Good Friday

My 2 Princesses

Fiona in her Cinderella dress and Mama in her wedding dress. Both wearing Fairy Wings and McDonald's Happy Meal Cinderella crowns.

Fiona and Lisa Loeb: Seperated at birth?

KOTO JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE

So in my Gastronomic Tour of Vermont Post I mentioned going to Koto Japanese Steak House.

Here is something I wrote in Smokin' Dog back in 2001 about going there one time with Maureen.

ME, REEN, ARNOLD & JIM

Last year, Maureen came to visit and she and I went to one of thos Japanese restaurants where they cook the food right in front of you. There was another family sitting with us. (We were trying to avoid talking to them, but it was no use.)
ARNOLD: So, where are you from.
ME: We're from Reading PA, but I leve here and my sister lives in Virginia.
REEN: So anyway, we get to the movies and this lady...
ARNOLD: What do you do for work?
ME: I work for Bell Atlantic.
REEN: And I work for an engineering firm.... so this lady sits right in front of us and she has this huge hat on her huge head...
ARNOLD: Are you an engineer?
REEN: No, I am in human resources.... so she's got on this hat and I asked....
Then the chef, Jim, comes to the table.
JIM: Hello everyone, my name is Jim and I'll be your chef this evening.
ARNOLD: HELLO JIM. MY NAME IS ARNOLD.
JIM: Hi.
ARNOLD: WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
JIM: I'm from Ohio.
ARNOLD: WHAT PART OF JAPAN ARE YOU FROM ORIGINALLY?
JIM: Actually, I'm Chinese.
ARNOLD: YOU SPEAK VERY GOOD ENGLISH.
JIM: Well, I should, I've lived here my whole life.
This banter went on for some time. When we left the restaurant we get in my car and Reen starts imitating the guy in the restaurant, only louder.
REEN: WHERE ARE YOU FROM? I AM FROM BURLINGTON VERMONT. DO YOU KNOW WHERE BURLINGTON VERMONT IS?
I was laughing so hard that I started to cry.
REEN: EVEN THOUGH YOU SAID YOU WERE NOT FROM JAPAN AND ALSO STATED THAT YOU DO NOT SPEAK ANY JAPANESE I AM GOING TO ASK YOU THE JAPANESE WORD FOR EVERYTHING. WHAT IS THE JAPANESE WORD FOR FORK? WHAT IS THE JAPANESE WORD FOR PLATE? HOW DO YOU SAY SODA IN JAPAN? I AM A JACKASS. HOW DO YOU SAY JACKASS IN JAPANESE?
And then Arnold came out of the restaurant and looked over at us and we drove away laughing.

2 Comix (Good ones this time)

Amy: so so mean to me.

Fiona is wicked funny:

Vermont Food

So Joe told me he went to Vermont Pub and Brewery the other day and had a Reuben. It made my mouth water. I consider myself something of a Reuben Connisuer and the VT Pub and Brewery has very very good Reubens.

So I added VT Pub and Brewery to the list of restaurants I want to visit the next time we go to Vermont. Then I made lists of all the other restaurants I want to go to next time we visit Vermont.

It took me about an hour and a half to plan out

My Gastronomic Tour of Vermont.

It will be 3 meals a day for 6 days. My 6 favorite breakfast places, my 6 favorite lunch places, and my 6 favorite dinner places.

Of course, we will be enjoying Green Mountain Coffee as often as possible and drinking Magic Hat beers unless otherwise noted. And desserts will be: Mazza's Apple pies with Ben and Jerry's Vanilla Ice Cream, or a waffle cone of one of the following Ben & Jerry's Ice Creams: Chubby Hubby, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, or Phish Food.

DAY 1 - BURLINGTON

Breakfast at Leunigs -

Eggs Benedict (Leunigs is really snooty and aloof, like they are better than everyone else, and normally I don't like places like that, but their Eggs Benedict are so so good that I am willing to put up with the jackassery. Even the description of the Eggs Benedict sounds snobby. Everyone knows what is in Eggs Benedict. And they say "Wolferman's English muffins" as if Wolferman's are the greatest English muffins in the world. Like it would be an affront to the delicate palates of the French-Canadian snobs who eat there to eat a Thomas' English muffin. BUT I must reiterate... these truly are the best Eggs Benedict in the world. I think the ingredient they didn't mention is ground up crack cocaine.)

Lunch at Vermont Pub and Brewery - Reuben Sandwich.

Dinner at Koto Japansese Steak house

DAY 2 - BURLINGTON

Breakfast at the Oasis Diner (from what I've read, the people who owned when Amy used to go there a lot have sold the place. Hopefully it is still as good.)

Lunch at Ri-Ra's - Beef and Guiness Stew and a Harp Lager.

