Super Bowl Sunday At Peeves In Fresno,CA

So this Super Bowl Sunday we dropped the kids off at the Fresno Convention Center so they could go see Disney On Ice and the wife and I went to Peeves Public House to watch the game.

This is the first time we had been to Peeves and they really have not been open very long. Peeves Public house & Local Market is new to downtown Fresno but is making there home in a spot on the Fulton Mall with a lot of history.

So lets start with the beer. Peeves has a great selection of beer in cans, bottles and on tap.They have local staples from the fine folks at Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Company which is only a few blocks away from Peeves. I had the barley wine from 21st Amendment and a Smoked Scotch Ale which was bloody awesome. When I asked about the taps they were telling me that they swap them out regularly.

The menu on this day consisted of one item because they had partnered with a local church who provided a bunch of appetizers so on the menu they were doing a pulled pork sandwich. Normally the have several items on the menu that rotate based on what local farmers, vendors/distributors bring them. They do a full breakfast on the weekends (which I look forward to paying a visit for).

Now for the one thing I was looking forward to checking out....there market in the space next door. All kinds of cool stuff from locals. Canned/pickled foods, milk from Rosa's Dairy, a few meats from a couple of local farms. The truth is it has got me thinking about working on some bacon recipes/

In the end this is a business that I am hoping to see be successful in Fresno,Ca. And more importantly I hope that this trend of farm to table and local purveyors does not go away anytime soon!!

2012:A Fat Boys Year In Review

    So 2012 is winding down and I got to thinking about where I have had the chance to eat, read and watched. So I decided that I would try my best to touch on some interesting things to the last year...Enjoy

    Last Christmas I received a copy of Brian and Michael Voltaggio book called Volt.INK and in the spring of 2012 the wife and I went down to Los Angeles to get away for a few days. It was on this trip that we not only had the chance to have lunch at INK.Sack but Mr. Voltaggio took a few minutes out of his schedule to sign my book.

    If you get the chance to have lunch at INK.Sack you have to order a bag of Crab Chips with whatever sandwich you get...Trust me this is one of the best things you will ever snack on!

    COCHON 555 is 5 chefs, 5 winemakes and 5 heritage breed pigs. This is a multiple city competition. In four years the COCHON Tour has served over 35,000 guests, harvested more than 1 Billion Media impressions for “heritage breed pigs & family farms” and featured over 1500 food pioneers supporting a better food system. When the tour landed in Boston the winner of the Cochon competition was Jamie Bissonnette owner of TORO and COPPA.

     July 1st and the state of Claifornia officially banned the sale of Fois Gras courtesy of animal rights organizations like PETA. If you do not know what Fois Gras (fatty duck liver). Foie gras is made from livers that have been plumped up to several times their normal size through force feeding, a process called gavage. There are California restaurants that finding loopholes to be able to serve it by bringing it in from out of state. What sucks is that restaurants could face up to a $1,000 fine per day.

     David Chang (Momofuku) gets his own show on PBS this year called "The Mind Of A Chef". I love this show because is the pages of the magazine "Lucky Peach" were to come to life this is what you would get. Daisy (my youngest daughter) and I will sit and watch this show as often as possible.

   For all those who are fans of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" he calls it quits with the Travel Channel but do not fret he has joined CNN for a new show and do not forget the cooking reality show he is doing on ABC.

   Here is a couple of stories from the 2012 Eater archives: Gordon Ramsay applied for the UK trademark for "The Spotted Pig," which is, uh, not his restaurant. It's April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman's restaurant in New York. Rumor has it Ramsey will be returning the trademark to it's rightful home. Zagat printed its 2012 guides to Bay Area restaurants with the name of the city misspelled "San Francsico." A restaurant in Moscow held a caviar eating competition in which twelve "lucky" souls had to eat a half kilogram of black caviar worth $70,000 as fast as humanly possible. The prize for winning? More caviar. And last but not least from the EATER universe Ghostwritingate: New York Times writer Julia Moskin claimed a whole bunch of celebrity chefs used ghostwriters; a whole bunch of cookbook authors (including Gwyneth Paltrow, Bobby Flay, and Rachael Ray) had a problem with it.

