Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Belly Timber
Well, I'd like to write a brilliant, in depth, descriptive review... but I'm old, tired, and drunk so you get what you get.
I picked Belly Timber because enough people who like to eat in Portland said it was worthwhile and I couldn't insist on Cava yet again. Also, a place with a name that dumb usually either sucks horribly or rules. I'm going to go ahead and say that this was one of the better decisions I've made this week.
I won't go into the entire menu to except to say that the entrees, while not super exciting, were solid and that the drinks and appetizers were inventive and inspired.
I'll go over a few highlights. You may notice a theme. I like bacon.
"Pigstrami" - Thick slices of pork belly (think super thick bacon), 2-3 inches long, cured like pastrami. Absolutely delicious. Funny, both the girls couldn't dig it so maybe it's a guy thing? Whatever, pig fat and pepper = WIN.
Bacon infused bourbon Manhattan. Small drink... for a reason. Good bourbon, infused with bacon, with just enough sweetness. It's a sipper, not something you throw down chasing a good buzz. Tastes like the most awesome breakfast ever. REALLY good when combined with the...
Stumptown coffee custard thing. Imagine a good cappuccino, but replace the coffee with a cold coffee pudding. Take a bite of this, then a sip of the bacon bourbon. Then slip into a blissful coma.
Banana pudding with a stick of candied bacon in it. DUDE CANDIED F*ING BACON!!!!!
Service. I've had world class service, and I've had awful service. Given my scale, they get a solid B+. If you narrow the scale and just compare them to Portland in general, A-. Compare them just to restaurants on Hawthorne? A++. Fairly fast, very friendly, only made one mistake. A little inattentive when compared to the best of the best, but very strong overall.
The entrees again were nothing special, but there was nothing wrong with them. I had the burger. Not as good as Cava's by a long shot. A little dry, and the veggies were sparse and pedestrian... BUT the presentation was brilliant. The fries were served with a bone marrow aioli.... served inside a hollow steak bone! It made a great looking plate.
Anyway, it's good to see something besides a pub on Hawthorne. Prices were fair, food was fun, service was solid. What's not to love?
I will now sit and digest.
Also, Robert and Brandie gave me a bottle of Shinola from Merkin Vineyards because they are awesome.
I picked Belly Timber because enough people who like to eat in Portland said it was worthwhile and I couldn't insist on Cava yet again. Also, a place with a name that dumb usually either sucks horribly or rules. I'm going to go ahead and say that this was one of the better decisions I've made this week.
I won't go into the entire menu to except to say that the entrees, while not super exciting, were solid and that the drinks and appetizers were inventive and inspired.
I'll go over a few highlights. You may notice a theme. I like bacon.
"Pigstrami" - Thick slices of pork belly (think super thick bacon), 2-3 inches long, cured like pastrami. Absolutely delicious. Funny, both the girls couldn't dig it so maybe it's a guy thing? Whatever, pig fat and pepper = WIN.
Bacon infused bourbon Manhattan. Small drink... for a reason. Good bourbon, infused with bacon, with just enough sweetness. It's a sipper, not something you throw down chasing a good buzz. Tastes like the most awesome breakfast ever. REALLY good when combined with the...
Stumptown coffee custard thing. Imagine a good cappuccino, but replace the coffee with a cold coffee pudding. Take a bite of this, then a sip of the bacon bourbon. Then slip into a blissful coma.
Banana pudding with a stick of candied bacon in it. DUDE CANDIED F*ING BACON!!!!!
Service. I've had world class service, and I've had awful service. Given my scale, they get a solid B+. If you narrow the scale and just compare them to Portland in general, A-. Compare them just to restaurants on Hawthorne? A++. Fairly fast, very friendly, only made one mistake. A little inattentive when compared to the best of the best, but very strong overall.
The entrees again were nothing special, but there was nothing wrong with them. I had the burger. Not as good as Cava's by a long shot. A little dry, and the veggies were sparse and pedestrian... BUT the presentation was brilliant. The fries were served with a bone marrow aioli.... served inside a hollow steak bone! It made a great looking plate.
Anyway, it's good to see something besides a pub on Hawthorne. Prices were fair, food was fun, service was solid. What's not to love?
I will now sit and digest.
Also, Robert and Brandie gave me a bottle of Shinola from Merkin Vineyards because they are awesome.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
On motorcycling.... again
I had intended to fulfill a promise and start writing an ongoing story about why I love motorcycles so much.... But then I decided to check the news. I read another one of these stories. I decided to post a reply. This is it:
"As an experienced motorcyclist, this kind of story makes me really sad. It happens way too often. It sounds like a another instance of a young man buying a motorcycle he was in no way qualified to operate.
