Lunch on the deck today, with absolutely perfect weather. 
Author Archives: jmgasper
Pushr Aug 15, 2012 15:12
In an effort to keep the blog fresher, I’m going to try to put up a picture a day. Today we were down in Stevens Point taking care of a few things and we stopped by the DMV to get licenses with our new address. This is mine
Minneapolis Weekend – days of fun and fine eating
On Sunday morning, Julie and I traveled over to Minneapolis for a couple of days of mini-vacation. We ate at a couple nice restaurants, caught a Twins game, and even dealt with a somewhat flat tire and a trip to Ikea.
We left early Sunday, parked the car at the hotel, and walked over to Target Field. We met my parents there an hour or so before the game and walked over to a nearby pizza place for lunch. If you are in the area, Black Sheep Pizza is a highly recommended spot. Great pizza, perfect crust, and not at all expensive.
We then went over to the game and got baked in the sun for a few hours. I have to start remembering that day games have extra considerations for seating vs. night games. The Twins won, and I think everyone had a good time, so in that regard the game was a success.
Target Field
Mini-mascots helping with the T-Shirt cannon.
After the game, my parents went back to their campsite and we walked back to the hotel to check in. I normally just get nice downtown hotels via Priceline, usually at ridiculously good prices. This allows us to try all the different hotels in the area. The W Hotel was definitely on the nicer end of where we’ve stayed. The hotel was almost too hip for us – with giant pink lighting in the lobby and lots of dark paints in the room. There was also a window from the bedroom into the shower, which was a little strange. Overall though, the room was super comfortable, well laid out, and Julie says it had probably the best toiletries of just about any hotel we’ve stayed out. It’s not a big hotel, with only about 10 rooms on each floor, but I’m hoping Priceline will come back with this one again on a future visit.
The outside of the hotel
Quite the mini-bar. There was a whole drawer full of snacks
Frosted window from the bedroom into the shower
After cleaning up, we headed over to the Bachelor Farmer for dinner. They do a Sunday Supper, which is 3 courses, served family style. They don’t accept reservations on Sunday, and you don’t really have a say in the food, unless there are dietary restrictions. We had a similar meal at Niche when we were in St. Louis last year. We found the restaurant just fine, and were impressed with the decor. They did a great job of transforming what appears to have been a warehouse space into a very cool, comfortable restaurant.
The door to the restaurant
Me, waiting for food
Julie, waiting for food
The first course was fried squash blossoms with roasted zucchini and foraged chanterelle mushroom stuffing, Bibb lettuces and Champagne vinegar. I wasn’t sure what to expect when they brought it out, but the stuffed squash blossoms were awesome, and the lettuce had a great flavor, even on its own with just the vinegar dressing.
Squash blossom and lettuce
The main course was whole roasted chicken, new potatoes, caramelized cauliflower, and basil-marinated cherry tomatoes. Very simple, but everything was cooked and seasoned perfectly. It was a lot of food, but we polished it off happily. The bannock that came as the bread was one of our favorite things. Super buttery and rich and it went amazingly well with the honey butter they provided.
Chicken and bannock
The last course was orange granita, crème fraîche ice cream, Cointreau strawberries, vanilla bean hardtack. We didn’t seem to grab a picture of this, but it was a nice, refreshing finisher to the meal.
Overall, if you have a chance to go on a Sunday, or otherwise, we heartily recommend the Bachelor Farmer.
Monday, we decided to take it easy in the morning and headed over to the Midtown Global Market around 11:00 or so. The market houses the Salty Tart bakery, which is one of my favorite bakeries (after A Dash of Delicious, of course). We had a few items, but my favorite thing is always their pastry cream filled brioche. Sweet brioche muffin, filled with pastry cream, and then rolled in sugar. Nothing not to like.
