Dinner by Heston - Mandarin Hotel, London

Welcome to the Mandarin Hotel, home to Dinner by Heston. I was staying in London with good friends, foodies and cocktail enthusiasts. I value people that value great dining and drinking experiences. It's not enough to just eat for calories, one must occasionally savor. We talked of Fat Duck, 3 Michelin stars, far away in distance and budget. Then we moved to Dinner by Heston, possessor of 1 Michelin star and ranked #9 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants. Through mild wrangling, my friend and I landed an afternoon reservation.

We were escorted through the lounge area, subtly lit yet eye catching to the color-ADD among us. I was excited. Meat Fruit was foremost in my mind. My friend could only describe it as pate that looked like fruit. To the internet!

Wow! Heston is a culinary artist! I was singing Meat Fruit all week leading to this event. When isn't an anticipated restaurant not an event? We ordered as if we were on a mission. There was mild debate about the second course, but went with Meat Fruit, Black Foot Pork Chop, Tipsy Cake, and Brown Bread Ice Cream.

While we waited, they served us bread and lightly salted butter. The wait staff here is charming, efficient, and their timing impeccable. They serve without hovering, charm with but an accent tinted phrase. Having finished the bread, they ask "Would you like some more?" And hem and haw, knowing I shouldn't, but the gentleman says "Why not?" Why not, indeed? More bread is in front of me and I continue carb loading waiting for my Meat Fruit.

Chicken liver parfait encased inside a mandarin jelly mold accompanied by grilled bread. The orange color is correct, it has the topmost dimple, yet there is something off about this mandarin. 

Discard the "stem" and gently cut open. The orange exterior reveals the creamy meat parfait lurking beneath. Spread liberally on your grilled bread and lustfully enjoy. It will leave you hungering for more.

Here we have the Black Foot Pork Chop featuring Hispi cabbage, lardo, ham hock & Robert sauce. The cabbage and lardo were a lighter airy side to the brash ham hock. I had expected the lardo to be much more decadent and rich, but the ham merely hinted. The Pork Chop was good, but not great. I suppose I did not fully appreciate that this came from the Black Iberian Pig.

While researching Dinner by Heston, I found a featurette video highlighting tipsy cake. It's a spit roasted spiraled pineapple with a custardy brioche (I'm borrowing from other descriptions here. I must inquire more specifically if there's a next time). The pineapple had been rotisseried, cooked and basted in caramel for 2-4 hours. Since my mind was occupied with whole pineapple images, it hard for me to fully appreciate this dessert. It was certainly a rich complementary pairing.

Here is my favorite dessert, the Brown Bread Ice Cream featuring Salted butter caramel, pear & malted yeast syrup. Our server advised that we cut through all three layers with our spoons. I appreciate the care they take with their presentation. Three textures, intertwined flavors, a savory marriage. 

Our palates were finished with an Earl Grey Chocolate Ganache and Caraway Seed biscuit. I enjoyed the biscuits and my friend enjoyed the two ganache.

Want more Heston? Click here.

Room with a view - the kitchen.

Champagne service.

The menu.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, 

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park

66 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7LA

Williams and Graham - the customer is #1

I've followed Williams and Graham's progress from afar, first hearing about it through the Westword and other online mutterings. Sean Kenyon, former Squeaky Bean bar manager, was involved in the SB replacement, The Occidental, and Williams and Graham. Unfortunately, due to lease negotiations, The Occidental never opened, and WG's opening was delayed due to restaurant bar licenses. And so I left for my extended Europe and Australia trip without experiencing either. I was relegated to long-distance voyeurism via online publications. That's never satisfactory.

And now....? Well, Williams and Graham is my hangout. One week you show up there with a friend on Sunday and have a great experience. So great you have to return again and again and again and make reservations for another day.

Williams and Graham is tucked into the corner of Tejon and 32nd Avenue. It's distinctively on the corner, but with their minimal door signage, I accidentally passed it this Sunday. I weaved back around and entered their library front. Did you know that you can trade a hardcover book for one of their hardcovers? They may not be willing to part with some books, but the bartering opportunity exists.

