The Pelon's Baja Grill Surf & Turf Burrito is amazing, not much more to say than that lol
The Stockpot Virginia Beach Bruch spread
Brunch at Stockpot VB - Aug 6, 2022
Jasper and I met up with my “Sista from Anotha Mista” Gemma for brunch at The Stockpot in Virginia Beach. Been a minute since I’ve had bruch there, but I am normally there on a Monday night for Ramen (as you all know.)
Old Beach Breakfast - 2 Eggs, Bacon, and Hash
Zucchini Salad with Seared Salmon
Ube Waffle
Heather holding Jasper puppy (aka Baby J!)
Koco's Soy Garlic Korean Fried Chicken (presented by the lovely Shelby)
National Chicken Wing Day 2022!
Today was National Chicken Wing Day and there was no other option to get other than Koco’s! KOCO Korean Fried Chicken & Croffles open earlier this year and has been gaining popularity quickly. The owners used to run a pizza operation at the location but as with a lot of businesses the pandemic made a mess of things. Luckily, from the ashes, they rebranded and opened up my new favorite wing spot <3
Koco’s Korean style wings are crispy, flavorful, and kinda sounds weird saying it but, very fresh. The garlic soy flavor is our favorite but there is a spicy version too. Make sure you try the Croffles too! I don’t usually eat sweets and pastries but I’ll eat the hell outta the croffles. They’re basically waffled croissants coated in caramelized sugar, reminds me of something like a Liege waffle with the crispy outside and moist, chewy inside.
Check them out, tell them I sent you ;)
Oishii Burger
I’ve had Oishii Burger at a couple of pop-ups at Bottlecraft VB, but never actually visited the brick-and-mortar. That was recently remedied when I was invited by owner Paolo Vergara and crew for their Wednesday night ramen.
You all know I loves me some ramen! I met Paolo right as he was getting his ramen and we sat at the bar.
I wanted to try out a few things they had on the menu and started out with the Okonomiyaki - Japanese savory pancake they serve with bacon and crab. These are always fun to get because they’re topped with bonito flakes that move when they’re near hot steam.
They also do Yakitori, I ordered one each, chicken and beef (beef was my favorite.)
Paolo explained the long process of how their ramen broth was made - over 72 hours of simmering around 30 lbs of pork bones and parts, in addition flavor components. You can taste it too, you can’t get the kind of richness and mouth feel from tossing together a quick pot. You need time to break down the nutrients, minerals, and, connective tissues.
Loved how the ramen was presented, in a lidded bowl. You feel like you’re being given a present and I’ll admit there is a tinge of joy unwrapping they bowl getting to the delicious surprise inside.
I enjoyed chatting with the guys there, they are passionate about what they’re doing and the product of that is really something you’d want to experience. So make sure you swing by and try them out…Oh! They have fried Oreos too if you need some convincing.
Aloha (Snacks) To All The Pretty Horses...and Lucas Beaufort Too!
New Crudo Nudo
Finally got to check out the new format Crudo Nudo moved over to and I love it! Tapas style, relaxed, a little more casual than before. Sad to not see Josh behind the bar anymore but Tyler was a good addition.
Eric told me the Blogger Girls were down the street for a meet. I popped in to say Hi.
Hi Angela! I think she had a couple of drinks ;)
Auntie's Gising Gising
Another trip to Auntie’s Tiki but tonight we got a treat! Abriel made us a Gising Gising Hot Pot that isn’t on the menu, It was made totally vegan using Beyond Meat as the protein, we couldn’t quit eating it it was that good. They have it in burger form but I prefer this by far.
We also got some of the usual suspects we order on our visits here.
Anniversary Dinner at Jackrabbit PDX
Shelby and I celebrated being married 29 years yesterday! We don’t make a huge deal out of our anniversary but this year the circumstances were a little different.
Shelby had some work to do in Portland, OR so I took some time off to tag along and check out the city. We were excited because we’ve never been to Portland it ‘s been on our list of places to visit.