Stuffing a pastry cream filled brioche into my face
We grabbed lunch at a very good Mexican restaurant in the market and then headed over to Ikea to pick up a few minor things on a list. On our way there, we ended up going through some heavy construction and hit a pot hole with a huge amount of force. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt a jolt quite like that in a car before. We didn’t notice anything amiss, but when we got out at Ikea to inspect, I noticed that our right front tire had a pretty good size bubble / bulge in the sidewall. I’d never seen anything like that before, but after a quick Google investigation, it turns out that this is not a good thing and requires the tire to be replaced. Luckily the car was still drivable, so we called over to a Tires Plus and they got the tire in while we shopped at Ikea. Replacing the tire took about 45 minutes and we were back in business. Not an ideal situation, but it could have been much worse. I take full responsibility for tempting fate since I was talking about making sure we get the spare tire checked before we drive to Montreal this fall.
After getting the tire fixed up, we headed over to Piccolo for our normal, spectacular Minneapolis dinner (the highlights of which are below) and then drove home. Couldn’t ask for a better 2 day getaway.
Chilled sweet corn soup with buttered popcorn, hearts of palm, and cornsilk
Watermelon “gazpacho” with chevre, radishes, chervil, and olive oil jelly (a favorite of the night)
Burrata with compressed oranges, celery, wild fennel pollen, and chili oil
Slow cooked veal heart with canned Italian tuna, lardo, and capers
Scrambled brown eggs with pickled pig’s feet, truffle butter, and Parmigiano
Potato gnocchi with Swiss chard, anchovies, and soft cooked duck egg
Spanish octopus with heirloom tomatoes, squid ink tortellini, black olives, and dill
Hamachi poached in ham hock stock with squash blossom, zucchini, and bay leaf gel
Callistor Farms chicken, veal brans with spruce pain perdu, fennel, and fig and lemon jam
Quail with pickled cherries, tarragon bread pudding, San Marzano tomatoes, and pistachio puree
Lamb breast with watercress, caramelized lemon, artichoke puree, and chèvre
Duroc pork belly with asparagus, green apple puree, and parmesan pudding
Wait – you’re moving?
As you may have heard (also on the front page of the Wausau Daily Herald, which was silly), Julie and I are closing down the bakeshop and moving about 30 miles north to Wausau. For Julie, she will be selling A Dash of Delicious treats at Downtown Grocery, and also working for them a couple of days a week. This is a great move for her, allowing her to be able to focus more on what she has found she loves to bake, and giving us a little more flexibility to travel and do the things we love to do, without worrying about the bakery building itself as much.
The past month has been a crazy flurry of answering questions, putting the building up for sale, and general stress over the normal “I have to sell a building / house” stuff that goes on.
That being said, we are both very excited and looking forward to the move. Wausau has an awesome downtown area, and we are going to be right in the middle of it. Our apartment is in the Heinemann building, between the Palladian and Washington Square. A few pictures are below. After owning and maintaining a house and building (including over a year of both at once), I’m really looking forward to not having to maintain a space. It’s a little less flexible than owning a spot, obviously, but I think the tradeoff in less stress is going to be totally worth it. If we don’t like it in a year, I’m sure there will be another post like this one detailing where we’re moving to in Wausau 
Our new apartment is a two story townhome, starting on the second floor, situated over Coldwater Creek. We get access to the Jefferson Street Inn pool and fitness area, and we’re within walking distance to a bunch of different restaurants, the mall, and all the stuff at Washington Square, not to mention the 400 block.
We’re really looking forward to having all that Wausau has to offer so close. I drive up at least once or twice a week to golf, and we go out to eat and visit family a lot, so it will be nice to be much closer.
Entry way
Our outdoor space
Kitchen and stairs to the second floor.
Much bigger bathroom than our current spot
Mini trip to Minneapolis
On Wednesday, Julie and I made a mini trip to Minneapolis. We went to a Twins game, went out for dinner, stayed overnight and were back on Thursday afternoon. Nice and relaxing.
The first stop was the hotel, where we dropped the car, and then we walked over to Target Field. On the way there, we ran across a long line of food trucks, so instead of paying for the ball park food, we decided to try something new. I had the Korean BBQ Burrito from Vellee Deli, and Julie had carnitas from Barrio. Both were super good – either would be highly recommended.
Julie at the Barrio food truck
We got to the game a little late and missed the first inning, but the rest of the game went well. I snagged us some good seats off StubHub (they were padded!), so we had a great view. The Twins won and we got to see a big home run and a Twins shutout of the A’s.