Wednesday through Sunday are their busiest evenings, though one bartender will admit that Wednesday is hit and miss. I definitely recommend a reservation or calling ahead. Be prepared for a 1.5 hour wait. Fortunately, the host will call you in case you're at a nearby restaurant or at home. Consider it a fifteen minute warning.

Once allowed in, typically escorted by Todd Colehour (WG co-owner), you'll be beckoned through the concealed door past a dimly lit corridor into the bar area.

This view is from the back. WG offers bar seating, standing room only at the bookshelves, booths, and tucked away high seats on a raised platform toward the bar's right. Maximum capacity is 80 people. Even though this bar gets packed, conversation is relatively muted. I've enjoyed the bar, a booth, and standing room only settings and have been able to have decent conversations consistently. They don't have rules, so I respect their clientele's class. There is light music in the backroom. Also, at some point each evening scratchy blues will be played.

 Here we have co-owner, Sean Kenyon, a third generation bartender. He is an amazing source of information and has a remarkable memory. I say this because he remembered a drink he concocted for a friend based on a butterscotch drink request. He came back with a Flip comprised of Leopold Bros Three Pins Alpine Liqueur, Noci Amaro (walnut based), egg white, and perhaps another ingredient. Anyway, his attention to detail is shared with his staff. Once you meet your server or bartender, they introduce themselves and get your names. So they manage to remember your name, recall last night's special cocktail, have encyclopedic knowledge of spirits, are able to point you to drinks appropriate to your taste, and are equipped to handle problems proactively. There is much to enjoy.

 Here we have the Rob Roy, a drink featured in their Scotch Whiskey section. Their cocktail menu is separated first by house cocktails and then by spirit. The spirit sections include brand name, its respective location (USA, Ireland, Indonesia, etc), and cocktails that features these particular spirits. You can substitute spirits as I did for the Last Word (swapped Spring44 Gin for Leopold Bros Navy Strength Gin) or even go off menu if you have a special hankering. Sometimes you may be guided back to their menu.

And sometimes you might be very intrigued about an interesting bottle on a bar's top shelf. For instance, here is the 1605 Chartreuse (created to commemorate the return of a mysterious manuscript concerning an elixir of long life to the Carthusian monks). It's part of Sean Kenyon's collection and is $25 for that taste. It's well worth the experience.

For contrast, you can enjoy the Green Chartreuse VEP for $15. This picture highlights both its louching and Jason's fine beard.

Olivea working her magic on a fiery apple smelling drink. She worked very well with my friend and I, nailing requests and suggestions.

Hunting for top shelf Chartreuse spirits.

They let me keep the 1605 bottle since we emptied it. I'm searching for the last few herbal drops.

The secret cubbyhole for passing notes between the house front and bar. If you can't see it now, click the picture for a larger view.

Other notes: Be wary of the toilets. Their lids have difficulty staying up, so it might be less dangerous if you sit. The bacon beignets sound like a fantasy. There is a distinct lack of bacon flavor. The paired blackberry sage reduction is fantastic, though.

Williams and Graham
www.williamsandgraham.com
 3160 Tejon Street
Denver, Colorado 80211
303.997.8886

Insanity - expectations not met

Recent facebook discussions circling each other have made me reflect on my previous teaching relationships with fellow instructors and event organizers. A quote from "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" is applicable- Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Here are my thoughts.


1. Discuss the services that will be rendered whether it's teaching, djing, performances, etc
2. Be clear about what you need even if teaching is a hobby. Think 5 years down the road. What precedent do you want to set?
3. Discuss applicable fees and if there's no profit split, have a compensation figure you're both agreed on.
4. Inquire when payment will be made and follow up at the appropriate time.
5. Be clear what you are saying "no" or "yes" too. Some organizers are way too flighty or only half pay attention.
6. Don't leave the event without getting paid. If it's cash or check, get it that weekend. If it's a money transfer, confirm it's in your bank account before you leave.
7. If you require a teaching or djing schedule by a certain time for your own sanity and preparation, ask for it.
8. Be professional and demand professionalism back.


Stories:
An event organizer told me to prepare one aerials class for their event. At a dinner one week before said event, volunteers informed me that I would be teaching a completely different class than the one I was planning for. I was ill prepared and stressed. I also asked for a dj schedule which I never received, so I never dj'ed that weekend.

