Daily Loaf

Get the best of Creative Loafing’s home bakers: the nationally recognized Hamburger Cake by Kristina Woo (it only looks like a hamburger); the prize-winning Chocolate Chip Cookies of Luis Perez; Brian Ries’ addictive Bacon Brittle; and the baked good of your choice from CL Cookbook star Susan Filson, whose irresistible recipes include Pumpkin Cheese Pie with Toffee and Caramel Swirl and Scandalously Good Oatmeal Cookies (pictured).

Estimated value: $100. Suggested opening bid: $25

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A private wine seminar for 10 people with Craig Dean, Wine Director of The Wine Exchange (Best of the Bay for Best Place to Get Lost in Wine). The winner will work with Craig to outline the tasting — if he or she is new to wine, Craig will provide a great way to learn about styles. If the winner knows wine and wants a challenge, Craig will hold a vertical or terroir tasting. The seminar includes 4 to 5 wines (based on the winner’s level of experience) and light appetizers. Plus, Majestic Fine Wines (La Crema) is offering this Majestic bonus: 1 3L bottle of its Carmel Road wine and 2 1.5L bottles of Cambria Pinot Noir.

Estimated value: $750. Suggested opening bid: $100

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Spend a day toiling as a lowly drone in the harrowing kitchen of almost-James Beard-nominated chef Zack Gross. The burly, tattooed owner of Z Grille may burn your ears with his scathing, profanity-laced criticism as you ham-handedly chop onions or ruin the soup, but think of the experience. Includes dinner for four of your friends or family, so they can taste the fruits of your unpaid labor.

Estimated value: $400.

Current High Bid: $100.

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Go alternative at the ThanksVegan Feast

Wednesday, November 25: Vino 100
Thanksgiving Tasting. If you’re anything like me, you’ve put off holiday preparations until the last minute. There’s still cleaning to be done and meals to plan, but at least you’ll know which wine will grace your holiday table after attending this tasting that pairs perfect seasonal wines with a selection of Thanksgiving favorites, so you can choose your ideal combo. Free. 5-8 p.m., 5056 Fourth St. N., St. Petersburg (727-522-8466)

Wednesday, November 25: Bern’s Fine Wines and Spirits
Happy Holidays. Bern’s is offering a bite of holiday cheer: buy any wine or spirit and take your same-day receipt to the Sidebern’s bar for a complimentary Chef’s Choice bite from the lounge menu. 1002 S. Howard Ave., Tampa (813-250-9463)

Thursday, November 26: Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa
ThanksVegan Feast. Thanksgiving should be an opportunity for all sorts of folks to get together and stuff themselves without recrimination, unless you’re spending the holiday with your family. Why discriminate against people who shun the bird for more esoteric culinary fetishes? Join vegans, vegetarians, raw foodists and the veg-curious at the fourth annual ThanksVegan Feast. It’s a potluck, so you’ll need to bring a covered dish that’s free of animal products (even bacon), a massive appetite and a willingness to buck traditional foods while maintaining the true spirit of the season: gluttony, in all its cruelty-free glory. $5 (with a dish), $15 (without a dish). 1:30-5:30 p.m., 11400 Morris Bridge Road, Tampa, vegtampathanksgiving.com. —Brian Ries

Thursday, November 26: The NoHo Bistro
Thanksgiving: To Cook, or Not To Cook? Instead of worrying about undercooking the turkey, runny mashed potatoes, or burning the pumpkin pie, take time to relax with the family (or attempt to avoid them), watch the Macy’s Parade, and scream/cheer at the football games while NoHo Bistro does the work for you. Just follow their cooking instructions and within minutes, you’ll be digging into their scrumptious seasonal meal that includes: whole roasted turkey with herbed butter chestnut-cranberry Stuffing; maple-cured bacon sweet potato souffle with marshmallow crust; honey-glazed butternut squash; creamed peas with baby onions; and pumpkin praline tart. This ain’t no Swanson’s Turkey Dinner! $26.95 per person. 1714 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa (813-514-0691)

Many more events after the break: Read the rest of this entry »

Everybody loves stuffing on Thanksgiving. Even though, most people rarely eat it on the other 364 days of the year, they’ve got to have it on Turkey Day. To many, the stuffing is even more important than the bird. It certainly is more versatile. If you do a Google search for stuffing recipes, you will be rewarded with almost 2,000,000 possibilities. Staggering, isn’t it?

