pies a bit high.

Cook: Farro Sausage Pizza with Sautéed Vegetables and Sunflower Parmesan

The year is 2009. I'm sitting with my wife and a number of her anthropological friends  in some vegetarian friendly Philadelphia bar. I am ecstatic beyond belief because this bar is well stocked with a vegetarian staple that I just don't get to experience too often, seitan, a vegetarian meat made from vital wheat gluten. I order a Philly Cheesesteak that is made from seitan. I eat the entire sub, along with some fries, in one sitting. After some hours of conversation my wife and I begin the short walk back to our hotel. At some point during that walk I began to feel really sick. My stomach hurt, my head was pounding and I thought I was going to vomit with each step. I eventually made it up to the room and passed out on the bed. By the next morning, I felt fine.

I'm not sure what caused my body to react in such a way. I have long attributed that night to an overabundance of gluten. The roll that the sub was served on and the seitan were both made from gluten so I was basically eating a pile of gluten on top of a pile of gluten. Since that night, I have become much more strategic when it comes to seitan. I'm not so quick to embrace it and I rarely pair it with bread.

So when I got a hankering for some nostalgia laden sausage pizza the other night, I had a bit of a quandary on my hands. Most commercial sausages are made from vital wheat gluten. Most of the homemade versions I've crafted are made from the same thing. A pile of gluten on top of a pile of gluten did not seem like a good idea. So I started researching and realized that Farro, one of the oldest grains known to man, has a very low gluten level, is rich in vitamin B, fiber and protein and is chewy as hell. Farro would make the perfect sausage! It was at that moment that my version of Farro sausage was born. Here's how it went down:

Farro Sausage Pizza with Sautéed Vegetables and Sunflower Parmesan

(printable version)

For the Farro sausage:
-1 pound of Farro, cooked according to directions
-1 1/2 tsp. of salt
-3 1/2 tsp. of smoked paprika
-2/3 tsp. of garlic powder
-1/3 tsp. of fennel seed
-1 tsp. of ground black pepper
-1/4 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes

For the veggies:
-olive oil
-1/2 a green pepper, small dice
-1/2 an orange pepper, small dice
-1/2 a red pepper, small dice
-1/2 an onion, small dice
-handful of button mushrooms, small dice
-handful of spinach

For the Sunflower Parmesan:
-1 cup of sunflower seeds
-1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
-1 tsp. of sea salt

For the pizza:
-your favorite dough recipe
-your favorite tomato sauce recipe

1. Mix all of the spices for the Farro sausage together. Dump them into a spice grinder (or coffee bean grinder) and grind until the fennel has been turned into a powder. Add the spices to the cooked, still slightly wet Farro. Stir until the spices have been spread throughout the Farro. Set aside.

2. Heat some olive oil in a skillet. Place the peppers and onions in the skillet and saute them until they are soft. Add the mushrooms and spinach. Continue sautéing until the spinach has withered and the mushrooms have released their juices. Add as much Farro to the veggies as you like (I used about half of it on each pie I made). Cook together, stirring every so often, for a few minutes.

3. Meanwhile place the sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast and salt in a food processor. Process until the mixture is powdery and can be sprinkled.

4. Construct your pizza by layering the dough with tomato sauce and the veggie and sausage mixture. Sprinkle the sunflower parmesan overtop. Bake for however long your dough calls for (I did a thick crust that required 23 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit). Eat it!

This pizza makes noise like this.

Cook: Caramelized Onion, Spinach and Garlic Pan Pizza

The other type of pie I made for Thanksgiving, the one that needed no qualifiers, was a pizza pie. I knew my audience. They are pizza lovers for sure. So I decided to wow them with some J. Kenji action.

For those of you who don’t know, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the Chief Creative Officer for Serious Eats. He is also the man behind The Pizza Lab. In this lab, J. Kenji experiments and shares dozens of pizza recipes. Got a favorite crust, he has probably figured out the best way to make it at home. Need a regional version of pizza? He’s got you covered. Want a quick English Muffin pizza for breakfast?Done. The man knows his pizza. One of my favorite crusts of his is the easy to make pan pizza. The pan pizza dough requires no kneading, no finicky water heating to just the right temperature for the yeast to percolate and no sugar water mixtures. It is just a matter of having the right ingredients and the right amount of time.

I put aside the right amount of time to make it a part of our Thanksgiving meal. I made two pizzas from the crust recipe. J-Fur requested a spinach, garlic, and cheese version. For all the vegans (err…for the vegan) in attendance, I made a caramelized onion, spinach and garlic version. I heard from the brave souls that ventured a taste of both that the vegan version had much better flavor. No qualifiers were added.

