I’m a big beer fan.  That being said, my palette has become more attuned to wine than my favorite barley friends. 

I’ve decided to try to evolve my taste buds and in concert start blogging on some of my best finds.  I also want an excuse to drink more beer.

I’m going to first focus on Belgian (and Belgian-styled) beers, as they’ve always spoken to me in a special way.  In fact, my partner Ryan McIntyre and I went on a beer tasting trip to Belgium last year. 

I’m also going to rate them on a 10 point scale. 

First up: Signature Ale – De Proef Brewery – collaboration with Tomme Arthur 2008

De Proef makes great beers.  I don’t know Tomme Arthur, but this Signature Ale is a collaboration between the two brewers and it is a great result.  The 2009 version is a collaboration with Bell’s Brewing.  (I haven’t had this one yet).

My take?

A citrusy nose with a sour patch candy front end.  This is a complicated and funky Belgian beer and might not be appropriate for classic American light beer drinkers, but it smacks of craftsmanship and thought.  There is a lot of richness and activity on the palette when on your tongue.  There will definitely be another sample in my near future, as I was fairly awed by the variety of flavors.

Mendelson Rating: 8.5/10

Happy drinking. 

Yesterday, I held office hours at the bunker and was fortunate to meet several new entrepreneurs and re-connect with some old acquaintances. 

The best part of the afternoon, however, was a visit by Rick Levine, co-founder and chocolatier of Seth Ellis Chocolates.  Rick decided to drop by and bring some chocolates for me to try.  The first was obvious on sight – a peanut butter cup style chocolate treat.  I took a bite and said “this is the best peanut butter cup that I’ve ever had.”

There was just one thing:  there are no peanuts, nor peanut butter in the best peanut butter cup that I’ve ever had.  Rick’s cracked the code.  A gluten-free, nut free, organic and compostable packaged cup treat that blows away anything that I’ve ever had. 

He had both milk chocolate and dark chocolate varieties, too.   Yum yum.  Rick, GREAT job.  Go out to your local grocer and pick yourselves up some.  And for those of you with nut allergies, rejoice in being able to enjoy one of life’s great treats:  chocolate and "peanut” butter. 

I love Mexican food.  Having lived in both Texas and California, I’ve gotten to sample some of this country’s finest. 

(As an aside my three favorites of all time are La Fiesta in Mountain View, CA, Sanchos in Redwood City, CA and Mia’s in Dallas, TX).

Having now lived in Colorado for three years, I’m still searching for that one special place that I salivate thinking about.  I tried all the offerings that I can find in and around Boulder and some in Denver and have found good to very good, but not excellent. 

I found a restaurant recently just under excellent classification and the best so far in the state.  Unfortunately, it’s about a 3.5 hour drive from my house.

Drum roll please…..

Los Girasoles Family Mexican Restaurant in Poncha Springs Colorado.

It’s near Salida and 15 minutes from Buena Vista and it’s all good.  Great salsa, well flavored meats and creative use of spices and cheeses.  Best of all it’s attached to a truck stop.  (Don’t try to wash your hands in the bathroom – bad idea).

But the food did rock and I’m going to have to find a way to get back there during my annual hiking trip in the mountains. 

If you know of somewhere that I’m missing, clue me in.

Times are a bit tough and Brad is looking to make a little extra cash on the side. 

To that end, he is going to be behind the corner at our local Spud Bros serving up the best in fried delicacies.

Here is your chance to taste the culinary talents of Mr. Feld and / or just have a chance to boss him around a bit.

Seriously, though, it’s a charity event where the wonderful folks at Spud Bros are donating 50% of the proceeds to the Community Foundation. 

It’s from Noon until 2pm on Tuesday April 14th.  All the details are here. 

If you are heading to the annual NVCA meeting, one of the hip events is the SRS dinner on April 29th.

They are holding the dinner at the test kitchen of Legal Seafoods with chef Justin Hamilton bringing out his creativity.

It’s an invite only dinner, but "I know some people" so if you are interested, email me or leave a comment and I’ll get you in.  Check out the display below for one of the food items.  Most cool.

I just recently returned from a little respite in southern California and had a couple of dining experiences to share.  First up, San Diego.

JRDN – Mr. Sajak, please buy them a vowel, but nevertheless a strong showing.  JRDN is the hotel restaurant inside Tower23 hotel in San Diego.  Normally, I have a strong bias against hotel restaurants, but it was a late arrival and I was too lazy to really go anywhere else.

I’m glad that I was lazy.  The menu is really great – they essentially have three of them:  sushi, bar menu and regular table.  We sampled off of all three of them and were really impressed.  I particularly liked the ability to choose a protein, choose multiple preparations and then add sides.  The wine list was strong, too.  

A word on the bar – it’s really the "pretty person" bar, even more so than the Americano in San Francisco, but everyone seemed more mellow.  I’d suggest not dressing like a kid who grew up in Michigan. 

Next up in La Jolla was Zenbu – a local’s sushi joint. Great atmosphere and great sake surrounded by creative roll creations.  It was the first time in several years that I saw roll creations that I had not had before.  Best of all – they do half sized roll portions, so you can sample them all.  Bravo, that was cool.  Check out their menu, but my favorite was the Mexicali: Grilled Mexican white Shrimp, Crab, Cucumber, Avocado and Daikon Sprouts.  Topped with Spicy yellowtail, Chopped Cilantro, Jalapeno and Fresno Chilli Peppers and a Garlic Ponzu Sauce. 