One dance organizer didn't pay me at the end of a dance where I played an extra two hours. People still remember that very memorable dance. The organizer said he would pay me at the next dance. I believed him. There was never a next dance and I've never been compensated.

At another event, the organizer asked if I could help with the contest that night, so I asked several questions to understand what they were asking. Eventually, this turned into them wanting me to plan the entire contest as befitting my vision. Never let the organizer dump extra work on you that you did not explicitly say "yes" to.

Another workshop organizer who was to be my teaching partner stated that I would receive 100% of workshop proceeds after expenses. This was because I would have to invest many hours training them for this highly skilled workshop. I was paid 75%, inquired about this, and she got upset. In the end, I considered my 25% a donation to her future event.

I discovered 2 months before an event I made the DJ list. This was confirmed 3 weeks before the event and I was put in touch with the DJ coordinator. Two weeks before the event, I find out their compensation figures. Two days before the event I ask if DJs get free admittance to the dance evenings they're djing. I expected the typical "yes" and received a "no". I canceled that day because djing at a loss would devalue my valuable services. The moral: don't expect "typical" dj compensation

In the end, I am partially responsible for people not meeting my expectations. I expect similar business practices to occur in the lindy hop world as in the business world. Someone recently mentioned people taking advantage of working in our cozy scene. Just because we're cozy doesn't mean we should lean toward lackadaisical business practices which can eventually lead toward ill feelings or people getting hurt. Don't live with insanity. If you're getting the same results each time, try something new.

The Local Pig Charcuterie - Kansas City, MO

Watch out for the stop signs! Are we going the right direction? How much further? I can count on one hand how many times I've been in Kansas City's East Bottoms. Maybe once to  visit a backwater blues bar. And definitely second to visit The Local Pig Charcuterie.

I discovered this place via Haus, a sausage and beer focused restaurant that will soon open in Kansas City near Martini Corner. The Local Pig will be providing them specialty sausages. Once you're able to see their menu, you will understand my excitement.

After driving past trailer parks, we finally arrived to The Local Pig. The red brick building stands out amongst the broken down and dusty road. And the mustard colored pig will surely catch your eye. That particular color reminds me of Florence.

Immediately as I walk inside, my eye is drawn to the workers chopping, sawing, and dissecting meat. I enjoy how you see everyone working on the products. It seems old school, out in the open, unshielded.

Once you're done ogling the butchering, slide over to the meat counter. They have multiple sausages, lardo cured for 30 days, flavored bacon (today: cardomom), guanciale, and much much more.

Zoom in on this picture for the full menu. It does change based on certain items availability. If you're hoping for something that might rotate, be sure to call beforehand. I find everything reasonably priced considering that it's locally produced and they demonstrate great care and enthusiasm for their products.

Here is my box of meat goodies. Notice their great logo. If you visit, check out their scratch 'n sniff stickers too. They also have a great paperless system for checking out using Square on an iPad. I'll try to have food pictures later.

A building preview of Haus.

The Local Pig

816.200.1639

2618 Guinotte Ave
Kansas City, MO

Madame Sousou - Food and Economics

"Updates!", requests a friend. His mild whinging started a snowball effect, truly tumbling larger once I chatted with an Australia friend about her superb Melbourne dining experiences. So here I was Friday night at Madama Sousou, a French restaurant, on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy.

From the moment I perused the menu, my internal economic fusspot kicked in. Salads - low teens, a la carte/small entrees - mid to high teens, specials and main courses - mid thirties. I was forewarned fortunately and was prepared mentally and financially. If you've been a stingy bastard for 7 weeks, it's hard to release the tightly held cash.

I ran from Brunswick and Gertrude up to Bell Street. Well, I didn't run all the way. There was foot traffic and unexpectedly my flat mates seated outside a pub. Yes, I'm in a hurry. No, it's not a date. On we go. If you're running my direction and don't know where Bell Street, squint your eyes to see Madama Sousou's sign typography.

The restaurant's interior is welcoming and softly lit. Wooden tables and chairs are arranged for couples to larger parties, lighting is medium, our table candle unlit. The bar dominates the left side. If you peer past the bar and above, be sure to notice the wine bottles. Oh, and I hope you're flexible enough to squeeze through the bathroom doors if the need arises.