Caramelized Onion, Spinach and Garlic Pan Pizza
(printable version)

-1 pan pizza crust (slightly under 1/2 of this recipe)
-1 onion, sliced thinly
-1/2 Tbs. olive oil
-1 garlic clove, sliced thinly and then halved
-handful of spinach leaves
-tomato sauce

1. Make the crust according to directions.

2. Preheat the oven to 550 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large saute pan heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion. Stir occasionally. Continue to cook until it is beginning to brown (about 10 minutes). Reduce the heat and continue caramelizing until the onions are brown and soft (about 3o minutes). Remove from the pan and set aside.

3. When the crust is ready (it has sat out for 24 hours and then sat in its container for another 2) spoon some tomato sauce over top. Take it all the way to the edge.

4. Put down a layer of spinach leaves being careful not to overlap. Add the sliced garlic in between spinach leaves.

5. Spoon the caramelized onions overtop. Place the pizza into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Place in front of hungry Thanksgiving visitors and make them stare at it for a few minutes before allowing them to eat.

What does this meal sound like? Check it.

Where We Eat: Cappy's Pizzeria

One of my archaeology friends told me that they recently found a scroll dating back to the beginning
of the written age. The scroll said only four words inside: cheese + dough + sauce + topping = perfection. Yep, since the beginning, pizza has remained virtually the same. It is the sum of four
amazing parts joined together as one. Nowadays people like to mess with perfection. They subtract
or alter one of those elements to see just how dreadful the result is (who would ever forget the
crustless pizza…I still shudder from that one). I must admit, I’m one of those people. I love me some pizza. I don’t love me some cheese. I’ve tried fake cheeses and they just don’t do it right. So most of the time, I just take the cheese off. The majority of pizza restaurants don’t survive the removal of the cheese because it requires a couple things they don’t have. First and foremost, a cheeseless pizza should have a good sauce because it is now the star. It can no longer play understudy to the cheese because it is gone. The second requirement is a deep crust. Skinny pies have no substance when the cheese goes away.

The latest local restaurant to get the Tender Branson treatment was Cappy’s. Cappy’s has been a stalwart in Seminole Heights for as long as I’ve been here (8+ years). In the past few years they have expanded into St. Pete, Brandon and, their latest venture, New Tampa. Since this is just moments from our apartment we decided to give it a go for J-Fur’s birthday. We were joined by her parents, sister and her boyfriend. Z-Bot came along as well.

Not everyone in the group avoids cheese, so the table started with a plate of cheesy bread. J-Fur ate most of it. She thought it was delicious with the crispy bottom and gooey top. A side of their pizza sauce comes along with it for those who like to dip.

At this point the waitress came by to take our orders. This is when things got a bit crazy. There was a deep dish, no cheese, spinach and artichoke version for me, a spinach and garlic thin crust for J-Fur, a sausage and basil thin crust for J-Fur's sister and her boyfriend and a light cheese, garlic and spinach for her parents. The waitress got it all down without a moment's hesitation (well except for that brief
second where she assured me that she thought the kitchen would be able to make my pizza without cheese). The twenty (or was it thirty) minutes of baking time passed rather quickly. When the pizzas came out, it was fast and furious. One pie after another crash landed (delicately) on the table. When the dust had settled, two pies were hovering above the table on crazy metal holders while two sat right on the wood. At this point hands and bodies became twisted as everyone reached for what they ordered. Everyone took a bit and remarked how good their pizzas were. I was the lone holdout. I breathed deep.

Now came the true test. Could Cappy’s hold up their no cheese end of the bargain? The crust was
nice and flaky, like true Chicago style should be. It wasn’t too dry or crisp (which can easily happen with deep dish pies). In fact, I would say it is one of the better Chicago-style crusts I’ve had here in
Tampa. The sauce was tangy with a good bit of flavor. The spinach was fresh and plentiful. The artichokes still had a bit of the canned taste to them (again, no cheese to mask this) but that was my only qualm with the pizza. I’d probably do better next time with a garlic, spinach version (as
their garlic pies are really good). Yes, that’s right, next time. There will be a next time. Cappy’s crust, sauce and fresh spinach more than held up to the cheeseless test.

                      My Pie

I have long considered Cappy’s one of the better pizza places in Tampa. With their Chicago style offerings and varied toppings (as well as a really good salad) it takes pizza to a place that a lot of other restaurants in the area can’t. The new Tampa Palms version follows right in line with its sister
stores. Best of all, you can take the cheese off and still have a mostly pleasant time.



