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Tag Archives: Food

Memories Lane or: Six Starts Part 10

12 Saturday Sep 2020

Posted by TGBII in Beer, Food, Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Travel

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Tags

Beer, Belgium, Bruges, Europe, Food, France, Honeymoon, Paris, The BCPF, Travel

Salutations™!!

I know it’s Saturday but I need to get through this. Honestly, it gets hard to keep up when I’m skipping and chopping up the days. But, that being said, I’m really enjoying my own blog walking down this path. The BCPF and I talk about our honeymoon all the time but these accounts from when it happened, is fascinating to me. I honestly don’t go back to read my own blog much, so this is funny how I chose to word things. Anywhat! Back to the story. And I will warn you, this is a long one.:

So, Disneyland Paris and Dinner in Bespin down, the last day in Paris was a welcome change.  Yes, there would be walking but that’s okay, it was a little more relaxed than what we’d done up to then.  We had a tour scheduled for that day, A Bohemian Walking Tour, and we had to meet up with the group at The Pantheon.  That fact alone was great; it’s a world famous landmark in, and of, itself.  But, first, we had to get there.

We took the Métro from Opéra to Maubert-Mutualité station and emptied into a street market, conveniently called Maubert-Mutualité Market.  Now, we can maneuver Métro routes like nobody’s business, but once we get off the rail and onto the streets, that’s the only time I have trouble getting around.  Orientation is the problem, not map reading. I can read the maps but figuring out which direction is east/west/north/south is the problem.  We decided we were early enough before our tour that we could afford to explore and wander about (we were about an hour and a half ahead of time).  The BCPF picked a direction and we went that way.

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Produce Shop in Latin Quarter

This is was the mother lode of the stuff we look for: neighborhood streets, shops, bakeries, butcher shops, apartments, flower shops, etc. I have said it before, we look for the neighborhoods, to see how the natives live.  That means more to us than sightseeing, although, that’s fun, too.  That’s why we take the walking tours, we get to see how lives are lived as well as history.  That’s what we had, here. Commercialism and tourist areas were at an absolute minimum, here; right in the Latin Quarter. Parisian life, indeed.  So upon looking for The Pantheon we figured we’d eat.  A street crossing lent a number of options, including a bakery where people were piling in and out (quite quickly, may I add).  We decided on Le Petit Cardinal and sat on the sidewalk watching schoolkids walking in small groups together to school with their backpacks, young executives on bicycles going to work, men and women in business attire riding scooters; a bit of everything.

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Croque Madame of The BCPF

When the server came to take our order and before she could say more than bonjour, I told her immediately, “je ne parle pas français (I don’t speak French).”  She stopped in her tracks, turned on a dime and went back inside, only to reemerge with an English menu.  The BCPF took the usual, croque madame, and I took a flatbread pizza.  We ate, taking in the great sunny day, watching life hustle and bustle by – hectic, yet subtle – whilst the lunch crowd moved in around us.  Between bites, I noticed a directional sign across the street indicating the direction of The Pantheon… BINGO! We paid and moved on towards the landmark.

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Scorp and His Twin

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The Facade of The Pantheon, Paris

 

 

 

 

Up a few hills and past a school, in which a shload of high schoolers were sitting about with books, bag lunches and being cool little Parisian hipsters.  We finally made it to The Pantheon.  The Pantheon is an 18th Century former church dedicated to St. Genevive. It also serves as a necropolis and has since become a memorial to some of history’s greats including Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Louis Braille, Alexandre Dumas and Marie Curie.  It’s of Gothic architecture and looks quite Greek, at least to me.  We wandered around it because we were still about 20 minutes before the tour.  There was this crazy statue that was a temporary exhibit of a very large, naked, Asian-appearing man.  Oddly, enough, he is shaped just like me, so here’s a picture of me standing next to it.  I wish we had taken a pic of what it was, but we didn’t.

So we meandered around the gates of The Pantheon until we saw other people who appeared to be tourists and we inquired if they were waiting on a tour. They were a group of 7 friends (some couples) from Australia.  They said they were and then a short, but personable young man popped up and indicated that he was our tour guide.  He asked if he could finish his cigarette and coffee as he had been eating his lunch, mixing with the other locals enjoying their surroundings.  None of us had any problems with that and after he prepared himself, we learned his name was Arthur.  That was my grandfather’s name, so I found it pretty awesome.  He gave us a little history of The Pantheon and told us that university was only about $150 per semester, which is depressing, really, knowing what I owe for college and I’m feeling more and more and more like my degree is not only useless, but a scam.  Enough of that, though.

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The Gardens at Luxembourg Palace

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The Honeymooners’ Kiss

 

 

 

 

Arthur took us through the streets of the Latin Quarter and told us stories of architecture, history, landmarks. We stopped at the French Senate that is inside Luxembourg Palace located at Luxembourg Gardens.  This is one absolutely beautiful building, garden and, obviously, popular destination for Parisians and tourists, alike.  It was a massive expanse of grounds that truly was an immaculate garden.  Benches and people lined the stroll ways. Picnics were also happening. It was lovely.  Then there was the jolie fountain area pictured here where Arthur said it was rated one of the 10 best places to kiss in Paris. Well, I don’t know if it was connerie (French for BS) or not, but it was a great place for us to do so, I’d say.