There are a few tourist trap sushi places in La Jolla.  This was a little off the beaten path.  If you are in the area, make sure to stop by. 

It was then off to Santa Monica where the pilgrimage to Pizzeria Mozza had to occur (awesome as usual, try the pizza bianco). 

The next evening we gave the Border Grill a try.  It was founded by the Food Network’s "Two Hot Tamales" Chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger.  I’d give it a C+.  Nothing inspiring except for wonderful salsas, as everything else was competent, but not worth the hype and certainly not worth paying $40 for a signed cookbook.  (No, I didn’t buy one).

So bottom line, hit JRDN, Zenbu and always Mozza if you can.  Consider elsewhere besides Border Grill.

I’m a pizza aficionado.  I love all styles and all types, but rarely do I find perfection. 

I can happily say that I’ve found thin crust perfection at Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles, CA. 

Super Chefs Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich have created an awesome pie with crisp, but not burnt crusts, a sauce that stands up and compliments any topping and homemade ingredients and options that taste unlike any that I’ve had before.  It’s a joy to get to the crust part as it’s simply the tastiest crust that I’ve ever had. 

I think the mark of a great pizza place is if they can execute the traditional margherita pizza.  They nail it with buffalo mozzarella with fresh tomatoes and basil.  Our second pie was a meat lover’s pizza – Tomato, mozzarella, sausage, salami, bacon & guanciale.  Wow.  That was a lot of meat, but I’ve never had housemade sausage and guanciale at the same time. 

It was so good that for dessert, we doubled down and had another meat lovers.  (In full disclosure, Ryan, whom I was dining with, was willing to get a different pizza for dessert, but I needed more meat).

Not to be left out was an incredible interpretation of the caprese salad that had roasted tomatoes that were still on the vine over a great burrata cheese and bread.  Yum.

So if you are a pizzaholic, you must try Mozza. You will not be disappointed. 

*****  If you want a few more recommendations *****

InHonorable mention goes to Zachary’s in Berkeley, CA and it’s offshoot Little Star Pizza in San Francisco if you are looking for traditional Chicago Deep Dish.  A16 and Pizzeria Delfina, both in San Francisco, also serve up great thin crust pizza

I posted a blog today on the Foundry Group site about our trip to CES.  Among the topics discussed are why you shouldn’t buy a TV for the next 6 months and why Nobu is simply my favorite sushi place that I can dream of.

Also, for some reason, it’s harder every year for me to go to Vegas.  I must be getting old. 

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about any recent dining experiences, but being on the east coast this week, I thought I’d give a couple of quick shout outs.  (Can one use the term "shout out" when referring to fine dining?  I’m going to try).

Troquet (Boston) – Troquet is quaint and cute little wine bar and restaurant that serves up French-inspired cuisine with a lighter touch than most.  The upstairs dining room overlooking Boyston street was a very comfortable room.  The little bar in the front is right out of movie and I was fortunate to meet a fellow Michigan Wolverine fan whose fiance is the pastry chef at the restaurant.  We tried the wild boar, halibut and salmon and each dish was very well done.  (For those of you who know me, I was good and kept to the salmon despite my boar proclivities).  The wine list was well priced and varied and my only issue was that all wines were paired to particular menu items – it wasn’t just a list.  I suppose that’s helpful to some and I felt a little silly getting a barbera with my salmon, but such is life.  We didn’t leave room for dessert.  All in all, a really solid and comfy place.   

Sushi Yasuda (New York) – Wow.  I’ve been to a lot of sushi places and consider myself somewhat of a sushi snob, but like… wow.  This isn’t Nobu, or even a Sushi Sasa (for those of you in Denver) that breaks any creative boundaries – this is all about the fish.  Four different toros, arctic char, three types of unagis, five types of mackerels, three shrimps, etc.  This is about fish on rice.  This is about simple rolls.  We just had the waitress bring us whatever the chef wanted to serve and after eating way more than two people should, we doubled down and said "bring more."  We could have kept going, but at some point, you know that you should just stop.  This was some of the most interesting and wonderful fish that I’ve ever had.  Bravo.  Don’t go there if you are looking for low lighting and great ambiance, but if you are there to eat some of the best product ever, you will be happy.

I’m full. 

While at my 10 year Law School Reunion this weekend, I happened up a truck parked alongside the University of Michigan Student Union:

This is a great idea.  The truck parks outside the union, is open until at least 3am and they deliver as well!  Or you can order online and have the cookies ready when you show up.

They make many types of cookies from standards like peanut butter and chocolate chip, but also M&M cookies and even a Smores varietal.  There are brownies and even and raw cookie dough, as well.  They are baked fresh to order and are awesome.  This isn’t simply a case of a good business plan, but wonderful execution.  I was at the truck both Friday and Saturday nights and tried many different styles.  I must go on a diet immediately.

Better yet?  They have whole, 2% and skim milk.  Ah…

The story of their beginnings can be found here.  It Sounds like some smart undergrads wanted cookies late night, started making cookies late night and the rest is history.  I only wish they’d come to Boulder.

Great job.