Burnt Butter

It had been quite some time since I had seen Marlene so we finally worked out an evening to get together.  I chose Burnt Butter as the resto for us to pass our night together.  Burnt Butter is located on Wellington Street directly across the street from my very favourite burger joint (and the best burger in Ottawa .. not only as stated by me, as voted for 2012 in the Ottawa Citizen).  But I digress ... as so easily happens when I think of/talk about Hintonburger.

Anyway ... Burnt Butter.  I mentioned it previously in my post on the Hintonburg Foodies Walking Tour even though it wasn't an official tour stop.  I've heard great things about it and as an extra special bonus for me ... $5 house martinis on Tuesdays!  Yay.  The menu changes frequently -- so much so that they just write it on the chalk board!  Since it was early September when Mar and I were meeting there, they had just recently updated their menu with some Fall specialties.

We got a primo seat right at the open to Wellington Street window so we could see and be-seen which is what Marlene and I like.  Really -- pretty much all the tables open on to the street-side windows so that is really nice for a warm late summer dinner.

I started with the specialty "bruschetta" which was a crusty baguette covered in goat cheese, caramelized onions and poached pear.  It seemed at the time, everywhere I turned poached pears were all the rage!  I love pears, but frankly I'm not convinced of the purpose of poaching them.

The bruschetta was really good but I could have done without the poached pear.  The bread was perfectly crusty and warm there was lots of goat cheese and the caramelized onions added enough sweetness and contrast to the salty goat cheese that the pear was not necessary for me.  Its not like it added an element of crunch since it was poached!

And then for our mains Marlene chose some kind of fish.  I don't like fish or seafood so I really don't know what kind of fish it was.  Maybe if you zoom in on the menu behind Mar's head you can read it for yourself!

 

The plate arrived and I have to say I was impressed.  It was absolutely beautiful as you can see.  Colours so beautiful it looked like a work of art.  But can you even pick out the fish?  Unfortunately, Marlene told me (later ... she didn't say anything when we were having dinner because she didn't want to ruin my meal) that the texture of the fish was somewhat rubbery and off-putting.  Which is too bad because it looked like it was going to be so good that I thought I might even like it!

 

I ordered the linguine with spicy tomato sauce, red pepper and bacon.  Let me tell you I was not disappointed.  I think there must have been a full pound of bacon in my pasta.  It arrived at the table and Marlene commented that she could smell the smokiness from the bacon!

 

 

The tomato sauce was deliciously flavourful and spicy but not overwhelming and all that bacon.  Oh god it was soooooo good.  How can you go wrong with bacon?  You can't!  This was a h-u-g-e plate of pasta -- far too much for one person but it was soooo damn good I powered through and ate the whole thing.  I loved it so much I didn't even want to save it to take home ... I HAD to eat it all there.

 

I was disappointed that Marlene's meal was not as good as mine but we had a great evening (as always).  While we were eating a table of two young women were seated beside us and they ordered a bunch of the appies to share which was good for us as we had been having difficulty deciding between several starters and we got to see what they looked like.  At some point there was something that they didn't like and they asked the waiter for ketchup.  His shock and horror that they should dare ask for ketchup was priceless and kept Mar and I laughing for some time!  He deigned to go and check and see if there was a bottle in the back, but he never returned with one so I guess he either could not find it or could not bring himself to be serving a table with a bottle of ketchup on it.  Hilarious.

Road Trip to Rochester and Barry Manilow

That's right.  Barry Manilow.  I love Barry.  I grew up listening to him with my Mom, so when Stacey suggested we take a road trip to go see him I was totally up for it.  He was playing in Rochester so we decided to make a long weekend of it heading to the concert on Friday night then doubling back for shopping in Syracuse on the way home on Saturday.   We loaded up the Barry CDs and headed off.

The concert was right downtown Rochester at the Blue Cross Centre and we were staying within walking distance of the arena.  But it turns out there is virtually NOTHING else in the downtown Rochester area.  It's a business district with nothing but corporate offices ... no shopping and no restaurants except for the sports pub in the hotel.  When asked for a recommendation the clerk immediately told us about Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (famous from being on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) but neither of us was really feeling that.  Luckily we asked for a few more questions and when she realized we didn't mind a short walk, the clerk recommended a trendy new area right along the Genessee River where we would find a few funky places to eat.  So off we went.