It’s easy to fall in love with a pizza like this. That’s why I paired it with the also easy to fall in love with “I Think I Love You” by Enerate. With a chorus like “I think I love the f**k out of you” what’s not to like:



The Video version:

Where we eat: Bricco painted with Alcoholic Faith Mission and U.S. Royalty

Here I was with punk slogans and pictures all across my jacket sitting in the same restaurant as stuffy lawyers, businessman and the governor spending his last few days in office. Needless to say, Bricco was an experience I don't get to enjoy too often. It is an upscale restaurant in downtown Harrisburg, PA. The restaurant is a collaboration between the Olewine School of Culinary Arts at Harrisburg Area Community College and the Harrisburg Hotel Corporation (which manages the Harrisburg Hilton).

Upon entrance, we were met by a hostess who offered to check our coats. I, having worn my the last six days straight, had become attached and kept mine but J-Fur and her mom and sister all checked theirs. We were seated in the dining room, right in front of the 100+ bottles of wine and in the midst of some colorful paintings. Our waitress took our drink orders. I requested water and was surprised when she said "Would you like our Natura water, either sparkling or not, or would you prefer plan tap water?" It seems that Bricco has their purification on site and they call that water Natura water. It is served in a glass bottle that is reusable. The menu says that it is a way to "promote Earth friendly ideas." So is tap water but I guess upscale needs to have an alternative for all those people that look down their noses at water out of a tap.

Our waitress brought out some bread and olive tapenade to munch on while we ordered. The tapenade combined garlic with olives and capers. A little salty for my taste but better than most tapenades I've had in the past:

Bricco has a number of small cold plates that you can start with called Sputini Freddi and J-Fur's mom and I both decided to get one. She picked a beet salad with local goat cheese and pistachios and I ordered the roasted corn, mushrooms and walnuts. A selection of two of these were six dollars. They were small mounds, beautifully arranged on a rectangle plate, and came with toasted bread. While both Freddi's were good, I liked the corn better. It was not overloaded with sauce or oil, just enough to bring out the flavor of the fresh corn and mushrooms. I plan to make my own version when corn comes back in season:

It came time to order and we all took different approaches. J-Fur's sister went with "Chesapeake Sliders" (crab cakes with lettuce, tomato and remoulade), her mom a Kennet Square Stone Oven Pizza (burrata, carmelized onion and truffle oil), J-Fur a "Soma" Margherita Pizza (mozzarella, tomatoes and basil) and I ordered Fungi Trifolati (stewed local mushrooms with Anson Mills polenta) and Bricco "French Fries" with truffle aioli:

Kennet Square Pizza

Bricco Fries

Fungi Trifolati

I'm not a big fan of brick oven pizza. I prefer pizzas with a thick crust that is not very crisp. I do appreciate the brick oven pizza places usually try different toppings and combinations that you won't find at your typical pizza place. Bricco's pizza was no exception. I ate a slice of J-Fur's and wasn't too impressed (tomatoes, mozzarella and basil will do that to me as well). The Kennet Square Pizza was much better because it had the carmelized onion and truffle oil combo which was top notch. The crust wasn't too crisp but still wasn't my thing. The Fungi Trifolati looked very liquidy when it came out, like a bunch of oil rose to the top, but surprisingly it didn't taste that way. What stood out was the fresh mushrooms that topped the dish. These were hundreds of times better than any I had ever eaten before. It made me want to take up foraging (which I've contemplated since reading Omnivore's Dilemma).

But as good as the polenta and mushrooms were it was the fries that left the best impression. They came out in a metal pedestal cup lined by newspaper print paper. Perfectly golden and inviting, the fries had a beautiful blend of crisp and soft and were neither too greasy or salty. Hands down, they were the best fries I ate all last year. The truffle aioli made me forget ketchup for one hour (which doesn't ever happen with aioli).

The prices, especially for the pizzas, might seem a bit expensive but you probably won't finish everything you order and the taste makes the extra dollars worth it. At the very least, come here and order some fries, look at the paintings and then leave without putting too much of a strain on your wallet.

Bricco is located at 31 South Third Street in Harrisburg, PA.
View Larger Map

Bricco signified a return to the capital of my home state. That return, coupled with the wall of wine, remind me of Denmark's Alcoholic Faith Mission (posted about here and interviewed here). The band have announced a new EP coming our way in March. To tide everyone over, they released one of the tracks, "Running with Insanity," for free download.

Alcoholic Faith Mission - Running With Insanity by Paper Garden Records

Out this week is the debut album for U.S. Royalty, Mirrors. One of the songs on the album is "Equestrian" a folksy pop traipse through the mountains with some "Ohs" and guitar solos thrown in. I've seen them compared to Local Natives and Fleet Foxes but I would disagree (mainly because I don't really like either of them and I do like U.S. Royalty).