I had just ridden the road he was killed on Friday, on my KLR650. The corners are easy and flat. With proper throttle control, brake discipline, and the knowledge the comes with a few years on a bike, there's nothing challenging there even at 20MPH over the posted speed for any given corner (and that's on a motorcycle not built for high speed cornering). It's a fine, beautiful stretch of road. However, if you put a kid with no experience on a fast sport bike very bad things can happen really fast. Sounds like that's what happened here. It's really, really, sad.
Not that it's the fault of the state or the motorcycle manufacturer, but the fact that kids are able to buy something like the CBR600RR or an R6 (an example, not saying that's what he was riding) as their first bike is inexcusable. As long as these squids can get on these machines with no experience, crashes like this will continue to happen. These are powerful, high-performance bikes. They're a TON of fun, but as fast as they can put a smile on your face they can get you in over your head.
My heart goes out to the families of the rider and the folks who were in the pickup.
If you're a parent or a friend of a young guy looking at a performance bike for their first machine, I cannot urge you strongly enough to force them to start off small. I've ridden for almost 30 years now. I've seen just about everything. I can assure you that the guys who start out on small bikes, and who avail themselves of the knowledge of older riders, live longer."
Seriously, this breaks my fucking heart. Motorcycles are more fun than almost anything I can think of. Fast motorcycles are the most fun of all of them.. BUT YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO RIDE FIRST. If you don't, the odds are very good that you will die. I would like to see some sort of legislation that kept inexperienced riders off high performance bikes. The bikes I mentioned have all the tools necessary to get you into and out of trouble. They are well balanced, possess decent tires and tons of power, have excellent suspension and good (if not great) brakes, and are capable of, in the hands of an experienced rider, carving canyons in a jaw-droppingly awesome way... but if no one taught you how to use them then all you know is how to get into trouble. If that's all you can do, you'll either get lucky (as I will admit I did) or wind up causing heartbreak.
"As an experienced motorcyclist, this kind of story makes me really sad. It happens way too often. It sounds like a another instance of a young man buying a motorcycle he was in no way qualified to operate.
I had just ridden the road he was killed on Friday, on my KLR650. The corners are easy and flat. With proper throttle control, brake discipline, and the knowledge the comes with a few years on a bike, there's nothing challenging there even at 20MPH over the posted speed for any given corner (and that's on a motorcycle not built for high speed cornering). It's a fine, beautiful stretch of road. However, if you put a kid with no experience on a fast sport bike very bad things can happen really fast. Sounds like that's what happened here. It's really, really, sad.
Not that it's the fault of the state or the motorcycle manufacturer, but the fact that kids are able to buy something like the CBR600RR or an R6 (an example, not saying that's what he was riding) as their first bike is inexcusable. As long as these squids can get on these machines with no experience, crashes like this will continue to happen. These are powerful, high-performance bikes. They're a TON of fun, but as fast as they can put a smile on your face they can get you in over your head.
My heart goes out to the families of the rider and the folks who were in the pickup.
If you're a parent or a friend of a young guy looking at a performance bike for their first machine, I cannot urge you strongly enough to force them to start off small. I've ridden for almost 30 years now. I've seen just about everything. I can assure you that the guys who start out on small bikes, and who avail themselves of the knowledge of older riders, live longer."
Seriously, this breaks my fucking heart. Motorcycles are more fun than almost anything I can think of. Fast motorcycles are the most fun of all of them.. BUT YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO RIDE FIRST. If you don't, the odds are very good that you will die. I would like to see some sort of legislation that kept inexperienced riders off high performance bikes. The bikes I mentioned have all the tools necessary to get you into and out of trouble. They are well balanced, possess decent tires and tons of power, have excellent suspension and good (if not great) brakes, and are capable of, in the hands of an experienced rider, carving canyons in a jaw-droppingly awesome way... but if no one taught you how to use them then all you know is how to get into trouble. If that's all you can do, you'll either get lucky (as I will admit I did) or wind up causing heartbreak.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
And then there was one....
Well, I always hate to say goodbye to a good friend, but I'm down to one KLR. See ya on the road, pal.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
The amazing shrinking John.... The finale?
My original weight goal when I started this whole stupid "Operation Skinny John" thing was 220. I never really expected to hit it, but I figured if you aim high and miss, you'll still be somewhere near the target. But what happens when you succeed where you expected to fail?
