6th East Coast She-Crab Soup Classic

The 6th East Coast She-Crab Soup Classic is tomorrow at the 24th Street Park. Over 15 of the area's best restaurants will compete to be named the one with the best She-Crab soup in Hampton Roads. Last year Mannino's Italian Bistro won both the Critic's and People's Choice awards. Read my review from the last one here on AltDaily. There will be lines, but the soup makes up for it.

Here who is competing this year:

328 Tequila Lounge

C.P. Shuckers

Freemason Abbey

Keagan’s Restaurant

Lucky Oyster Seafood Grill

Lynnhaven Fish House

Mahi Mah's Seafood

Mannino’s Italian Bistro

McCormick & Schmick’s

Murphy’s Irish Pub

Passion the Restaurant

Rockafeller’s

Roger Brown's Restaurant and Sports Bar

Steinhilber's

Tradewinds

Westminster Canterbury

The gates open at noon and the event ends at 3:00 PM. When you enter the park you'll make your way around the tables and get a sample of she-crab soup. Use your score sheet to mark your favorites and turn it in when you're done. Votes will be tabulated the winners will be named at the end of the event! When you're done, go grab a beer at one of the local watering holes. You can even make the Back Bay Brewing Co. grand opening on Norfolk Ave. down the way!

Check out the photos from last year's event here.

See you there!

Back Bay Brewing Co. Grand Opening

Back Bay Brewing Co. soft opening a few weeks back let everyone know—in a big way—they were setting up a permanent location in Virginia Beach. It was packed. There was a line out the door with people trickling in and out most of the night. Zeke's next door was open with a live art demonstration, good coffee and poke bowls, then there were several food trucks out back hooking up everyone with everything from fish tacos, BBQ, all the way to cupcakes.

I've been excited about the news coming from Back Bay ever since they chose Norfolk Ave. location for their operation and brought on local beer nerd Dan Yarnell as head brewer/COO. You can find Back Bay beer in the area restaurants and they have participated in both the Battle of the Beer events in Hampton Roads, but I realized I didn't know a whole lot about Back Bay Brewing Co. in general. I figured I'd send some questions to them, picking their brains for a little info.

I was answered by Josh Canada. He's a Beach local whose first job was at WRV back when it was on Norfolk Ave., right where Back Bay has settled-in. Only this was a few years back. He said building Back Bay in the same spot of where he first worked at 14 had historical significance. Not mentioning the location, sandwiched between a couple of popular eateries near the Beach. The popular Shadowlawn neighborhood will definitely have Back Bay on the radar as the local watering hole, they'll walk to the tasting room.

Back Bay Brewing Co. was founded in 2011 by a group of friends in Virginia Beach. Sitting in a duck blind, Josh Canada and Charlie Burroughs brainstormed ideas that might help them see their dreams of brewing beer a become a reality. They selected three more local friends—George Powell, Will Yearick, and Josh Malbon who all shared their love for the outdoors and beer. The five of them worked to put out their first beer, False Cape Ale.

In the early days they brewed where they could, eventually contracting with St. George Brewing Co. in Hampton. This is a common practice for small, start-up brewers; local, larger companies will share their facilities to help the little guy out. Back Bay's new facility will have their own tanks for brewing but the lagers will probably continue to be brewed in Hampton for now. Having the capability to brew on premises will allow them to experiment more with their recipes. They would like to poll Shadowlawn and the surrounding area to get a feel for the types of beers their neighbors would like to drink. Once they know what the people want, they plan to have it brewing within two weeks Josh said.

They want to keep things moving and be innovative with their product. Experimental brews like a Coffee Coconut Stout will be offered and most breweries offer seasonals that change with the weather. They currently offer their signature red ale, lager, pale ale, and a porter. Dan told me they're working on a German style beer that could be similar to a Helles. The facility has a gourmet beer permit which allows home brewers to brew small batches on-site. Back Bay can keg it for them too.

Back Bay Brewing Co.'s Grand Opening will be Saturday, April 26, 2014. The doors open at 1:00 and there will probably be a line to get into the tasting room. There is a 100 person capacity for the tasting room. From what I saw at the soft opening they'll have a good system in place to have the beer orders out of the tap and to the patron's hand in no time. Again, like the soft opening, there will be food trucks and even some live entertainment on site. There will be at least one new beer for everyone to try too. Don't miss it!