Now this area is really really nice.  It is totally being gentrified and there are lots of nice restaurants, a wine store with an upscale wine bar, an Indian place and a few shops.  There are condos along the river and a nice walking/biking trail.

The only problem? The neighbourhood is called: Corn Hill Landing... which is just like the WORST name for a neighbourhood ever.  Still ... it's a nice area name notwithstanding.  After strolling along the waterfront and snapping a few pictures and buying some wine (for later), we decided on a cool new restaurant called the "Tap and Table" which has a huge patio right along the waterfront. 

  

Luckily we got there just in time - we were the first ones to grab a table on the patio and within one hour, there were no tables left.  The waitress, a sweet and attentive young woman, told us that the owners are the same people who own the 'blah blah blah' burger restaurant ... seemingly a well-known place for Rochester-ites? Rochestans? Rochesteronians?  whatever.  And in any case, we obviously didn't know the place.  The Tap and Table focuses on fresh local ingredients and they create seasonal menus.

It was gorgeous September afternoon with a nice breeze coming off the river and we had lots of time to relax, eat and drink before we had to get back for the concert.  When we looked at the menu we were super excited but also in a dilemma ... there were soooo many things that sounded absolutely incredible.  We decided that we were going to order a bunch of small things and share everything ... but of course to start off, a cocktail.

Stacey had some red wine and I got my margarita on.  The waitress also brought us a carafe of water with three thin cucumber slices in it.  I was surprised that I could absolutely taste the cucumber in it .  Stacey did not believe me and thought there was no way you could taste it with those three thin measly little slices of cuke (she hadn't yet had a glass of water).  But, once she had a glass she too agreed that you could taste it.  Now this story is not that interesting on its own but there was a table beside us that added to the hilarity of this conversation.

This old man had been sitting at a table by himself for a long time before his companions arrived ... two Asian women who we were sure were a mother and her adult daughter.  We were also pretty sure that the mom was a mail-order bride (or for very sure an internet hook up).  This guy was obnoxious beyond belief ... he was such a know-it-all and was talking to both women in such a paternalistic and condescending tone.  And he informed them that cucumber quenches your thirst ... hence adding the cuke to the water.  And, really, I don't know if that is true or not but to be certain you would have to eat the cucumber in order for it to quench your thirst.  Dick.

Stace and I also had trouble controlling our laughter when I was trying to snap this picture of the guy.  I was pretending to take pictures of the waterfront but then had to just nonchalantly turn the camera towards them.  I'm sure the old guy caught on to what we were doing but we just kept laughing away!

Anyway ... you probably want to know about the food at Tap and Table.  We started with a trio of dips with warm pita breads.  There was roasted mushroom and goat cheese (mmmmm -- my favourite -- it was warm and gooey with rich earthy flavour -- I would go back for this dip alone), eggplant carponata (a sweet and spicy thick pureed dip which was Stacey's favourite) and hummus which was good but not extra special.  In fact, I can't even remember what it was like.  I LUVED the roasted mushroom and goat cheese one though.  I sure remember it.

The pita bread was super fresh and nice and soft with a smoky flavour from the grill. We ate the first round of pita, ordered more and kept on eating.  Then we moved on to the grilled leek and marscapone risotto.  OMG this was sooooo freakin good.  I had a tiny hesitation when we ordered because marscapone is not my favourite cheese but it was absolutely perfect in the risotto.  The rice was perfectly cooked, creamy and rich.  Absolutely deee-lish!

Next course was the grilled watermelon salad which was served with mixed greens, candied red onions, balsamic drizzle and topped with goat cheese.  This was my first experience with grilled watermelon and it was awesome.  You get the smoky flavour from having been grilled, as well as the contrast of hot and cold temperature.  The watermelon was firm and juicy - I was worried that grilling would make it mushy but this was definitely not the case.  Most assuredly it would have to be only on the grill for only a few moments.  The goat cheese added a creamy texture and perfectly salty flavour contrast with the sweetness of the watermelon and the bitterness of the greens.  As well there was an Asian flavour in the balsamic dressing but I couldn't quite put my taste buds on it.  I asked the waitress what it was but she wasn't sure either.  No matter what it was, it was delicious.