Equestrian by usroyalty

Hopefully this will quell the tumblr community.

Artichoke and Spinach Calzones stocking stuffed by Broken Records and The Loveable Tulips

Has stocking stuffing gone the way of the past? I used to walk into friends' homes and see a row of red and white stockings duct taped to the fireplace mantel (or central air conditioner if you lived in a place like Florida where fireplaces don't exist). A few years ago I started to notice their absence. J-Fur's family was one of the last that I remember still sticking with the tradition. Up until two or three years ago we were still doing it. Then the gifts became too big for the stockings and they too, like all those others, ended the tradition.

What does this have to do with a calzone? Calzones are turnovers that originated in Italy. Their name derives from the word calza or stocking. This recipe was inspired by Jacklyn's Soyrizo Calzone.

Spinach and Artichoke Calzones

(printable version)

-pizza dough (I used Jacklyn's but in the past I've used this one or try this one)

-olive oil

-1 can quartered artichokes, drained and diced

-1 onion, diced

-2 cups spinach

-2 cloves garlic

-2 cups mozzarella cheese

-grated Parmesan

-tomato sauce

1. Make the dough according to directions.

2. While dough is rising, place a tiny amount of olive oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about five minutes. Add the garlic and cook, constantly stirring, for a minute.

3. Dump in the artichoke hearts and spinach. Continue to saute until the spinach has wilted. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. Divide the dough into four pieces. Roll it into ten inch circles. Working on one circle of dough at a time, place the artichoke mixture in the center (it should create a dividing line down the middle but don't take it the whole way to the edge. Top with mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese.

6. Fold the dough over top of the mixture. Match the edges. Roll the edges back tightly.

7. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes. Serve with a side of tomato sauce.

Broken Records (getting some Pad Thai love) released an album, Let Me Come Home, back in October (it will be available in the US in January). "A Darkness Rises Up" comes from that album. You can also get a copy of "A Leaving Song" for the price of an email address from their website (linked above). Broken Records will be hitting the clubs early next year with Freelance Whales in tow.

The Loveable Tulips' "Fortune Favors the Brave" is big, over the top, pop music that's better suited for the dance floor than my neighbors basement. Imagine a 16 bit warrior fighting a dragon and you almost know what I am talking about.

The Loveable Tulips-Fortune Favors the Brave

Where they eat: Young Adults and InBound Pizza

(photo courtesy of Young Adults Myspace Page)

Picture this: the Young Adults, a loud, aggressive, fuzz-punk band from Allston, Massachusetts, are about to hit the stage at Great Scott (their favorite hometown venue). All of a sudden Demitri (bass and vocals) or Kurt (drums) or Chris (guitar and vocals) realizes they are hungry. Should the band ignore it and play, risking a lackluster performance? Or should they head across the street to InBound Pizza, purchase the Buffalo Chicken topped pie, bask in its "saucy, chicken sprinkled delight" and recharge enough to elbow drop your eardrums? The safe bet is option number two.

The Young Adults have existed as a band for about a year but have garnered attention that would make some veteran groups blush (here and here and here, just to name a few). A lot of this stems from the release of a well received Demo last year (which you can download here) as well as the bands refusal to rest on their laurels. Instead of just accepting the accolades and stagnating, Young Adults are forging ahead with the recording of their debut full-length album working titled Black Hole. The album will be released later this year by Prague-based AMDISCS. After that, who knows? A chance to play shows outside of the Boston area, a European tour, maybe more Buffalo Chicken Pizzas from InBound? Its hard to say right at this moment but things are certainly moving.

Young Adults Upcoming Shows:

Upcoming Shows ( view all )

Jul 10 2010 10:00A Recording w/ Justin Pizzoferrato @ Esthudio Brighton, MA Jul 11 2010 10:00A Recording w/ Justin Pizzoferrato @ Esthudio Brighton, MA Jul 17 2010 9:00P Cover Art Project w/ Jeff Allen MA Jul 24 2010 10:00A Recording w/ Justin Pizzoferrato @ Esthudio Brighton, MA Jul 25 2010 10:00A Recording w/ Justin Pizzoferrato @ Esthudio Brighton, MA Aug 7 2010 3:00P Deep Heaven Now Festival Somerville, MA

Young Adults-Let Us Out
Courtesy of Clicky Clicky Music Blog.