I started with the Gruyere Scallop Souffle with Jerusalem artichoke veloute, scallops, hazelnut($19 AUD) and a Cynar apertif ($8 AUD). My companions shared the Petite Friture A L'aioli with crispy fried calamari, school prawns, and whitebait with paprika, orange, frize, and aioli.. The scallops were a recipient of the gruyere and did not impart noticeable character to the dish. The souffle was of fine density and delectability. My lone taste of the seafood dish was satisfactory. I hesitantly sampled the calamari. It's typical seafood taste was masked by the oil and chili flavoring, a bonus for my taste buds. The only complaint? My dining companions questioning where the whitebait was.

Next were the mains courses. I had eaten beforehand due to poor planning. Thankfully, my companions allowed me nibbles from their plates. Tonight's dining adventure featured duck with mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts and their special of snapper with saffron and vanilla sauce.

 First, we have the snapper. My curiosity was piqued due to an immediate exclamation "it tastes like cake!" No fish I've ever sampled tastes like cake. I was intrigued. The fish's spices were first present, but the saffron and vanilla sauce carried it into the cake realm. A bit too sweet for my dining preferences.

Next we came to the duck. If I recall correctly, the ordering dining companion was more excited for the brussel sprouts. Yes, the brussel sprouts. The much maligned root vegetable. I cannot attest that it equaled her excitement, but they did disappear rapidly. The duck was amazingly savory and left me wanting more.

We were finished. Dessert could wait another day, especially at $15 prices.

Berlin Blues Explosion 2011

Berlin Blues Explosion 2011 was the bomb! The event was well-organized, provided comfortable housing, fed the instructors well, and had great overall energy. This blog will highlight this event, how I came to be there, and show some pictures.

My arrival to BBE started with An Duc Dang. He contacted me via Facebook after attending Falling in Blues in Grenoble, France. He wanted more blues, especially in Berlin, and Joe and Nelle told him of their friend living and teaching in Portugal. He contacted me, mentioned he's been watching my youtube channel, and put me in touch with Claudia, the BBE organizer. Unfortunately we weren't able to get me to Berlin last spring because they had workshops with Chris and Campbell (May) and the Ninjammerz (June). However, if Berlin Blues Explosion tickets sold out, they might be interested in hiring me.

"Our goal is to organize a Blues dancing event of high quality in terms of teaching and socials to help Blues dancing get a good reputation in Europe. The Blues bug is just starting to spread here, so we are very careful in choosing what we are offering to our participants. We see it as kind of a mission." I submitted youtube videos (teaching, performances and competition), my blues dance history, categorized my dance style, submitted potential class topics, and crossed my fingers. BBE sold out (again!) and I was hired to teach with Louise Tangerman from Basel, Switzerland.

FAQs
Q. When did you and Louise meet?
A. Monday, September 26
Q. How long have you and Louise been dancing together?
A. Since Tuesday, September 27
Q. When did you start teaching together?
A. Saturday of BBE
Q. Did the above pictured black olive ice cream taste good?
A. No. It was a bit too salty and sweet with a distinct olive taste. Save your olives for cheese pairings.

It's a bit crazy to think that my first blues-only event as a staff instructor was international and with a follow I never met before. Once online introductions were made, we started emailing back and forth. There was even one Skype conversation that took place while I was living in Boulder, Colorado and she was at a film festival. I was given youtube videos of her dancing with Chris Härm, so I studied them and thought of potential class ideas. We brainstormed via email and came up with 9-10 class titles and descriptions reflecting our individual strengths which could hopefully materialize as partnership strengths. We at least demonstrated we were prompt and timely since we were the first to submit class titles and descriptions for our 6 BBE workshops.

Louise and I brainstormed further once I arrived to Basel and started training. We bolstered our written ideas with patterns, movement exercises, connection drills, and dance philosophies. It was mentally exhausting but rewarding. Day 1 in Berlin brought sightseeing and more training and finalizing class material details. Day 1 also had a pre-party swing and blues dance at the Franz Club. The dj'ed "swing" music wasn't swinging enough for me and hard to get into, but my dancing settled more once the blues hour hit.

