Feelin' like a second class citizen

Thanks to Aaron "Look at my Abs" Schock and his cohorts while he was an Illinois House Representative, I can't get this wine: 2004 Pago del Molino Arras de Bobal Utiel Requena. Can't seem to find any Illinois wine shops (through many pages of Google searches) that has it. I USED to be able to get it until Aaron and his merry band of morons got their pockets filled by Illinois liquor distributors to put a squash of banning alcohol sales from out of state retailers. Hey Aaron, next time your abs are in California, stop by K&L Wines and pick me up a few bottles.

If liquor distributors can not provide and DISTRIBUTE (isn't that what they are supposed to do??) a particular product, I should have the right to get it from wherever. I DON'T always want to drink what YOU think I should buy so it makes you money.

New Blog

No, not me. I can't maintain the one I have.

Willett's Winery & Cellar's Winemaker, Brad Beam now has a blog about Illinois grapes and Illinois Wine. Brad is in the upper echelon of those knowledgeable about grapes that are suitable for the Midwest, making wines out of them and ways to tweak these "Cabernets and Chardonnays" of the Midwest into some really good wines. I'm lucky to work with this guy as his accomplishments are many including being part of a team that actually developed new wine grape varietals to be tolerant of Illinois winters and make great wine.

Anyway, one can read his inaugural blog post here at: LocalPour IL

See You Around The Table.....

Chef Kevin

Another thing that makes you go "HHmmmmm.."

Well, we all know gas prices suck. What is this $4/gallon gas when oil is under $100 a barrel? But that isn't my gripe (well, it is, but there is a different, bigger gripe.)

The cost of a gallon of mid-grade unleaded in Peoria: $4.29

The cost of a gallon of mid-grade unleaded in Manito: $4.03


Now, Peoria gas stations: I realize there is probably some city tax involved that may not allow you to sell at $4.03. However, twenty-six cents a gallon difference? Do you REALLY expect us to believe this? What kind of shit are you trying to get away with?

Now for some math, brought to you by my 31 year old TI-35 calculator:

I drive approximately 400 miles a week getting approximately 20 Mpg

20 gallons gas x $4.29 = 85.80 x 52 = $4461.60 a year

20 gallons gas x $4.03 = 80.60 x 52 = $4191.20 a year

The difference is $270.40. This pays my car insurance for 6 months plus two oil changes.

Quit ripping us off. Ok, well, most people. I don't buy gas in Peoria. I hope you are passing out single use tubes of KY with every fill up.

Something I Haven't Done In A Long Time

The main objective of this blog when it started was to do restaurant reviews and discuss issues that effected restaurants locally, like the smoking ban. However, after altercations with some person while working at GFS who thought me working there was a conflict of interest and now that I am working at a restaurant, this philosophy changed.

However, I have to give props. I was out near Grand Prairie Mall today and needed to hit the CEFCU 24 machine. I noticed that the little coffee shop behind Pier 1 and in front of Gander Mountain is now a joint called The Meat-N-Place. Ok, little locally owned joint, got to check it out.

I had the Caribbean BBQ sandwich with fries. I'm not going into great detail here, but it was a really good sandwich. The shredded pork was juicy and tender with a definite sweet & savory spice profile with a touch of heat. It was topped with a slightly creamy cole slaw and BBQ Sauce. Next time, no BBQsauce as it masked the pork's flavor. The fries were fries with something resembling Lawry's sprinkled on them.

While it was really good, I don't see me driving across town again for one, but if I'm in the area, a definite repeat....with no BBQ Sauce.

On that note, The Smo-King Pit is still the bomb and my choice of BBQ joints (if only he served icy cold Sam Adams!).