There are cornbread, white bread and sourdough stuffings. There are meat- and seafood-based offerings, as well some great vegetarian versions. Some add fruits and nuts into the mix. They feature the seasonings and spices of various cultural and ethnic cuisines. I’ve even found some recipes using rice and potatoes. Yes, it appears that stuffing is a very personal thing, often reflecting the personality of the person who makes it.

I’ve also found that many stuffing makers are adamant in their belief that theirs is the one and only true Thanksgiving stuffing and nothing else will do – period! They also assume that everyone else feels the same way too, and if they are coming to your house for Thanksgiving dinner, they are going to damn well bring some with them. I won’t mention any names, but one of these people gave birth to me.  Read the rest of this entry »

Who hasn’t wanted to spend the whole day in Dunedin (other than the folks who are already lucky enough to live there)? This package offers a mix of food, funkiness and fine art, all the flavors that make Dunedin everyone’s favorite small town. First, it’s breakfast at Kelly’s For Just About… Anything! (maybe the most accurate name in restaurantdom); then it’s time for a class of your choice at Dunedin Fine Art Center; and finally, settle down for lunch, and some of the best (and healthiest) Mexican food around, at Casa Tina. By the end of the day you may start looking for real estate.

Estimated value: $150

Current High Bid: $22.

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In my family, Thanksgiving dinner always begins with the primi piatti, or first course. It’s the Italian way. Don’t even try to slap a turkey, stuffing and some sides on the table without first serving some type of soup, pasta or risotto dish! But, let’s face it: Who could possibly ingest, much less savor, turkey and all of the trimmings after scarfing down a plate full of homemade manicotti or porcini risotto?

Maybe that’s the reason why in Italian families, Thanksgiving dinner is usually an all day affair, with several “rest” periods between courses to enable diners to take short naps or walks around the block? That’s also why, if given the choice, I usually go for a soup.

When soup was on the holiday menu at our house, my mother usually made a big pot of Minestra Maritata, or Italian Wedding Soup. It’s a light, flavorful soup made with chicken stock, greens and little, tiny, light-as-air veal meatballs, and which by the way, has nothing to do with weddings. It was, and still is, a very popular dish, if not a predictable one. But, sometimes, I just want to stir things up and throw something unexpected into the mix. Here’s a dish that none of cooks in my Italian family would ever think of putting on their Thanksgiving table. None except me, that is. Read the rest of this entry »

(Check out Vegan Thanksgiving part 1 and part 2.)

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Best. Cookies. Ever.

We need to talk about vegan almond-raspberry thumbprint cookies.

This is an amazing recipe. I found it two Thanksgivings ago, the first time I had to cook for myself as a vegan. I loved it so much, I decided to experiment with all kinds of vegan pastries and then give them out as Christmas presents (more about that next month, when I share some of my Starving Artist Tricks with you). Read the rest of this entry »

Turkey Dinner – Colleen Sachs, c 1995 – collection Nancy Armstrong

This time of year one of the most common questions in wine shops across the United States is what wine goes with turkey? Answers range from full-bodied whites, to light pinot noir, to the just released Beaujolais Nouveau. But instead of trying to come up with a universal answer, the response should be another question: what sides are you serving?

While the turkey is clearly the centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinner, it is a fairly blank canvas when it comes to wine pairing. The side dishes are what set the tone of the meal. Here are some suggestions followed by names of a few producers. Don’t worry if you can’t find the specific wines mentioned, just look for similarities.