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The First Guillotine Test was Supposedly Performed Here

He led us through side streets and past what he said was the oldest café in Paris.  That’s nice, but then he took us to a side garden where the first-ever test of the Guillotine was performed.  Macabre maybe, but cool, I think.  From there he led us to the oldest church (at least one of the two vying for the title) in Paris. Inside, The BCPF lit a candle, which has become a tradition for her in the historic churches we visit.  I usually stand to the side and hold things for her so she can have her time. Being non-religious, I am still respectful of others’ views and customs. One of the last places we crossed in front of during this tour was a hotel.  It was, in a way, the hotel: supposedly, the former apartment building that Jim Morrison died in.  I was never a big fan of The Doors, but still, it’s very interesting.

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Ma Salle a Manger (My Dining Room)

We then made our way to a small (and by small I mean minute) eatery called Ma Salle a Manger (My Dining Room).  I think my dining room is bigger than this. Don’t get me wrong, it was a lovely little place but I’m a big boy, even going to the bathroom was hard – lots of ducking and sucking in to maneuver.  We, along with Arthur, had wine and beer with our new Australian friends, of which we remember no names.  Included in our tour price was charcuterie and fromage.   Arthur knew the girl that was minding the shop and got us a few little extra cheeses in there.  It was very good.

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Our Tour Guide, Arthur

One thing I remember talking about was the money.  We all paid for our alcohol with cash.  The Australians told us that they hated American money.  Not for any political reasons, mind you, but because of its appearance.  They said that it was all the same color and all the same size. Euros and Australian monies are all different colors and sizes for different denominations.  We hadn’t really thought about it, it’s what we’ve always known.  There are a few variances in the money now, of course, but for the most part, it’s all that forest green and gray.

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The BCPF Drinking Ricard and Playing Pétanque

Arthur, then took us to a little courtyard and proceeded to mix up Ricard and water, to cut it. A licorice-like flavored thing, it was quite strong and quite fun to drink.  In this courtyard he introduced us to Pétanque, a bocce ball-esque game where you toss semi-hollow metal balls as closely as possible to a smaller, wooden ball. We all played, we all had fun.  Arthur then gave us the opportunity to continue the tour or to disband.  The Aussies had other plans to go back to the hotel and get ready for and they all opted out.

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Scorp Circling Point Zero

We asked if we could continue with him and he basically gave us a private tour for the next 45 minutes or so.  He took us past sanitariums and landmarks, eventually getting us back to Notre Dame, yet again.  He took us to Point Zero and told us the tradition of standing and turning on it. Doing so will ensure the circling individuals will return to Paris. Again, could be more connerie, but we didn’t take a chance, we circled it.

Before Arthur left us, we inquired about recommendations for dinner.  He gave us “instructions” on how to get to where he thought would be good for us and we said our goodbyes.  Arthur was fun and we glad that we got to take his tour.  We made our way toward the Métro and prepared to head where Arthur told us.  

(Arthur) had given us the info for a restaurant that he recommended as a good “closer” for Paris. He recommended Le Relais Gascon. Told us how to find it and sent us on our way.

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Le Relais Gascon restaurant

We took the Metro to the Pigalle station and exited to the street.  Because it was hard to understand every word that Arthur said , we basically were going to be winging it once we got off the train.  I did hear him say something about  a hill.  We looked around and noticed a hill. So we walked up it – by then we had gotten really good at hills. At the top of the hill and at a crossroad, there stood Le Relais Gascon.  We had found it.  We sat outside, as we did just about everywhere in Paris.  It had gotten a wee bit chilly.  I once more indicated Je ne parle pas français and they said, no problem and brought us English menus.

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The BCPF and Scorp having rosé.

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Avocado with grey shrimp and Russian dressing

 

 

 

 

One thing that we got on our Honeyfund fund raiser was “Wine in France and Beer in Belgium.”  So to satisfy that and to have a picture to thank JayCo & JenCo with, we had a nice rosé and we enjoyed it.  We then ordered appetizers.  The BCPF had a whole avocado covered with grey shrimp (basically bay shrimp) and a house-made Russian dressing.  She said it was great. I had pâté and it was quite flavorful.

Then on to the entrées. The BCPF had chicken with mushroom gravy and potato chips (not like the crisps we eat out of a bag, but grated potatoes).  She didn’t really care for that, she said. I had steak tartare. 4 nights in Paris, 3 nights of steak tartare.  I was addicted to that stuff.  Three different restaurants with steak tartare and three different ways of preparing it.  All three tasted different.  This one was more Worcestershire based. That’s not a bad thing, I like Worcestershire sauce.  I’m not really sure if that’s what it was but it did taste like it. It was delish!  However, I’d still say out of the three this was my least favorite; but still delish.  On to some dessert!

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Chicken and mushroom gravy

The BCPF had chocolate mousse and, as she sits here while I write this, said it was go-oo-oo-oo-ood!  I had a banana  split and it was yummy but nothing spectacular.  As usual, I finished my meal off with a snifter of Grand Marnier. Overall, we enjoyed the restaurant but it wasn’t our favorite of Paris. We made our way back to the Metro station and back to our hôtel (the proper French way to spell it). A great end to a great day.