SLO Down Wines

Friday night is wine tasting night for me. I'll usually hit the two local shops in the area to try out something new. I got a text from Yianni earlier saying I needed to be at the shop that night, they had a special treat.

Brandon Allen and Bo Silliman of SLO Down Wines who are on their Caddy Tour, were stopping by a couple spots in Virginia Beach including Yiannis Wine Shop. Gregg Zimpel of Z Wine Guy distributes SLO Down Wines in the area was in the shop with the guys. They had their Broken Dreams Chardonnay and Sexual Chocolate red blend available at the table.

Shelby and I met our friends Sarah and Scott at the shop and the first thing I notice when I parked was a huge Cadillac with paint and writing all over it. I didn't know about the Caddy Tour till I got inside Yiannis but I figured this had to part of the surprise that night.

Bo and Brandon hung around for a while to sign bottles, pour and talk about the wines and their operation. They had one more stop in town at Thirty 7 North and then they were driving up to DC. We took home a signed bottle of the Sexual Chocolate, we stored it at home and will definitely enjoy it in the future.

April's Cheap and Cheery

Grape and Gourmet have a monthly tasting event the second Saturday of the every month. This month in addition to the regular beer/cider line-up, Young Veteran's Brewing Co. of Virginia Beach volunteered to serve great, local craft beer to those who attended. Tom and Neil were both there earlier in the day but Neil had to run back to the shop.

Tom, Me, and Gabe

I'll post more later, check out the photos from the event in the mean time.

National Grilled Cheese Day

12 April celebrates that sandwich everyone loves: Grilled Cheese! What's not to like? Toasty, buttery bread held together by melting, delicious cheese!

I guess if you don't like or can't eat cheese that makes a difference.

You're not just stuck with plain ole American "cheese" either. You can put whatever you like in them: cheddar, Gouda, mozzarella--whatever you like.

I like putting sauteed mushrooms in mine or maybe some deli meat that I tossed on the skillet to to get a little Maillard reaction going on. Then put the meat between the bread. Here's a mushroom grilled cheese I like to make:

Another method I've been using lately is involves the waffle iron. Basically the waffle iron becomes a panini press! Shelby was browsing through Pinterest and saw a bunch of people using their waffle irons to do all kinds of crazy stuff. This is what you get:

Here's how you make it:

1. Butter the outsides of the bread you're using (any type you can squeeze between the waffle iron.
    
2. I used roast beef in this sandwich, wrap the roast beef around the cheese you're using. Put the meat and cheese in between the bread slices. Place a couple of slices between the bread and meat too if you want it extra melty.
    
3. Place in the preheated waffle iron and close it. I put an iron skillet on top of my waffle iron to keep it pressure on the sandwich. You probably don't need to do this, I just like to make sure it gets really smushed down in there.
    
4. It won't take long to brown the bread and melt the cheese, approximately 2 minutes.

That's it! You end up with a tasty, fancified grilled cheese.

Enjoy!

National Beer Day

I don't know who thought it up, but yesterday was National Beer Day!

I celebrated with a couple of beers I had in the fridge:

Mikkeller Keeper and a Stillwater Artisanal Ale Classique

Both were easy to drink. The Classique was a saison with a little hop to it and the Keeper had the "arm pit" funk I get from hoppy beers. I know that probably sounds gross, but I swear that's what I get. I've learned to read it better these days and maybe I should call it something else (cat pee maybe?)

Hope you all enjoyed a nice beer yesterday. If not, you can do it today...or tomorrow...or the day after...

Busy Friday!

This past Friday was set to be an busy, but exciting day. A couple of big events were happening: Back Bay Brewing's soft opening in Virginia Beach and Chayce's band, Long Division, playing their CD release show in Norfolk.

First, Back Bay Brewing had a soft opening over the weekend. Friday and Saturday they were going to have the taps pouring for anyone who might stop by. Friday night Nick Vitale from Zeke's Beans & Bowls next door invited some of the area's food trucks to hang out and serve food. There was no shortage of food options.

Tasting room at capacity

From what I hear, about 1,000 people came through the tasting room. I was impressed with the staff, they kept the drinks coming and didn't skip a beat (with the lights flickering here and there.) We met our friends John and Connie and shared a couple of flights while catching up with a few familiar faces. Afterwards, we decided on dinner at Field Guide; and made our way to Norfolk.