A traditional Norman Rockwell-style Thanksgiving feast includes richness by way of gravy, mashed potatoes and dressing. It also features sweetness in the form of cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes. Lots of flavor is needed to match the richness of this meal. Good options with this type of meal are Spanish tempranillo (like that from Bodegas Muga) and French Cotes-du-Rhone (E. Guigal, Chateau de Beaucastel) for reds, or gruner-veltliner (Weingut Eder) and gewürztraminer (Alexander Valley Vineyards) for whites.

Traditional southern Thanksgiving, which is what I am used to, is likely to include Read the rest of this entry »

Each year around this time we’re inundated with requests for help or financial support from almost every nonprofit organization under the sun. While most, if not all, are very worthy causes, it can still be a bit daunting. This year, perhaps more than ever, the needs of our community are great while our resources are dwindling. With unemployment at over 10%, writing a few checks to our favorite charities is simply not an option for many of us right now. But there are still lots of small ways that we can make a difference, some of which can be very rewarding.

What we may not be able to give in dollars, we most likely can give in time. Volunteering at a local charity during the Holidays is a always a great way to support our community and make the lives of those less fortunate a little bit brighter. Hosting a Drop In & Decorate Party is a sweet way to pay it forward and have a swell time doing it.  Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to hang with celebrities, or just act like one yourself? This is the package for you. Start out at Hooters in Channelside, with a $100 party tab and plenty of Hooter schwag thrown in for yuks. Then head over to The Rack in SoHo, where you’ll have another $100 to spend. Dinner? A game of pool? Or just more time at the bar? Whatever. Or get twice the fun for your money and do Hooter’s one night, The Rack on another — a perfect combo for entertaining your wilder weekend guest. Just make sure you’ve chosen someone else to be designated driver.

Estimated value: $250.

Current High Bid: $51.

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PassportToVacations.com is offering a three-day/two-night certificate for a hotel stay in over 300 North American destinations from San Francisco to St. Pete Beach, from Oregon to Orlando. You choose from among some of the top chains in the country, including Wyndham, Radisson, Clarion and lots more.

Estimated value: $400.

Current High Bid: $80.

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Datz Deli, the hot new spot on MacDill, won Best Wines-By-The-Glass in CL’s Best of the Bay 2009. Now’s your chance to see what all the buzz is about with a wine, cheese and charcuterie tasting for 8. How many times do you get to do a tasting with not just a sommelier but a fromager, too? (That’s French for cheese maven.)

Estimated value: $500.

Current High Bid: $75.

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Everyone loves Creative Loafing’s Eats and Bites half-price gift certificates, the ones that allow you to enjoy many of the area’s best restaurants at a discount. Well, this is your chance to stockpile a whole bunch of ‘em — 10 $50 gift certificates to participating restaurants. Get ‘em before they sell out.

Estimated value: $500.

Current High Bid: $112.

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Check out Vegan Thanksgiving part 1 and part 3.)

Vegan desserts are perhaps the most daunting undertaking of any new- or non-vegan, inspiring such questions as…

What should I use to replace eggs/milk/butter?

Can I bake for the same amount of time?

How do I make cookies that don’t taste like cardboard?

How do I know if my sugar is vegan?

I hear that some flour has bone in it. Truth or fiction?

Well, dearies, I don’t presume to have all the answers, but as both the maker and eater of countless vegan treats, I do know that there are ways to get around many of these questions. Read the rest of this entry »

Join CL’s beer maven Bethany Sherwin at Best of the Bay-winning Cigar City Brewing, where Brewmaster Wayne Wambles will pour you and three friends through the entire Cigar City line, including some very rare and limited stuff Wayne will pull from the hidden vault. Afterwards, head home with your very own care package of Cigar City beers, including a refillable growler for each of your guests.

Estimated value: $300.

Current High Bid: $100

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Have you ever wanted to experience the glory of brewing your own batch of beer? Well, now you can! Join forces with Tampa Bay Brewing Company Head Brewer David Doble to become a brewing apprentice for a day. You will assist David as he brews one of the house beers (and he might even let you pick which one). After you are done, TBBC will give you a t-shirt so you won’t be covered in grain when you go home. Then you and 10 of your friends will be invited back about a month later to celebrate the tapping of the beer you helped brew. TBBC will provide the pizza and pitchers of beer for your party. And to really get the full experience of being a brewer — you are entitled to one free mug per day of the beer you helped brew for as long as it is on tap.

