Key West at it's Best

My one and only time experiencing Key West and I had no interest what-so-ever in dealing with drunk college students heading south for a warm weekend. I wanted to experience why my friend's who love the Keys...for the relaxation. Well, needless to say by the time I made it down through the FL Keys to Key West, there was no relaxation to be had. A bitter rain and wind storm rolled in. I was cold, wet, and very hungry. So I sought cover at The Commodore Waterfront Restaurant.


Imagine if you will Hemingway's version of the Key West- sea breezes, elevated above the water, wooden interior with a majestic view of the harbor. That's what you feel when you dine on the 2nd floor of the Commodore (bad weather or not).

The menu is excellent. I enjoyed a halibut with a cream sauce and sauteed vegetables. The waitstaff was good. Everything is laid back in Key West (even at 4 Star restaurants) so don't get too excited over the slow pace...relax.

Since I was not able to truly enjoy Key West, I plan on going back for that much needed relaxation. I also plan to include dining at the Commodore again.

Ciao Bella

I had the pleasure of having dinner with my best friend at a place called Ciao Mambo. The location in Downtown Billings reminds of something you would find in the downtown area of a larger city like Washington DC, Chicago, or Denver. It is great to see the Downtown area being revitalized with places like Ciao Mambo. The atmosphere is great. The artwork and the Rat Pack music really brings it all together. I love the wine canvass art from Leanne Laine. I believe that I will be purchasing a few pieces for myself (these are two of my favorites).

My best friend ordered her standard Fettuccini alla Rustica. I was not terribly hungry (and this place definitely has large portions) so I ordered something I knew would reheat well...Spaghetti & Meatballs Salvatore. The bread brought to the table is wonderfully topped with fresh garlic. All dishes are made to order so you can make adjustments to your liking. We were caught up in conversation and my best friend forgot to ask for "no shrimp" but her forgetfulness was good for my tummy. 

If you ever make it to Montana, Idaho, or Washington I recommend pleasing your tummy with some great Italian food at Ciao Mambo.

Doner Kebab meets the Southwest Border

One of my colleagues was having a bad day at work today and wanted to head out for lunch. We needed to go someplace near by but would put a smile on his terribly gloomy face. I did a quick Google Maps search on my phone and found Döner Kebab. I said, "Hey Dave, there is a Döner Kebab in El Paso. I've never had one but you were always raving about it when talking about your time stationed in Germany."

My colleague literally couldn't speak. I looked at him & he had a huge smile. So off we went to find the Döner Kebab. Dave explained to me as I drove that Döners are the quintessential street food in Germany, apparently up there with Currywurst and Brats. We arrived at Döner and Dave walked me through the order process and what goes best with what. The staff was also very helpful since it was obvious that I was a novice and Dave was WAY excited to eat.

I ordered a standard kebab with fries which had German Ketchup. Both were very tasty. It was just what Dave needed to brighten his day. And it brought back memories of his time in Germany and I got to listen to stories about that time that I may not have otherwise learned about. I highly recommend this place to anyone wondering what a Döner Kebab. Also this is a perfect place for all those Ft. Bliss-ers who have been stationed in Germany and want to taste a bit of yumminess from that time.

Kabul on my mind

Today I am writing about a past dinning experience because today I was remembering dear friends of mine who are originally from Afghanistan. One of my friends from work was excited when I finally moved to the DC area. A few weeks after moving, I got a phone call telling me that he was picking me up and we were going to dinner at Bamian (which was the first place that I experienced Afghan food a few years prior with this same friend). He also informed me that he had a surprise for me.

Needless to say I was excited for a many reasons:  I hadn't seen my friend in a few years, I loved Bamian's food, and who doesn't love good surprises. Well, it turns out the surprise was the best part of the night. The surprise was his favorite cousin. He always raved about her and her crazy antics. She was in from Kabul for about 24hrs before leaving for a work meeting. We had such an amazing time that after dinner the three of us stayed together until we put her on a plane the next day. To this day she is one of my best friends.