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Steak tartare

The next morning we make our way down to the lobby where we awaited a driver to take us to the train station so we could move on to our next destination.  We got to the train station and had some croissants and coffee.  Something about French coffee, it doesn’t wig out my Tourette Syndrome like caffeine-laden American coffee.  Which is good, because I didn’t want to be jittery at that time. The reason for that is there was a presence of armed French officers, either military or police carrying the machine guns, just like under the Eiffel Tower. I’m supposing the ISIS threat at the time in Europe led them to that, but I’m not really sure. We also saw the apprehension of a thief. Thievery is apparently an epidemic in the train stations. I know we told the same beggar woman “allez!!” several times and the same to another bum. Homeless people I feel for, bums, I don’t.

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Banana Split in Paris

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Chocolate mousse in Paris

 

 

 

 

Finally, our train arrived and again, we had first class tix.  We put our bags in the racks and rode on to Brussels so that we could take the connector to Bruges.  Whilst riding we had come pastries, tea (me) and coffee (The BCPF).  It was about an hour and a half and quite peaceful.  I spent time trying to update my blog, but the WiFi on the train was spotty.  Present, but spotty. 

We arrived in Brussels and had to figure out where we were supposed to pick up the train to Bruges.  The train station in Brussels is but one reason why I hate that city; it is so darned confusing. I had to ask one of the rude workers in transportation which train I was supposed to get on because the only thing that they have that indicates trains is the Departures and even though we were departing we couldn’t find the right train to be on.  Anywhat! The worker told me to just get on ____ train (I can’t remember which one) it leaves at ____ time.  I thanked her and she just nodded.  Anyway we wait and wait and wait for the train. It arrives and we get on in a bum-rush of people.  Stuffing our luggage under and in-between seats, we sat down breathing heavy and worn out but ready to move on.

We arrived in Bruges and worked our way out to the taxi stand and waited in line to get a ride to our hotel.  The driver loaded our bags and drove us to a lovely old hotel.  On the way there, all on cobblestone streets, he pointed out several churches, a brewery, pointed us in the direction of the square, etc.  A very good driver, he was.  

Checking into Oud Huis de Peellaert, we marveled at how beautiful the hotel was. There was much to marvel at in this old place, mostly good, and some truly odd.  The view from our room was something just out of a storybook, or what you’d think a small Belgian town would look, historic and timeless.  The floor of the bathroom was heated.  As is the case with most European hotels, you had to use your room key in a slot to enable the lights and other electronics.  The odd thing about this one was that it was a true key on a weighted dongle and not a credit card-like passkey.  Also, we were to leave the key at the front desk when we left, which, if we forgot something, then the desk attendants, who never complained, certainly didn’t look pleased. It’s okay, they dealt with it, fantastically.

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Braces in the halls of Oud Huis de Peellaert

Another odd thing in this hotel, not in our path, but the opposite end of the hall, there were structural braces in the hall.  Not just there, but THERE! See the picture, won’t you?

Well, we settled our stuff in, took in the view and decided to go out and see what this small town held for us.  We dropped off the key and walked out the front door.  We glanced toward the skyline and looked for a clue as to where to go. We saw what were looking for and headed to the left.

We passed by a few small restaurants and came to a small square.  In this square there were a few police officers. They were setting up seats in front of a trailer/stage where an orchestra would play later that day. Let it be known that that was the only time we saw any police during our entire Bruges stay.  We moved on down a street. Street is a misnomer as there was no cars in this street, although some horse-drawn carriages were.

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Belfort, the Bell Tower of Bruges

We passed by chocolatiers, lacemakers, lace sellers, more restaurants and a beer museum.  Mmmm hmmm, a beer museum. But, that comes later.  We heard and saw what it was we were looking for. Bruges is visually best known for one thing.  It’s primary landmark, and if you’ve seen the film In Bruges, then you know it already, is the Belfort, or Belfry of Bruges.  It’s a 13th Century bell tower and has 366 steps to the top, in which I am way too lazy to climb. It’s the center attraction in the Markt, a market square that is full of restaurants, shops, a post office and some government buildings.

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Beers at De Vier Winden, Bruges

As we were now getting a little hungry we decided to sit down for a small snack and, of course, Belgian beer.  So, we ended up at a restaurant to the right of the Belfort called De Vier Winden (German for The Four Winds) where we had frittes with both mayonnaise and ketchup and Leffe Braun.  We also had a great server named Vincent.  He liked us, as well, because we ate there more than once and he kept calling us his “very best friends.”  The frittes, french fries – after all true french fries were created in Belgium, not France – were delicious and hit the spot and the beer, well Leffe is awesome and hard to go wrong.  We then decided that we were ready for a nap.  C’mon, we’ve at this point been going, non-stop, for 11 days, straight.  It was quite needed.

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The BCPF and Scorp on their horse-drawn carriage ride in Bruges

 

 

 

 

We returned to the square later that evening and after walking about a mile (plus) out of the way to find an ATM, returned to the square, yet again, to pay for a horse-drawn carriage ride through the historic city.  This was no ordinary carriage ride. The driver and her friend drove the horse quite quickly. At one point the horse was actually trotting and not just strolling through the city. It was probably the fastest carriage ride we’d ever taken. The driver stopped halfway through the tour to feed the horse and let it get water.  We took that opportunity to get some pictures and enjoy the rest.  It was a fun, but strange ride.  We ended back at the square about 45 minutes (the ride was fast, not the tour) and we went back to De Vier Winden since we were already familiar with it.  Vincent was waiting for us there and greeted us as his “very best friends,” yet again.

