2556 W Fullerton

On our previous A Previous Date Night Article visit we noted that we'd like to return but that it was just outside our convenient location range for that to happen too often. We got to return a bit sooner than we realistically thought because our inconvenience just happened to be our friend's convenience - they benefit from an Expressway being close by.  We confidently suggested (k)new and all was well.

Decor wise, nothing has changed.  Still almost a secret from outside, still the same non-bar bar (they're 100% BYO), still the same music (which most of the night we didn't really notice due to it being a fairly busy night and we were more interested in our friends) as far as I can tell, still the almost secret walkway you can wander down to take a peek in at the kitchen from (and yes, the chef was in again for us), and no change to the artwork that my practiced eye could detect.  I don't think I've ever felt the need to mention the bathrooms before, and unless prompted, probably won't again - although I admit to ocassionaly (very occasionally) suggesting to my wife that she has to take a peek in the Men's Room - but our friends felt they had to mention that it was nice that the bathroom matched the restaurant in quality and cleanliness.

Our Server was great.  Nervous, but great.  I think it's fair to say she's more vested in the outcome of our dinner than a 'normal' Server because technically she's an owner being married to the chef and normally works the host stand, but losing a Server right before service they found it easier to find an emergency host.  She admitted to it being years since she actually worked the floor as a Server but had she not said anything I don't think it would have crossed our minds.  She knows the Menu, she knows the Specials, she made sensible (and useful) recommendations to our ordering, she allowed us to order in our own time, she was around when we needed her and checked in on us about the right amount.  She was perhaps marginally more chatty (that's how we (k)new they lost a Server) than we were after, but no reason not to like her for that.

I don't think the Menu has changed much.  As a group we selected 2 Appetizers that we had last time and I managed to pick the same Main.  No regrets.  We've become very Appetizer-centric, often ordering more than one each and perhaps sharing a Main, but it's hard to do that at (k)new due to a quite short Appetizer section and an interesting array of meats in the much large Main section - not a bad thing, just hard!  Four vastly different bottles arrived and the three we got through paired up nicely with what we as a group chose to eat - perhaps not the dessert.

Our meal went a little like this:

• Chilean Chardonnay - almost buttery on the palette.  Not a big nose, perhaps citrusy in the finish.
• Chilean Red of a variety not seen before (perhaps a Carmenère?) - earthy and perhaps some tannins playing nicely with a spicy smoky berry sort of flavor.
• Smoked Salmon, Potato Nest, Horseradish Crème Fraîche - looks are not the highlight of this dish - not unpleasant, but it really does work better as an eating dish than a looking dish.
• Prime Beef Tenderloin, Maytag Bleu Cheese, Fresh Ginger currant Demi-Glace - good thing we still had some bread left for getting the last of the sauce, but the Beef was the star - and cooked just right
• Scallops, Grilled Pineapple - something wonderfully interesting happens to pineapple that has spent time on the grill.  It matched up wonderfully with the perfectly cooked scallops and probably didn't even need a sauce.
• Bogle Red - hard to go wrong with this one.  No complaints from our fish, red or white meat eaters.
• Rack of Lamb, Purple Spinach Garlic Mashed Potato - generous in size, cooked as requested and some might argue not enough mashed potato.
• Duck Breast, Mushroom Risotto - I love a great risotto.  This one could be a dish on it's own, but then you'd miss out on a great piece of duck.
• Halibut - looked good across the table and nothing left behind.
• Chicken Breast, Cognac Butter Emulsion - looked good next to me and nothing left behind.  I'm kind of sorry I didn't think to grab a try of the sauce.
• Dark Chocolate Fudge Cupcake Brownie - if some how this appeared on my dinner table at home I'd be very very happy
• Blueberry Crème Brûlée - good enough to be all gone, not quite good enough for me to remember without assistance.

We're glad we were able to get back so soon and we're double glad we got to share our find with our friends and triple glad that they enjoyed the meal (and the place and our Server) as much as we did.  Again, we hope to be back soon but can't commit due to the not-quite-useful-location-for-us that they selected when opening up.