Coincidentally, not only did our anniversary fall between the dates of the trip, but our friend Chris Cosentino owns a restaurant there called Jackrabbit. We knew were we were going to have dinner!
Commune's Oyster Sandwich
Tried the Oyster Sandwich at Commune, pretty good! Been a while since I’ve had one of these. I saw my buddy Vinny too, he’s just one of those guys you feel good being around.
Ramen Night!
Late Dinner at Chow
Sonja, Shelby, and Marion at the University Theater
We were invited to watch a move our friend directed at the University Theater at ODU. It was great experience and we bumped into a bunch friends. After the movie we ended up heading over to Chow with our buddy Carmen. We met Carmen a while back at Whole Foods, she's at Tinto's Wine & Cheese now - which you should check out if you haven't been yet!
Chow was open a hour later than most places about the area which meant we could relax and grab a bite to eat, a drink (or two) and not worry about rushing out or keeping the shop open on our account.
After grabbing a spot to eat we tried to figure out what to drink. Since we had Carmen with us we decided we'd have her peruse the wine list and pick a bottle we could share. She suggested a Zin from the Frank Family Vineyards. The 2013 Napa Valley Zinfandel was super smooth, fruity, and dark, just the way we like them. Good call Carmen!
The next line of business was figuring out what to eat. Chow's menu is centered around "southern comfort" food and it's truly represented! We've had dinner here a few times before and it's always been good. Speaking of good, I decided wasn't going to be with my entree because all I had to eat that day was two apples and a Caesar salad (seriously!)
I went for the Chicken Fried Steak (below), Shelby got the Steak Frites (photo at the top of the page), and Carmen got the Vegetarian "Meatloaf". I didn't try Carmen's, though I should have, but Shelby's dish was basically a delicious steak on top of some Parm-Truffle Fries. The compound butter on top was melting making the whole sexy. Yeah I said sexy. You can look at a Insta story I made here, sorry for the vertical and low-res clip. The Chicken Fried Steak was great and I loved the Collards I picked as a side. The mac and cheese looked good but I would have liked for it be more cheesy!
All-in-all a great meal with great company, I need to get back and try some of the burgers there, they looked great. Head to Chow, try it for yourself!
Saltine with Josh
Master mixologist Josh Seaburg
Fortunately, hanging around in the food scene for years has allowed me to become familiar with a lot of talented people that work all aspects of the food/drink service industry. I'm not just interested in the plate in front of me, but I love knowing the people back of the house to the front who make it happen.
I love sitting at the bar too; finding a new beer or wine to enjoy and once in a while a fancy drink. You probably guessed from a quick glance of this post this is going to be about cocktails and you would be correct. I'm going to tell you how I got to drink a bunch of them one night and show you what they were.
My journey into an evening of cocktail sampling began one warm evening in Norfolk, VA. I drove Shelby down to a new Italian restaurant called Leone's so she could meet up with "The Ladies." After I creeped on them a little bit, taking photos, chatting, etc... I thought they should have their girl time so I left for the car. I needed to run some stuff to a chef I know down the way and I had time to burn. While I was walking down Granby St. I was spotted by another guy I know named Josh Seaburg. I wrote about him a couple of years ago when he was at another shop.
After spying me he messaged me and asked if I would be interested in trying out his new drink menu he created for Saltine, one of three new hot spots in the Hilton Norfolk The Main. Saltine, a seafood restaurant, has a beautiful bar on the ground level of the hotel that allows you to do some serious people watching - everyone coming into the large hotel lobby and people on the street.
Shelby told me, that her mother (Hi Nana!) told her, it is rude to turn down a drink so I accepted happily. After I ran my errand I made my way to Saltine, ready to be wow'ed. Josh has put in his dues and is serious about his drinks. He pays attention to detail and it's the small things that make the whole.
White Julep
The menu, at the time, had not been tested by a layman as myself and I was ordered to give him feedback. Lucky me!