Estimated value: $350

Current High Bid: $210

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This week’s episode of Top Chef Las Vegas had three very important elements: kicking off another schmo so we can get to the finale already, it was the last episode in Vegas, and (drumroll, please) Thomas Keller appeared as a guest adjudicator. It sure took for damn long enough to get him to do the show! What, 6 seasons?! I’m glad that Keller finally learned from his famous chef peers, sold out, and jumped on the gravy train that is Top Chef (because who knew who he was before this show, right?).

In their Quickfire Challenge, the chefs were greeted by Gavin Kaysen who competed in the 2007 Bocuse d’Or – the equivalent of the Olympics in the culinary world. He challenged them to a ballotine (bah-lo-TEEN) challenge (not to be confused with the mispronunciation of “ballontine” used almost the entire episode), which is basically a “protein inside a protein inside a protein” – a protein explosion!

Redbeard (Kevin) called the V Brothers “not smart” for trying to do too much in such a short period of time, though they seemed to pull it off, and Redbeard’s dish was then put down as being “too simple”. Angry Bro (Mike) got whiny about not winning (claiming to not have understood the challenge), and Ceveech (Jen) took the win with her sushi-esque calamari/scallop/salmon roll. It’s nice to see this once sassy and confident woman finally get her groove back and get back in the saddle. (Though I definitely think she was on something, be it natural or prescription, this episode – she seemed so much calmer, with a touch of joie de vivre about her.)

The cheftestants had to become culinary Olympians for their Elimination Challenge, as they were to perform in a Bocuse d’Or style challenge. To put it in layman’s terms: They had to cook a kickass dish with extremely intricate “garnishes” in only a few hours for some of the biggest names in the culinary world- Thomas Keller (the giant pictured at right), Daniel Boulud, Jerome Bocuse, and Gavin Kaysen, among other renowned names in food.

I thought that the comments made by Hot Bro (Bryan) about not being sure if he’d finish on time and Kevin saying how he was attempting something he’d never done before was foreshadowing and spelled doom for them. Ceveech, despite some minor issues, seemed pretty comfortable with her dishes (plus, she’d received an extra 30 minutes to cook from her Quickfire win), and Angry Bro seemed overly confident (as per usual) and well prepared because of all the culinary competitions he’d performed in about 10-11 years prior (”Best Teen Chef”?).

During judging, they were all raked against the coals, mostly being chastized for having over- or undercooked dishes. Turns out Angry Bro’s took his artistry too far and overcomplicated his dish, missing the mark, and forgetting to season properly. Even though he didn’t exactly follow the guidelines like the other chefs did (listen to the podcast below to hear our reasoning), Redbeard ended up taking the win, which also included $30k and a spot on the American team for the next Bocuse d’Or. And Eli “Bonaduce” got sent packing (no surprise there).

Highlights: Hate mail, Jeff gives us the 411 on the Bocuse d’Or, comments on the fabulous makeovers as seen in the finale preview, and we surmise our picks for the top three finalists.
 
Bonus: Jeff gives information on an exciting culinary event taking place next month in Orlando where Angry Bro (Mike Voltaggio) will make an appearance, as well as many other big names in the food world. Listen to the podcast for more info.

Hear the hilarious podcast after the jump:
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Join CL Food Critic Brian Ries (with three of your friends) as he reviews a new restaurant. He’ll listen to your undoubtedly informed commentary on the food and atmosphere and pretend to agree, regale you with harrowing tales of his reviewing career and ultimately ignore your opinions when he writes up his review. For security purposes, the name of the restaurant will not be revealed until just before your dinner, and no photography or amateur portraiture will be allowed.

Estimated value: $250.