    Oh yeah I forgot to tell you I got a free pair of kitchen shoes and Chris Cosentino;s book "Beginnings" because not only do I watch to much Top Chef but follow cool people on twitter!!

   Well that is it for now....I hope everyone there has a great new years and remember no one eaters better then a fat boy!!

   Cheers!
 

Sometimes You have To Ignore The Letter In The Window!

Daisy Diggin' Into MOMOFUKU

    I like food, I like to go out to eat with the wife and kids. I like everything from fine dining to food trucks. I also think that sometimes when looking for somewhere to eat you have to look past the letter in the window (LA County establishments have a letter given to them by the health board). What makes for somewhere to eat better then just reputation and where all the hipster kids are calling "cool"?

    On Monday my daughter Daisy and I went to Central Fish Market in Downtown Fresno,Ca. so we could get groceries for dinner, but first we needed ramen! We ordered a couple of bowls of ramen, she had a Japanese soda and I had a can of Sapporo. As we sit eating we are digging through my MOMOFUKU book so we can figure out what we need to buy.

    Central Fish gets busy, I mean super busy. It took us almost 35 minutes to get out food and like always it was worth it. Downtown Fresno has a bunch of places to eat but there is something about Central Fish. If you sit long enough everyone is going to walk through the door. When I say everyone  I mean white guys, black guys, business people, old people, constructions guys...I mean everyone!! This is one of those times where the local know best.

   Just because there are a bunch of fixed gear biks, dudes in jean cut offs and they sell Pabst does not mean it is the cool place to go. Sometimes I do not mind a table that is a little beat up and grimy with the smell of fresh seafood next door in a neighborhood most people won't hang out in after dark.

   Do you know what the locals know?  More importantly are you a local and you do not know where the gems are in your town? If not I think it is time to see what is in your own backyard.

   
  

Election is over....Now we eat!!!

    So the election is over and in the state of California one of the most talked about propositions on the ballot was prop 37 "Genetically Engineered Foods Labeling".

   I got up this morning kicked on the news to see that it actually was voted down on. I was quite suprised. For the supporters of this bill it was very straight forward, let us know what is in our food. That was it. It was supported by a union (UFW) and some other organizations.

   People that were against it had a huge list of reason (price hikes for food, effects on farmers, lawsuits...etc). They were concerned about exemptions for some foods and not others. The people that were for "NO" for this bill were Coca-Cola, Nestle and some other major chemical companies (BASF to name one).

   Now that labels are not going to be put on our food by the state what is next...It is really simple. It is our responsibility as consumers to pay attention to what we are buying and eating. Spend the extra money at your farmers market, ask questions of your butcher (find a real butcher). It is not hard to find out what you are putting in your body...Just start paying attention.

    I understand why people wanted to see 37 pass and I thought it was going to, but now it is up to us to take care of ourselves and our families without interuption from the government or big business!!

    Now go eat!
   

Tako Tuesday!!

on Twitter @Takobbq

    So today instead of sitting around the house I rolled into Fresno,Ca with the wife and hooked up with the kid over at Fresno City College to check out the newest food truck to hit the scene here in the area. The truck is called Tako Bbq.

    Before I really get into the food of the Tako truck I want to kind of say that the food truck culture is really new to this city. This is not LA or San Francisco, but this is a town that kind of seems to not be the most supportive of a scene that really wants to grow it's legs and run.

   So if you are looking for a decked out truck with cool graphics wtapped around it you are going to miss it. This looks just like any taco truck in Fresno. They have there logo on it but really other then that it is not anything special looking. But do not judge the truck by it apperance.

Facebook: Takobbq truck

      So I was not sure what to order so we ordered one of each taco and the kimchee quesadilla. Lindsee ordered the Kogi burger. So I started with the Kimchee quesadilla that had colby jack cheese and the truth is I would never of thought of putting kimchee and cheese together.

   They had 4 kinds of tacos and the truth is they were all really good. next time I will be ordering the Tako dog!!!

    Support local food trucks. Follew them all on twitter and facebook becuase the more the trucks get support from us as consumers then hopefully we will see more trucks hit the pavement. I look forward to the day that we see a food truck meet up in  Fresno!!

Din Din A Go Go....part 2!!

ALOHA FRIDAYS

LARDON Menu

LARDON

LOBSTA TRUCK