The waitress told us the grilled watermelon salad was one of her favourite things on the menu and it was so good I didn't want to stop eating but we had one more dish to try.  The 'special' flatbread of the day:  a sweet potato puree with mushroom, pancetta and arugula.  Of all the dishes, this was probably my least favourite.  Not that there was anything wrong with it - it was good ... I just didn't think it was as good as some of the other food we had that night.

I thought the sweet potato puree was slightly bland and with no sauce or cheese I thought the flatbread was slightly dry and didn't have a lot of flavour.  It wasn't bad, but in comparison to the other outrageously delicious courses we had we could have skipped this one.

Ultimately we had WAY too much food and had to brown bag a bunch of it back to the hotel room for later.  We didn't bother taking home the grilled watermelon salad since we didn't think it would travel and hold over very well.  We continued with a couple more drinks and then realized we had to boot it back to the hotel to make it to Barry's concert on time.

No worries.  We made it to the concert on time.  Barry played from 7:45 to 9:10 (perfect for the kiddies and the oldsters in the crowd) and it was great.  He played all the old songs (really that's all he's got) the whole crowd was singing along to everything.  And the concert was over early enough for Stacey and I to head back to the hotel and get our seriously intense 'drank-on' at the sports bar.

The bar was filled with patrons who were either at the Barry concert or were rubbies who drink in that bar all day every day.  We met this super fun couple:  Marilyn and ??? who had been to see Barry three or four times before.  We got talking to them because their table was filled with beer bottle empties whereas Stacey & I had to keep returning our empty glasses after we finished a round of cosmos because the sports bar only had 4 martini glasses so they had to wash two while we were drinking out of the other two.  In any case, we (especially me) had waaayyy too much to drink.  We had a good time and lots of laughs.  A huge group of women who had been at the concert came in, played Barry Manilow songs repeatedly on the juke box and virtually everyone in the bar was singing along.

After all the drinking we ended up scarfing down our left overs from the Tap and Table to soak up some of the booze.  I was chewing on dry tasteless flatbread sitting on the floor in the hallway whereas Stacey was eating risotto in bed with her fingers.  Gong Show. 

I was SERIOUSLY under the weather on Saturday when it was time to get up and head back to Syracuse.  Meanwhile Stacey was picking pieces of rice out of her comforter!  The weather had turned absolutely nasty over night; it was pouring rain and really cold and I was a wreck:  chills, nausea, the whole bit.  Stacey was way too thoughtful and understanding about me being an idiot and doing this to myself.  Eventually I got myself mobile, we got some fast food into our systems and then hit the road to Syracuse.

Overall we had an amazing weekend.  It's always great to road trip and va-ca with Stacey because she's always so laid back and chill but has great ideas for fun stuff to do, places to go and she laughs easily.  Oh, and she loves good food and wine ... which is perfect for hanging out with me!  This was the perfect girls' weekend get away and we will definitely do this again.

Dedicated to my Jakey

I know you've all been missing me.  Its been almost two months since I've blogged (but alas not two months since I've had yummy delicious food to eat).  This fall proved difficult for me with having to say goodbye to my special beloved Jakey.

I adoped Jakey in March 2006 from the Ottawa Humane Society.  This photo was taken on our first Chrismas together.  He was about 6.5 years old here.  My special nickname for him was "Gorgeous-aroso Handsome Pants" ... a little long for a nickname you might say, but it worked perfectly for him.

Jakey LOVED food and he LOVED Christmas.  He would tear open his presents with the excitement and energy of any 6 year old!  I guess the fact that most of his Christmas presents were food that put his two very favourite things together.

Here he is in 2010 checking out the stockings ... the first year we hung the stockings he literally had his head jammed in his stocking to get his rawhide treats ... before Christmas morning.  This year will be very different without him around and I know my entire family will notice his absence and miss him greatly.

He was a crazy guy who loved to play shenanigans.  He would race around the house, cottage or my parents tearing from one bed to the next and back again.  In his first few years with me, he was a pretty sporty.  Here he is in some of his favourite sports activities:  snow plowing, duck hunting, boating and swimming.

 

 

Seconds after I snapped this picture he jumped in Dow's Lake to catch

some ducks ... and then instantly turned towards me with a look on his face

which was clear to interpret:  OMG!  What have I done?