Stay JOLLY!
DKate, Ron, Diane

2900 W Belmont Ave

Kuma's is an enigma!

Do they make the best burgers ever?  Probably, yeah!  Are the Burgers so good and Kuma's so popular that a short wait is only 90 minutes?  Definitely!  Is it really hard to stand around (probably outside for a good portion) for 90+ minutes for anything?  Yep!  Did we just do this?  Yes, yes we did!

Kuma's is an enigma!

Again, it took a conspiracy A Previous Article of sorts to get us to a place we do know, we do enjoy, but really struggle with the wait times.  This was actually the third A Previous Article of our collection of gift cards from Dear Friends who are very thoughtful.  Some might call them evil geniuses as they quietly snicker to themselves over our tribulations of using these gift cards, but they are thoughtful.  We had planned to use this card in the Summer but when the line was out the door and down the street (on a potentially stormy afternoon) we barely made the effort to get out and find out how long the wait was.  This time, it took us all day to get our wonderful burgers.  We thought a midweek lunch would give us a good chance at a sub one hour wait.  Not even close.  The line was probably longer than the one we saw during the Summer so we didn't even get out of the car.  We negotiated amongst ourselves and decided we'd try come back again at a non-meal time (4:30ish). 

Almost no-one out side!  Perhaps the stars had aligned?  Name goes on the list, 1 hour 25 minutes is the wait.  Drat!  One of us (ok, me) really really really struggled hearing that, but the options ultimately were stand it out or give the Gift Card back as clearly it would take a lot of luck and a lot of failed attempts to get the sub 60 minute wait we thought would be acceptable (30 minutes is really our limit, but for Kuma's...).  On the plus side, it was only medium cold outside which we dealt with for about half an hour that kind of went pretty quick.  We then squeezed inside, almost fell into a bar seat (first bum in the seat wins it...) but managed to get some room to get our coats off and a beer to get things started. 

It was probably more than the advertised wait time in the end, but it did go quite quickly with people watching (I think we were pretty calm throughout our wait, but some people were clearly wound up worrying that the host would forget them or seat someone else out of order) and by rule they never put 'the game' on so we got to watch subtitled 30 Days of Night.  We may have lucked into a slight bumping up the list by asking the host how long she thought we had to go at about the same time she was having trouble finding some of the people ahead of us (I suspect that every day people get a bar seat while waiting and just eat there meaning the host gets to move people up her list).

So, now that we're in...

The music is loud, but not obnoxiously loud - actually it's the 15,000 people jammed in the place that makes the place border line obnoxiously loud and probably the same 15,000 people that keep the place heated to the nice toasty level we found it.  The music is also metal!  All metal, all the time.  I have no idea how to classify what kind but for someone who has never felt the urge to go to a 'metal' concert or pick up a 'metal' CD it's actually not unpleasant to be around for a couple of hours.  There's a small collection of art work, probably all by one artist, that I would classify as being at the erotic bondage end of the scale - not something I'd hang at home, but nothing to be upset about by any stretch of the imagination.  Outside there's no flashing lights, just a simple sign on a simple old(ish) brick building with a bunch of people waiting patiently for their turn.

The Beer List proudly supports local and small producers and has a few fun imports too.  The menu has a couple of appetizers, mac & cheese of your own design and perhaps 30 burgers to choose from.  A burger and fries (waffle cut fries!) really is enough food, but the mac & cheese is also awesome so we extend ourselves knowing that there's a 100% chance something is coming home with us.  The burgers really are well thought out so you should never have to substitute or eliminate anything (they have a hassle charge if you do).  All come on pretzel bread which probably contributes significantly for the need to take something home with you.

If you judge books by their cover, you're probably not going to like the staff.  But if you judge your books by how they treat you, keep an eye on you, get your order right, answer your questions, know the Menu, know the Special, know the Beers, are polite and considerate then you're probably going to love the staff.  It's loud and busy, so it's extremely unlikely they'll stop and just chat but if you need something or have a question they're available and useful.  Thanks Kuma's staff!