Dinner at Kwan's, my favorite Chinese restaurant for General Tso's Chicken. (Amy CLAIMS there was a bug in her Pork Fried Rice one time... I am pretty sure it was just some burnt rice. Either way, that was the last time she ordered from there. I did not let it stop me, though.)

Day 3 - AMERICAN-STYLE FOOD STARTING IN BURLINGTON AND MOVING NORTHEAST TO STOWE

Breakfast at the Libby's Blue Line Diner for pancakes and sausage.

Lunch at Al's French Frys for a sausage sandwich and a pizza burger and a pint of fries.

Dinner at Gracie's for "The Boxer" - Half-pound cheddar bacon burger (yeah, it's $9 but really well worth it.)

Day 4 - JOHNSON, MORRISVILLE, STOWE

Breakfast at Plum & Main in Johnson.

Lunch at Munchies for a couple of greasy burgers and fries.

Dinner at The Shed. I'm going to go with the Shed Burger - Ground Beef marinated in Beer and spices. At the Shed, I will get a Ski of beer - it is a miniature ski with 6 - 6oz glasses of beer. We went there on Christmas Eve 2001 with our friend Tracey Jackson and they had the best Holiday beer I've ever had. It was so light and crisp. I am not a beer connisuer, but I know what I like and I really really liked that beer.

Day 5 - STOWE

Breakfast at the Troll Trail Bed and Breakfast. (I couldn't find a web site for it - maybe it is no longer in operation. They used to have the freaky troll come out and handed out wooden coins. One snuck up on my dad and nearly scared him to death. I am pretty sure my dad still has his troll coin.)

Lunch at Depot Street Malt Shop - Grilled Cheese and Tomato, and a malted milk shake.

Dinner at Von Trapp Family Lodge. They actually have a real dress code - this is a real classy place!!!

Appetizer

Wild Mushroom Cake with Chanterelles on Asparagus Salad with White Balsamic Vinaigrette $10.50 (Being married to Amy, I don't get to eat mushrooms very often, let alone a mushroom CAKE!)

Soup

Alpine Mushroom Onion Soup with an Emmenthaler Crostini and Scallions $6.50 (Again with the mushrooms.)

Entree

A Duet of Wild Game: Wild Boar Sausage and Venison Chop on Hunter’s Potatoes with Asparagus, Chestnuts and Lingonberry Demi Sauce $36.00 (Surcharge: $10.00) I am also going to ask for a side order of Spetzel.

Desert

Apfelstrudel: Layers of light flaky crust, rolledwith sliced apples, raisins, and cinnamon.

Day 6 - MORRISVILLE AND BACK TO BURLINGTON

Breakfast at my favorite "after church" restaurant - the Charlemont - I will have the Charlemont Breakfast Sandwich - Bacon, Eggs and Chese on an english muffin.

Lunch at Marco's in Burlington for a pepperoni Calzone and some Garlic Knots.

And then, for our last mean in Vermont: Dinner at Trattoria Delia.

Appetizers

Bruschetta: Wood-grilled country bread rubbed with garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh herbs and topped with vine-ripened tomatoes. $ 5.50

Scamorza alla Griglia: Wood-grilled handmade smoked mozzarella served on a bed of arugula with grilled tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil. $ 8.50

Main Course
Spaghetti alla Pescatora: Fresh baby clams, mussels, shrimp and calamari sauteed with olive oil, white wine, garlic, herbs and tomatoes. $17.50

Dessert
Tiramisu:` Tiramisu means “pick me up,” and this traditional Venetian dessert will do just that! Lady fingers lightly soaked in rum and espresso, in a rich custard with mascarpone cheese, topped with shaved Belgian chocolate. $ 6.50 (There is usually enought rum in these things to get Amy nearly drunk.)

Thus concludes my 6-day gorging in the state of Vermont. I am now poor and in debt and I've put on about 25 pounds.

reacap of my day thus far.

it is 5:58 and I've been awake for about an hour.

i've had my coffee, paid the bills, (diznee credit card, subaru payment PPL) read about last night's Bruce concert (apparently it was awesome and some kid had a sign that said "rosalita, please" and Bruce played it), watched video on youtube of andrew walking, listened to some music on myspace (SeaWolf, Vampire Weekend), looked at some stuff on ebay that I'd love to buy if I wasn't so poor (mostly old bruce posters and t-shirts, movies on dvd, baby einstein videos, diznee movies, star wars movies, and lp records), and made a list of music to buy (Shawn Colvin, Moldy Peaches, Vampire Weekend, The Pupinni Sisters, The Ramones, People Take Warning).

that is all.

Incidentally, i made a list concerning andrew's youtube video. you can find it at my listville site:
www.listville37.blogspot.com

peace.