The BCPF had some wine whilst I had the biggest glass of Hoegaarden Raspberry known to man.  It was hugantic! She had shrimp croquettes and I had cheese croquettes for appetizers.  They were both spectaculicious!  For dinner, she had a chicken florentine stew and I had rabbit.  Dessert was, of course, a Belgian waffle for The BCPF and crème brulèe for me.  All was very delicious. She was especially taken by the croquettes and got them, when she could, from other restaurants.  We then returned to the hotel and stopped in at the bar for a night cap. Any guesses as to what I had?  Have you been reading, Dear Reader? I’ll give you three guesses and first two won’t count.  Okay, okay, I’ll tell you, it was, of course, Grand Marnier and The BCPF had Sprite. She was living dangerously.

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A bridge in Bruges with The BCPF

Breakfast the next morning was a cold/dry bar with cereals, lox, toast, etc.  Basically, it was the same shite we’d had everywhere else.  Nothing, really, to remark about.  Then, we were out and about. We had a 2pm appointment for one of the city tours with earphone guide, but we were up and out early so we had time to kill.  We did what we do and took a different turn and walked the streets to see what else we could wander upon.  We crossed some bridges that are older than most everything we have here in “The States,” walked the streets, doing some people watching and ended up at a little market square. At this square there was a few different things: fish (because why not?) and other seafood, scarves, t-shirts, etc. The BCPF loves some scarves, as I think I’ve mentioned, and these were actually made by the people that were there selling them.  They had a large loom there that they used to make said scarves.  She wasn’t going to buy one but I kind of insisted.  She loved it.

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Drinking a Straffe Hendrik by Brouwerij De Halve Maan Brugge

 

 

 

 

We made our way to the Markt again and whilst waiting on the tour bus, we had a few beverages. The BCPF had a Belgian cafe mocha with hot chocolate and coffee and I had a few beers. These beers were Straffe Hendrik by De Halve Maan Brewery in Bruges, a fantastic 11% ABV monster and the Tripel Karmeliet from Bosteels Brewery, a great 8.4% ABV Tripel.  One thing that I noticed about Belgium and their restaurants, when they serve beer, they serve it with glasses that have logos that match each and every beer.

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Bonne-Chière Windmill

We then walked across the square and got on the tour bus.  It was really a run-of-the-mill tour, nothing major.  We saw a couple of things like the Bonne-Chière Windmill, two more bell towers, including those older than the Belfort. There was also a VW Microbus carrying a wedding party. Interesting.  Then back to the square where we exited the bus.

We walked up the street to The Beer Museum. See, I told you I’d get there.  Admission included walking up a  ridiculous amount stairs to grab an iPad of some sort that would play the part of tour guide for us.  It showed the history of beer, both in the world and in Bruges. It showed the positive and negative aspects of beer in history. The highlight of the museum tour, though, was the three tokens each we received to exchange for beer samples.  And, yes, The BCPF drank beer! She says that it was Belgium that fully turned her on to it. We tried Kriek (cherry) lambics, hefty high-gravity beers and other smooth and strong Belgian beers.  Quite delish, all.

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Drinking beer samples at The Beer Museum, Bruges

Feeling quite sluggish and more than slightly inebriated, we stumbled about looking for things to buy for souvenirs and found a chocolate factory that tickled our fancies. One thing about Bruges, it’s known for a few things. Specifically, it’s known for its Belgian lace (especially bobbins-made), Belgian chocolate, Belgian beer and Belfort.  Anywhat! We proceeded to purchase a 36-pc box of chocolates (variety assortment) and a dozen “animal fat jellies.” Basically, jelly- (like jelly beans, not as in PB&J) filled candies that are shaped like noses and are called “neuzekes” (noses), oddly enough.  I mention the animal fat because the girl who sold them to us was quite adamant about informing us due to the fact that she sold some to a Muslim couple and they didn’t know. We got them in a tin and have finished those off, definitely. Remarkably, those things (and the chocolates) held up quite nicely.

That’s what’s we were doing on September 10, 11, 12 six years ago. Sorry it was so long, but I didn’t want to get any further behind. I will finish the whole story on Monday, which was the end of our honeymoon trip although the honeymoon is still happening.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“It’s like a f***ing fairytale or something.“ – Ken (Brendan Gleeson), In Bruges (2008)

Now Normal Chronicles or: The Scouring

02 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by TGBII in Food, Life as We Know It

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Tags

Food, Foodie, Winston-Salem Strong, WSNC, WSNC Business, WSNC Food, WSNC Foodie, WSNC Restaurants

Salutations™!!

Today, I decided to go out and check on some of the restaurants that are my “accounts” (those A-L) that have little to no social media updates or social media to speak of at all. In the middle of that, I found about 10 places that weren’t on the list, which makes me happy. I like making sure we have all that we are missing. So, I got to get out of the house and it was a fruitful trip. I dug it. WSStrong1

We are now at over 300 entries on the list. Some are closed, some got changed to different statuses and some added services. You can see the updated list by visiting here.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Fresh made to order Thai cuisine and perfect sushi.” – The Basil Leaf & Sushi

The Now Normal or: The List Goes On

24 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by TGBII in Food, Life as We Know It, Podcasting, The Less Desirables Network

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Food, Foodie, Forsyth Magazines, Lea Metz, Podcast, Podcasting, Podcasts, PodernFamily, RJ Reynolds, The Man Who Ate the Town, Winston-Salem Journal, WSNC, WSNC Business, WSNC Food, WSNC Foodie, WSNC Restaurants, WXII, Yes! Weekly

Salutations™!!