Double thanks to the Kuma's staff (and probably ultimately the bosses) for not rushing us out.  For all the people waiting to get a Burger after us, we had finished eating and almost finished our beers when we were asked if we'd like another beer.  We declined, but although this philosophy probably increased our wait somewhat, it shows that they are not a 'turn & burn' type place.  I think it shows that they care about our dining experience.  Thanks again!

Our meal went a little something like this:

• Three Floyds Gumballhead - a wheat beer, perhaps citrusy?
• Brown Shugga - definitely brown sugar going on here, sweet but not crazy sweet.
• Three Floyds Alpha Dog - at the hoppy end of the scale, perhaps?
• Make Your own Mac & Cheese (Prosciutto, Corn, Sundried Tomato) - it's hard to actually stop from finishing the whole thing.  We did and now we have a yummy lunch for today.
• Kilt Lifter - not actually from Scotland.  The label suggested letting it warm up (actually didn't have a choice in our Toasty Bar) and it did open up kind of like a wine.
• Bellhaven - from Scotland.  In a can with one of those little bubble widget thingys.  Smooth and almost creamy.
• Led Zepplin Burger (pulled pork, bacon, cheddar, pickles) - Not a pulled pork sandwich!  The pork is one of the condiments!  Yummy and relatively not messy!
• Black Oak Arkansas Burger (red wine BBQ sauce, bacon, aged white cheddar, Alpha King battered fried shallot) - great BBQ sauce, great shallots.  Yummy and a little more messy...

Would we do it again?  It's an enigma!  When you pull up and see the line it's a definite bummer.  When you put your name down and they say 90 minutes, that's a double bummer (although while we were waiting by the bar not long before our number was called we heard the host saying three and a half hours - and people said ok.  Really, they said ok.  But how big a bummer would that be?), but when you get your frosty non-Supermarket-Case beer in your hand and have decided on your Burger all is pretty good with the world, and when the Burger arrives nothing much else matters.  It's an enigma!  So, the answer is yeah, we'll almost certainly be back one day and go through it all again.

Stay JOLLY!
D

2556 W. Fullerton Ave

Not sure what the ()'s are in the name for.  No harm done not (k)nowing...  But there has to be a story, right?  We should have asked!

From the outside very unassuming.  I don't think you would just bump into (k)new if you weren't heading that way.  That's probably not really a bad thing if the kitchen and staff work better when they know what to expect but I don't know if it was planned or just worked out that way.  And considering our normal every day dining habits are mostly spontaneous just enough to let us make a reservation we wouldn't be out just hoping to bump into something like (k)new regardless of how un-unassuming the outside is. 

Inside, unassuming probably isn't the right word but it's at the simple and nice & tidy end of the scale.  Not a lot of artwork, kind of in the fashion most of us have at home - not a lot of space to put up our favorite (or treasured) pieces so they get hung as best we can come up with but not quite giving each piece it's best.  I'm not trying to suggest it's jumbled and crowded, but more an eclectic collection which is probably meaningful to the chef. Perhaps a little bit darker than romantic really needs with a constant supply of the jazz you might find on the mostly generic jazz channel of your cable - apologies if I've classified this incorrectly.

There is an odd (not in a bad way odd, just different) walkway by the kitchen that doesn't go anywhere - not even a back door.  It does have windows into the kitchen if you like to take a peek at the chef (and the 'real' chef was there when I peeked) while he's doing his thing and on the opposite wall lots of pictures of the chef with 'important' people and a few autographed 'important' people pictures.  It probably is the best place for the pictures, but it is still an odd little walkway.