Field Guide was packed, it's not uncommon for there to be a little wait if you go in for dinner or lunch. The line was moving fast though and the wait gave us a moment to check out the menu. Shelby grabbed a specialty cocktail made with the house soda and gin. I had a sip, it was refreshing. After a bit we were seated and we ordered our meals. I got the Lou-Wow and Shelby ordered the Boaring Meatloaf. The Lou-Wow was a delicious pork BBQ with a little Hawaiian flair and the Boaring Meatloaf was a pork meatloaf served with mac and cheese and kale. Both dishes were beautiful and delicious--I have to say it was tragic later that evening when we got home and I forgot the leftovers in the car overnight! I almost curled up into a ball on the couch the next day after I realized what I did. Oh! I need to mention that I had a Smartmouth Safety Dance Pilsner. This is served exclusively at Field Guide at the moment - loved it.

After finishing up at Field Guide we had about an hour so we decided to head over to The Birch and say "Hi". We met our friend Matt, who was at the bar with Malia - owner of The Birch; and the other Matt serving behind and bar. I ordered an Italiano TipoPils, it’s my go-to when I’m there--it's good!

We had just enough time to chat a little bit, take a few goofy photos before we were off to Belmont House of Smoke on 21st St. That's were Long Division was playing.

Super Bonus: Marleigh was meeting us at Belmont. She drove down from Richmond to see her brother play what might be his last show with the band before he leaves for the Navy.

Marleigh and Kelsie at Belmont

It was about 10:30 when we arrived at Belmont. There was a good crowd upstairs where the band was playing. They were still setting up for their set we walked in. We said our hellos to the those we knew in the room and I ordered a Smartmouth Rule G.

Long Division played to a packed out and the set was great. I really am going to miss not seeing Chayce on stage playing with the band. Knowing this was going to be one of his last shows with the band made it special.

Long Division

After the show we chatted with Chayce and several others, then we hit the merch table for some Cds and a t-shirt. We bought a copyof their new album for John and Connie and one for our friend Cappy who was there too. We made the rounds and headed out.

John drove us home. Sadly, our leftovers never made it out of the car. I hope it didn't smell too much like BBQ pork in the morning.

Listen to Long Division at their Bandcamp page. Here is one of my favorites off their new album called Skipping Rocks.

Hitachino Glasses

I didn't post our sweet Hitachino Nest Beer glasses we got at The Birch's St. Kiuchi Day the other week did I? Love these things. We got one of each!

O'Connor Brewing Turns Four

El Guapo!

Norfolk's O'Connor Brewing Company turned 4 years old today -- St. Patrick's Day! I remember hearing about the brewery first coming around through rumor and then opening. It's come a long way since then and it's only getting better: it'll be moving to a new location soon, they've been putting out great seasonals, and the crew is getting bigger.

Karnage Asada

Shelby and I didn't go out tonight but I did get a early St. Patrick's Day pull this past Saturday when the brewery celebrated its anniversary and three wins from the Dublin Craft Beer Cup. Turn-out was great and delicious food was being served by one of the newer food trucks in the area -- Karnage Asada. I'll write a little more about them in a separate post but I will say they're worth stopping for if you see them parked somewhere. I had a "full rack" of tacos and Kapow Kimchos, kimchi nachos. Seriously, it was good!

The weather was perfect. They had a couple of pouring station working on the inside and did a good job at keeping the glasses filled, growlers topped-off, and flights flying. Live music was being played by a three piece outfit and there was even some dancing going on. People were playing cornhole outside next to picnic tables occupied by merry-makers.

Happy Birthday O'Connor Brewing Co. and congratulations on the awards.

P.S. - You probably know this already, but in case you don't...the oak tree you see on the sign is part of the ancient, Irish crest of the O'Connor clan.

O'Connor's Brewers

Kevin O'Connor with the muscle

Italia Night at The Birch

Ben and Jie Yu Neidhart of B. United International, Inc. recently held a session at The Birch where they described their Connecticut operation—from international shipping, distribution, and specifically the budding craft beer scene in Italy. Their distribution company imports from all over the world and that night at The Birch was a celebration of Italian beers. Listed below are the breweries and the beers on tap for Italia Night:

Baladin:

Nora - Ginger Herb/Spice Ale and Al-Iksir – Belgian Dark Strong Ale

Grado Plato:

Chocarrubica – Carob Oatmeal Stout and Strada San Felice – Chestnut Ale

Del Borgo:

Rubus Lamponi – Raspberry Wild Ale

Del Ducato:

Verdi Zymatore – Granache Sour Chili Stout and My Blueberry Nightmare – Scotch Sour Blueberry Stout

Italiano:

TipoPils – German Style Pilsner and Nigredo – Hoppy Black Lager

Ben and Jie Yu handed out information on the breweries which included a little history, the stories brewer bios, and how the Italian breweries operate. It might be surprising to hear that the land known for millennia of wine making tradition has a very young craft beer scene. From what I've read from other sources it didn't start taking off till the 1990's. Today there are approximately 500 craft breweries in the old country.

