BASKETBALL BAKESALE BETTY

In the 80’s, I went to a lot of professional sporting events. It was a lot of fun going to Oakland A’s games, Warrior games and a few years later Oakland Raider games. As I reflect back, I remember complaining about three dollar beers. How greedy where those vendors? We grumbled but still purchased those beers. Let’s fast forward to today and I would like to share my culinary investment from the Golden State Warrior game I just attended.

We went as a group on a bus from my Italian Social club. The price was all inclusive and Ms. Goofy treated me. We had some very nice seats but where fairly high up from the actual basketball floor. I want to share the food and prices I experienced. I ordered a Bakesale Betty chicken sandwich for 22.00 dollars. I have had this sandwich before and it was quite tasty from their original restaurant. This version was a complete fail. The bun was cold like it had been refrigerated. The chicken was crispy like a fried piece of cardboard. I washed this down with an 8 dollar bottle of water. My wife still likes her beer and was charged 25 dollars for a large can; OUCH! I finished off my pre-game meal with a unique and fairly decent piece of Hojicha Basque cheesecake. This cake had a weird texture and was flavored with tea. It was only 14 dollars for a slice.

 

Am, I complaining about the prices? I saw a lot of families at the game. I just wondered how they could afford such a venture. By the way, the Warriors lost the game in overtime. To answer the question; yes I am whining about the prices a little bit. Three dollar beers from the 80’s all of a sudden does not sound so bad after all.

LODI BBQ

 

Fun, sun, and a whole lot of bbq this weekend. This was a practice bbq contest to clear out the cobwebs for the 2026 bbq season. It is going to be a great year.

THREE TIMES A CRUMBSWEEPER

 

Ms. Goofy and I had the most wonderful Anniversary/Birthday celebration at Fleming’s Steak House. Did the Crumbsweeper make an appearance? We had a fantastic Beef Wellington bites to start, Wedge salad, lobster, prime N.Y. strip and chocolates to go. The Crumbsweeper did not make just one appearance, or twice but swept the crumbs of this extravaganza three times to make this jubilee extra special. What a great dinner.

Australian Wagyu

The term Wagyu is thrown around in lot of butchers and meat markets. Wagyu translates to Japanese Cow. Ms. Goofy picked up these N.Y. strip steaks at 50. dollars/pound and were advertised as Wagyu steaks from Australia. You do see a lot of beef products coming from Australia these days. They were cooked over a very hot fire for about 4 minutes a side to create a medium rare on the rare side. They were very tender and well marbled with flavorful fat. I enjoyed it but the price, I could not get out of my head. Slapping the term Wagyu on a product does not guarantee greatness. They were very good but I believe a prime steak at a lesser cost would of been just as good.

Tokyo Central

What to do on this dark and stormy day but go explore the newly opened Tokyo Central Specialty Market in Emeryville, California. Let’s just say this was an adventure on foreign to me products. Forty nine ninety nine dollar strawberries from Japan, Waygu beef, extensive fish market, two rows of different brands/flavors of ramen, loads of Japanese snacks  a row devoted to seaweed and a buffet that charged by the pound. It was very interesting

CHARLEY'S

 

I recently returned from a five day trip to Florida for a knife show and to see the sights. You know I had to visit a couple of steak houses and Charley's in Orlando was first on my list. It did not dissapoint.

Charleys is a high end chain restaurant owned by the 'Talk of the Town' restaurant group. There is a dress code and the interior is very steak house classy. The waiter was well versed in the menu. I only mention that because it did take him a long time to recite all the specials and special cooking techniques. I can happily say the "Crumb Sweeper" was present. This was the icing on the cake for this special dinner.

I ordered a 21 dry aged bone-in New York strip steak which set me back 99. dollars. (steak only, everything was a-la-carte). I am not sure why I mentioned the price but it is comparable to San Francisco prices. This steak was cooked on a wood fire to a perfect medium rare. This steak was so yummy that it has to be put on my all time steak memory list. The dry aging lent to a certain funkiness that I crave. This was steak house greatness at its finest. Good times!

“WE ARE CHICKEN FARMERS”

That was the greeting that I received from these three children at the  Lakeland Downtown Farmers Curb Market in Florida. I asked mom if I could snap photo. I would of bought everything they were selling with such a fantastic greeting. I was only passing through.