A BYO restaurant - I don't care how many times I see it, hear it or am corrected, I will NEVER EVER call it BYOB because there's absolutely no reason to emphasize what you are allowed to bring and it even rolls off the tongue awkwardly.  Anyhoo...  A BYO Restaurant with a bar?  As you enter, if you ignored the host stand you would walk straight into a 'bar'.  No bar activities at all, just a coffee machine and space that I would think could be used a little bit better.  Perhaps it was there when they arrived and they're saving it 'just-in-case'?  They do charge a very reasonable corkage charge, but call it a recycle fee.  I can't think why anyone would ever complain at a $5 corkage charge for 2 bottles, but the 'recycle fee' caused us to question it.

We accused our Server of being a bit snooty after our first chat (not directly to her, that would be rude!) but withdrew that thought quite quickly.  Sorry, we judged a bit quickly again!  Perhaps she thought the same of us when we didn't want her offered wine-cooler (I think too many people drink their whites too cold and I quite enjoy 'watching' the changes in the wine as it warms up a little) and we rejected her time saving ordering system.  She did take great care of us, offered suggestions, (k)new the specials well, was available, joked a little, took a joke back well (she pretty much fell for her own joke 22 seconds after she hit us with it), let us order and eat in our own way and found us a Cab in record time.  She won't be joining us at the family Christmas Dinner, but I think we're all friends now. 

The menu is fun and easily enough to navigate.  We'd prefer more in the appetizer section, but we found plenty to choose from, actually grabbing up both appetizer specials.  The menu is perhaps the heaviest in red meat we've seen for quite a while which certainly isn't a problem, but we really had to negotiate amongst ourselves over lamb, venison, buffalo, duck, pork (ok pork isn't technically red meat, but it was in the red meat discussion) and the other goodies - the other goodies really didn't stand much of a chance this night.  They slipped us (well, everybody as a far as we can tell) an unannounced amuse bouche which probably should not be the feature of your dinner, but it should be fun, or new, or daring or all 3 - definitely 3 out of 4. 

Something we've not seen before (and never considered - almost shame on us) was that our Server made sure we knew of the Cheese Platter right from the start suggesting we might like to start with that.  We almost did!  Now that we have this in our heads I suspect we may even ask for it some time soon.  I think it's a great idea and we're not sure if it's our clever Server's idea, or the Restaurant's but it's definitely a clever idea.

Our meal went a little something like this:

• 2009 Planeta "La Segreta" Blanco A Wine Club Selection - at the acidic end of the scale, but also quite fruity.  May have worked best with the rabbit.
• Amuse Bouche, Escargot - no shells to deal with, so just a fun start giving us something to talk about.
• Rabbit Bisque - perhaps my favorite of the night.  Advertised as rich and hearty it certainly was, but also very very tasty.  Watch out for bones, though.  We suggest that it be moved to the menu full time rather than just appearing as the Soup Special of the evening from time to time.
• Scallops, grilled Pineapple- topped with bacon and undered with a sauce that needed more bread.
• Potato Nest, with Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Crème Fraîche - simple dish, great mix of textures.
• 2008 Mud House Pinot Noir A Wine Club Selection - smoky / toasty, we can't concur on which.  We did agree on the dark berry type flavors we found.  Great with our red meat choices but probably just as great with just about anything.
• Duck Breast, Mushroom Risotto - the Risotto may have been the best part, but perfectly cooked Duck is hard to go past.
• Rack of Venison - presented more like chops, but cooked just right with a wonderful fig jus and mashed sweet potato
• Gelato Flight, Balsamic, Pomegranate, Goat Cheese - yep, us too!  First thought was that it didn't sound right, but we're very glad we gave it a whirl.  The Cheese one was an interesting texture, but the other two just tasted great and sweet (yes the Balsamic one was sweet) and we could easily have eaten more.

We liked the place.  Our dinner was served the way we like and we enjoyed all the dishes we chose.  It's not the most convenient location for us to get to - especially since we only drive to dinner as a very very very last resort, preferring the CTA and perhaps a cab home - but there's no reason we wouldn't make the effort to get back one day.