At Bamain I learned about Boolawnee (clay oven-baked pastry stuffed with scallions, chopped leeks and potatoes, and served with a side of homemade yogurt). I asked if it was similar to an empanada but neither of them had had one of those. So when the Boolawnee arrived I enjoyed being able to talk about when my grandmother would make me empanadas as a child. Both are very similar and very tasty.


We ordered all sorts of food and shared it family style. One of my favorites was the chicken kabobs. The chicken was grilled and seasoned to perfection. Everything was served with a side of Nan-e Afghan (Afghan Bread) and rice. We talked about how if we weren't in a nice restaurant we would be eating with our hands a bit more. I found that interesting because that is how I wanted to eat the food. Using the nan like I would a tortilla or fry bread, constructing something like an Afghan taco using the rice, roasted vegies, yogurt sauce and grilled meat.

When I was recently deployed and spent time in Kabul, I made sure to enjoy local food fare. Remembering the stories my friends told of how they missed the food of their childhood...this was their "Comfort Food". It made me smile with happiness to break nan and share chai with the locals and eat all the wonderful food with our hands. I was complimented on my technique and was then able to explain how in my culture we eat certain foods very similarly. Later on in my deployment I was even able to learn how to make nan and I shared how to make tortillas (one of my comfort foods). 

It was a blessing to be able to bring my food exerperience full circle while in Kabul. I just wish that my friends were there to share the experience with me. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to see either of them in over a year. We couldn't even coordinate to see each other when all three of us were deployed to Kabul at the same time. But we will meet again soon. We will break bread (or maybe nan) and share wine (or maybe chai).

What have we lost?

Ever wanted to do something more?

Be someone better?
 

Have you ever thought, who am I?

Why am I here?

I ponder these questions and that is that is what I am doing today...pondering. So what does that have to do with food?  Those of you that follow my blog know that I haven’t been doing this for very long. But you do know that the reason why I love food and cooking is because it is a universal way of sharing life. Your life. Last summer I lost one of the most influential people in my life. I grew up with him as a mentor. He was an artist, an athlete, a philosopher, and a great family man. He was so influential in my life that my own father considered him a father figure to me as well. I loved him and his wife like family. I was lucky to eventually be able to call him and his family friends as well. During his funeral one of his loving daughters implored us to always say “I love you” to those you hold in your heart. This habit is part of my philosophy of life but there are some people who aren't ready to hear the words "I love you". I have seen first hand when people become a bit freaked out. Something I don't want in my friends and family are unsettled emotions. Since childhood one of the main ways that I show that I care for someone is through my cooking or sharing a meal with them. People can still feel my "love" for them without getting wrapped around some emotional axial. 

I am new to this blog thing and I am not trying to get a bunch of readers to go to the restaurants I have enjoyed. I created it as an extension of me and my thoughts. I created it so that those who read it could feel something deep inside of them. I want to be able to share pieces of my world with others. I can’t cook for everyone whom I want to know that I care for, but maybe this blog will be some way to show that I care.

As a nation I think we have forgotten how to break bread. Many people I know view food as fuel and nothing more. They prefer it to taste good but its still just something to fuel their machine. Believe me I get that view. I have spent plenty of my life opening up MREs to fuel my machine. But I want to change the thoughts of people across our country to view food as fuel for the soul. Have we forgotten how to sit down and break bread? Or have we just gotten to busy to care to do so.  How to sit down and have meals as a family? How to have meals with friends? We no longer have meals as a community. This is a mistake. We should not have stepped away from the table.

