Zydecos - Mooresville, IN

Somebody at Zydeco's really knows New Orleans and this restaurant is a little condensed shot in the arm of NO right in the middle of Indiana about 30 minutes outside of Indianapolis.

The decorations were really cool and you really did feel like you were in a Bourbon street bar.  The style of the inside was right, there were beads everywhere, party lights, cool cajun bar stuff, you name it and it was here.  There was a mannequin of a joker with a cajun hat on that was part of a Bud Lite advertisement.

The service was really quite good.  The servers were genuinely glad that you were there and were kind of partying along with everyone else.  I was just here by myself.  This would have been a great place to bring a group of people.

The turbo dog beer from Abita was really nice. I don't know if it was an Indiana beer or a New Orleans beer.  It tasted like a thick stout to me.   It had a thick chocolate but not a yeasty

I ordered the crawfish étouffée.  It certainly tasted authentic to me.  My head was sweating from the cajun spices.  I was a little wary because in the north they will sometimes advertise cajun dishes but then tone the spice level down too much.  This was just the way it should be.

The music was likewise authentic and added a lot to the feel of this place.

Overall, this was a really great place.  I would rate it a 9.6.

Zydeco's
11 E Main St
Mooresville, IN 46158
(317) 834-3900
http://www.zydecos.net

Guy's American Kitchen and Bar - New York City

I wasn't even looking for a triple-d restaurant when I stumbled on this place while walking around Times Square.  I really didn't expect to find Guy's restaurant.  I think of him as a California dude and I had no idea that this place even existed until I stumbled upon it.

I visited the restaurant when it was still pretty new and before the New York Times did their hatchet-job of a review on them.

I've visited one of Guy's other restaurants, Tex Wasabi's Rock and Roll BBQ in Sacramento, California.  So, the benchmark was pretty high to start out with.

I was really excited to find this place but, when I first walked into the I struggled to figure out what the theme was.  It was nice but, I could have been in Houlihans or TGI Fridays if I didn't know better.  I'm guessing that the theme was just what the name says, American food. I'm guessing that it is meant to appeal to foreign visitors to Times Square and not to Americans.  Purely speculation on my part.  Although one big clue was the big American flag they made from cases of Miller light and Rolling Rock beer.

I had the salmon grilled and served on a cedar plank.  It came with garlic mashed potatoes.  It was okay.

The beer menu was kind of interesting.  It said right on the beer menu "All beers are formulated and brewed specially for Guy by Heartland Brewery."  If Guy poured all of his creativity into the beer menu then I'm onboard.

I also really liked Guy's creativity with the dessert menu.  Half of the selection were just traditional desserts but, the other half were drink desserts.  So, another theme seems to be emerging and it is alcohol.

Music selection was also pretty interesting.   They played all kinds of alternative music that I'd never heard of before which I might have enjoyed if they hadn't played it so loud.

Overall, I would unfortunately rate Guy's American Kitchen and Bar an 8.6.  I really wanted this place to blow me away and I looked hard for reasons to let it but, unfortunately it didn't.  If I'm looking for a beer or a meal in Times Square then I'd be willing to give it another shot.  If Guy can make Tex Wasabi's incredible then he can do it here as well and I'm sure he will.


Guy's American Kitchen and Bar
220 W 44th St
New York, NY 10036
(646) 532-4897
www.guysamerican.com

Dressel's Public House - St.Louise, MO

It was  an exceptionally nice summer evening when I visited Dressel's Public House in St. Louis.  I got a table outside to fully enjoy the weather.  I was there in the early evening in the summertime when the sun was warm and hung in the sky relatively late in the evening.   It was very quiet and peaceful.  Somebody on the block was getting jazz piano lessons which echoed nicely off of the brick buildings.


Dressel's Public House is however on a street in St. Louis that they share with at least a dozen other eateries and bars. I'm guessing that this street is probably a lot of fun after the sun goes down.  I could easily imagine doing a pub-crawl here.  I wouldn't get a chance to find out first hand.


The waitress was very friendly.  She had a trainee in tow.  She was very knowledgeable about their menu and beer selection which was considerable.  I guess that should not have come as any surprise as this is a big beer-town.

I tried the Southside Ale.  This was a locally brewed light and yeasty beverage.  It was the perfect compliment for such a nice evening.