It was nice going through the information Ben and Jie Yu passed around. Reading the stories behind each Italian brewery, the training/educational background of the brewers, and the passion behind why they dived into craft beer. Ben described the difference between cultured and wild yeasts used in beers and how introducing selected bacteria causes the sought after sour notes.

After the session ended Ben joined Jie Yu and Malia in sampling some of the beers The Birch had on tap. They invited me to sit with them and sample the line-up. I tried out the Verdi Zymatore Granache Sour Chili Stout and My Blueberry Nightmare, both are made with the same award winning Verdi Imperial Stout. Though they might have come from the same base, both beers had extremely different flavor profiles.

The Granache Chili was aged in Granache casks that were also used to age a chili mead. The imperial stout became a complex blend of lightly sweet and spicy tones that didn't overwhelm me, but I felt the chili in the back of my throat for sure. It had some weight, was sour and dark.

Even though it was made from the same stout base, the Blueberry Nightmare was very different from Granache Chili. Just as rich and darker, the intense fruit really came through with the tart.

I mentioned to them I was still trying to warm up to sours; I talked a little bit about the Duchesse De Bourgogne Shelby had ordered elsewhere. Jie Yu and Malia rattled off a few to see if I knew them and then we sampled some. I need some work on this but I'm getting there. We also talked about B. United and I found out Ben's father runs the distributor. They take their beer seriously and the effort that goes into moving this stuff from the far corners of the earth is respectable. 

I enjoyed getting a little sampling of all the Italians (and a few extras) in addition to the one I bought. I stuck around to chat a little more, said my goodbyes, then I headed home.

Hit The Birch to and try some of this stuff before it's gone. Check out all the photos from the event here.

To read more about Italian craft beers try these links:

B. United's blog Nepenthiology has tons of great info

Italy's Craft Beer Awakening – The Beer Connoisseur Online

The Birch's Beer Education Wednesday cheat sheet on Zymatore

Strolling Supper is coming!

If you don't know what the Strolling Supper is here's the deal:

Mannino's award winning She-Crab Soup

Around 20 of the area's best restaurants come together to benefit WHRO, Hampton Roads' public media station. The restaurants are picked by Chef/Author Patrick Evans-Hylton and his selected Platinum Plate judges (Coastal Virginia Magazine sponsored.) They're there to impress too--the tables will be serving the best that the restaurants have to offer.

Duck Tacos from Still

The sold out VIP event ($100 a ticket!) will feature Vivian Howard from PBS's A Chef's Life--she'll perform a demonstration and VIP ticket holders get a meet-and-greet in the lounge before the general ticket holders arrive. General admission tickets are $50 advanced and $65 at the door. We attended last year and we realized immediately that it was definitely worth the money. It is a excellent opportunity to try the best Hampton Roads has to offer all under one roof.

Buy tickets here.

Here are photos from the event I post to I Heart Food's Facebook page.

Shelby's favorite from last year's event: Lamb Sliders from Traditions at Williamsburg Lodge

Foothills Hits The Birch

Malia of The Birch and Jesse from ChesBay

Leaving O'Connor Brewing Wednesday night, I headed over to The Birch for the Foothills event. Sexual Chocolate and a couple of other Foothills brews were on tap.

I recently had the Sexual Chocolate Stout at Tubby's Tavern so I had a Jade IPA. Bumped into Jesse Scott from ChesBay who distributes Foothills to our area. Malia was working at the bar and came over to chat with us for a little bit.

It was nice seeing everyone in keeping warm. We just had a bunch of snow dumped on us. The Birch is very cozy and has a pretty relaxed atmosphere--perfect for the weather.

A Drink with AltDaily

AltDaily recently announced that Pilot Media acquired the magazine ensuring a solid future (and funding.) They invited people to O'Connor Brewing Co. for a drinks. I'm always up for a drink.

Read a little more about how Jesse and Hannah or AltDaily feel about the what's happening:

Jesse's Words

Hannah's Words

The Pilot's president, David Mele, said that the magazine will be able to keep it's voice to "allow it to succeed and thrive." Good luck guys and thank you for allowing me to contribute to the magazine.

