Chowda and Lobsta

Boston-food wise at least, when you think about its history & even today, you might think lobster which was once a food for prisoners and the poor is now a delicacy in most places. not here. same goes for chowda or oysters. its funny bcuz anywhere outside of Boston, these prices are doubled. but here you still get the old school prices and freshness of exactly what youd expect from shellfish caught the day of. I did a little search for the best gastropubs in town and the same few spots kept popping up. One-'Stoddards fine food and ale' is around the corner from the hotel right off Boston Common-a throwback joint. Food from 'an era forgotten' with things like heritage pork with ham grits, deviled eggs, local Island creek oysters, lobster scallion hush puppies. I dunno why I expected to see more Indie foodie places or gastropubs around but even with these places, the foodie scene here cant help but have this classic French or English boathouse feel.

Russell House Tavern

the house across the Street from Russell House

Charles River

Like how you can judge a good bottle of wine by its cover i realized you can always tell a mediorce spot by 2 things-the waiters are overly generous and sharply groomed and the decor reminds me of an upscale yacht club.  No joke-when you walk in a new place and see this, if the menu isn't enticing, trust your gut and find another spot. Spend your money at the Russell House Tavern in Harvard Square where you'll find more of what I love-the gastropub done well. The 'majority of the menu is sourced from local ingredients found within a 20-mile radius of the restaurant.' I decided to put on my running shoes-something I havent done in about 3 weeks and go for a run down Commonwealth Ave, this cool parkway with its rows of memorials to old authors and generals and fishermen. then I cut over to the Charles River down a few more miles into Cambridge. First I try the Island Creek Oysters. I'm finally experiencing my first oyster in Boston. And they're worth the wait. It comes with a pickle mignonette and topped with this herby oil and its blimey heaven! I heard some buzz about their burger from the Hair crew guys. Very tasty. something simple and American maybe that youd see winning an amateur burger cook-off. Just a fat hunk of Vermont grassfed beef between an english muffin w/ cheddar and fried onions. And some extra crispy salted fries like the 'thrice baked chips' at the Breslin in nyc. And I washed it down with some Harpoon IPA cask beer. Even though by NYC's standards this would be considered a pretty safe version of a gastropub and the burger isnt probably the best in town it was still tasty. Oh, and Harvards pretty but nothing like Yale. 

Girl and the Goat

I never really got into 'Top Chef' but this Chef Stephanie Izard who was on it during season 4 -think dark brown curly headed, flirty- opened a new spot in Chicagos west loop called 'Girl and the Goat'.   And there's too much buzz around not to at least come take a peak. So I stopped by on the friday evening before our last show here. I ordered the sunchoke soup w/ grapefruit and warm olives. It was fantasticly flavorful but a little too small and too done up. If you haven't had sunchoke's, theyre like this perfect little treat-also called jerusalem artichokes. At the Spotted Pig, we'd sautee them in olive oil till browned, lightly season and let roast in the oven for and hour. When you bite into it, its almost a perfectly soft but firm banana textured root thats just a bit sweet and salted from the browning. We'd tear it up warm and toss into a salad of escarole [my new fav leafy veg) goat cheese and hazelnuts. 

The large painting you see coming into 'the goat'

I also tried the roasted lamb shank w/ grapes and a curry oil and the homemade corny goat bread with whipped goat cheese and corn relish. Taste wise, all great combinations. the menu like a meat candy shop. http://www.girlandthegoat.com/press.html Though a bit like aggressive almost competition type food, small and flashy, the taste was there. I just wanted more of it. 


the past 2 weeks in Chicago made me realize how much I missed it. These 2 weeks were solely devoted to Charlie's surgury.  Right before Hair left nyc in Sept, for my last vet visit before leaving town, Riverside Vet suggested for Charlie a teeth cleaning, 3 molar removed, and gum repair and that he have surgery to remove a hernia in his rectum and also castrated [his balls could lead to cancer]. What is he doing with balls at [almost] 9? During my 3 years in Chicago I wanted to try pimping Charlie out as a stud for female boxers-if at least to see how I'd do:) I pimped him out only once from an online sight (with 'Precious' from the South Side). They told me Charlie had 0 success sticking it in so no babys came of it. They COULDve been been lying..as they were packed and headed to Mexico and its very possible that little Charlitos are running around el barrio right now. Dropping him off was a scary experience...where I left Charlie for the weekend...in the dingy basement of the Rodriguezs' who only spoke Spanish. I speak a little. The translator helped....For the 10 minutes I stayed, Charlies desperately trying to hold Precious down and convince her that they should screw. She was fighting back and wasnt having him at all him and I had to leave. Too embarrasing:) Anyway I realized I never wanted to go through that experience again so Charlie that was your only chance bud. 