Current High Bid: $75

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Seconds after the stroke of midnight on the third Thursday of each November, men wearing berets begin driving trucks filled with heavy crates through darkened streets of France.

Their mission: To deliver more than a million cases of their cargo to all parts of the globe.

Welcome to one of the most anticipated – and absurd – events on the wine lover’s calendar. I’m talking, of course, about the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau, or new harvest wine.

Within weeks tens of millions of bottles will be drunk in what is essentially the planet’s biggest excuse for a party.

How Beaujolais Nouveau managed to become the world’s most popular wine (no kidding) is, well, strange. Read the rest of this entry »

Peter Taylor (of Wood Fired Pizza Wine Bar) and Dan Bavaro (of Pizzaiolo Bavaro) come in to talk about the Tampa Bay pizza scene, which was shocked back into life this year thanks to their two restaurants.

Taylor is a fanatic who wants to make the best pizza in the world, day in and day out, based a conglomeration of different styles and cultures. Bavaro makes his own version of classic Neapolitan pizza. They’re both serious artists who’ve set a new bar for pies in the area. Hear their take on proper pizza, and how they make the best pies in the Bay.

And, if you’re an amateur pizza maker, check out this auction in the CL Holiday Auction Experience, which provides the highest bidder a chance to work dough and tend oven with these two pizza masters, then feed your friends with the pies you create, all to benefit Tampa’s The Children’s Home

Download the podcast here.

In five years of reviews, CL Food Critic Brian Ries has never awarded a restaurant five stars. Now he will do just that in a review of your favorite restaurant for the issue of Jan. 20, 2010. He will laud the food, decor, service, napkins, even the bathroom, all while refraining from tongue-in-cheek praise or backhanded compliments. (Readers will be informed, however, that the review is a result of this auction. But heck, all anyone looks at is the star rating, right?)

Current High Bid: $127.34

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Peter Taylor of Wood Fired Pizza Wine Bar and Dan Bavaro of Pizzaiolo Bavaro are on the cutting edge of pizza in the Bay area. You could learn at the elbow of just one of them, but why limit yourself? Join Wood Fired’s owner and pizza fanatic Taylor (pictured) for a day-long pizza-torial, from dough-making to tending the basil plants, from making sauce to manning the blazing oven. Four of your friends will join you at the end of the experience to see how far you’ve come. Then do it again at Pizzaiolo Bavaro, where Neopolitan pizza maker Bavaro will teach you how to stretch and bake Napoli-style.

Estimated value: $500.

Current High Bid: $125

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(Check out the Vegan Thanksgiving part 2 and part 3.)

I spent three Thanksgivings poring over homemade dishes at my Jewish grandma’s house, wondering if she understood entirely what I meant when I told her I was  vegan.

“Sarah, honey, you’ll eat the turkey, won’t you?” she would ask me.

“No, grandma, vegans don’t eat turkey.”

“But you’ll eat the green bean casserole.”

“No, grandma. It has milk in it. I don’t eat milk.”

“You’ll eat the sweet potatoes, then.”

“They’ve got marshmallows, grandma. I don’t eat marshmallows.”

This is where she became concerned. Because, you see, my grandma is old. She turned ninety this year. Thanksgiving is already tough for a woman her age. She’s got all this mixing and stirring and lifting to do—she doesn’t want any extra work, and to her, dreaming up vegan dishes is a challenge.

But it doesn’t have to be. Vegan Thanksgiving is no harder than carnivore Thanksgiving. You don’t even have to hunt down a Tofurky (even though they’re not that hard to find these days). You know what? I’ll be honest. Tofurky is kind of gross, anyway. And it’s a cop-out. Don’t buy a Tofurky.

“So, what should I do, then?” you ask. “My crazy vegan sister-in-law is coming over. I never know what to make for her!”

Shhhh, calm down. There’s no need to fret. Just make shish kebabs.

Shish kebabs? For Thanksgiving?