The Birch Hosts Left Hand Brewing

The Birch in Chelsea (West Ghent, Norfolk, VA) has been listed in the top 50 craft beer bars in the United States by RateBeer.com. The only one in Virginia on that list, we're pretty lucky to have it. The other week they hosted a Steal the Pint night featuring Left Hand Brewing.

Specialty Beverage of Virginia, who distribute Left Hand in our region, were there in a show of support for the event and The Birch. A representative from the brewery, “Left Hand” Dan Conway was available to talk to customers and help promote the brewery. He was moving about bar and tables talking about the available beers and/or just chatting with the visitors. Since it was Steal the Pint night, the first Left Hand beer ordered garnered the patron a nice Irish-style pint glass with the signature red, left hand emblazoned on the front. The back of the glass had “Sometimes you're not in the mood for what everyone else is having.” printed on it. Neat glass.

We talked to Dan a bit about his work and his beers being served at The Birch. Really nice guy, he travels a lot and has been with the company a while. He goes from state to state hosting events for Left Hand in the Atlantic region; he's based out of Philly. He said the two American ales on tap that night—Deep Cover (American Brown Ale) and Jackman's Pale Ale (American Pale Ale)—were discontinued because they competed with some of their other signature beers also on the market and breweries do rotations in general. I ordered both the Americans and shared them with Shelby and Chayce. They were good, easy to drink. Chayce liked the Milk Stout Nitro (Milk/Sweet Stout); Shelby had the St. Vrain Belgian Tripel.

Me and Left Hand Dan

While we were having our drinks I talked to the Specialty guys, Phil Shannon, Jeff Joyce, Scott Warden and Christain Maute. I tend to bump into these fellas at the beer centric events all around the area. One thing for sure, if you see one of them there will be beer nearby. This is a good thing.

The Birch's owner, Malia Bublick, was constantly moving around the pub, never standing still for too long making sure drinks were poured and the plates handled. In a little lull she did come over to our end of the bar and we talked about how things were going. It was a Thursday night and I asked her about the full house. She said the Thursday crowd is usually pretty good, but when you give away glassware you always get a few more people who show up.

After we finished our drinks and said our good-byes. It's always nice visiting The Birch and I really enjoyed meeting Dan from Left Hand. Hopefully we'll catch them again in the near future.

View the photos from the event here.

Virginia Beach Restaurant Week 2014

Virginia Beach Restaurant Week 2014

In the Hampton Roads area we recently finished up a couple of restaurant week events for Virginia Beach and Norfolk. Newport News still has one going on till February 2nd and Portsmouth will be running theirs in April. Unfortunately, we only made it out for Virginia Beach's because of bad weather and a head cold that popped up during Norfolk restaurant week. I meant to have this written up last week but I've been pulled in a few different directions. Better late than never tough right?

Virginia Beach Restaurant Week (VBRW) basically works this way: participating restaurants offer a lunch and/or a dinner at a discounted rate. Most of the time the dishes they serve showcase what the eatery has to offer and it also affords people the chance to try out different places without breaking the bank. Shelby and I tried four places in Virginia Beach, I'll give you a little rundown on what we had.

Croakers

As soon as Shelby and I got off of work we started checking out the restaurant week menus. It was hard to choose one place to eat but we finally settled on Croakers Neighborhood Grill. We've heard good things about the Virginia Beach local's spot and the menu looked good. Croakers is located on Shore Dr., if you're not familiar with Virginia Beach, Shore Dr. runs the length of the Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk.

When we pulled up the parking lot was packed. After a couple of run-arounds we got a spot and went inside. It reminded me of the classic Virginia Beach aesthetic—beachy, colorful, and the feeling its been around for a while. The hostess immediately seated us and the server came out and gave us info on the restaurant week menu. Croakers gave you the option of having a drink or cocktail instead of your third course dessert. We both opted for drinks, Shelby got a chocolate martini and I got a beer.

The appetizers being offered were Fried Calamari, Oysters Rockefeller, and Breaded Popcorn Shrimp. I chose the Rockefeller and Shelby got the calamari. The calamari had a great batter on them. Probably a beer batter with a little bit of Chesapeake Bay seasoning at the end. You get the whole squid; I love the tentacles. The oysters were good but I've been eating so many Oysters Rockefeller lately, I've been spoiled (I'm talking about Croc's.)