Where we eat: Tampa's Taco Bus, Pizzas, Das Racist and Wallpaper

Yesterday I visited one of Tampa's finest late night food excursions, the Taco Bus. Open until four am, this old school bus turned taco joint shows that late night munchies do not have to be relieved by sub-par vittles. To start off, the manager on duty hooked J-Fur, Heed, and I up with a sample vegetarian creation he had come up with on his own. It was a fresh made tortilla, with cheese, peppers, onions, and cilantro. Not being a big fan of cilantro, I was wary, but tried it anyway. To my delight, it was pretty good. Even better was the tofu burrito I ate. The tofu, according to the manager, is sliced thinly and then basted in a smoked sauce. It is then cooked on a grill until carmelized. The result is a smokey flavored tofu that looks (and tastes) like steak.

Speaking of carmelized, my recipe of the week includes carmelized onions, pizza dough, and cheese. Not quite pizza, we'll call it a tart with pizza characteristics:












Carmelized-Onion Tart with Pizza Characteristics (adapted from Veg Times June 2009)
Printable Version

-olive oil
-2 large onions
-1 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
-1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
-2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
-1 pizza crust (ready to bake works fine or use your favorite recipe)
-mozzarella cheese
-provolone cheese
-10 kalamata olives sliced and pitted

1. Heat the oil in a skillet. Add onions and saute 5 to 7 minutes until softened. Stir in thyme and black pepper, reduce heat, and cook an additional 15 minutes until onions are brown and carmelized. Add vinegar and cook an additional five minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat pizza pan with spray. Press dough into a ten inch circle on pizza pan. Sprinkle part of the mozzarella and provolone on the dough. Top with onions. Then cover the crust with the rest of the cheese and the olives. Bake until crust is golden (around 20 minutes).

Break out the pizza cutter and slice it however you desire. You won't be disappointed.

Hmm...pizza and tacos, tacos and pizza. Where to go with this post now? Only one place: Das Racist and Wallpaper's Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. In no way am I condoning these corporations (let's face it, their food isn't good) but I am condoning this song.

What to do When a Punk Rock Star Asks You to Play Bocce? A Real Dilemma Brought to You by Satchel's Pizza in Gainesville

I was interviewed last night by Danny Lore of Against All Authority (I think). After enjoying a delicious slice of heaven, otherwise known as Satchel's deep dish pizza with artichokes, spinach, onion, and garlic, my wife and I and our two friends Sam and Kary Anne made our way to the Bocce court behind the restaurant. Intrigued by the game (what can I say, rich people play it) I picked up the instructions and started reading the rules. At this point I was approached by the Bocce guru, none other than Danny Lore from Against All Authority (I think?). The interview follows:

DL: Do you guys want to play?
TB: No, just looking at the rules.
DL: Well, we have a tournament taking place in a few weeks. If you are interested come on inside and sign up.
TB: That sounds cool, thanks.

At this point he walked away to continue working. I kept staring. Was that...Danny Lore? He looked a little bigger than the last time I saw him but the face, exactly the same. Against All Authority was born in Miami so it wouldn't be too far fetched to think that one (or all) of the band members relocated to Gainesville. My wife kept suggesting I go ask him, not wanting to appear like a groupie, I refused. When I got home, I looked up Satchel's web page and found that lo and behold the guys name is Danny L. Could it be Lore? It certainly could be.

About the food, Satchel's is a very progressive pizza joint with wonderful politics. The owner offers his workers a living wage, massages by a professional therapist once a quarter, stock options, and vacations. All of which make it a place that I would love to work if the teaching thing doesn't work out. But those politics aren't what make me drive the hour and half every once in a while to eat there. It's the product that is put on the plate in front of me. The pizza is wonderful, it is the right blend of spicy and subtle, crispy and soft, and the ingredients are fresh. Having lived in Chicago, where I enjoyed some of the finest pizza this land has to offer, it almost pains me to say that the best pizza I've ever tasted lies in a pizza joint, in the middle of nowhere, East Side Gainesville.

Still frame video of my favorite AAA cover song, In on your own joke, originally performed by Christ on a Crutch.


On a slightly non-related musical note, just finished reading Spin Magazines review of Prodigy's new album (what they still exist?). The author of the review, Charles Aaron, says at one point Prodigy creates "the sort of gut-punching delirium that Justice could pull off if they weren't too busy smoking Gauloises by the infinity pool?" (Spin Magazine, March 2009). What does that even mean? Is it a good thing? Naturally I had to look up Gauloises and infinity pool and I came to realize that (maybe) he meant that Justice is too pretentious. I understand the hesitancy to use that word in reviewing music, it is overused as it is, but can't reviewers stop trying to be so clever? When I have to look up things just to understand what you are saying, it's not going to make me happy.