The food was also pretty good.  I got the spring onion and goat cheese tart which was kind of like a quiche except that the cheese was more gooey than fluffy.  It came with a mixed greens salad with bits of chicken.  The contrast in textures was really well done.    

Dessert was strong chocolate coffee flavored parfait.  I think the name was potacreme, but I'm not sure. Waitress said they had to whip up fresh cream.  It was extremely rich and filling. A few bites and I was done.

I gave Dressel's a 9.7.  It was all very good.  I kind of gave them the benefit of the doubt on the atmosphere because of the time that I showed up.  The inside was a really cool old pub.

Dressel's Public House
419 N Euclid Ave
St. Louis, MO 63108
(314) 361-1060
dresselspublichouse.com

Pilot Pete's - Schaumburg, IL

Pilot Pete's is a cool airport restaurant.  It is in the terminal building at Schaumburg Regional Airport (06C) in Schaumburg, Illinois.  There is a bank of windows that overlook the airport and the only runway from the second story.  The restaurant is chock full of aviation memorabilia, signed photos of famous aviators and lots of model airplanes everywhere.

I dined under a real experimental airplane called a breezy because the two occupants sit out in the open wind in this airplane.  I've seen breezy's before but I never had the vantage point and the time to sit there and examine the quality of the welds and the design of the airframe.  I wonder how well this one worked in it's life in the air because the Continental O-200 engine looks like a pull-type that would be in the nose of Cessna or Piper but in this configuration it was in a pusher configuration whereby the engine faced backwards, pushing the air back.  The carburetor intake was also facing backwards.  hmm... Maybe it's better hanging from a restaurant ceiling.

The food was pretty good, too.  I got the Turbulence Salad and a Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy beer.  The shandy is a summer time beer.  It is a mix of beer and lemonade, I think.  Very light, sweet and citrusy.  The salad was a mix of lettuce, onion, cheese, chicken and peperoni all chopped and tossed.  It didn't need any dressing.  I think that there might have been some oil and vinegar added to give it some moisture.   It was all very good.

Service was fine.  They were very busy but the hostess and waitress were both very nice and efficient.  No complaints.  

This place had not been featured on the Food Network but, it had potential.  Just reading over the menu, it looked like they had some creative stuff. One thing that looked interesting was the Grilled Salmon Club.  They described it as "salmon, bacon, tomato, avocado and tomato-chive aioli on Italian Bread."  Guy might like it here.

The atmosphere was pretty lively for a Tuesday evening.  There was a bar area that looked pretty cool.  The only cooler airport bar that I can think of was at the US Navy Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida where they had shipped the old officer's club bar from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean back to Florida and completely reconstructed it.

I rated Pete's a 9.5.  This is a must for the aviation nerd in your family if you are in the Chicago area. 

Pilot Pete's Restaurant
905 West Irving Park Road
Schaumburg, IL 60193
(847) 891-5100
http://pilot-petes.com/

Good Dog Bar and Restaurant - Philadelphia, PA

I started off my meal with the smutty-nosed pumpkin ale.  It was autumn in Philadelphia and the seasonal ale seemed appropriate.  As I lifted the glass, there was definitely a pumpkin spice scent present in the aroma but, it was not overdone in the taste, which I was initially afraid of.  It had a somewhat heavy consistency like a wheat or stout.  Sometimes seasonal beers quickly lose their novelty.  That wasn't the case here.  I found this beer actually growing on me.

Good dog is an old-time bar. I should probably be ashamed to say that I felt at home here because it reminded me of a lot of bars in New York where I had a lot of fun during my misspent youth.  There were lots of black and white photos of dogs all over the bar's walls.  There is no doubt a story behind the dog theme.

The bar tender was a 20ish tough dude probably not afraid of tossing drunks out into the Philadelphia streets. But, being more than twice his age, I don't think that he knew how to address me. The two guys immediately before me were "Bub" and "Boss" but, I was "Sir." I'm not called sir a lot north of Mason-Dixon.  I was definitely bringing the average age of the room up.

I ordered the duck pot pie. The waitress said that this was what Guy Fieri had ordered.  So, how could I say no to that.  I don't think that I'd ever had duck that I can remember. I expected it to be gamy but, it really wasn't.  The duck was really savory but I had to look for it.  The pastry seemed much more dominant. The pastry was nice and light and flavorful like a butter croissant. The duck meat was very tender and the taste was distinctive.  It is now my baseline for what I think duck tastes like. It was present but in the background like the way sausage might be a secondary flavor on a sausage pizza.