Attention! I'm just going to say right off the bat that the presentation of all the drinks was beautiful. Figured I'd add that caveat at the beginning so I didn't have to keep saying it throughout the post.
We started out with a White Julep - Wasmund’s peach-smoke bourbon mash, mint, simple syrup. This one packed a punch but was refreshing, loved all the ice.
Kuh-Shah-Suh
Stephan Stockwell of Grain
Kuh-Shah-Suh (Josh explains the name is the phonetic spelling of the main ingredient Cachaça) This is made from pineapple infused Cachaça, lime, simple syrup, winter melon bitters, and garnished with dragon fruit. This was a neat, it even had a little heat on the end. While he was making it he gave the glass a spritz of green Chartreuse.
Western Medicine
Western Medicine - Belle Isle Honey Habanero, lemon, and ginger syrup. It's garnished with candied ginger - when available. Shelby will love this one!
Had to take a food break and ordered some calamari
Rosetta Toned
The Rosetta Toned was served in nice stemware and had a pleasant, sweet finish. It's made with Flor de Cana extra dry rum, lime, house strawberry cordial, Absinthe, and coriander. I'm a fan of rum!
Piña Colada
The classic Piña Coloda, not much to say other than it was damn tasty and he didn't put it in his shirt pocket. Maybe next time!
(Shirt pocket reference here.)
Vida Bandida
The Vida Bandida - Vida Mezcal, dry Curacao, lime, Ignition Tincture, bitters. This was different, neat. Mezcal drinkers would like this, even if you don't like mezcal, try it anyway. Thug Life.
It's chemistry!
Cleaver Club
Cleaver Club is fun to watch being made. It is a mixture of Beefeater Gin, lemon, and nitro-raspberries. Josh busts out the nitro to prep the glass and it looks highly technical. The name of the drink, and the drink itself, pay homage to the classic cocktail The Clover Club.
Audible Sigh
The Audible Sigh was fancy and was garnished with fresh Passionfruit - Ketel One, passionfruit, lime, sparkling rosé, hibiscus/acai bitters. All the cool, trendy stuff in one drink, you might hear Josh give an audible sigh if you ask for him to make you one. It's worth the side-eye though, it's pretty tasty.
Bet you thought I would drink each one to the finish? Maybe I did...
I just wanted to give Josh a shout out for letting me try all these delicious cocktails and give him feedback on them. I think I'll be swinging by again tonight to revisit one or two of these. "The Ladies" are meeting there and I always crash a party.
- Fini
Bonefish Grill
There are a lot of places to grab a meal around here. It's funny because if you're not paying attention it's easy to miss a lot in close vicinity. This post is about one we recently (finally!) visited in Virginia Beach called Bonefish Grill. I'm sure if you live in the area you're probably saying to yourself, "Yeah, yeah...everybody has been there. Bang Bang Shrimp!", but I haven't. I have a mile long list of places to visit and Bonefish was on there somewhere. We ended up going because they contacted me and asked if I would like to come by a and try their Hand-Crafted Happy Hour.
Here's the blurb they sent me:
"Hand-Crafted Happy Hour menu, served 4:00-6:30 p.m. seven days a week, featuring upscale bar bites including sushi-grade Ahi Tuna Poke, Crispy Cod Sliders, Wagyu Beef Sliders, Crispy Au Gratin Bites, Mussels Josephine and Crispy Calamari priced at $6 each. Drink specials showcase a selection of Bonefish Grill’s handcrafted martinis and cocktails at just $5 each, including the Blueberry Lemon Drop, Tropical Tiki Martini, Raspberry Vodka Collins and Fresh Margarita. $4 house wines, $5 mixed drinks and $1 off draft beers are also offered."
Blueberry Lemon Drop
Tropical Tiki Martini
Raspberry Vodka Collins
Fresh Margarita
The whiskey man enjoying a fancy drink.