Oh, yeah. Shish kebabs have everything a good Thanksgiving meal needs. They have: Read the rest of this entry »

Try tasty Coq au Vin at the Toasted Pheasant's Thursday wine dinner

Wednesday, November 18: Cork and Olive Carrollwood
Winey Women Wednesday. This is the only time it’s good to be a “winey” woman. Bring a friend, leave with a buzz and a bottle! Free. 6:30-8:30 p.m., 10019 N. Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa (813-868-3733)

Thursday, November 19: Total Wine
South African Roadshow. Discover sweet new surprises with South African wines like Brampton Cabernet Sauvignon, Brampton Chardonnay Un-Oaked, Hands Cabernet, Hands Chardonnay, Indaba Chenin Blanc, Indaba Sauvignon Blanc, Mulderbosch Cabernet Rose, Mulderbosch Faithful Hound Red, and Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc. Free. 1-6 p.m., 1720 N Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa (813-350-9601)

Thursday, November 19: Toasted Pheasant
Beaujolais Nouveau Wine Dinner. In one of the best all-inclusive meal deals I’ve ever seen (not to mention a fabulous pre-weekend night of indulgence), the Pheasant offers a wine-accompanied three-course meal of your choice of one appetizer (choose from French onion soup with a swiss cheese crouton;  lobster bisque; salad with French vinaigrette; or mussels steamed in chardonnay and garlic), one entree (choose from coq au vin, [chicken with red wine and mushrooms]; roasted beef with béarnaise sauce; escargot tossed with garlic butter over linguini; grouper and shrimp provençale; or fried frog legs in a crispy beer batter), and dessert (French chocolate grandmarnier mousse and chantilly cream with strawberry  confit). $19.95. 14445 N. Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa (813-265-6700)

Many more events after the break: Read the rest of this entry »

It is known throughout the land – I am flamboyantly enraptured with every single beer produced by Left Hand Brewing. Their Milk Stout is the most excellent session stout ever, JuJu Ginger is the best accompaniment for sushi since wasabi, and Polestar Pilsner is so yummy it makes an ale junkie like me develop insane cravings for lager. But most of all, Left Hand’s seasonal and limited beers conjure intense feelings of euphoria – Oak Aged Imperial Stout, Rye Bock, and the Midnight Project collaborations with Terrapin Brewing. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not normally a huge fan of cookies. Not that I don’t enjoy a good a good cookie from time to time, because I do. I just don’t go crazy for them the way I do other sweets like, say…ice cream or eclairs. But when I do reach into the cookie jar, it’s a pretty safe bet that there’s oatmeal involved. And, a combination of dried fruits. And definitely, some toasted nuts too.   Truth be told, I usually don’t even bother with the cookie jar unless there’s a batch of these lovelies waiting in there for me. I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to tell you about my Scandalously Good Oatmeal cookies!

I call them Scandalously Good Oatmeal Cookies for good reason. They are scandalously good! In fact, they are the best oatmeal cookies ever, if I do say so myself! These little babies are everything a fabulous oatmeal cookie should be – shatteringly crispy around the edges, yet chewy and almost lacy on the inside. They’re made with real butter and brown sugar which makes them caramelize just the slightest bit when baked. And, they’re studded with an assortment of dried fruits and nuts. I found the original cookie recipe in an old issue of Cook’s Illustrated. I’ve played around with the ingredients and tweaked the recipe until I came up with what I think is the perfect oatmeal cookie.  Read the rest of this entry »

As my friends continue to prove unable to handle their liquor, this hopes to become a series of helpful hints and amusing anecdotes which more experienced party-goers can use to ridicule friends who ill-advisedly drink beyond their means. It also sets up some pretty good photography. Here’s hoping they’ll still hang out with me.

A while back at our weekly poker game, one of our regulars decided to partake in a little Smirnoff 100. For those of you who haven’t ever had the misfortune of drinking this godforsaken beverage, Smirnoff 100 is just like regular vodka… except stronger. It is 100 proof rather than 80 proof, hence the name. Making it 20, carry the two, 10% more alcohol. I was told there would be no math.

At the beginning of the evening, I distinctly told my colleague to go easy drinking that stuff, as it would surely catch up with him. And it did.