It came with a little spinach salad on the side of the plate that was surprisingly good also.  The pot pie was so savory and filling that you really needed the crunchy, leafy contrast.


I liked the Good Dog Bar.  I'd rate it a solid 9.  I'd like to explore their menu some more and might be back again.


Good Dog Bar and Restaurant
224 S 15th St
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 985-9600
http://www.gooddogbar.com/

Hot As Hell Hefeweizen by the Little Red Chevette Brewery

Padre warned me about the banana on the nose but, I didn't believe it.  He was right. The first thing that hits you after you pour a glass of Hot as Hell Hefeweizen from the Little Red Chevette Brewing Company is the distinctive smell of bananas.  Padre explained that no bananas were actually hurt in the production of this brew.  The smell is entirely attributable to the yeast in action.

Before I get to the actual "un-capping," a bit about Padre, a long time friend and the brewmaster at LRCB.  LRCB and Padre actually hail from part New Jersey that earned it the Garden State title.  Padre enjoys his days canoeing the picturesque, cool country Kittatinny Valley lakes in search of perfect fishing spots.  He spends hours paddling the waters in an aquatic hunt for his finned prey.  But, when he is not busy giving the fish population of northern NJ heck then he is busy in his shop brewing beer from the same local pure, deep glacial lake waters, testing his chemistry and fermentation.  It's a bit of science and sorcery.  If Santa Clause is "Father Christmas" then Padre is "Father Beer."

Padre takes his beer very seriously and gave me specific instructions on how to best enjoy his brew and what to look for.  You get the sense right away that this is a heartfelt brew worthy of respect.  I couldn't think of a more worthy subject for Bill's Triple-D review in breaking with the restaurant only review tradition.

Padre's inspiration for LRCB's Hotter Than Hell Hefeweizen was the pity he took on those of us in the southern states who suffered through one of the most brutally hot summers on record in 2011.  The label on HTHH is a drawing of Texas being baked by flames in the background.  Needless to say, Padre decision to send some of the goodness to me was very welcome.

One of Padre's first instructions to me was to drink the beer from a clean glass.  The breweries in Europe usually have their own glasses or steins that they suggest you drink their beer from.  LRCB did not yet have glasses for HTHH, so I decided to use a hefewiezen glass from the Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu direct from Kinzigtal in Germany's Black Forrest. 

The worst thing about HTHH is that the whole glass disappeared much too quickly.  YUM!  It was that good.  There is nothing about this beer that you "have to get used to."  It just slides down as smooth as can be.  There was a concert of tastes and yeasty smells that only could have come from high-quality ingredients, including great water.  I can't really describe all of them.  That might say more about me as a first-time beer reviewer than anything else.  The beer was light in taste but, weighty in consistency.

I enjoyed a lot of really great beers when I lived in Germany.  The Germans are not afraid of cloudy beer if it helps the taste.  The mass produced hefeweizens in the US tend to be kind of tastless because they do filter out the sediment.  Padre's HTHH reminded me a lot of the great German beers because it had the bold yeast smell and taste.  The best German hefeweizens have that banana smell, too.

Padre doesn't publish the alcohol content of his brew.  I'm no lightweight but, after just one I was feeling just fine with the world.  I honestly don't know enough about beer chemistry to say whether the alcohol content adds or subtracts to the taste and enjoyment.  Whatever it is, Padre got it right on the money.

There was one bit of advice that Padre gave me that I wasn't too sure about.  He suggested leaving the last 1/4 inch of beer with the sediment on the bottom of the bottle.  In Germany they will roll the bottle on the table in order to stir up all of the sediment into the beer.  So, that was what I was used to.  I went half way and first sampled the beer using Padre's recommendation then I poured the gunk in the bottom of the bottle into the glass and tried it.  The sediment was actually pretty good.

I'm giving Padre's Hotter Than Hell Hefeweizen a 10 out of 10 on the Triple-D scale.  If I find a better beer then I'll bust the 1 - 10 scale.  But, I have a hard time imagining that right now.

Little Red Chevette Brewing
Andover, New Jersey
http://sites.google.com/site/littleredchevettebrew/home





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