Entrees were Blackened Chicken, a NY Strip or something called St. Charles. Here's the description:

“Chef's choice of fish pan sauteed and topped with fresh mushrooms, tomatoes, scallions and shrimp which have been simmered in our special sherry, lemon and butter sauce – delicious”

St. Charles at Croakers

Sounded good, we both ordered it. I was glad I did, normally this is a $20+ dinner but they put together a little something for restaurant week and it was so good. Out of everything I tried during VBRW, this was my favorite. They used talapia the night we went and it was cooked perfectly. I'm actually going to write more about this dish later, so I'll stop now. Definitely worth a try.

Braise

The second thing we tried was the lunch menu at Braise the next day. Braise recently opened in the city by the locally known chef Bobby Huber of Bobbywood fame. Braise was offering a $10 lunch with a few options to choose from. We went with one of our friends—Alisa—who had never been before.

I was really excited about was that Chef Huber's popular Oyster Stew was on the special menu. Shelby and Alisa both got the Braised Short Ribs with Cheddar Grits and Fried Spinach. They offered starters before the aforementioned dishes: Emily's Famous Lumpia or a Wedge Salad. I had the wedge salad while Shelby and Alisa, again, chose the same thing. Emily's Famous Lumpia.

Let me back up a bit. When we arrived it was packed! We lucked out because we were able to grab the only available table. We settled in and eventually our server arrived, it took awhile because the volume of customers in the restaurant. We looked at our menus, were given water, and then we ordered. We got our food eventually but my water glass wasn't refilled. I'm only mentioning it because that is my one major pet peeve when I eat out. I hate not having water, it really bothered me. I ended up drinking Shelby's since she didn’t want it.

I loved my salad. I love lettuce, so this would be easy to make me happy. The wedge had crumbled bleu cheese and dressing poured over it. A nice balsamic was dashing around the plate with some grapes and tomatoes. Mixed in with the cheese and dressing was nice, chewy bacon. Good stuff.

I didn't try the lumpia but Shelby and Alisa both seem to enjoy them. The entrees took long time to get out, and as I mentioned, I had no water. When the food came out, they forgot one of our entrees. I was worried it would take a while to get the missing plate out, but he was back quickly with it.

The oyster stew was very good. Tasty with perfectly cooked oysters and mildly seasoned. I like being able to taste the oysters without them having to compete with the rest of the soup. Potatoes and more bacon were in the bowl too, can't go wrong with that combo. The Braised Short Rib was good and the portion was small, but I guess I shouldn't complain about a $10 lunch right?

Sonoma Wine Bar & Bistro

We've been to Sonoma before and liked the service. The food was good, but I thought a little overpriced and my entree could have used a little seasoning. I was looking forward to trying again though.

We went for the lunch menu and we had another of Shelby's friends, Crystal, with us this time. It was later in the week and the lunch crowd was manageable. The soup of the day was the first course and we had a choice of Chipotle Pork Taco, Blackened Crabcake Sandwich, and Seared Mahi. Shelby and Crystal went with the crabcake and I picked the tacos for variety.

The soup of the day was French Onion, which is one of my favorites. It was delicious and the cheesy baguette was great for soaking up all the broth. The Crabcake Sandwich was pretty good, not overloaded with filler, but definitely not lumpcrab. The tacos weren't too exciting and but they were good.

Chick's Oyster Bar

The last place we tried was Chick's at the Lynnhaven Inlet. A local staple, if you live in Virginia Beach you know about this place. I'll have to admit though, I've never been. I didn't realize how big this place is, on the outside it doesn't seem like much. They have a several bars services the different sections of the restaurant. We were seated on the deck which was enclosed for the season. Casual and relaxed, easy place to roll into for a drink or to grab a bite to eat. I'll probably write a little more about the place later.

Chayce shaved!

Luckily we had Marleigh and Chayce with us that day and we met with my step-father, John and my sister Diane. After we were seated I walked around a bit to check out the joint. I bumped into Gerald from Hoffman Beverage who was there with one of his people who was pushing Monster drinks at the bar.

The lunch menu offered some pretty good choices: Open with a salad, She-Crab Soup or ½ Dozen Oysters (steamed or raw) and an entree choice of Fresh Catch Sandwich, Blackened Mahi Tacos, or Everything Greek Salmon Salad.

