Stealing From Chef Dominic

Have you read the chefsday blog? I love it. I’ve never met chef Dominic in person, but I feel like I know him. For some reason or another, I never made it to The Wine Bar in Saratoga Springs to try his food there. However, I’m very encouraged about his new gig at The Merry Monk.

Well, mostly encouraged. The thing about chefs is, when they get a new gig, they kind of drop off the face of the earth. God knows when I’ll see my buddy Brian again. He took a new gig at Sperry’s, and throwing yourself into a new project like that just takes a crap ton of time.

So the down side of Dominic’s new job is that his blog hasn’t been updated for a while.

One of my favorite features on chefsday are the snippets. Instead of trying to write an entire post on one subject, Dominic just fires off a collection of short thoughts on food and other matters that interest him.

Today, it turns out that there are just a bunch of disconnected things I want to share. So, I’m going to give this snippets thing a shot.

Yesterday, I found out from the kids’ bus driver that I was in the newspaper. Apparently Chris Churchill wrote about Eggy’s food truck in Albany and mentioned yours truly. That was an unexpected. But I only found out about Eggy’s because Akum from All Over Albany did a story on the truck.

AOA is super cool.

What’s not super cool is my diet. I hate it. I want to eat ice cream. And lardo. And fried chicken. And fried hamburgers. And donuts. And not-deep-fried hamburgers. And onion rings. And butter. And soft cheeses. And chicken skin.

On the plus side, I’ve already dropped nine pounds from my high weight, and I can actually see the difference. If I do say so myself, I’m looking pretty good.

I did have a cheat day this week for a Yelp event at The Melting Pot. It was my first fondue outing in over ten years. The last time I had fondue I was viciously stabbed out of anger by the woman sitting across from me. The attack punctured the skin and drew a couple drops of blood.

Say what you will about chain restaurants, but The Melting Pot was better than I had expected. I plan to return with Mrs. Fussy.

Mrs. Fussy is gone for a few days. She’s in North Carolina. So I bought a half gallon of Stewart’s ice cream for the kiddos. It’s a prohibited substance while she’s here. The kids are loving it now. However, I’m going to make sure they finish it before she returns on Sunday afternoon. They are going to have their work cut out for them.

Speaking of Sunday, I’m hoping to make the USBG Membership Drive Party at Ama Cocina. It’s not just for bartenders, but also for cocktail enthusiasts. The event is free, but they are going to try and get you to become a member, which costs $125. I’m seriously, seriously thinking about it. I figure it can be like my gym. You know, something you join but then never actually find a way to fit into your life.

Earlier Sunday is the Jewish Food Festival, but we talked about that yesterday.

Sunday is also the Grown Up Egg Hunt in Troy. Yelp is a sponsor of that, but I can’t be in Schenectady and Troy at the same time. It’s just not possible. And because it’s going to snow on Sunday, the egg hunt has been moved into the Troy Atrium.

It’s going to snow on Sunday? That’s madness.

When it snows, I may make another batch of chicken stock so I can cool it off in the garage. When winter is truly over, the part I’m going to miss most is how the garage can act as a backup refrigerator.

Little Miss Fussy is helping me out with my beer buying problem. She’s been tracking the number of beers I keep around the house. She’s set a goal. When I get down to three beers on hand, she’s going to let me buy a lot more. But I explained to her that Founder’s KBS only comes out about once a year. She’s devastated that I might bring eight more beers into the house and undo the work of the past two weeks.

That said, I’m not standing in a line for stupid expensive beers, so it’s very possible I’ll miss out. Although I may be in the vicinity of BREW tomorrow when they go on sale at noon. But I figure they’ll be all gone before I get there.

The beer hype machine is out of control.

You know what else I’m missing on my diet? Crisan. The cafe has reopened at the Albany Museum of History and Art. They do have vegan treats, so maybe there’s hope for me yet.

Did I mention I’m down nine pounds? And that’s without even starting an exercise program, and with completing the wing tour, over indulging at Tavern Time, and eating four courses of fondue (well, three and a caesar salad).

The rest of the time, I’m totally depriving myself. Except for my daily beer. Because if I don’t drink a beer a day, there’s no way I’m going to get down to three.

Oh! Happy April Fools. I really can’t believe that Shmaltz brewery made something called Circum Session Ale. It may have started as a joke, but now it’s real. Although it may not really be my thing. And that’s fine. I still like that the brewery of my people followed me out from California to upstate New York.

Have a great weekend. Hope you didn’t put your boots in storage.