LOCAL CHOP & GRILL HOUSE

 When I am visiting a new town, I search for the fanciest steakhouse. I use Google a lot and one of the best indicators is asking the locals. We are in Harrisonburg, Virginia and all indicators pointed to "Local Chop & Grill House. The building is historic being built in 1911. It was a storage house next to the railroad and later a seed company. Today it houses luxury condominiums and the Local Chop House. I did not have a reservation which was unfortunate. Being the best steakhouse in town they get crowded. They were able to seat me in the bar area.

My steak was cooked to order and was enjoyed. The service was great. There was a lot to like about this place. One nice thing was the bill. It was about half the price of any big city steakhouse. The locals know where to go.

Edit; I almost forgot the deconstructed cheesecake I had for dessert. How could I forget that? I know, it was not that remarkeable. Put it all back together is what I say.

CRACKER BARREL

 I never realized Cracker Barrel was actually a popular restaurant back East. It seemed to be the butt of parody and jokes of Late Night T.V. shows. My hotel in Harrisonburg Virginia was right across the street from said restaurant and it was time to experience a Cracker Barrel meal.

I walked through the door and immediately saw the appeal. This looked like a fun place. You walk through a gift shop and try to avoid all the kitschy items that you always wanted but do not need. I was immediately seated and given three menus to accompany the various small sign board advertisements on the table. My choices were chicken fried, dumplings, corn and peach cobbler ala mode. The service was friendly and quick.

      The cobbler was great. The chicken fried was decent but the gravy was lumpy as all get. The dumplings were an abonimation against mankind. A sour gravy/soup with lumps of wet flour that just did not float my boat. Overall, the food was pretty mediorce but I was hungry and it did the trick. (did not consume dumpling/gravy/soup conncoction at all).

Here is what I see the mass appeal of Cracker Barrel is; with tip my meal was thirty dollars. This is a fun restaurant. The service was great. The food was pretty pedestrian but you did get a lot of it. Thirty dollars might by you a pre-dinner cocktail in San Francisco. I was satisfied and fufilled a curiostiy itch at Cracker Barrel.

Edit; after re-reading my post, I forgot to mention the salad. The salad was fantastic. I usually do not get to excited about salads but this one was superb. Lots of fresh lettuce, with chopped vegetables, cheese and real honest to gosh bacon. Yes, I enjoyed it.

KENNEDY'S STEAKHOUSE

 

I am back on the west coast and in Eugene, Oregon to see if the Crumbsweeper is still alive. I am happy to report at Kennedy's she is and representing fine dinning at her best. Kennedy's is located downtown and I was only visiting. Online it seemed almost impossible to get a reservation but arriving at the beginning of service I was seated immediately and when I left there was only a dozen patrons. Except for this glitch I was treated to the most fantastic steak. The service was fantastic and my beloved Crumbsweeper was present.

This was a 30 day wet-aged New York strip steak. It rang all the right bells. It was properly seasoned, cooked perfectly and aged just the righ amount of time. This steak is what I crave. (I was dissapointed at my last steak house in Wash. D.C.). I was very happy with my meal.

THE CAPITAL GRILL

 

The Capital Grille is located in Washington D.C. several blocks away from the Whitehouse. This was my destination tonight. Parking Karma was present if you count a valet service. Come with me and visit a swanky steak house in the Capital city.

I was visiting Virginia to attend a knife show and had 24 hours to kill before my flight home in Washington D.C. I played the tourist roll with gusto. I researched steakhouses and this one fit my criteria of swank and old school elegance. I was not dissapointed. (almost). The interior is dimly lit but you can see all the wood paneling. This restaurant screams elegance, warmth and the place to make politcal deals. They had a room dedicated to dry aging steaks. I was in the right place. I dined early and the place was not very crowded. The waiter took my order and I ordered a dry aged bone-in New York strip steak and several accompaniments.

The meal started off with a bread basket of rye, sourdough, pita and the most decadent carmalized onion topped bread. My Caesar salad was a great starter course. The main course arrived and it looked fantastic. More on the steak a little later. The asparagus (probably from California) and mushrooms were great. I was not done and ordered the brulee topped cheesecake.

I do love a good dry aged steak. This restaurant had so much potential for greatness with just a few small tweeks. My steak was ordered medium rare. It was cooked a tad too long. It also had not been properly seasoned. An addition of more salt would have thrown this steak into the Presidency. Lastly, the steak had not been properly rested. This was evident by the juices flowing out of my steak when I cut into it. Do I sound over critical? I do not think so when I am paying very high San Francisco prices. Maybe when I am in San Francisco I am paying Washington D.C. prices? Who knows?

I am glad to have visited The Capital Grill. My meal was enjoyed. With a couple of tweeks it could of been really fantastic. Sometimes it is a lot of fun being a tourist.

CRAZY BLOCK CHEESECAKE

A local pop-up purveyor of multi flavored cheesecakes has opened a brick and mortar restaurant. They serve an eclectic mix of menu items that include bbq, latkes and cheesecakes. Crazy Block Cheesecakes located on Lakeshore Avenue in  Oakland California serves two of my favorite food groups; cheesecake & bbq. I had to give them a try. My parking karma found me a metered spot a block and ½ away. If you know the Lakeshore area this is considered a win.

Crazy Block had only been open for a couple of weeks. It has that freshly opened look. They have a graffiti type slash skateboard vibe inside and out. The servers were young and very friendly.  The enthusiastic owner was also present and was more than willing to assist with any menu questions. I ordered a three way combo of smoked chicken, lamb and brisket. It came with several options for a side and I chose macaroni & cheese. I had to order a cheesecake and I got a mini chocolate and caramel offering.

You want to love a new restaurant. You hope for their success. Hopefully I caught them on an off day but my meal was very unspectacular. The meats were over smoked. The chicken was tough. I am glad I knew this was lamb because I would have never guessed. The presentation of the chopped meats had a cat food type look. The brisket was meh. One nibble of the mac & cheese and I stopped abruptly for fear of being overwrought with melancholy. The cheesecake I had such high hopes for. It was not terrible and I am possibly being generous. I will not return.

ANGELO'S BEEF JERKY

 

Angleo makes the best beef jerky. He is pretty spry for being in his 90's. He is at work 6 days a week and stays very busy. I visited him last week and picked up a sampler pack of his jerky. So good!

Angelo’s Meats

2700 Adobe Road

Petaluma, CA 94954

707-763-9586

SAINT PATRICK WAS ITALIAN

 Saint Patrick was not Italian but we celebrated his day at the Colombo Italian Club. We had some of the most fantastic pesto pasta with a side of corned beef. This beef was boiled and served with cabbage. This is not my favorite way to cook this traditional faire. It does make it easy to serve the hungry club and with a good dosing of mustard it is very tasty.

My favorite method of cooking corned beef is on the smoker. This is a Snake River Farm corned beef round using American Wagyu beef.............So good.