Stay JOLLY!
D

A849

From the outside it wouldn't be hard to miss that you're standing in front of a bar.  Inside, there's the bar section that does look like you'd expect your small village Pub to look like, but there's also a dining room (that from all accounts is jamming during the Summer) that looks more like a modern(ish) cafeteria.  An enigma all in all, I think. 

It's order at the bar (a very small bar right in front of the door), so no Server to keep us company.  The bartender was friendly enough to us and extra friendly to a couple who came in just as we were finishing up but after the kitchen had closed.  They were disapointed and hungry, but not cranky.  The bartender said she might be able to get them soup (which she was) which made the couple so happy.

The menu was very much a bar menu and surprisingly none of the Seafood we'd seen just about everywhere we'd been (or checked out their menu) appeared.  Maybe there's a different menu during the busy season?  We were able to find something to keep us going and have no reason to complain with it's quality.

Our meal went a little something like this:

• McEwans (blue)
• McEwans (red)
• Crispy Chicken on Baguette - surprisingly good bread, chicken that's actually chicken
• Crispy Chicken with Chips - yep, same chicken that's on the sandwich

I admit that this wasn't our first choice (and if time prevailed) wouldn't have been our second either.  It provided us a place to sit down and have a non-Subway type lunch (not that Subway was an option in this small village and we ulitmately had a sandwich) with a beer and a fireplace.  Not what we thought we'd be having when we started the day, but we could easily have been eating crisps and a candy bar instead.

Stay JOLLY!
D

78 Commercial Quay

The Kitchin was one of many places we dined as part of our Anniversary Trip through Scotland.  It was the only place pre-booked and we thank Anthony Bourdain^* for 'finding' it for us.  From Nature to Plate is the Restaurant's motto.  A philosophy that is frequently announced these days, but often not 100% implemented for logistical (and sometimes cost) reasons.  From what we can tell, the Kitchin absolutely stands by this, with the chef personally knowing every one of his suppliers and only putting items on the menu that can currently be sourced from these fishermen, hunters and gatherers.

We arrived a little early (turns out Cabs in Scotland come almost straight away when called for...) but were offered 'our' table straight away.  I say 'our' table because it was sitting there waiting for us with a hand written 'congrats on the Anniversary' note from the Chef, Tom Kitchin.  Sadly this night was one of the very rare nights when he's not actually cooking (they're only open Tue - Sat) but his team took great care of us and we are 100% ok with his reason for not being their - 2^nd child only a day or two old.  There is a small lounge area in the front by the bar but I think it's only a place to wait for your table and not a place to come in and just have a cocktail.  I don't think we missed out on anything by skipping this step.

The restaurant itself is a quiet peaceful place.  One of our Servers did note that it was a bit quieter than a normal crowd but not all that much.  The tables are spread out nicely, we were on a slightly raised platform by the kitchen - there was a large window in place so you could see the kitchen activity if you were inclined, but not have the normal kitchen noises intruding - and would have needed a quite large stick if we wanted to poke the people at the table next to us.  Nothing ostentatious in the relatively simple decor (although Tom's cookbook was on display), no table clothes but nicely polished wood tables, lighting not to dim nor bright, there was music but it was so low we couldn't categorize what was playing, and simple but really quite elegant centerpieces on the tables.

The menu has lots of interesting sounding things to keep you amused - and things you might not often (if at all) see on a menu over here in the States.  We opted for the tasting menu to give us the chance to sample as many differing things as possible, trusting the chef to pick the best of what was available.  Some dishes were on the 'normal' menu, but some were not.  We said we wanted to do the Tasting Menu when we made our reservation and they did come and confirm we were still game.  We were!  We absolutely were willing and happy to try whatever the chef put in front of us (even knowing some of his 'work' is right on or just over the edge of our comfort zone) but after we had confirmed we were given a couple of upgrade options to choose from.  We declined and I think we would have not even batted an eyelid had the upgrades been part of the menu and the advertised charge a little higher.  Although, having said that there was an option to add a cheese course to which we asked if we could decide later and when they came to check at 'cheese time' we opted in.  There is also an option to pair a wine with each course of the Tasting Menu (including an extra one for the Cheese Course) which we accepted.  It might be the most exciting pairings we've seen in that it's not a locked in selection with adjustments being made to match not only tweaks in the dish, but on different nights to match the weather that may be affecting your mood or even the type of guests you are read to be.

