A steak by any other name is just a steak

I’ve often said I could be a vegetarian if it wasn’t for BBQ pork. Pork has always been my meat weakness. However since moving to NWA, I have fallen and fallen hard into the delicious, inviting wedge of beef that can only be purchased at Does Eat Place in Bentonville. What do I like best about Does? For starts it lacks the pretentiousness of the average high class steak joint. I can go in shorts and flip flop without having guests jaws drop to the floor and management removing me from the dining area. Does is a laid back bar to many which just happens to put out a great steak. Next, Doe’s has a very small menu. We do this and this and nothing else and we do what we do pretty damn well. If you don’t like tamales you are just about out of luck when it comes to appetizers. Same thing if you’re a chicken fan, you might as well keep driving past. Doe’s is a steak place with a miniscule number of things on the side so, Beef it truly is what’s for dinner. Next the steak, oh that glorious hunk of beef so expertly seasoned and cooked to perfection. By the way I hate the phrase “cooked to perfection” but in this case it actually applies. Once again the selection is limited but then the choices that are offered are all that is needed. Choose from the T Bone by the pound, the Porterhouse the same way, the 2 lb sirloin for sharing, a fillet in three different sizes, and finally my steak the two pound ribeye. I’m told the steaks are aged for several weeks which would explain their fork ready tenderness and great flavor. Also they are cooked over a drip pan that allows for the continual basting of the steaks as they char broil away. Once again to keep matters simple you can have fries or boiled potatoes. I like both but the fries make a great dipper for the meat juices left on the plate. Other points of interest include the very different and very wet house salad that come out before the meal. While I can’t explain why I like this overdressed slightly wilted bowl of greens I have to admit I do. Maybe it’s a dressing thing. You also get a basket of fried dinner rolls and honey. I do believe these golden brown lumps of dough to be canned biscuits that are tossed into the deep fryer until brown and crispy. While I would never make these at home, here it just seems so natural.
Doe’s is just not fancy or pretty, it has a limited menu, probably is more likely to be used as a won the World Series of Poker celebratory restaurant rather than a wedding anniversary meal and of course it isn’t cheap in the least. The ribeye is $45. And if you want one on the weekend you better get their early because they do run out. This causes other tables to stare at you with an angry glint in their eye when it is determined that your table got the last two ribeyes on a Saturday night.
Ahhh steak thy name is Doe’s

I have found the promised land

After years of searching, I have finally found a real honest to goodness traditional mexican restaurant that is not located in Mexico. The place is Taqueria Vega in Bentonville on Highway 102 what some call 14th street. Now when I say Mexican I mean real Mexican fare not tex mex not southwestern and really not Taco Bell. How can you tell the difference? First of all the food is not covered with cheddar cheese and sour cream. Second if you like you can get such items as tongue or goat. For the traditional eater you can have everything made with beef, pork or chicken if the odd items scrae you a little. Be advised that when you order a taco it will not come out like a crispy Taco Bell taco. Expect a flat white corn disc with some meat and nothing else. I suggets the BBQ beef or the tongue. This place also makes their own tamales which were wonderfully tender and moist as well as the best tomatilla salsa I have ever eaten. In fact the salsa was so good I bought a pint to take home.

Dont expect anything fancy about this place. It is just simply great food done really well by a lovely mexican gal with some family help.

Best of all you can get the whole meal without cilantro because the whole meal is made fresh. It boggles the mind that someone can make fresh tasty authentic mexican food in this day and age. It is even more perplexing that it took me all these years to stumble across one.

NEVER again!

So we had a gift card to use at one of the national Italian themed restaurants. I wont say the name but will refer to it as the Garden of Olives restaurant. This one happens to be located in NW Arkansas along a prominent highway. Now let me say except for a few fast food chains like White Castle (yum), I never visit chain restaurants. Chilies, Applebees, Fridays and such are not my style of food. However a gift card is usually a terrible thing to waste so we went.

To the point of the matter; how can food be made so bad? I have to say it was undoubtedly the worst food of my life. It was really not edible. I had the Chianti braised short ribs with risotto. Okay so maybe I should not have been swayed by the seductive "Specialties inspired by the Culinary Institute of Tuscany, our cooking school in Italy" tag line but I am a sucker for good marketing. The dish ssounded great and would have been if the meat wasn't black and overcooked, the risotto a pile of much and then having the whole mess topped with an overly strong sauce and way too al dente matchstick carrots and green beans piled on top of everything. They were so crunchy and bland I had to scrape them off to the side, and I do like vegetables Not only did it look like crap but it tasted terrible. I liked our server who was having a bad night but if I was a server I would have never brought that meal to the table. My wife had some form of stuffed chicken that also had an off taste that made us leave most of it on the plate. daughter had seafood Alfredo which she just picked out the seafood because she said the sauce tasted funny. daughter friend had the spaghettios or what the restaurant calls their four cheese pasta blah blah blah. I do admit the Italian sodas in lemon and cream sods versions were tasty but the food was an embarrassment. Close the place down and make it something useful like a White Castle or a parking lot.
For the record we did tip the server the full ticket price and not the ticket minus the gift card. Fair is fair and even if she should not have served it, she didnt make it.

But he was such a fungi

Wow have things change recently. Just when life is cruising you get a bee in the pants and decide you want to disrupt everything in your life and head in a new direction. After six long, hard, sometimes bitter, sometimes wonderful years at OTC I decided I couldnt take the attitudes of some anymore and felt it was time to leave for greener more educational pastures.

So I packed up the truck and became the new culinary arts and hospitality director for NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville Ar. Yes Bentonville, the Home of Wall Mart, Tyson foods, J B Hunt and a horad of other businesses. We also have the makers of Little Debbie cakes(mmmm peanut butter nutty bars), Pel Freeze rabbit products and those Ginsu knife people. In contrast to what you might think this area is actually very nice. Lots to do, new basball team ( sorry Cardinals but we are a Sprindale Naturals fan now), great shopping ( way too many shoes stores for Stacy and my budget), super restaurants and a wonderful state park system ( yes I love the outdoors).

Speaking of restaurants we have all of the super chains like PF Changs and Ruth Chris's as well as some nationally recognized independants like James at the Mill. Lets not forget Jim's Razorback Pizza which I have heard is pretty good. More on the food later.

Since my pals at the news leader felt I couldnt contibute to their paper anymore due to my change of operations, I plan on writing what I can here for now. i have already been told that their is writing to be done if I want but I would love to get unpacked first.