Dear Reader, I’m apologizing to you upfront for the fact that I’m going to continue to inundate you with links to “the list.”

The list is the work of Lea Metz and myself, searching for what food and beverage businesses are doing in WSNC. Lea (pronounced Lee-ah, like my sister except hers if spelled with an “h”) joined Ray and me for The Man Who Ate the Town podcast yesterday. We all practiced social distancing and were each on a Zoom chat, Lea in WSNC and Ray in Mt. Airy and I was in the studio. You can hear that episode here.

I produce the Forsyth Mags podcast and was actually a guest on it this morning and talked about the list, as well. You can hear that episode here.

Technically, there are two different lists but that’s only for style and web usage. The data collected therein is shared between Lea and me. Nothing goes on that list unless we have discussed it with the other of us. We have had a great response and are still having people contact us to make sure their business (or a favorite of theirs) is on the list.

It has been shared and/or used by WXII, The Winston-Salem Journal, Yes! Weekly, and multiple Facebook and social media groups. I actually had someone text me today that said the executives at RJ Reynolds was using our list and had used/added it to their “teams” list. I am proud of this list and I know that Lea is, too. We talk about it all day every day, now. Someone is working on it now to make it more dynamic for cell phones and we will turn it into an app as soon as we can. We’re working on that, too. So, to update you on the list, you can find it here.

Thanks again for reading it and listening and for spending money at the local F&B businesses.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Hope this is over soon and we get to see you here.” – Nui Nui

Day Three Quarantine or: More Food News

19 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by TGBII in Food, Life as We Know It, The Less Desirables Network, Uncategorized

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Food, Foodie, Lea Metz, Life, The Less Desirables Network, The Man Who Ate the Town, WSNC, WSNC Business, WSNC Food, WSNC Foodie, WSNC Restaurants

Salutations™!!man who ate the town Stallone

Today was another day of working from home but like the last two days, I’ve been working on the food list. It’s been hard work but I published it. There’s the blog post that I started and then there’s the services list that I put on my The Man Who Ate the Town website. It’s the most comprehensive list for WSNC that I’ve seen. Lea Metz, a friend who has ties to the food industry and I have (and will continue to) worked our butts off on this.

You can see the update here.

I’m going to bed, now.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Great info and very helpful” – Alice Dodson

Day Two or: More Food Stuffs

18 Wednesday Mar 2020

Posted by TGBII in Food, Life as We Know It, The Less Desirables Network

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Food, Foodie, Life, The BCPF, The Less Desirables, The Less Desirables Network, The Man Who Ate the Town, WSNC, WSNC Food, WSNC Foodie, WSNC Restaurants

Salutations™!!

20200317_155633

Over the last two days, I have written more blog posts at TMWATT and definitely have edited one more than any other post that I’ve ever done. And, we are still hanging out working here at home, The BCPF and I. Working from home for both of us have been really busy. She’s been dealing with canceling functions through her work because of the “illness-that-shall-not-be-named” and I have been doing all the updates for the food and beverage industry.

We’re hanging in, though. If you want to catch up on that list, you can do so here.

I also posted a TLD episode today. You can hear that here.

Until tomorrow, wash your damn hands!
Scorp out!

—
“Thank you for doing what you do!” – Chelsea Tart

Non-Silent Sunday or: The Day After

01 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by TGBII in Beer, Food, Life as We Know It, Podcasting, Spirits, The Less Desirables Network

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Tags

Apartment 5B, Beer, Bethany Miller, Burke Street Pizza, Danielle Bull, Fan Interference, Food, Life, Life as It is, Mac-N-Cheese, Podcast, Podcasting, Podcasts, Quiet Pint, Spirits, TBD Referral Group, The BCPF, The Beer Dads, The Big Sip, The Less Desirables, The Less Desirables Network, The Man Who Ate the Town, Tracy Bush, West End Poke

Salutations™!!

The BCPF and I did go to Underdog Records yesterday but we were out of our house from 10a until 10p and didn’t get to listen to any records. I just put them in my Discogs and that will be tomorrow’s post. Today, however, I have to recap an awesome Saturday.

 

Huevos Rancheros
Huevos Rancheros
Young Cardinal Breakfast
Young Cardinal Breakfast

We started with breakfast at the brand-new Young Cardinal Cafe on Fourth Street, downtown. I had eaten there the day before for their first day and knew that I had to take The BCPF so she could try it. Great food, great quantity and great price. All a plus! I had the Huevos Rancheros and she had the Young Cardinal Breakfast.

We then went to Underdog Records and scored a huge haul but we didn’t get to come home to listen to any of it, as I stated earlier. Collage 2020-03-01 10_10_54

It was time to go judge The Big Sip’s Mac-n-Cheese festival. We had a lot of mac-n-chz and a lot of beer and spirits. A lot of both!! We met up with some good friends, we met some new friends and we just had a grand ol’ time. I got to sing on stage a little with Doug Davis (yes that Doug Davis), which is never a bad thing. But, eating a big breakfast and then all that mac-n-cheese? What was I thinking?