It's very much a service team.  Only our Wine Waiter had a mostly defined role, but even he helped to clear tables around the place.  Our first impression was that they were all a little snooty, but that did change as we got to know them - we're sorry we judged a bit quickly.  Everything they do is very precise, in terms of when something happens, how things are presented, how things are placed on the table, how they interact with you - no witty banter in this restaurant, how they stand unobtrusively waiting for their next task.  However, when engaged they are very talkative, observant, sociable, informed, knowledgeable and realistic.  One Server was particularly happy to chat and he helped us out with our non-food questions.  One Server (perhaps more of a supervisor?) helped us out with our photo, but he's a bad photographer... We weren't given a menu (although as we were settling up they gave us a copy of exactly what we had suggesting someone has a typing job each evening) so as each dish was presented we were told all about it.  Our Wine Waiter did the same, even explaining why he thought the wine paired well with the dish and what we should 'look' for in the wine. He proved how good a team they are in that for every course our wine arrived mere seconds after the 'dissertation' on the dish was finished.

Our meal went exactly like this:

• A teaser of cheese puffs, vegetable crisps and an anchovy wafer thing - Bread came later, but this was a wonderful treat while we listened to the options available for our 'real' meal.
• Chef's Land & Sea Surprise
  • Mushroom Consommé, chicken and tarragon - No doubt it was mushroom, very rich earthy flavors.  Would not have missed the chicken, but happy to have found it.
    
    • Dampierre 1er Cru Cuvée Ambassadeurs, Champagne - I suspect they try really hard to start with something bubbly?  Well balanced, elegant.
  • Mackerel, line caught and poached - delicate and light (almost fluffy in texture if that's fair).  Not like any Mackerel we've had before (I have to wonder how much the line caught has to do with that?)
    
    • Viognier The Foundry 2007, South Africa - I think we got peach on the quite short but solid palette.
  • Razor Clams, with diced vegetable, chorizo and lemon (apparently they're also known as 'Spoots') - seen them on TV and am happy to be able to cross them off the to-do list.  No idea how, but the chorizo works perfectly with the Clams.  We needed more bread so as not to miss out on all the sauce.
    
    • Dry Riesling Donnhoff 2008, Germany - Definitely at the dry end.  Crisp.  Apples, perhaps?  Maybe this is why the chorizo and Clams worked so well?
  • Pig's Head & Scallop, crispy pig's ear salad - Comfort zone pusher!  Favorite dish of the evening!  You don't get the whole head, but a wonderful terrine type presentation.  Admittedly we'd eaten some of the salad before knowing what it was, but it was so good it was hard to reconcile the goodness with the origins - our biases which may be shrinking a bit...  The Scallop was cooked wonderfully - being a little greedy I think we would have loved to have had no Scallop on this dish and a whole other Scallop dish.
    
    • Gewurztraminer Hugel 2008, France - Definitely floral on the nose.  We were more focused on the Pig's Head so don't recall much more - but no reason to disagree with the pairing choice.
  • Halibut, ragout of cocoa beans - Cooked just right, the fish was easily the star of the dish and probably could have survived on its own.
    
    • Volnay 'Vielles Vignes' 2008, France - The Wine Waiter was perhaps a little anxious about us accepting this wine with a fish dish.  We do not subscribe to white with fish, red with meat at all, so had no problems trusting his choice.  A quite strong nose, but delicate on the palette.  I say it was a great pairing.
  • Grey-Legged Partridge, braised red cabbage - If you don't like your dinner still having their feet on, this dish might be upsetting.  But a really rich, juicy and tender meat that doesn't taste at all like chicken.  The cabbage was a simple yet perfect accompaniement.  There was a little bit of work involved getting everything off the bones, but we weren't in a hurry...
    