Look around, do you see the impact.? It is tangible. It impacts our behavior towards other people. It impacts the children of our nation. It changes our sense of self. It destroys our health. It is impacting our joy. Most of us have forgotten that a meal is a ritual. It is a ritual that honors the food we eat, how it is prepared (from farming to the way its cooked), the people we are eating with, and frankly the person that took the time to make the meal. Sharing a meal is a ritual to fuel our bodies, enriching our families & friends, and spreading love. Love. Sigh….and I am back to missing my mentor. I am grateful to have spent at least one dinner with him, his family, and my family at our favorite local restaurant whenever I was back visiting in my home town. But I have missed too many meals with others because we (many times it was just me) were “too busy.”

My life is very busy, to the point that I rarely in the same place for longer than a few months. But I am hopefully going to be in one place for more than that now. I am looking forward to becoming more involved in my community. I don’t want to forget the ritual of a breaking bread and sharing wine. By forgetting this, our lives and our world are substantially less rich. We need to get back to the ritual of breaking bread...of sharing a meal and sharing our lives. In that spirit, I will continue to share my food adventures and will begin sharing more recipes, as I hope to be making meals for others in the very near future. I look forward to giving more of myself to others. What good are we, if we don’t give our greatest gift? Our time, our love, and ourselves.

Crush into me

I was reading through some old Food & Wine and Bonappetite magazines that I had in my cooking bookshelf (Yes, I have a whole bookshelf dedicated to cooking, wines, and bartending). While reading through a Food & Wine, I came across an article about Dave Matthews and his love for organic farming and his love for his vineyard. The Dave Matthews Band became active in Farm Aid (non-profit concert that raises awareness about family farms) and it was through working with Farm Aid that he found a deeper concern the way our food is produced. Mr. Matthews has been a rock star for the ages but is certainly now a rock star in the farming and vinting community.

Mr. Matthews bought land just outside of Charlottsville, VA near where he and his family moved to in his late teens from South Africa. Two decades ago at the Earth Day Festival in the City of Charlottesville, the Dave Matthews Band was publicly launched. Over the last decade Matthews, his brother Peter, and his close friend Brad McCarthy spent years bringing the soil to organic farm standards so that they could begin the farm and vineyard.

I became increasingly interested Matthews wine, Blenheim Vineyards, so I went to a nearby store and went to the local section. I lucked out and there was a 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon at the store. While I was drinking my glass of wine, I looked up the site and found out that Matthews is venturing out again into wine country. Matthews is launching another collaboration in wine making with Steve Reeder of California called The Dreaming Tree Wines, named after the song. So that is next on my list to try.

The 2009 Cab was very good. The mouthfeel is balanced and the wine has great depth that runs through the long finish. It is also very affordable. The majority of Bleinheim’s wines are priced under $21.

Halloween Tex-Mex Style

A friend and I hadn't seen each other in over a year. It seems we can never coordinate our work schedules properly. Finally,we were able to meet for Happy Hour and dinner at Alero on U Street. This was my first time at Alero even though I have seen the restaurant at various locations throughout DC. We walked into Alero that it was obvious my friend was a regular of sorts. But throughout the night I could see that the wait staff is almost always hustling and eager to please everyone in the restaurant.

The decor was appropriate for U Street, modern with oil paints surrounding a large bar and lounge area. I like the modern art as it reflects the history of the jazz roots of the U Street area. Alero seemed to find a way to combine Latin Jazz and local Afro-American Jazz in the art and the music being played.

There was a wide range of options on the Happy Hour food/drink menu and the regular menu. The menu prices are normal for what you see in the DC area. However, after spending years growing up with traditional southwestern and Mexican food (as well as living in Southern California and Texas), I have a problem paying $10 for a burrito. The chips and salsa are very tasty and went very well with the Happy Hour Modelo :-) The best value on both menus were the steak fajitas but I was in the mood for more steak than the fajitas offered. Maybe it was because I had channeled my inner Vampire all day in honor of Halloween but I went with the filet mignon. The filet was perfectly cooked to my medium rare taste.

I couldn't pass up the fried ice cream. I am happy that I didn't, it was delicious! Halloween, Happy Hour, and catching up with a great friend all were able to be enjoyed at Alero.