Where the Heck Have I Been??????

I realize that one big reason to have a blog is to regularly update people with ones' experiences with whatever is the topic at hand--in my case food and drink. And to do it fairly often. So where have I been?

Well, busy is my first lame excuse. The holiday season is a big one for food writers what with all the wine pairing with turkey (although look for my column in the Herald next week about some great boutique beers instead of wine) and how to brine and what's the difference between stuffing and dressing and all that.

And since blogs deal with the minutia of every day life as if anyone cares, I did start dating someone. So much of my time has been spent staring dreamily off into space. He can cook.

But I'm back and am ready to blog away.

We have some great guests coming up on Portsmouth Community Radio in the next few weeks. Listen in to wsca at 106.1 this Friday to hear my friend Denise Landis talk with Susan and I about her new book Dinner For Eight. She's a recipe tester for the NY Times and has some great stories.

And here's a cocktail to try I had recently:

Absolut Kurant Vodka
Chambord
champagne. in whatever proportions taste good for you. I like more champagne.

Talk to you later.

Posted by rforrest at 05:16 PM | Comments (4)

What's going on in that kitchen?

I know I haven't blogged for awhile. So sorry. I'm busy working, so detailing the minutia of my daily life in food sometimes falls by the wayside. I did take time out yesterday to go see a new movie set in a one of those chain pub type of restaurant called "Waiting". Reality? I hope not.

It's sort of slow moving and sophomoric in humor (I laughed only a few times)but Zeus help us if the things that do on in the kitchen of this place actually go on. It will certainly make you think twice a about being bitchy to a waiter or waitress and if you do complain, look closely at what you get served!

I'd like to know if anyone in a kitchen around here has seen this behavior--you know the spitting in the food--and worse---just post anonymously!

Anyway, I also just want to go on record as saying I want to see Kung Fu Mike come back. His blog was funny and lively and it's sad that he got yanked. But check out www.PortsmouthHabitat.com to find the uncensored Kung Fu Mike in all his glory.

Posted by rforrest at 10:12 AM | Comments (12)

Oh Little Town of Exeter

When I first moved to I ol' Exeter three years ago I was in culinary culture shock. Where are the restaurants??? Ok,so we had about a half dozen pizza joints, oodles of soup and sandwich places and a plethora of Chinese restaurants (with variations within that category)....

...but not much else. Ok, there was the Tavern at the River's Edge with Creative American fare and burgers in the pub room right downtown and that's cool--I can walk there.

And the Town Lyne, where I made my first best friends---that's slightly out of town. Then there's the Inn of Exeter. Good Brunch.

Well, recently I began to think about moving to somewhere else--like Dover where there are loads of good restaurants right downtown. But I changed my mind. Now it looks like Exeter is getting more interesting in the restaurant category with a new Thai place, Pan Thai, that is always packed, a yet-to-open Martini bar and restaurant called Shakers right around the corner from me (again--walking home is the key), The Lunch and sometimes dinner place The Dam View now has a kind of retro lounge downstairs right on the water and there are RUMOURS about a major (although locally-based) chain watering hole and restaurant coming in as well.
Exeter.

Add too that Goody Cole's with the excellent authentic BBQ and The Circus Cafe with Jim Battles' eccentric ways and from scratch creativity made to order for B L and D and things are looking up for Exeter. Plus we have a nightclub in the Ioka.

Now all we need is a cool, creative restaurant akin to Lindbergh's or Victory or 43 Degrees or Anneke Jans and I'm all set. Oh, and Vietnamese. But that's not likely to happen any time soon.

Posted by rforrest at 11:51 AM | Comments (2)

Cowboy country

While on vacation in cowboy country--that's the wide open spaces of Wyoming elk was on the menu everywhere. Elk with black cherry sauce. Elk with chilies. Elk with blackberry sauce. Game meats galore. And it was an opportunity to eat lots of comfort food--sausage biscuits and gravy and chicken fried steak!

And over at the Cadillac Cowboy bar in Jackson, I got to sit at the bar on a saddle instead of a stool. It made it hard to get up, but yee-haw, it was fun!

And congrats to Arrows Restaurant in Ogunquit for the highest Phantom Gourmet rating ever!

Posted by rforrest at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

Wine, Women and, well, more.

It's been a whirlwind of a week. Or ten days or so. Last Thursday I went to Artichokes in Greenland to taste some delicious tidbits from Chef Ron Boucher to go with the great wines from Tres Sabores. The winemaker, Julie Johnson came on the radio show on Friday and there was a little heated discussion about sulfites. Foodies arguing over world politics, nah! Sulfites and underage drinking, yes!

I did go to a White Trash themed party on Saturday that was hilarious for some reasons I can't go into, but the hostess served cheeto balls, slim jims and little cocktail pigs in a blanket. I refrained from letting everyone know that I eat that stuff on a regular basis. Does that make me white trash? No, I think not. There was lots of blue eye shadow in sight as well.

Tuesday I went to the book signing and Q and A for Martha and Linda Greenlaw's new cook book Recipes from a Very Small Island. They were so charming and homesick. The recipes are great.

And I stopped by the Pow Wow GRill in Amesbury for a martini--wow that place is huge and glittery with a very large light up bar. They have Jazz there tonight so I might go again.

Anyway, check out the show at 6 p.m. on Friday--Susan and I will be talking with a boat captain about sailing and cooking in the Meditterranean. 106.1 FM folks.

Posted by rforrest at 12:11 PM | Comments (1)

Viva La Molecular Gastronomy!