    • Corbieres 2008, France - Perhaps some tannin there suggesting it has life in the cellar, but certainly ready to drink right now.  I probably would have preferred a 'bigger' wine given the choice but really nothing to complain about.
  • Cheese Board (6 from about 15 to choose, 5 Scottish, 1 French) - If you know your cheeses this is an amazing Board.  If you don't, the Server certainly can help you make useful selections but it's a little overwhelming.  We're much closer to the latter type.  We took what we thought the 'traveler' selection should be in that we asked for an all Scottish plate.  We were one short, told the Server what we liked and he picked the 6th for us.  All 6 were great, but I didn't like the oatmeal type crackers provided - not a deal breaker at all.  No idea what the names of each were, but at least 2 were sheep's milk, the soft ones weren't too soft and the hard ones nowhere near Parmesan hard.
    
    • 'Armistace' Late Harvest Syrah 2007, France - A really enjoyable wine.  I don't think you'd want to just sit with a bottle on the deck, but it played really nicely with our Cheeses with the peppery notes you tend to see in 'normal' Syrahs - perhaps the softer ones a little better.
  • Millefuille of British Apples, chestnut parfait and candied chestnuts - It's kind of funny that it felt more like the dish was complementing the wine.  All the pieces were delicate (both to the palette and slightly bulging belly) and worked well together.  As a package, a great way to end our meal.
    
    • Tokaji Late Harvest 2008, Hungary - Often the botrytis affected wines are just too sweet.  Not this one.  It even showed a little acidity on the back of the tongue?

We had a wonderful experience!  We're better off for having visited the Kitchin and experienced what Tom and his team are up to.  It's unfortunate for us that the 'Cab Ride' to get there costs about $1000 each and takes half a day to get there.  There's absolutely no doubt we'd go back for another special occasion! - given a far less expensive and shorter ride...

Stay JOLLY!
D

* We love No Reservations, and although we could never eat everything he does, we strongly subscribe to the philosophies of Anthony Bourdain (occasionally you hear his motto of sorts "be a traveler, not a tourist") of trying new things and being excited about the way chefs work - although we're not sure how enjoyable it would be to actually share a meal with him. His show that included Tom Kitchin got us excited!

33125 S. Coldwater Road

We spotted the big sign over the Highway and negotiated amongst ourselves as to whether we give it a try or continue a few more exits looking for the more 'safe' option of a Subway or the like.  The 'ayes' had it, but it wasn't a convincing win...

The almost empty parking lot at a little after noon and the biker pulling in at the same time as us almost made us take a recount of the vote, but we didn't.  The building itself inside and out didn't come across as anything remarkable, but has plenty of space (inside and out) so there must be a time when it's really hopping.  In a room past the bar, it looks like they are set up to have bands do their thing.

It was seat yourself and we weren't sure we'd be noticed in the restaurant type side so sat in the bar with the biker and one other couple.  The Bartender was our Server and he took great care of us - got our drinks promptly, was ready to take our order when we were ready and although he wasn't cooking, our food appeared really quite quickly.  I suspect had we wanted to chat to him, he would have because he spent just about all of his 'free' time talking with the biker.

Our Meal went something along the lines of:

• Lemonade / Soda - still had a bit of driving to do so avoided the beers (our policy will be to try share a local brew regardless from now on..).
• BBQ Beef Brisket Sandwich - fall apart tender as advertised and A LOT of fries
• Western Burger - the advertised BBQ sauce came a bit late and the Burger was just fine with out it, but better with.

This experience has taught us that there are far more interesting places to stop for a lunch on the Highway than a Subway.  And that you absolutely can't judge them by their cover.  It's unlikely our travels will bring us back to the Bad Ass BBQ, but we will always trust in like minded / styled venues from now on.

Stay JOLLY!
D