When I'm offered free food I'm usually all over it, that didn't change with this offer either. They said I could bring friends, and as luck would have it, our buddies Amy and Alan were available to hangout. We met them at a local wine tasting then headed over to Bonefish Grill down the boulevard.
We met with the kitchen manager and he introduced us to our server. We settled in and ordered lots of drinks (of course.) Actually, we ordered everything on the Hand-Crafted Happy Hour menu to get an idea of what the place was dishing up. As listed above, this is what was on our ticket: Ahi Tuna Poke, Crispy Cod Sliders, Wagyu Beef Sliders, Crispy Au Gratin Bites, Mussels Josephine, and Crispy Calamari.
The drinks came out first and they were all pretty tasty. I don't drink a ton of mixed drinks but the margarita was my favorite. When the food came out I snagged all the plates to take photos. I always say I'm the worst dinner date. They filed out one after the other and the amount of food was impressive. The price point was great considering what you get and we really loved the poke. Super fresh and delicious, the calamari was good too! Everything was actually tasty and I could see us putting Bonefish Grill on the rotation.
Ahi Tuna Poke, our favorite off the menu!
Shelby with Amy and Alan, always fun hanging out with these guys.
Bang Bang Shrimp
Even though they weren't on the Happy Hour menu we ordered some Bang Bang Shrimp too. Super light batter and nice sized shrimp. The sauce their in is so good, I could probably eat 4 orders of these in a sitting. After we plowed our way through the food they kitchen had a surprise for us and brought out their Summer Berry Bread Pudding. I mean we really couldn't eat anymore but it looked great so we tried and almost ate the whole thing.
After really finishing up with dessert we said our goodbyes and thanked the staff for hooking us up with a great meal. We'll definitely will be heading back.
757 Poke
Devin And The Pina Colada He Made
I met up with my buddy Chase (check out his bottle shop - Bottlecraft Virginia Beach!) for a drink yesterday at Esoteric and were lucky to have Devin behind the bar, always a good time when he's there. After our first round Chase was looking for a suggestion and Devin mentioned the Piña Colada. It was in a nice tall glass garnished with a pineapple leaf, I took pics of Devin with the drink because it seemed like the natural thing to do...please enjoy.
This will actually fit into his shirt pocket.
After Chase drank some he insisted that I have some too, I took a little sip then I was told to drink more. It was pretty good.
Bay Local Eatery Soft Opening at Laskin!
Bay Local Eatery has opened a new location in Virginia Beach! It's located on Laskin Rd. where Metropolitan Oyster Exchange used to be. Metro was doing great but they decided to pare down a little bit and sold the spot Bay Local. I hate seeing Metro go, it was solid with a great people but I know Bay Local will take the baton running.
This week they had their soft opening with family and friends but then opened the flood gates to stress test the system to work out any last kinks on the line, see how long it would take to get the tickets knocked out and how the new/relocated staff handled crowds. We felt lucky to be invited for an opportunity to eat there before it officially opened to the public the next day.
When we arrived at 1:00 it was packed! We had a little wait but it was only about 15 minutes, pretty good considering at the original location they waits are usually about a hour. While we waiting I cruised about the restaurant to check it out. The floor plan is similar to what it was with Metro, open space with booths along the walls and high-tops in the center but the decor has changed a lot. It's more in-line with the original Bay Local feel to it, homey and inviting. The huge "M" behind the bar is now a stained glass panel that glows a warm gold.
I bumped into owner Adrian and we chatted a little bit about what's new and life in general. He's be on the ground with this, making sure things have been running smoothly from electricity in the back to the hostess stand front of the house. My pager went off indicating we a table, Shelby and I took our seats.
The great thing about soft openings is that you pretty much get to try whatever you like from the menu. That doesn't mean you go crazy and order everything just because you can, but it's definitely a good opportunity to try something different! We decided we'd start with a couple of appetizers but then had a hard time figuring out exactly what we wanted, there was a lot to choose from and it all looked great. So....how about drinks then?