This is one reason I appreciate Claudia. She appreciates food and introduced me and others to the Berlin brunch at Anna Blume. It was also a way to celebrate her birthday before the event's craziness really started. The second reason I appreciate her is for her organization and communication. Chris Härm was also a co-organizer, but most of my communications went through Claudia.

Friday evening started with a Meet & Greet at The Dubliner. Us DJs had a meeting outside with Joe Buckett and Chris Härm where we were shown our schedules. Expectations were also communicated- no jazz, no Norah Jones, no Michael Buble. Keep the energy flowing between 90-110bpm during the main hours, play with it a bit more into the later hours. The life of a DJ is easy when expectations are known, schedules given, and you meet the other DJs and know you can trust the coordinator. Joe also gave me a good schedule. I kicked off Sunday evening after the blues discussion panel and I dj'ed Monday from 1:30h-3:00h. Both times I was in the main rooms, so I could still interact with dancers, dance if I chose to (I didn't), and have a lot of dancers to dj for.

Claudia also had the powerhouse team of Fiona and Marco (Lucy pictured instead) working with her. They were great at making sure we did not stand in line, whether for food or dance entrance, collecting our judges' clipboards and compiling finalists and overall placements, answering our questions, taking pictures while I planked, and did not mind when I was mesmerized by candle flame. Fiona thinks I ought to get out more. I'm not sure why.

In contrast, I worked two events this summer with very chaotic leadership. Because there was a loose vision or none at all, support staff's helpfulness was minimized or nullified. I stepped up as Head DJ at one, compiling a list minute DJ schedule, adjusting for random contest decisions, DJing when I wasn't supposed to, and even set up lights. At the other, well, each year Chaos in Motion brings something new to frustrate me with and this year I didn't pick up the pieces.

After a fun meet and greet party, everyone went to the Haus der Sinne for dancing. While everyone was dancing, the teachers had a meeting downstairs with Claudia and Chris. I found out the teacher jam would be Sunday and relatively low-key (yes!). The teachers had their info packets with schedules, maps, meal stipends, food tickets for workshop day lunches, and our own Unobtainium pass.

Saturday started the three day workshop series. Louise and I taught one Halfway Hero 2 class and two Halfway Hero 1 classes. Did you catch all the numbers? They had so many intermediate level students sign up, they had to split that level in two. Our teaching topics included creating and taking space within the dance, listening to your partner, waiting (spilling over the edges), single axis turns, off-axis movement and more. It was fun for us and I think we had nice rapport.

Gaston is rolling up his sleeves as he and all of us instructors prepared for an immense judging night. We had Jack and Jill prelims and finals, Battle of the Beast prelims and finals, Solo Blues, and Showcase. The upstairs judges meeting was pretty straightforward. As discussed previously, we were responsible for our personal judging criteria. Also, our names would be listed on the scoresheets so competitors could ask us questions later. I thought our judging sheets might also be published so I made sure I had legible penmanship. According to Fiona, my notes were not publishable. Hmmmm.... Wouldn't you like to know why?

The competitions started late, but with Shell's awesome competition djing, Chris' flowing emcee patter, our judging, and Fiona and Marco's scoresheet handling, we managed to catch up to the competition schedule. The fact we caught up to BBE's intense, but detailed Saturday schedule, is another testimony to this event's organization. The rest of the evening featured great live music, huge boxes of pizza, and great dancing.

Here are some random thoughts regarding Saturday. Insisting on wearing a suit for the time period you're judging is foolish. So is not going to the bathroom (another judge). The competitions intermingled with dancing lasted 4-5 hours. The venue's bright lights burned hot only adding to my sweatiness. They were kept dimmer during the social dancing fortunately. Dear solo dance competitors: I can't really see you when you're in my face. It's like sitting in the front row of a movie theater. I can't capture the full movement or the story. Crowd interaction is certainly part of the fun, but I tend to look at what's 1 meter in front of me rather than 1 centimeter. Perhaps us judges should head to the stage next time. At least I think that would promote better communication between us and MC Chris since we delayed that competition's flow.