As a rule of thumb most dogs today are castrated right around birth. An un-neutered dog risks a shit ton of health problems when their older, including cancer so its just a good idea. I waited too long and because I didn't neuter him immediately, some lower intestines moved into his left butt cheek. So they opened it up and pushed it back in his stomach. The balls, one larger than the other-which isn't good, weren't necessarily related to the hernia but could've caused a number of problems so they were cut off too. he also had 3 molars removed and some gum tissue cut out…all in a matter of a few hours! :) imagine waking up feeling the pain in your mouth and you look down and your balls are gone!! Oh and the drying stiches on your butt making you limp and pee on yourself.  Dr Frank Butts and his brother David Butts [The Butt Brothers-how fitting right?] run a clinic in Dowagiac MI that I found through my moms girlfriend Iris.  And they have a nice rep around these parts. Some coming as far as Chicago. Known for cheap prices and good work. MY Riverside vet in nyc suggested I have all 3 surgurys for  $3200 for the whole thing. for the same operations at the Dowagiac animal hospital the Butt brothers quoted me $500 for the same thing. Quite a difference! In NY people will pay these prices. but in southwest MI, there'd be shelters of stray animals if these were the prices. And it makes you think about the real cost of Vet work. 

Pittsburgh and Goat Cheese

Charlie & I cruised over the Mississippi into Minneapolis in Daves Toyoto (Hair's musical director) yesterday. looking down at his speedometer squinting over his glasses for a minute before he says anything [as he does] and says almost in embarrassment '8200 miles. that's how much I've clocked onto my car since October when the tour began.' Dave would admit it. he's a simple guy. very neutral. & he definitely decided since his divorce that life is not meant to get caught up in complication. I get now that most folks who've been in 'the business' like to keep this simplicity without ruffling too much up. In a business of predominantly Midwesterners [and a few Texans] it makes sense. That and the simple act of being nice and cordial. the cool kids club rules: be sensitive, be kind, and don't ask for a whole lot... As well they should.  As long as we don't shake things up too much and are sensitive to others the cycle continues and nothing has been ruffled too much. Its a nice place to live I admit. But its also a place where outside of the bubble, one could get lost. There's not much room for sensitivity in the real world and hypothetically if forced INTO that world I could see a lot of theatre folks go mad under this new light. Ok I'll get off my soap box.

I said faretheewell to my mac in Costa Mesa as it took its last breath into the hard drive. thats tough to do. especially for a cheap piece of plastic. I enjoyed Pittsburgh...Even immediately following their Superbowl smack in the face. The warhol museum, the strip-an old Italian section of town turned into a local downtown farmers market. Steel was out with pre-nodules [not good-as Lee says] so I was on all week for Berger. I found out I'd be going on right after a 13 hour flight from California [stopping through Denver and LaGuardia. please help me explain that logic]. Traveling with a dog is nice most of the time but not when you book 2 stop-offs just to save a little cash. It was miserable. like a sad HS football coach trying to rally his beaten ass team for one more round of beatings, Charlie being the team. I should have been more excited about the news but I was too beat to think about anything else but my hotel bed.

view from the trolley

The woman sitting next to me on the final flight into Pittsburgh made the last leg go by easy peasy. And when we landed I was sad to leave. She turned and asked how Charlie got to to fly..the way most conversations start with me on planes these days..but really she seemed relieved to be sitting next to Charlie and not a human.  It was a 4 row seat prop-jet plane that could barely fit a starving Somalian. It was funny to witness Charlie trying to compromise with his 1 foot space on my lap. I couldn't believe every time I looked over and she had this giddy smile on her face. 'I LOVE dogs'. One of those people who, even if your not a talk-to-your-neighbor-person, which I'm not, you immediately speak the same language. You just pick up conversation that's easy yet passionate and forget everything else. I asked what she did for a living. Candy was her name. She quit her real-estate life at 53 and in the past 4 years opened a goat cheese farm in Harrisburgh with her husband. She began winning awards for her cheese and then had it patented and now sells it locally, along with eggs from her chickens and goat meat which I agreed is still one of the best tasting meats out there hands down. Africans and Caribbeans definitely hit the jackpot with the this as a big part of their diet. Caprine Delight & Room to Grow is her company. I'll never be wealthy but I'd rather absorb this rich life at my age than do something like Real-Estate' she says. And I hear her on that. We talked about Michael Pollan and rotating crops and how we both can really see glimpses of a local movement taking over big organic in this country and it actually sticking. I mean lets face it. We now live in the whole foods generation...where a trip to Whole Foods is no different than a trip to a really good book store, where a good story can sell any product and with one organic label your left deciphering images of pastoral settings, beautiful farmlands, etc. This organic label has got people using their imaginations to decipher words like free-range, pastoral fed, raised humanely at 5000 ft elevation, and the words of food writing goes on and on. Enough to make even myself confused on which tomato to buy when shopping for dinner. I don't know about you but I'd rather eat the chicken I can see running around in front of me than an organic chicken shipped from California, clocking 1200 miles of oil on the way.