Shelby got a mimosa, it was moscato with a scoop of sorbet in it. Cute and tasty! I got a bloody mary, Bloody Bay actually. I always get one of these when we eat at Bay Local. It's a spicy house mix that has just enough burn to keep you hanging in there.
The starters we finally choose were the Shrimp, Scallop, & Bacon Fritters and the Poppin Champagne Fried Carolina Shrimp. The fritters were great but we really loved the shrimp, the batter was light and the shrimp were plump and not over cooked.
Shrimp, Scallop, & Bacon Fritters
Poppin Champagne Fried Carolina Shrimp
Adrian said we need to try the Bay Local Oysters too, so put in for a half dozen. They were delicious! Loved how creamy they were and the greens they were adorned with. I could easily eat two dozen of these!
Bay Local Oysters
Coming to a decision on entrees was hard too, Shelby kept eyeing the shrimp and grits but she also loves crab cakes. Easiest thing to do was have her order the grits and I would get the crab bennie then we could split them! Shelby's "Just Right" Shrimp and Grits were very good. The texture was great especially with the cheese and sausage blended in throughout. It's finished off with sautéed onions, sweet peppers, and bacon - so good! I'm all about that savory flavor profile. She also got the cinnamon fried biscuit on the side, those things are dangerous.
My Crab Cake Bennie are something I've had before but it's one of those things you can order over and over again and it doesn't get old. I opted for tots on the side, you always go for the tots!
"Just Right" Shrimp and Grits
Crab Cake Bennie
We were pretty stuffed by the time our last plates were brought out and had to box up what we didn't finish. Definitely a good dinner of leftovers later that night! While we were eating Adrian came over and checked to see how things were going and asked Shelby if she'd like another mimosa. She was off for the rest of the day so she said, "Sure, why not." He came back with a huge one, we had a little laugh over that.
We settled up and headed out, on the way to the door we bumped into our friend Judy Cowling who writes the Turning Tables column for The Virginian-Pilot. It's always great to see her, we see each other a lot especially at events, restaurants, etc... We caught up then said our good-byes. I was about ready for a nap after our feast but I needed to get back to the office. I dropped Shelby off with the food at the house and headed back to work.
All in all a great day, any chance to eat at Bay Local is a good day. I hope you're planning on grabbing a bite there, you won't regret it.
Shelby and Judy
Taco Tuesday at Terrapin
If you know me, you know when someone asks me what my favorite restaurant in Virginia Beach is I'll say I have a few! Yeah, it's a cop out but there are so many places to eat in Virginia Beach and I've only visited a fraction of them I can't say for sure what the best one is out there. It's also a very subjective topic, we're all different!
OK, evasive talk aside, I will say that one of my favorite places to eat in the city is Terrapin. Hands down! I've posted and written about them a lot over the years but I just found another reason to visit the shop - TACO TUESDAY! Shelby saw it out there and said we should try it. $10 for hand-pressed tortillas with a carnitas plate and $6 Blood Orange Margaritas! You can't beat that for a meal at Terrapin.
Mrs. Shelby!
I'm sure most of you have heard of Taco Tuesday it's basically an excuse to go out and eat tacos on a slow night for restaurants. It's been around since the early 80s and maybe earlier according to some stories.
That being said don't think that Terrapin really has slow nights, we went the second week of this taco celebration and got there about 5:45, 45 minutes after the door opened and had to be put on a waiting list. I swear the regulars, most whom appeared retired, must have been waiting at the doors and rushed the bar! Oh, forgot to mention Taco Tuesday is bar service only.
I'm not complaining about the wait because that gave Shelby and me a chance to check out the drink menu, chat, and eyeball what Rodney (ownder/chef) and crew were cooking up through the open kitchen's window. Love how he works, super chill. While we waited we sipped on a Little Italy and a Carré Me Home. The Little Italy has bourbon, cocchi barolo chinato, angostura bitters, and a lemon twist; the Carré Me Home is made with bourbon, triple sec, Drambuie, sweet vermouth.