Sunday featured some of my favorite classes: Ready, Set, Flow (Blues Baby), It's Madness! (Salty Vets), and Spirit Moves (Halfway Hero 2). We refined the beginners movement, taught them some ochos, and got them making sad faces with their butts. The Madness advanced class started with creative exercise drills and we ended up having a blues train. That was certainly unique. They asked great questions and had more cameras per capita. And finally, we got people dragging, sinking weight into the floor, played Kung Fu Fighting (briefly) for the Crane Kick move, and did some cool redirection turns.

Sunday evening also featured a blues panel with Lucky and Brenda that Louise organized. I napped for half of it thereby missing Lucky's portion. Brenda's portion about the music and dancing was quite interesting. However, I was half paying attention, half preparing my set list. Once I was done djing I settled into dancing. Competition results were posted that evening, so I was busy answering questions too. But back to more dancing! It was a crazy night and I actually closed that dance down. At one point I had a line of follows at the stage. Leaders! You need to step up!

Note: don't touch the walls in the downstairs dance room. They are wet and disgusting. Next time people see me, please ask me about the fox of 1912 and a half and its variation. Oh! And Israeli follows are demanding. I mean that in the kindest of ways.

Life started slowing down Monday. I caught up on The Office and How I Met Your Mother while preparing for a late night dj slot. Monday was filled with solo classes and alternatives such as Argentine Tango and Burlesque (no boys allowed). Claudia took us out to White Trash after that. We had a great time socializing, eating, and drinking in that eclectic environment.

Monday night was BBE's final night. People were on dance missions. The DJ booth was provided a bit of a relief. From what Fiona was saying, Chris could have used some DJ booth time to breathe and refuel. There was talk that this dance might go until 8am. We were pumping out the blues and Franz Club was pumping out the electronica vibe. Eventually, one of the blues room closed down and we were all dancing in the main room after a special burlesque class performance taught and led by Melanie Bruyer. The dance closed at 5am and people were left saying goodbyes, planking, imitating Dirty Dance moves, and wanting more dancing.

Gaston makes a great Jennifer Grey and I a great Patrick Swayze. The dancers sang and it was like a magical movie moment.

 Dear dancers: If I'm DJing, please realize that when you ask me to dance, I might say no. I don't have a playlist set for my entire time slot. I often don't know what I'm playing after the current song. Imagine that I'm playing off CDs instead of a laptop. I'm watching the crowd, finding appropriate songs to come after one and seamlessly flow into another 2 songs away. I want you to have a good time so please don't feel that I'm neglecting you as a dancers because I'm making up for it as a DJ.

With all that leftover dancer energy, we went over to our host's flat for more dancing. Chris fell asleep up top, I fell asleep sitting upright, and Joe practiced his sexy moves on the balcony. I went to bed at 7:30am.

They meant to ask me what I thought of Berlin Blues Explosion overall, but I was busy planking. They asked Joe instead.

He gave it a rousing two thumbs up and so do I. It was my best blues event yet. Apologies to STLBX, Emerald City Blues Fest, and Mile High Blues. And it was my best teaching event also. There were close second places (Southern Fried Swing). There was great communication between me, Chris, Claudia and Louise. Louise and I hit it off well. I'm happy to consider her a dance partner. I thought we taught well, had a nice order and flow, and played off each other well both on the teaching and dance floor. Chris had a great vision and Claudia and crew made it happen. The venues were excellent and diverse. The workshop daytime meals were stellar. Berlin's international food scene was awesome (more on that later). BBE purchased my flights early and Claudia even printed my Berlin to Lisbon path. When I arrived to my host's house, Claudia had already prepared Louise's bed and my mattresses with chocolate and a note.

The competitors brought it and I thought the crowd responded well. There were 264 attendees, 111 from Germany, 15 from the US, 4 from Israel and many more. The live music was great and kept the energy flowing. The teachers brought it during the teacher jam and a snowball jam ensued.

Most importantly, I never felt panicked, rushed, or doubtful. If I had questions, I could ask Claudia, Chris, Marco, or Fiona. When I wasn't looking for them, they would check on me. There was a sound guy that made sure all the rooms were set up for the teachers, djs and bands. If this event represents European Blues, I strongly believe Europe is in good hands.

Thank you Berlin Blues Explosion for a wonderful time. Thank you everyone for all the wonderful dances. I hope to return.