Then it was on to the annual TLD Post-Holiday/Anniversary Party at Finnigan’s Wake. We had a gracious host in Opie and our server Rachael, whom I called Rachael-By-The-Way (inside joke), took amazing care of us. We ended up with about 22 people, which is where I was hoping to have it. Only Bethany and Tracy were there from any of the Network shows but I’ll admit that I really didn’t put a lot of backing behind promoting it.

20200229_202216-01
20200229_202231-01
20200229_202220-01

First, I had forgotten to even schedule it and then I forgot to promote it outside of the invitations on the first day. It wasn’t a lack of want or interest, I have just been slammed and that’s how it goes. That’s also what we’d call “careful what you wish for.” But, I’ve no complaints.

I want to thank Bethany, her daughter Bri; West End Poke/Burke Street Pizza/Quiet Pint/Uncle Buzzy’s (RIP) owner Dave Hillman and his lady friend Susie (or Suzy); The TLD Beer Guru C. Jay Platt and the Barley Babe Dory; Tracy and her date, Sean; Jordan Googe; Teleporter Extraordinaire Jeff Davids and his wife, Lynda’ my dear friend Elizabeth Nance; Maria and Rich Holbein; Brad and Faith Ward; Dale Cole; Kevin Heath; Angela and Hector Ruiz for coming to celebrate with me.

Danielle planned to come but one of the perils of owning a business is that you have to be there for it first and foremost. She was caught up at work. The Beer Dads both had prior commitments, Ray from TMWATT had a pastor’s retreat, Ty from Fan Interference had a WF softball game to call, and Apartment 5B’s Jeff Evans and Rory… well, I’m not really sure where they were, but I’m sure they were doing something important.

I am so proud of my “little podcast that could” and am very proud of what it has become. I look forward to another 10 years.

20200229_125947-01

One of the coolest things (of the many cool things) that happened yesterday was being introduced to someone who realized that I was from the podcast that she had just listened to. She pulled up her phone to show me that she was subscribed to TLD and since I had on my shirt, we had to take a pic of it. I can’t remember her name and I hate that, but it’s cool that I got to meet her.

 

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Building relationships is what it is all about. I enjoyed The Less Desirables Annual Post-Holiday/Anniversary Party!” – Angela Ruiz

Proud Papa Moment or: Feel the Burn

08 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by TGBII in Food, Life as We Know It

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

3B, Charlotte, Chef Chad Estep, Chef Travis Myers, Cooking, Culinary, Food, Foodie, Johnson & Wales University, school

Salutations™!!

I don’t hold back when I have a “Proud Papa Moment” and this is one of those. So, if you’re not into the doting dad thing, then you may want to skip on this one.

Yesterday morning, at 5am, I took my son, 3B to the Career Center to grab a bus to head to Charlotte to Johnson & Wales University to compete in the state culinary arts competition. When I got to my mother’s house (where he was staying) to pick him up, he had already gotten himself up and was ready to go. That doesn’t happen often. Usually, it’s a fight to get him going. But, not this morning.

20200207_173045-01

3B wearing his silver medal

He got on the bus and took the trip, competed and came home. He sent me a text at 230pm, on the trip back, and said “silver.” Silver is great! 2nd place, right!? Well, not exactly, but still… He said he would have done better had he not burned his hand. He was basically handicapped the whole second part of the competition. I say not exactly because there were eight teams. Three won silver and five won bronze. So, there was no gold but the team still kicked butt!

He had a kitchen towel over his hand to grab a pan of sweet potatoes but he adjusted his hand and the towel fell off right as he was grabbing the pan. So, yeah, he burned it.

I talked to his teacher, Chef Estep, and as he got off the bus, he pointed at 3B and nodded his head with a big grin. I asked if he did well and he said, oh yeah. Holding up his fingers showing about a half-inch gap said “this close to gold.”

Earlier, I had told Chef Travis Myers how he did and that if he stays on his path he should be really good at what he’s doing. Chef Travis said, “well, we’re building a lab to grow him,” speaking about the newly announced restaurant that he and Ryan Oberle are creating. I told Chef Estep about that and Chef Estep said, “he’s ahead for his age.” I’ve witnessed 3B in the kitchen and he really does know what he’s talking about.

When we got back home, I checked the mailbox and he had gotten a package from the National Society of High School Scholars and he gets to wear a golden cord and has a large diploma-like certificate stating that he has membership in it. He also has a golden medallion to wear, as well.

So, it was a good day for him and a good “daddy day” for me. I love this boy so much and am so proud of him. If he keeps straight, there really is no limit to his opportunities, especially with the contacts in this industry that I have here locally and the network the contacts have. He will go places if that’s what he wants to do. He has dreams and aspirations and I plan to help him get to those however I can but he has to put in the work.