Chayce and I ordered the oysters, his steamed, mine raw on the half shell. Shelby got the She-Crab soup. She had the Greek Salmon salad and I thought I'd try the tacos here too. Chayce got the fish sandwich which turned out to be flounder that day. It was huge and looked great. My tacos, again, weren't anything I got excited over and Shelby said I might not want to order tacos anymore. Her Greek salad was huge too and out of everything we had that week, she said that was her favorite. The She-Crab was very good too. I'd like to go back again and try some of the other menu items, they have a lot to choose from.

All in all restaurant week was fun, like I mentioned earlier, it's a great way to get out and try some places you might not normally head to. The prices were good and the overall experience was a good one. Can't wait till next year's event.

Happy Birthday Shelby!

I had to give a shout out to my lovely wife, Shelby, today. It's her birthday! It's crazy to think that the two of us have been together since we were both 16; she is infinitely patient with me.

She gets her Cold Stone Creamery Chocolate Chipper ice cream cake every year. This year they decided to mix it up for us by using green icing for the lettering--even though I asked for white--but it tastes the same so no harm, no foul. (Not really, use white next time!)

I hope you had a great day baby, looking forward to celebrating many more with you!

Victory at Cogan's!

Recently, Cogan's Pizza in Norfolk, VA hosted a Victory Brewing Company “Steal the Pint” night. How this usually works, is that when you buy your first beer, you get to keep the glass. I've picked up a few myself from other breweries but to be honest with you, if kept every beer glass that touched my lips I wouldn't have room in the cabinets for anything else! This glass though, I wanted it.

Cogan's Pizza, Norfolk, VA

Not my glass :(

Before I headed down to Cogan's I stopped by Grape and Gourmet for beer tasting. Every Thursday night they highlight several beers in the shop. Gabe is usually in house pouring and describing what is sampled. He was there, of course, and I told him what my plans were. Since he was at the end of his shift, he said he'd come along too. Cool.

Gabe pulled up about the same time I did and we headed in together. At the bar was Jarod Goenner and Morgan Sieg—Jarod is guy behind HR Growler, Hampton Roads new craft beer magazine and Morgan is the local Victory rep. Gabe and I write for HR Growler, first issue hits the streets 16 Jan 2014. Look out for it!

I walked up and asked if they had any glasses left, sadly they were out. I thought it started at 7:00 PM, but the event kicked-off at 5:00 PM. I need to get my stuff straight, seriously.

Scanning the room I saw some familiar faces including Gerald Franklin of Hoffman Beverage. He was at a table with what turned out to be the region's Victory team headed by Cameron Rollo. Cameron was in town a couple of days to check out the area; I was introduced to him and we chatted a bit. I found out he was in the army and stationed in Germany right before I was. He also knew Hohenfels, where I was stationed, telling me he didn't like it. No one likes Hohenfels, Bavaria unless you're stationed there. I'll have to write about it sometime.

Me and Cam Rollo

I was looking forward to trying some of the beer they tapped and I checked out what was available. I've had a couple of Victory beers before but I think it might have been at tastings. I know I've never picked up any for the house, so I wasn't sure where to start. I asked everyone what they thought I should try and the consensus was the Prima. Victory Prima is a hoppy Pils that was very tasty. I'm not huge on hop overload (yeah, don't hit me or anything) but this was good. Easy to drink and floral. I first had a real Pils in Germany, as a matter of fact, my experience with great beer started in Germany. So this was a nice little throwback for me.

I tried out the Winter Cheers wheat ale, kind of like a light Hefeweizen, another beer I fell in love with in Germany. Since I was driving I couldn't grab a Golden Monkey Tripel and the Dirtwolf Double IPA kicked earlier. I got a couple of sips from the group though. Cameron actually had the bar put together something a bar made from Golden Monkey called a “Monkmosa”. It is about 80% Golden Monkey and 20% orange juice. It was good and I made a couple for Shelby and myself at home later that weekend.

I was impressed with the beers and looked forward to trying more of them. At the big, monthly tasting at Grape and Gourmet—Cheap & Cheery—I picked up a little variety pack so I could relax at home and give them a little more attention. Good stuff.

Check out the event album here.

King Neptune Beer Bread

Today I headed to the Buy Fresh Buy Local Hampton Roads' Annual Meeting. They cover the organization's budget, positions and general business. Afterwards, there is a potluck!

Board members and supporters bring in dishes made with local ingredients. When I found out I was going, I busted out a couple of local cookbooks we have in the house: Dishing Up Virginia by the local godfather of food Patrick Evans-Hylton and Tidewater Table by Lorraine Eaton.

