The Manufacturer

Started a new blog dedicated to the strange stuff I make when I can, its called The Manufacturer. Stevie designed it for me and it looks really cool. Check it out at http://themanufacturer.blogspot.com/

States I Have Visited

create your own personalized map of the USA

Stevie showed me this. I think these are all the stateI have been to.

Giardiniera

Well its getting warm outside which means BBQ season and that means hot dogs, burgers, and brats. Of course when making these you need ketchup and mustard, but don't forget the best condiment of them all Giardiniera. I didn't even no the greatness of giard until a few years ago when Cerone and Asak had me try out a brand they were marketing from That Pickle Guy, a good fresh giard with a lot of different vegetables, but not my personal favorite, although there muffalata is really, really good. Another good giard to check out is Bari, there's is a lot more about the peppers. There "spicy" is good, homemade, fresh taste but they have very little or no other vegetables, I do hear that there "really spicy" is unbelievable hot. The reason I am even talking about giards is because of one I had from a place called Heavenly Hot Dogs in Riverside. It was so delicious I found myself eating almost the entire jar with a spoon. All these Giardiniera's are really good and I am sure everyone has there own personal favorites, but I still claim that the best Giardiniera is Racconto, an authentic Italian giard with the perfect amount of spices to vegetable to oil ratio, in my opinion, but I am always open to try new ones.

Well Spring Is Here

Spring is definitely here. It was a nice warm rain all day today.
more here

A Tavola

Every once in awhile, I like to go to a fancy restaurant. This time I chose A Tavola. This unassuming place came recommended to me by a wine connoisseur named Ryan. When driving west down Chicago Ave. you would have a really hard time finding the place unless you were looking right at the addresses of the houses and three flats as they pass by the window because this restaurant is actually in a little house. At first I thought I was walking into the wrong place because the entranceway has two paths - the first goes up the stairs and the second is blocked by a curtain. A man then opened the curtain and said, "Welcome to A Tavola. Can I take your coat?" We sat down in the only room they had, which was no bigger then someone’s living room. There were probably 8 or 9 tables over all, but none had more than four people in them and most had just two.

The service right off the bat was quality. Not only did the host treat everyone with respect, but he also helped the servers out and would come to the table often to check on things. The place seemed as though there was not one server but instead two or three people serving the whole room with the host helping out. Even though you did not have your own personal waiter it instead felt like you had three personal waiters.

The menu was simple with a few appetizers, some pastas and chicken, beef or fish for an entrée. They have great seasonal food, which I tried and was very impressed. I had "the grilled marinated leg of lamb with roasted parsnip puree and toasted garlic spinach." I went with Erin. She got the oven roasted chicken served with parmesan polenta and garlic spinach. It looked really good but somewhat plain. She said it tasted good but was nothing special. Overall, though, everything at A Tavola was very enjoyable. For a pasta I got the tagliatelle Bolognese, which was amazing. It’s very small, but you can split it with someone if you get an appetizer. The entree was really good and the spinach was perfect. What seems to be their deal is a simple but fresh and well prepared dish with some good wines to complement it. The wines, which are predominantly, if not all, Italian wines, are all really good. I did not try them all but have heard of a few of them and they are all nice wines. We got the Nino Franco Prosecco Rustico, obviously one of my favorites, and Fattoria Del Cerro Vino Di Noble Montepulciano 1999, which was really very tasty.

This place, overall, was really good and left me full and with a smile on my way out. I recommend people check this out, but a piece of advice: don't go as a crowd. It is more of a date atmosphere.

Almanac Magazine

A really cool new site that needs to be looked at called almanacmagazine.com which is an online magazine that showcases photographers and there stories, which was started by an old Chicagoan I know just started. So definitely give it a look.

The Blackberry Pearl

Just got this amazing new Blackberry phone, The Pearl. Its Tiny and has a ridiculous amount of features. I cant wait to actually figure out how it works. I've never had a Blackberry so its going to take a little bit to get used to, but so far it doesn't look that bad. So happy to also be rid of Sprint.