Again, so proud of my boy!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The university offers a wide variety of degrees, including Accounting, Fashion Merchandising & Retail Management, Equine Studies/Equine Business Management & Riding, Management, Marketing, Criminal Justice, Entrepreneurship, Hotel & Lodging Management, and Sports/Entertainment/Event Management. The Providence Downcity campus offers two- and four-year degree programs in areas of technology such as network engineering, electronics & robotics engineering, computer programming, biology, health science, and graphic design.” – Johnson & Wales University

Friend Friday or: Beans and Beer

10 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by TGBII in Friend Friday, Life as We Know It, The Less Desirables Network

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Downtown Winston-Salem, Food, Friend Friday, Friends, Small Batch Beer, The Beer Dads, The Less Desirables, The Less Desirables Network, The Man Who Ate the Town, Washington Perk & Provision Company, WSNC, WSNC Beer, WSNC Food

Salutations™!!

Remember when you used to do the #FF on Twitter just a few years back? It stood for Follow Friday or Friend Friday (according to who you asked) and as far as I can tell, no one really does that any longer and whilst I’ll admit I was slack on that on Twitter, I will also say that Twitter isn’t my main social media platform and I just didn’t do it. But, I think it was a good idea and I’d like to pick that back up, except do it here on this blog.

I have a slew of friends that are interesting folks. They may have businesses, they may be musicians, they may just be eclectic as heck, whatever! I just think they need to be highlighted more because they bring awesomeness to the world and we’re lucky to have them here in WSNC.WashingtonPerk_logo_250px

—

If you’re in the Downtown WSNC area and need to get your milk, sugar, peanut butter, beer, wine, soft drinks, napkins, paper towels, fresh fruit, potato chips, toilet paper, coffee, a latte, a good sandwich and many other “provisions,” then there’s really one place you need to know about. That place is Washington Perk and Provision Company.

Washington Perk and Provision Company started in the Washington Park area and expanded into the downtown area when an art gallery became available in the Chatham Building at the corner of Fourth and Cherry. They sold the original location and are focusing on the downtown location.

They buy fresh fruit several times a week. They have a wall of beer and wine, much of it locally brewed and fermented. Ashe County Cheese can be found in the coolers at the Perk. Mexican Coca-Cola is sold at the Perk and that’s made with real sugar, not that nasty high-fructose corn syrup that most of our Cokes have. Le Bleu water in various sizes. Milk, butter, cheese and probably other dairy items from Homeland Creamery.

All the toiletries that you may need are available at the Perk, too. Get toothpicks, napkins, hot sauces and canned goods right there.

They have a full coffee shop for your latte and Americano needs. This includes various teas and drips, too.

There are several varieties of potato chips, cheese puffs and other bagged goodies in the back of the store. They have dried fruits, bread and other various munchies.

One of the best parts is the deli counter in the back that can make you a fantastic sandwich and they’re really affordable. One of my faves is the “Italian Stallion” which is a few Italian-style deli types of meat on a hoagie roll with cheese and whatever fixings you want.

Lastly, but not least(ly?), there’s Wolfie’s Custard. They purchased the company a few years back and they have around 15-20 different flavors. Most of those you can get in cold weather as well as always in the warm weather.

Washington Perk and Provision Company is located at 401 W Fourth Street in Downtown WSNC.

Full disclosure, Washington Perk and Provision Company has the distinction of being the only dual sponsor of both The Less Desirables and The Man Who Ate the Town podcasts. So, I may get compensation from them, however, this is an honest and heartfelt (and was not asked to make it) recommendation.

—

Around the corner from the Perk, on Fifth Street, is Small Batch Beer Company.

Small Batch BeerSmall Batch started back in 2014 and before they opened, the (then) three partners Ryan, Tim and Cliff contacted The Less Desirables about coming on and talking about their beer and brewery. They were one of the pioneers of the downtown beer scene (after Foothills, of course) and took an old favorite location and turned into a modern place that brings liquid goodness to the masses.

They started a little smaller and have grown to 12 taps of both “favorites” and rotating varieties. They started serving food after a year or so of being open and then expanded to a whole new joint that focused on burgers and fancy milkshakes. They pulled back on that and now have a “ramen” place in the former burger space that is open a few days of the week. But, they still have some burgers on the food menu and you can order from them via Uber Eats, DoorDash and other delivery services.

Tim has bought out Cliff and Ryan and has kept the beer going strong. Their brews are solid and being in the location is pretty cool, too. It’s easily accessible from the Marriott, Embassy Suites, the Benton Convention Center, and everywhere downtown.

Small Batch Beer is located at 241 W Fifth Street and is waiting to serve you a great “cold one” as well as wine and a full ABC selection.

Small Batch was the first presenting sponsor of The Beer Dads podcast. I appreciate them and their support. They are no longer that sponsor so everything I say about them is an honest and unsolicited recommendation. Give them a shot!

I hope you’ll visit my friends soon, not just Fridays, and help local businesses and local business owners and hey, you can get good beverages and delicious pies! Thanks for reading about my friends.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Small Batch Beer Co. is a brewery and handcrafted cocktail bar in downtown Winston-Salem, NC. We screen the beautiful game (soccer/futbol) on our projector every weekend.” – Small Batch Beer

Piggybackin’ or: Come and Go

16 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by TGBII in Food, Life as We Know It, Podcasting, The Less Desirables Network

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Food, Foodie, The Less Desirables Network, The Man Who Ate the Town, WSNC, WSNC Food, WSNC Foodie, WSNC Restaurants

Salutations™!!man who ate the town Stallone

We did The Man Who Ate the Town podcast today and Ray and I talked about the sad closing of Asian BBQ which closed within a year of opening and Payper Plates, a takeout/drive-thru-only Soul Food restaurant in Clemmons. Asian BBQ is being replaced with Taqueria Luciano, which will be owned and operated by my pal, Luciano Perez.