While I was looking through the recipes, I made note of a few I could possible swing for the event. Then Shelby came up with a  great idea--why not make beer bread? This was perfect, I was already tight on time and local beer was readily available throughout the city. If you didn't know it, I'm also going to be writing for the Pilot's new local craft beer magazine HR Growler. Anything related to local beer is something I want to be involved in.

After I made the decision to make the bread I just had to pick a beer to use. The next day was Cheap and Cheery at Grape and Gourmet, a great local shop for beer and wine; I figured I grab something when we were there. I think the stars were aligned because when we went to the shop, John Newell of Two Fathers Beer Co. was there pouring his beer. It turns out he had one bottle of King Neptune IPA left in his cooler so I snagged it. The IPA would be perfect for the beer bread I was going to make. Great opportunity to give a little exposure to the area's newest craft brew outfit.

Now on to  the beer bread.

I've never made beer bread before, but we've had it. I went online to find a good recipe to make the bread and after reading through several put together my own. The one I found at Dine & Dish is what I based mine off of, only making a few modifications. I pretty much followed the instructions word-for-word, the only difference was I used unsalted butter and I added aged Gouda from Richmond's Belmont Butchery. I'm going to copy and paste the recipe here for your convenience, but I please visit the original by clicking the following link. Thanks for the inspiration Kristen.

Tip: Place a catch tray beneath your bread pan, there could possibly be a little overflow. Especially with the butter in a loaf pan that was just big enough to fit the ingredients.

King Neptune Beer Bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour (I used Ellison, VA's Big Spring Mill All-Purpose Flour)
• 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 12 ounces of King Neptune IPA (any beer you like actually)
• 1 stick Unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tbsp grated Gouda

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. Sift all the dry ingredients together.
3. Add beer and stir with a wooden spoon until well incorporated.
4. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and pour beer bread batter into pan.
5. Pour melted butter over the top of the beer bread batter.
6. Bake for 1 hour.
7. Remove from oven and grate Gouda on top of bread as it rests
8. Kristen says let it rest in the pan for 15 minutes before you attempt to remove it. I did as instructed.

Peter Chang China Grill in Virginia Beach

First I wanted to say thank you to Patrick Evans-Hylton for getting me and Shelby on the invite list for the Peter Change China Grill preview dinner. We had a great time!

Earlier this week we were invited to a special RSVP event at Peter Chang's new restaurant in Virginia Beach. He started off the night with a demonstration on how he makes noodles by hand. Unfortunately, we showed up after this but from the video I saw, it was pretty impressive.

We were all seated at tables with lazy Susans on them and the food was brought out in five courses:

• Hot Appetizers
  • Crispy Pork Belly
  • Pearl Balls
  • Lolli Fish
  • Green Pillow
  • Spicy Wonton
• Cold Appetizers
  • Mushroom Salad
  • Cucumber Salad
  • Numbing Smoked Tofu
  • Hot & Numbing Shredded Tofu Skin
• Snacks
  • Pan Fried Pork Buns
  • Handmade DanDan Noodle
• Main Entree
  • Sticky Rice Seafood Ball
  • Peter Chang Stone Duck
  • Grandmother Tofu Ball
  • Steamed Pork with Rice Flour
  • Braised Beef Topped with Chili
  • Whole Fish with Pine Nuts
• Dessert
  • Pumpkin Ball

The food was brought out tapas style and we spun the lazy Susan around so each diner at the table could grab a bite. There was so much food. I have a habit of making sure I eat everything I put on my plate and about halfway through I was figured out to take smaller portions from each dish being served.

Apple, Gen Lee, and Peter Chang

Towards the end of the meal Peter Chang was introduced to us and he went table to table greeting everyone, shaking hands, and taking photos. Gen Lee, Mr. Chang's business partner, was also making the rounds and we exchanged cards. The whole experience was great and the food was amazing. I'm looking forward to going back and trying some of the spicier dishes they'll have on the menu; they toned it down a little bit for the crowd at the event.

Check out the food and more photos by clicking here.

Oh! This was my favorite dish from the dinner: Braised Beef with Chili

Check it out for yourselves. Peter Chang China Grill is at Landstown Commons in Virginia Beach, VA.

 

Meeting Peter Chang

We had a great time at Peter Chang's new restaurant tonight. He put together a special menu for his Grand Opening Gala. I'm going to put together a post with photos of the food tomorrow. I'll leave this for now!