Yea, it just dawned on me that today is the day my wife was going to make the reservation. I'm at work, so don't know if she was successful.

Officially going to Alinea on July 18th. This will be my 5th three Michelin starred restaurant.

Jealous of Alinea; I get to go to Joel Robuchon next year, and we are going for the full meal deal.

Prime sirloin, Yukon gold mashed potatoes, and beet greens with garlic and pepper flake. When you are given high quality ingredients, keep things simple.

Pork belly with apple and hard cider reduction at Bar Acuda in Hanalei, Kauai. So far it's the best dish of the trip.

I made this on Tuesday:



50/50 Chorizo and Ground beef burger stuffed with queso fresco, grilled and then topped with avocado, sour cream, and salsa

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I made this on Tuesday:



50/50 Chorizo and Ground beef burger stuffed with queso fresco, grilled and then topped with avocado, sour cream, and salsa

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Presentation skills are lacking! Looks like a piece of toast, some fake tostitos and some avocado covered with a **** ton of sour cream.

Yeah I just make food for home. Don't care how it looks on the plate. It is just for my wife and me.

It was good as hell though. Next time, I'll hire some Facebook-mom-photographer to take a picture and edit the **** out of it for you.

and maybe reduce the Sour Cream by about 10 tablespoons

Tonight I was fortunate enough to attend the Texas Monthly Fire & Smoke dinner at Underbelly, which was a collaboration that combined the skills of Chris Shepherd and Ronnie Killen. As you can imagine, all the dishes were superb and plentiful. The beef cheek and beef belly porchetta were very flavorful, the fish was perfect cooked and the Tri tip was smoked and then hit a sous vide bath for three days. The bottom pic is the plastic wrap being peeled back off the dessert and the smoke pouring out. There were also ribs, beef tartare, and Asian beef skewers as appetizers. What a meal!

I got to eat at one of my favorite burger joints today, Kuma's in Chicago. I usually get a Pantera burger but went with the Slayer today. It's not technically a burger but it's a 10oz. Beef patty on a bed of fries with Shredded Monterey Jack cheese, Chili, Andouille sausage, Cherry peppers, Caramelized onions, Green onions, and ANGER!



I also had one of my favorite espressos in the U.S. at Intelligentsia.



The mocha there was phenomenal too. They used real dark chocolate and not syrup.

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I got to eat at one of my favorite burger joints today, Kuma's in Chicago. I usually get a Pantera burger but went with the Slayer today. It's not technically a burger but it's a 10oz. Beef patty on a bed of fries with Shredded Monterey Jack cheese, Chili, Andouille sausage, Cherry peppers, Caramelized onions, Green onions, and ANGER!



I also had one of my favorite espressos in the U.S. at Intelligentsia.



The mocha there was phenomenal too. They used real dark chocolate and not syrup.

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Kuma's or Kuma's Too?

We hit Kuma's Too today since we were at the zoo. Monday will be Kuma's on Belmont. I like the atmosphere better at the original but Too ain't bad when you need a burger fix!

Burger at Au Cheval in Chicago. Named best burger in 'Merica by many food mags. I 100% agree.



4th of July brisket

i went to the au cheval website and have gone down the rabbit hole of their other restaurant websites. the doughnut vault looks great.

Old Ebbit Grill in DC on the 4th

[url=https://flic.kr/p/uNzTkx][/url]crab by horns2181, on Flickr


[url=https://flic.kr/p/uNrtiG][/url]steak by horns2181, on Flickr

I don't say this lightly... holy ****.

that looks like happiness. how much was that, roughly?

It was quite the meat coma! That was a **** load of a sausage, a rack of pork ribs, a few beef ribs, and an entire brisket. We ran out at our table so we scavenged some off the table next to us (it was a Texas Monthly private dinner and some tables had more food than they knew what to do with while others, like us, finished the tray)

Where's a drooling emoticon when you need it..

Where's that lobster plate from?

pizza from Via 313 Pizza in Austin. Excellent.


This burger from Becks prime was better than I'd remembered them being in past visits. Very good.

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Where's that lobster plate from?

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Dragos in NOLA.

La Barbecue in Austin

Yes I thought the Becks prime burger was way to pricey until I tried it....very good and big enough that you don't need to buy fries so it isn't a bad deal at all

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What's that stuffed with?

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What's that stuffed with?

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Boudin.

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What's that stuffed with?

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Boudin.

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Last night at Franklin BBQ

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They should have sent a poet.

We ate Au Cheval's burger on Saturday. It was good, but I'm not sold on nation's greatest. I should probably pack my things and see myself out of 'Murica - I thought the 1/4" thick bacon was too much.

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This was one of the best bites of food I've ever eaten. From the Trio menu (precursor to Alinea) at Next in Chicago, the black truffle explosion ravioli:

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So good, it deserves another mention:


I don't want to play spoiler for any potential patrons, so I'll only post a few photos. It was a challenge to not peak at other tables that were further along into the menu. If one desires, they could look up professional photos of most dishes on Alinea's website.




Cliche, but photos don't do it justice. The food and plating were obviously phenomenal. But it's the creativity of how it's presented and the relationships from plate to plate that made it so unique. Often, the next dish was on the table but mentally written off as ornamentation.

This was also one of the least stuffy nice meals I've had. We're a lively group and the staff encouraged it. Food aside, it was a fun night!