Tomorrow I take off for Chicago to engage in decadent acts of gastrotourism. First up Alinea--check out www.egullet.com to see what's in store for me there. I got a call from their reservationist today to see if I wanted the 8 or 10 courses or THE TOUR--over 20 courses. I asked her if people seem to be able to handle it, and she told me that an eight year old got through it! I'd like to meet the kid that's into avant garde cuisine. So I'm taking the whole tour! I doubt I can stay within my alotted Weight Watchers points ( 10 pounds so far), but hey, it's art.

The next night is Moto
which should be a similar experience.

In the meantime, I took delivery of a great wine from Page Cellars in Napa. The Cabs are big and rich, just how I like them and better yet, part of the money from the sale of some vintages goes to the American Cancer Society.

Posted by rforrest at 06:50 PM | Comments (0)

Endless Summer

I just got back from Wyoming where I dropped my 12 year old daughter off at Ranch camp for three weeks. I'm sure sadness and that empty nest feeling will set in soon, but in the meantime, I can go out to dinner every night if I want to!

She's so sweet. We dined with friends at a very swank restaurant in Jackson Hole--at the plush and wonderfully designed Amangani resort ($700 bucks a night--yee-haw!). The granddaughter (Vivian) of my friends is the same age as Avalon (my kid) but not nearly as adventurous about food. So she ordered penne with marinara from the dreaded KIDS menu (AAAAAAHHHHH) and so did my daughter. Later, Avalon said, "Mom, I really wanted to have the lamb chops with fennel pollen dusted on it, but I didn't want Vivian to feel bad." And a culinary empath is born.

The meal was good, but frankly we have better restaurants here in my opinion. I did not get to eat at a Chuckwagon place (maybe when I pick her up), but I did get some buffalo tenderloin which was just -eh--bland.

The kitchen at the camp was huge and gorgeous and they let the kids help out if they want. Avalon was happy about that.

The best night was dining at my friends' home right on a golf course with tomato and mozzarella salad, lamb loin on the grill and fresh green beans. Oh, and a nice Gundlach Bundschu Merlot. They pointed out where Dick Cheney's house is across the way.

So for the next three weeks I'll be off on many culinary adventures, including a trip to Chicago to try out Alinea, the new center of molecular gastronomy from Chef Grant Achatz. 24 courses! How about some pulled mastic (an aromatic resin of the mastic tree), with toasted pine nuts and rosemary blooms?

Check out Wine Me Dine Me the radio version with myself and Susan Tuveson tonight at 6 pm on WSCA-FM 106.1 We have Michael, the bar chef from 43 Degress on tonight!

Posted by rforrest at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

Here's a list of everything I ate today......

In 2004, a guy in NY named Tucker Shaw photographed everything he ate, every single day for a whole year. Then he published it in a book called Everything I Ate: a Year in the Life of My Mouth. At first I thought, "This has gotta be a snoozefest." But actually it's strangely fascinating. You sort of see his moods through what he eats and he includes the people he ate with.

Ok, so that's what I'll do...every few days, I'll just list everything I ate! Ok, so this morning I ate a hard boiled egg sandwich on wheat bread with sea salt and pepper, and then I had a plum and then......

Don't worry, I'm not going to document everything I eat, every day. I think that would be a snoozefest!

But since I started writing about food for Seacoast Media Group about 2 and a half years ago, I've been totally immersed in the world of food here on the Seacoast and beyond and some things don't make it to the paper--there are so many tidbits of information and tastes out there and I'm always out and about finding them-- a particular local cheese at a wine dinner, a new way to use tomato in a cocktail, a visit to a Seacoast restaurant kitchen or just something that I saw on TV. Or something I think everyone simply must try.

Like.... hot dogs. Because it's July and national hot dog month I've been yet again researching and writing about hot dogs and hot dog joints, including a new one on Ocean Blvd. in Hampton Beach called Bucky's Weenie Wagon. They have a relish (or sauce you might call it) that is remarkably like Flo's hot dog sauce in Cape Neddick and even a dog with guacamole (the Greenie Weenie) with shredded lettuce. If you can brave the crowds, check it out.

In local restaurant news, I got my August issue of Bon Appetit and the bright happy faces of Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier of Arrows are there in full color holding a sign for their new Ogunquit place, MC. It's nice to see local restaurateurs in the big mags, but of course, they're famous. And The Dunaway Restaurant opened for lunch at Strawbery Banke. And Chef Kurt Holzweiss has left the Kiwi Grille in Newburyport. I'm eager to find out where he goes.

I also took a break from getting together all the stuff my daughter needs for three weeks of ranch camp in Wyoming (her biggest culinary challenge this week was getting a Slim Jim package open, although she did down two dozen mussels one night) to watch Hell's Kitchen (embarrassing) and a documentary called Hamburger America on the Sundance Channel. (jawdropping).

Every burger was wackier than the next. There are deep fried burgers in Memphis fried in 90 year old grease( they drain it) that had to have a police escort when the restaurant moved and my favorite, the butter burger, with about a quarter pound of soft butter spread on the bun before putting it on the burger. Butter was dripping down the diners' arms. If I didn't live a half an hour drive from Portsmouth I would have hightailed it to Gilley's (double cheese with ketchup and mayo) or Wild Willy's after that. One thing they all had in common is that they grind their own lean beef--all the owners were very insistant on that.

Which makes me wonder---what makes a great burger? The beef? The grease? The toppings? Where do you go for a great burger? Tell me!

Oh and be sure to check out Derek Sarno, chef and organic farmer on WSCA-FM 106.1 tonight at 6 pm. I'll be yakking to him about what came up in his garden.

So much for my first blog entry. Now I think I'll go have a five-variety heirloom tomato salad. No pictures.

Posted by rforrest at 08:29 AM | Comments (3)