At the field
Julie didn’t get heckled for her Brewers hat.
After the game, we went back to the hotel and checked in. Julie swam some laps in the pool and then we went to Piccolo for dinner.
As always, everything was wonderful. Here’s a rundown of what we had:
Burrata with compressed oranges, celery, wild fennel pollen and chili oil
Cauliflower with green almonds, creme fraiche, asparagus, and malt
Poached duck egg with ham hock, parmesan, and chives
Slow cooked veal heart with canned Italian tuna, lardo, and capers
Taleggio and nettle tortellini with fennel jam and fried Calabrian peppers
White shrimp and razor clams with cucumber, fava beans, and sweet potato
Blue fin herring with “eel sauce”, soybean puree, Benton’s bacon and spinach
Callistor Farms chicken with asparagus, fresh hearts of palm, caramelized lemon, and dill
Quail and pork belly with sweat pea falafel, watercress, and yogurt
Veal breast with velvet pioppini mushrooms, beef tendons, dandelion greens, and carrots
Six Points pork tenderloin with Swiss chard, radish pickles, lardo, and crosnes
Crepe cake with golden raisins, pine nuts, and vanilla ice cream
Duck egg pot de creme with chicory sugar and pistachios
Chocolate kumquat tartlet with hazelnuts and ginger chocolate sauce
As always, everything was perfectly done. The clear “winner” of the night was the poached duck egg with ham hock. It was so good that I actually ordered another one before dessert – this was my birthday dinner, so I got to do what I want!
Other things of note – shrimp and sweet potato go together well. I wouldn’t have ever guessed that. Crosnes are a weird, very tasty little tuber. We had to ask what they were. Julie also confirmed that nettles are one of her favorite things, oddly enough. It’s not something we see very often, but we had them in one of her all time favorites at Menton in Boston, and then again at Piccolo, in the tortellini, and she loved them both times.
Me, enjoying my egg
Stevens Point “River Walk”
Good to be back to our own river walk, even if it is nice and chilly today.
Back in Stevens Point
We made it back to Stevens Point last night at around 11. We left Kansas City at about 9 and started towards Minneapolis, where we had dinner reservations at Piccolo. We arrived early, and I had coincidentally seen on Facebook that the chef Piccolo was competing at the Mall of America in the finals of the annual Minnesota Monthly Local Chef Challenge, so we dropped by to check it out. It was super interesting to watch the two chefs compete at a dessert challenge with malted barley syrup, philo dough, dried blueberries, and Thai basil. Chef Flicker from Piccolo won, taking home a giant check (literally) for $10,000, and we headed off to his restaurant for dinner before coming home.
Competing
Dinner at Piccolo was amazing, as usual. Standouts for me were the razor clam chowder, the camembert and apple tortelloni, and the bone marrow rice pudding. Julie’s favorites were the cauliflower terrine and the pork jowls. The desserts, especially the pine needle panna cotta were exceptional as well.
Once dinner was done, we headed straight home and fell into bed.
In my happy place
Razor clam chowder with compressed celery, crispy sweetbreads, and tapioca
Cauliflower terrine with golden raisins, asparagus, and Marcona almonds
Burrata with fresh hearts of palm, lardo, miner's lettuce, and chili oil
Duck gizzard "braunschweiger" with radishes, watercress, and rhubarb
Camembert and apple tortelloni, with rabbit "pancetta", spring onions, and sorrel
Scrambled brown eggs with pickled pig's feet, truffle butter, and Parmigiano
White shrimp with kumquats, baby fennel, wild salad greens, and ginger
Monkfish and crab roulade with poached egg, asparagus, and arugula
Callistor Farms chicken with spring onions, potato, beech mushrooms, buttermilk and chicory (and crispy skin on top)
Veal breast with tarragon, radishes, peas, and bone marrow rice pudding
Lam shoulder with black olives, cardamom bread, chevre oil emulsion and Pedro Ximenez vinegar. (I forgot to take a picture and took a bite first)
Smoked pork jowls with boiled peanuts, ramps, ham and celery root
Pine needle panna cotta with pine nut brittle and mugolio
Marcona almod Rice Krispy bar with sea salt meringue and apple butter
Chocolate pound cake with blood orange, medjool date, and cocoa nibs
CIA Bakery
Over by Il Sogno is the new CIA extension in Texas. At the Pearl complex, they have a bakery that sells all sorts of fun desserts, all at super reasonable prices ($6 for a box of macarons? Yes please.) Below is a sample of some of the fun desserts we have tried the last couple of weeks. All have been top notch.