Read the rest of this entry »

A-Rod redeemed: How to win a World Series in ten days

Okay… deep breath. Congratulations to the New York Yankees for knocking off the Phillies en route to their 27th World Series title. There… I said it. Now Red Sox hat placed firmly back on my head.

A particular congratulations to Alex Rodriguez who proved us all wrong by showing he could become part of a championship team. He hit .365 this post-season with 6 home runs and 18 RBI. Nice numbers if you can get ‘em.

The media’s been hard on A-Rod over the years but the golden boy is now having the last laugh. His 2009 Yankees were confident, relaxed and businesslike, even more so as the season progressed. They proved without a doubt they were the best team in the majors by out-hitting, out-pitching and out-fielding the Philadelphia Phillies. Read the rest of this entry »

Song Huong Vietnamese Restaurant
4040 W Waters Ave., Tampa, 813-880-9676

Hours: 10am- 10pm Wed- Mon, Closed Tuesday

For the budget conscious diner, I recommend Vietnamese cuisine: rice vermicelli, grilled beef and pork, steamed shrimp and piles of vegetables and herbs like sprouts, cilantro, lemongrass, cucumbers and carrots flavored with tart lime, spicy chili or briny fish sauce. The flavors are lively and fresh and the price is right, with many entrees around $7.95.

Song Huong is another one of those locations that you may have driven by countless times. Perhaps you stopped in for karaoke night next door at Good Time Charlie’s. Terracotta tile and yellow tablecloths beckon you into this well-lit establishment. A large flatscreen television entertains (presumably the children) with Nickelodeon. The owner greets you and is ready to feed you. Read the rest of this entry »

With the holidays approaching, the glorious bounty that is winter seasonal beer begins to descend upon the shelves of local bottle shops. One of my favorite seasonal offerings is the Petrus Key to Heaven gift pack, which features 6 unique brews from Belgian brewery Bavik-De Brabandere, many of which have been wood aged for at least two years. Among these fine examples of Belgian brewing are the sour lactobacillus joys Aged Pale and Oud Bruin, and the beefy, malty Dubbel Bruin.

A Blond Ale is also included in this cornucopia of Belgian funkiness. The bottle features a monk resembling pimp Santa on the label, proudly displaying his key to heaven and goblet – no doubt full of high-quality beer. Since Santa is down with snow, the North Pole, reindeer, and all that, Petrus Blond is best served cold, unlike many Belgian ales whose flavor characteristics are at their finest around cellar temperatures. Read the rest of this entry »

 At the beginning of this episode, we were pleasantly surprised to find Padma and Nigella Lawson in bed (not together, but one can dream) wanting a hot breakfast served to their room from the cheftestants. Eli gave us a great background on Nigella, saying, “She’s like a less French version of Julia Child; she’s kinda legit.” Right, Eli, because Julia Child was definitely from France and Nigella Lawson is from England (very close to France, though- close, but no cigar). I’m even confused on the logic there.

The ladies were presented with some interesting (to be polite) dishes, like HotBro’s (Bryan) vanilla scented seafood medley with a soft egg and Eli’s reuben inspired benedict with Thousand Island hollandaise (I gagged upon hearing that one). As for Ceveech’s (Jen) S.O.S.: I would have thought Nigella would’ve been into that sort of thing; maybe if Jen had arranged it with a bit more care and didn’t just throw it on the plate. But then I guess then it wouldn’t look like shit, which might’ve been what she was going for. Eli took the won and his Quickfire dish will now be featured in the new Top Chef cookbook (as if Top Chef didn’t have enough to sell).

For the Elimination Challenge, the cheftestants each had a different hotel on the Las Vegas Strip to draw inspiration from for their dishes. It seems they all interpreted this challenge differently: some taking it literally with elements that were supposed to remind one of the particular hotel, while others took it more figuratively by pretty much just making whatever they felt like. For example: I don’t understand how Redbeard’s dish said “The Mirage”: was it the hidden spice underneath the salmon? And the fact that HotBro used the aquarium from his hotel (which had nothing to do with the ocean) to model his dish just perplexed me. Are there not rules to this sort of challenge? I guess not because those who took the challenge literally ended up on the bottom this week.