In the beginning, back when I was pushing 250, I told myself that when I hit 220 I would reward myself with KFC. If you don't know my history with fried chicken, let me just say it's not pretty. I have been known to eat myself sick on fried chicken, go to bed, and then get up at 3 in the morning because I knew there were a couple legs left in the fridge. It's bad. Seriously, I can eat 2 complete fried chickens in an evening, no problem. Give me a long night, and I might go three or four. I've never really had any addiction problems, but fried chicken has always been the chink in my armor. I can resist donuts easy. Cake, pie, etc? No problem (though I do love me some pie). I generally don't care for sweet stuff, so sugar is not a problem. I actually enjoy a spartan diet. It makes me feel tough. But damn, I get one whiff of fried chicken and I am an deep trouble fast.
Later in the "Operation Skinny John" project, I revised the goal. I told myself that at 225 I could have fried chicken. I did this because I am weak, and because I thought it would help motivate me. It did help. It drove me, it kept me focused, but... Then it happened... I hit 225. I knew I was off the hook for fried chicken, but it felt like a hollow victory. I'd won by redefining the terms of victory. That's not winning. It's bullshit. I couldn't bring myself to claim a prize I didn't really earn, so I never cashed that check.
Tonight, I was feeling fat. I'd sat at home working and playing motorcycle mechanic all day. I missed the first of my daily doubles (if you don't know what that is, ask anyone who played high school football). I got everything done and went to the gym. I did my cardio, and then did the reduced weight workout I'm doing now due to an injury. I still felt thick, but I weighed myself anyway.
220.3
That counts in my book. With things the way they are, I'd been feeling too much stress and not enough pleasure. I cashed the check. I'm now assured that I'll be able to use fried chicken responsibly (these type of things are never as good as you build them up to be), but DAMN was it good.
Anyway, Shannon has said I'm not allowed to drop below 215, so after this it will be a slow process of swapping about 10-20 pounds of fat for 10-20 pounds of muscle. That takes time, and I have a plan, but I think the days of dramatic results are over. Man, it was a fun ride and I sent it off properly.
Oh and lest anyone think I forgot about the whole raw food thing, the rest of my diet today consisted of oats, a boiled egg, carrot sticks, and cashews.
P.S. Red wine goes with chicken.... OR ANY OTHER GOD DAMN THING I WANT IT TO!!!!!
In the beginning, back when I was pushing 250, I told myself that when I hit 220 I would reward myself with KFC. If you don't know my history with fried chicken, let me just say it's not pretty. I have been known to eat myself sick on fried chicken, go to bed, and then get up at 3 in the morning because I knew there were a couple legs left in the fridge. It's bad. Seriously, I can eat 2 complete fried chickens in an evening, no problem. Give me a long night, and I might go three or four. I've never really had any addiction problems, but fried chicken has always been the chink in my armor. I can resist donuts easy. Cake, pie, etc? No problem (though I do love me some pie). I generally don't care for sweet stuff, so sugar is not a problem. I actually enjoy a spartan diet. It makes me feel tough. But damn, I get one whiff of fried chicken and I am an deep trouble fast.
Later in the "Operation Skinny John" project, I revised the goal. I told myself that at 225 I could have fried chicken. I did this because I am weak, and because I thought it would help motivate me. It did help. It drove me, it kept me focused, but... Then it happened... I hit 225. I knew I was off the hook for fried chicken, but it felt like a hollow victory. I'd won by redefining the terms of victory. That's not winning. It's bullshit. I couldn't bring myself to claim a prize I didn't really earn, so I never cashed that check.
Tonight, I was feeling fat. I'd sat at home working and playing motorcycle mechanic all day. I missed the first of my daily doubles (if you don't know what that is, ask anyone who played high school football). I got everything done and went to the gym. I did my cardio, and then did the reduced weight workout I'm doing now due to an injury. I still felt thick, but I weighed myself anyway.
220.3
That counts in my book. With things the way they are, I'd been feeling too much stress and not enough pleasure. I cashed the check. I'm now assured that I'll be able to use fried chicken responsibly (these type of things are never as good as you build them up to be), but DAMN was it good.
Anyway, Shannon has said I'm not allowed to drop below 215, so after this it will be a slow process of swapping about 10-20 pounds of fat for 10-20 pounds of muscle. That takes time, and I have a plan, but I think the days of dramatic results are over. Man, it was a fun ride and I sent it off properly.
Oh and lest anyone think I forgot about the whole raw food thing, the rest of my diet today consisted of oats, a boiled egg, carrot sticks, and cashews.
P.S. Red wine goes with chicken.... OR ANY OTHER GOD DAMN THING I WANT IT TO!!!!!
Monday, October 06, 2008
Good times tomorrow!!!!
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