cia bakery chandelier
- Carmel Chouette – filled with carmely goodness
Assortment of macarons. Awesome
- Spaomosa – coconut cake topped with a spiced mousse
Giant passion fruit macaron
Alfajores - filled with dulce de lece
Chocolate Caramel Tart
Cascabel Mexican Patio
The other day, Julie and I took a short walk over to Cascabel Mexican Patio, here in San Antonio. I have been looking at reviews on Yelp, UrbanSpoon, TripAdvisor and other sites to try and get a feel for the restaurants that are around us, and this one was highly rated everywhere.
We really didn’t know what to expect, other than that it is a restaurant considered more “authentic” than other Mexican restaurants. Based on the first view of the menu, that appeared to be the case. My Spanish is abysmal, but I know enough food words to have a general idea what I was ordering, but I stil knew that whatever I got was going to have a few surprises, and I wasn’t disappointed. I ordered huaraches, with carne al pastor, and Julie ordered tlacoyos. It was 3 fried little nuggets, similar to empanadas, with a cactus salad and rice. They also brought us out little bowls of soup and chips and salsa as an appetizer, both of which were awesome.
Both our dishes were absolutely excellent. Great, subtle flavors and everything worked well together.
huaraches at cascabel
tlacoyos, napalito salad, rice at cascabel
For dessert I had a Guava empanada, which reminded me of pudgy pies made over a fire, and Julie had flan. The flan was thick and almost had a cheesecake texture – really, really good.
guava empanada at cascabel
If this is what Mexican food is supposed to taste like, I think we’re missing out in the US with bland tacos and Taco Bell.
Roost in Houston
Last night Trav, Emily, Julie and I ate at Roost in Houston. There had been an article in the local paper about it, and it looked interesting, so we drove into the Montrose neighborhood and checked it out. The restaurant itself is very understated, but comfortable, and the menu is small, which made figuring out what to order nice and easy.
Restaurant interior
In the article had been a picture of some amazing looking pretzels, and that was one of the reasons we chose to go. Turns out the “bread service” is giant pretzels with different butters. We chose foie gras, bleu cheese, Spam, and honey butters. All were excellent on the giant pretzels.
Trav and Emily, playing with their food
Our first shared course was pork belly, with beans, a corn bread “crumble”, and pickled watermelon. All excellent. The pork belly was cooked perfectly and the flavors went together well.
Pork belly and pickled watermelon
Next was the charcuterie – duck rillettes, calf heart and liver, home made sausage, pickled vegetables and hot mustard. All excellent with big flavors. Especially surprising was how good the pickled vegetables were. They had a huge amount of interesting flavor.
Duck rillettes
The main courses were the catch of the day (red snapper), served over kimchi and an egg yolk sauce, and a cauliflower steak. The fish was probably the savory dish of the night – just really well cooked fish and the kimchi and sauce went really well with it. The cauliflower steak was also excellent. I had never seen this preparation before – deep fried chunk of cauliflower, but it tasted great.
Red snapper and kimchi
Cauliflower steak
Desserts started with fresh donuts with coffee ice cream. We’ve been to a few places now that serve fresh hot donuts with ice cream, and it’s one of my favorite things. You really can’t get a bad combination here.
Donuts and coffee ice cream, with pistachios
We also had banana pudding that was easily the best I’d ever had. Not too sweet, and super creamy and delicious, and a brioche with chocolate ice cream, also excellent. They know their desserts here.
Banana pudding
Brioche with chocolate ice cream
All in all it was a great restaurant visit and we were both quite happy with everything.