Terrapin has a high-speed menu system :)
Little Italy
Carré Me Home
James Ah You behind the bar.
After finishing our drinks and chatting with Rodney a little bit we finally got our seat at the bar. We asked for the tacos, of course, and a couple of Blood Orange Margaritas. The oranges were hand-squeezed and the drink itself was great. The carnitas were perfect, not that I expected anything less from Terrapin. The portion was nice, I was able to get four tacos out of my serving and left feeling full.
Basically, make an effort to hit Taco Tuesday at Terrapin. I don't know how long they'll do it and it's an easy way to get a quality meal at a great price.
Burnt Honey Glazed Pork Belly Sandwich
Rock, Paper, Scissors (Waffles & Pork Belly)
You know how sometimes you just really need to eat that one thing, it keeps nagging you until you finally fill that void? For about two weeks now I've been craving some good ole' fashioned waffles with a lot of syrup. Not only that they had to come with the homemade sausage you get at Commune in Virginia Beach, VA. Basically, I needed to go to Commune again.
I have some free time this past Friday which provided me with the opportune time to take care of business. I told Shelby my plan (eating is serious business around here) and she said "Do it!"
So there we go, I was off to Commune.
I got in early enough which allowed me to sit wherever I wanted, I opted for the bar. After getting my drink I made the rounds and chatting with everyone, I gotta say "Hi". When it was time to get down to dealing with my cravings I told them about the waffles thing that was happening. Of course they had the Heirloom Cornmeal Waffles available...but they also had another item on the menu that wasn't going to be around for too long.
The two you see below, they started this trouble.
Scuba
Lyndsay
The week before Commune catered a beer dinner showcasing the first sour release for the local brewery Commonwealth Brewing Company. One of the items on the menu was a pork belly sandwich. They happened to have a little bit of this pork belly on-hand still and decided to put on the menu. The caveat for this offering was that as soon as they ran out of the peaches that accompanied the pork belly ran out so did the sandwich. I was told there were five of these sandwiches left in their current form before they were never, ever offered to another human on this planet and I went for the hook.
Granted this wasn't an easy decision mind you.
I was internally battling the Waffle-mind, backed by weeks of waffle desire, with the Pork Belly camp that just showed up on the scene. Rock-Paper-Scissors - never mind, let's not even pretend. Pork Belly wins, it always wins in the end.
Why?
Because once you take a bite - and it's prepared properly - it's heaven in your mouth. It's the perfect combination of fat and protein that melts in your mouth it's hard to believe that it's real. That's what pork belly is, satisfying and decadent, you feel it when it happens.
Let's back up. I asked for waffles and was offered a pork belly sandwich and I internally battled it out only to have Pork Belly win with a predictable 10 second knockout. What happened? What did I get for this crazy expenditure of brain matter and physical stress?
The Burnt Honey Glazed Pork Belly Sandwich. Burnt honey glazed pork belly, soft smoked peaches, red onion, picked mustard seeds, burnt onion aioli and garden greens on a brioche bun.
Other then the fact that I can get delicious waffles from Commune on the regular menu, I heard that there were only three pork belly sandwiches left before they etched into the annuals of time. I actually walked over to the window and asked Chef Barry Smith what the deal was and he said this (I'm paraphrasing):
We made this for Commonwealth Brewing dinner last week and I only have enough peaches to [he goes and checks the fridge] make about three more sandwiches.
I see on on the griddle and comment about how delicious it looks and he then says:
Pork belly is my religion...
Pork Belly Sandwich please! Any person who makes a statement like that you have to take seriously.
I was not disappointed. This thing was crazy good and if you take into account the amount of work Commune goes through to get food like this on the table it's insane. Take another look:
Burnt Honey Glazed Pork Belly Sandwich
It was so good! It was hard, but I only ate half so I could take the rest to Shelby. I was going to be picking her up for lunch and figured this would be a sweet surprise. I actually lucked out at the restaurant though, Barry came out with something he was putting together, a Pork Shoulder Terrine for the weekend menu. He asked me to come over and check it out while he saved some images of it for future reference.