I’ll give it to Ceveech for doing a play on ‘The Sword and the Stone’ element from Excalibur, though her beef was literally like gnawing on a stone. Eli’s Caramel Apple Peanut Soup with Popcorn Raspberry Froth looked like someone vomited after eating too much at the fair. I couldn’t believe he came up with that. Robin’s panna cotta didn’t “quiver like a courtesan’s thigh”, but at least it was edible and non-offensive. We discuss in this podcast the fact the judges have claimed that they judge on a week-by-week basis and don’t look at the chef’s portfolios overall- but we disagree, especially in this case.

Highlights: Drooling over Nigella, the dishes that made us queasy, Hot Bro stalking, and our bets for the finale.

Hear the hilarious podcast after the jump:
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I challenge you to find a more suitable, adult-appropriate companion for a well assembled burger than a flavorful brew. But not every beer has the power to bring out the best in every burger — some matches are just better than others. Thankfully, Square One Burgers has an extensive beer list and a huge variety of killer burgers, so no matter what your preferences include, you have the opportunity to setup an ideal burger/ beer scenario. Read the rest of this entry »

Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe
3 and 1/2 stars
5119 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa, 813-234-1000 or ellasfolkartcafe.com

I shy away from the the term “hipster,” if only because it’s tossed around with a disregard of meaning that puts the misuse of “cool” and “hip” to shame. Sometimes it’s a slur, sometimes a misguided attempt to classify a widely varied range of people. But when it comes to Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe, it fits.

This new restaurant is in a restored house in Seminole Heights, which may give you the impression that it’s a tiny, funky place with a few tables and a lot of art. Not by a long shot. There is a lot of art, from the life-size metalwork sculpture of a horse in the front yard — seemingly in the throes of a painful attempt to stand up — to detailed pieces composed of found objects, and everything in between. By the hostess stand are sculpted faces above pages from books, their contorted features conveying a sense of the text before you even get close enough to read it. It’s an impressive display, and the restaurant’s devotion to the “folk art” part of its name is reflected on Ella’s menu, where each artist is afforded an entire page with pictures and a bio.

Even so, that artwork can get lost in a space that is both bigger and much slicker than my preconceptions of what a Heights house restaurant would look like. Read the rest of this entry »

As most of you have seen from last week’s preview and from the pictures being passed around the ‘net, Padma and Nigella Lawson (popular English cookboook author and TV chef) are in bed together for this week’s Quickfire Challenge. Okay, maybe not in bed together, but in beds that are right next to each other (I’ll leave it up to your imagination as to what’s under those robes though). They’re demanding breakfast in bed from the cheftestants- they want it hot, and they want it now.

From the looks of the preview video below, Eli is attempting some god-awful sounding sauce concoction, Robin makes like eggs and frantically scrambles her way around the kitchen, and AngryBro (Mike) curses up a storm (surprise) and blames Robin for wasting 5 minutes of his precious time.

For the Elimination Challenge, each cheftestant has to cook a dish inspired by one of the big hotels in Las Vegas. It’s great to finally see them do a Las Vegas-themed challenge because I think many of us forgot where they were this season.

In the preview for the Elimination Challenge, we get to see HotBro (Bryan) and AngryBro (Mike) visit the hotels that will serve as the inspiration for their dishes. AngryBro states that he will be paying homage to firefighters (his hotel is New York, New York) with his dish but still “cooking it his way”. I hope that means he’s going to light something on fire – that would surely blow his brother’s creation out of the water (you’ll get the bad pun if you watch the video below).

Tune in to Bravo tonight at 10 pm EST/9 pm C, check out our own live Tweets during the show (Jeff: @TheStew, Katie: @culinarypirate), and listen to our podcast here tomorrow! (You can now download on iTunes and check out Jeff’s Top Chef Flickr page.)

Videos after the break.
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