And here he is canoeing (although he doesn't seem to be doing much paddling).  This was in October 2011 at my birthday party and he had a great time as the only boy allowed at the party!



Oh and he loved sleeping too.  With his sister and cousin or on his own.  No matter, he'd always find a comfy spot.

 

 

 

Or ... maybe not so comfy:

 

This is not even his crate.  Its Gwenny-Bear's crate (she was crate trained when we adopted her and it is made for a dog about half the size of Jake).  Jakey had never used a crate and for as much a Gwenny HATED having to go in her crate, Jake LOVED it.  Of course the door was never locked when he was in there ... so that may have changed his mind about how great it was.

 

 

 There were some growing pains when Gwenny-Bear joined our family.  Jakey was such a laid back, easy-going guy so a few times when Gwenny forgot she was in a warm, loving home and thought she was still in the puppy-mill where she had to fight for everything ...and she bit him in the face ... he was so shocked and hurt.  He had no idea what happened.  At one point I thought I'd made a huge mistake by adopting Gwenny and had ruined Jakey's nice life.  Luckily, within a very short period of time we ironed out the problems and they became so close and loved one another very much.

 

 

There are four dog beds in our house, as well as the couch and two people beds. Yet these two silly dogs chose to share one tiny bed - the smallest one in the house. The truth is, Gwenny would often move in to occupy a place where Jakey was laying down; and he being such a nice boy and wanting his little sister to be happy and comfortable would give up his spaace for her. This one time though, he decided they could share. Both a testament to how much they came to care for and love one another.

  

This is the first introduction between Jakey and Gwenny in

July 2009 along with Gwenny's wonderful foster mom Patti from

Bullies-In-Need (check them out; they do amazing work to save dogs - had it

not been for their compassion, dedication and hard work Gwenny would never

have survived the puppy-mill rescue ... having been deemed not worth saving.)

 

And later that weekend all three of the kids chillin at the park -

Jake seems pretty cool with the whole situation.

 

My parents cottage was one of his favourite places in the world.  He got to run around freely (he was well-known in the neighbourhood) and would make his rounds for cookies and pats.  It also offered lots of dead fish for rolling in, or once the fish carcass was dried out, a nice crunchy snack (and you thought this post was not about eating!)

 

 

Here resting in the sunshine:  July 2009

 

 Here:  July 2010 ... possibly debating if he could still make it up and down

the big stairs.  He could.  In fact, he was still going up and down these

stairs in 2012 ... although much slower.

 

Jakey also loved the arboretum.  We spent many Saturday and Sunday mornings walking through the park.  He would trot along slowly behind me; play tag; roll in stinky stuff; find dead fish (clearly a favourite activity of his); make "snow-dog angels" in the winter and check out stranger's picnic baskets in the summer.  On his last day with us, we took him to the arboretum for awhile.  Although he could no longer walk or stand he enjoyed laying in the grass, watching the other dogs and sniffing the cool, fresh fall air.  It was bittersweet but I was so happy that we at least had that one last time together at one of his most favourite places.

 

 

If you recall in the book "Marley and Me" author John Grogan talks about what it is like to have a dog who is amazing and super special (this is the childhood dog that he was raised with - alas NOT Marley!) and in "Merle's Door" author Ted Kerasote relates some incredible stories a a very special dog, Merle.  Jakey was that special, incredible dog for me.  No matter what, he could make me laugh ... even if I was mad at him.  Whether it was chewing a cork from a champagne bottle that he became obsessed with one night even though it has been within his reach for over two years, or bashing down the newspaper with his paw and tearing at the edges to get my attention, to poking his face outside the rails of the stairway to watch me make dinner, or getting out of my reach one afternoon and darting into the basement of the Calvary Church where he went racing through the craft show/bake sale being held in the basement (quote overheard during this fiasco:  "Well that dog is not very well behaved!"), when he was playing 'rocket dog' through the cottage, or any one of a million more wonderful memories I have of him.  Too many to write here. 

 

 

And his 'shenanimans' are continuing from heaven where he's whispering in little Gwenny's ear to hide her cookies in the couch cushions - a new little game she started playing a couple of weeks ago.

 

 

Jakey was my best friend, boyfriend and baby for more than six years.  He brought me so much happiness and I miss him dearly.  Although this blog is not so much about food and eating, I dedicate it to my special little boy.  Love you, miss you Jakey.