We talk a lot more and I invite you to listen to hear it!

You can do that, here.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Taqueria Luciano’s is a popular Taco Truck Company serving Fresh Made-to-Order Mexican to foodies in and around the Winston-Salem area.” – Taqueria Luciano

1827 or: How I’ve Still Gotten Myself Into This

01 Friday Nov 2019

Posted by TGBII in Beer, Blogging, Food, Life as We Know It, Movie Review, Music Review, Podcasting, Rant

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Blogging, Food, Foodie, Kristen Daukas, Music, NaBloPoMo, Nick Badgio, Podcasting, Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking, The Beer Dads, The Less Desirables, The Less Desirables Network, The Man Who Ate the Town

Salutations™!!

Deep sigh…

That’s what I just let out when I realized that today is the 1,827th blog post I’ve written since November 1, 2014. Perhaps more because I think there was at least one day, perhaps two, that I wrote more than one for a day.

On November 1, 2014, Kristen Daukas and Nick Badgio and I agreed to write a blog post every day for 30 days. All of November. I liked it and kept on doing it. I figured I’d go to the end of the year. I went a bit further than the end of that year. I’m going to repost the first post of the NaBloPoMo posts that happened on 1 November that year.

month-of-november-on-calendar

©wiseGEEK

—
So we know that I’m a bit erratic or even sporadic when it comes to writing these blog posts.  Some of you may think that it’s good that you don’t hear from my blabbing self that often, some complain that I don’t do it enough.  Sometimes I have things to say, sometimes I don’t.

So, I’ve recently agreed to, along with Kristen Daukas and Nick Badgio, thus far, to participate in this thing called NaBloPoMo which is some fangdangled way to say National Blog Posting Month.  The idea behind this insanity is that bloggers post every day for the month of November.

A-Blog-Post-A-Day-For-A-Month. Sheesh, the things I get myself into.

Eugene sometimes says that I get too into lists, like the Rolling Stone Top 500 (see my many posts about that lunacy); that’s a commitment. Then I get the honeymoon stories, which I have gotten good reviews for, and will continue to do those. So, the trick will be to do what I need to do in bulk. Kind of get ahead, if you will and keep them in the pipeline. Maybe, something in my life will be interesting enough to create a post here and there.

So, you, dear reader, will be either the beneficiary or the target of turmoil for my month-long ramblings. Of course, I could just let everyone down and “not find the time” or just forget. So, today, November 1 is nombre de jour (day #1) and let the madness begin!

That was 1826 days ago. I have thought about giving up the “daily” aspect of it. I think somewhere along the line I wrote about that dilemma. But, I can’t stand the thought of not having a post. My writing would go all the poop. It’s hard to fill each day. It’s hard to keep up the pace that I do. Some days it doesn’t happen. I’ll be honest. I go and backfill the spaces sometimes. I’ve gotten much busier so I’ve had less time to write but somehow, I pull through.

I’ve written a lot about music – things and albums that were celebrating some kind of anniversary or that I find interesting. I’ve written about lists. I’ve written about movies. I’ve written about food. I’ve written a lot about the podcasts that I do. I’ve written about my family. I’ve written a good bit about my son. I’ve written a great bit about my wife. I’ve written mostly about me. Or have I?

Again, this was never meant to be taken as 100% gospel or to denote that I knew what I was talking about or was even telling what really happened. I set out to do this blog written from a character’s perspective and in many ways I have done that. However, I feel I let that line blur a bit and it’s more real-life than character-driven and I don’t know how I feel about that. I want to be honest or at least be convincing. Sometimes those don’t go hand-in-hand. I want to try and bring the character back out a bit. That’s why I sign everything on here as “Scorp” and not Tim. I never try to actually hide that I’m Tim, nor that The BCPF is Stephanie or 3B is Trey. I just enjoy the code names. But, it started as an outlet for me to be creative and not necessarily straight-shooting.

Kristen told me once when I struggled to describe my blog, that it was a “lifestyle” blog. I can see that. I talk about randomness but cohesively sorted topics sometimes. But, it’s about all the things I mentioned earlier and it’s not just a music blog, a food blog (I have The Man Who Ate the Town for that), a self-help blog (Beer Dads), alcohol blog (Sipping NC then and maybe its return is imminent). It’s my life. It’s my lifestyle. So, in that, it is a lifestyle blog.

To you, Dear Reader, thank you for reading and putting up with this mess every day for the past 1,826 days. I mean, if I didn’t have comments/”likes”/follows on my blog, what would be the point of me doing it? Just to read myself talking? I appreciate your time. Here’s to the next 5 years.

Heck, I don’t even know if National Blog Posting Month is still a thing. I went back and looked at the Twitter account for BlogHer and it hasn’t moved since 2016. The website for it has events but doesn’t mention NaBloPoMo. So, I don’t know. It doesn’t matter because I don’t do it for them. I do it for me.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp (Tim) out!

—
““A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource.” – Jorge Luis Borges, Twenty Conversations with Borges, Including a Selection of Poems : Interviews by Roberto Alifano, 1981–1983

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