Chef Barry Smith of Commune
Pork Shoulder Terrine
It looked great. He said he was might adjust the composition a bit before the weekend rush but the terrine was going to stay the same. It took him about two days to put the main component of the dish together and it showed. It was a little smoky and very tender. He offered the dish to me after he had gotten his images and of course I didn't refuse.
So in the end, I didn't get my waffle fix but I did get to eat something that was amazing and I figured I'd just have to go back for waffles later.
Make it a point to swing by Commune for breakfast/brunch/lunch for a something a little bit different and take advantage of a dining experience in Virginia Beach.
This is Molly with Scuba (she actually gave me waffles a couple of days after this was shot!)
Dinner at Esoteric
We actually went out to dinner with friends last week!
You're thinking, "Yeah, yeah big deal", but it is for us. With the regular work week Shelby and I have and my regular schedule running around town, there actually isn't a lot of time we go out to just relax - let alone with friends. In the month of August, in the year 2016 we officially went out to dinner twice with friends. I can't remember that last time that as happened! The first time was with Cappy and Lauren to the Commis dinner earlier in the month (still working on the gazillion photos I took at that one) and the second was with our friends visiting from San Francisco.
Tatiana and Chris were staying in Sandbridge with family and wanted to hang out someplace close to the beach house and after putting together a short list we finally decided to hit Esoteric. I figured the food, beer menu and the atmosphere are great and we have the option to sit inside or out. When we arrived they were already out back on the patio. Warm (hot would be a little more accurate) Virginia summer nights are a little bit different than the cool ones in San Francisco.
Pimento and Crackers
Tatiana's Octopus Mustachio
Clockwise from the left: Pork Chop, Scallops, Charcuterie, Duck, and Wings.
We ordered the Charred Octopus to start and they house brought out some Roasted Shishitos grown in the garden and Pimento with their housemade crackers (which are great!) Our entree orders were the Pork Chop, Scallops, and Duck. I went ahead and ordered some other things to pick at which included a Charcuterie board and some wings. I had judged a "beer food" contest earlier so I wasn't starving though I got some bites from everyone's plates.
Chef Ian Hock came out to say "Hi" and after a little chat he brought out a couple of The Veil Brewing beers they had stashed away in the fridge. This was a great treat for us and our guests because if you know anything about Veil beer their cans go quick and are only sold at the brewery in Richmond. We all shared the Lil' Kitty Boi IPA and Eternal Shredder DIPA. Man I love their beers, you should check out pedigree on The Veil Brewing's Matt Tarpey, here's a good article at Good Beer Hunting.
Chris with the Ian Hock and his crew. I had to slip in the photo too ;)
After sipping our beers and ordering a few more Resins, I asked if we could slip into the kitchen to meet the crew. Ok, the elephant in the room is that Tatiana's husband is Chris Cosentino, a world renown chef who has pioneered snout-to-tail cooking in the U.S. They also own Boccalone and the restaurant Cockscomb, both in San Francisco. The guys in the kitchen were excited for the fact that he was eating at their shop so it was a treat for Chris to come back and hang out.
Shelby and Tatiana were hanging out back while we were in the kitchen but we all eventually made our way to the bar and drank more beer. Go figure right!? All in all, it was a great time and we were glad we were able to get out and have a proper sit down and just hang out. We need to get to San Francisco those two keep saying. Don't be surprised when we show up on the doorstep Tatiana and Chris, I know we've been saying that for years but it's coming. Here's to seeing you in your town next time!
Tatiana and Shelby. I need to dig up the photos Shelby has of the two of them taken over 25 years ago.
Commune's Croissant Treat for Shelby
I stopped by Commune today to catch up with owner Kevin Jamison and on my way out he hooked me up with a peach croissant to take home for Shelby. Love the new boxes and the croissants they make are very good!