Quandary With a Capital Q
I love Capital Q. Love it. I love it to pieces. It is one of my favorite places to eat in the area. I would put it up against my favorite BBQ places all over the country. It is a central part of the Albany food tour. If you have yet to eat there, I pity you for all those missed meals that you will never be able to recover.
And I am not one to gush.
This place is serious. The pit master behind the operation reportedly grew up in Okalahoma. But the barbecue he serves is a tour of classics from the appropriate regions. There is Carolina pulled pork, both northern and southern. He makes a mean Texas style brisket. The ribs are in the spirit of Memphis. But if you like he will sauce the ribs and pork in a sweet okie sauce that presumably brings him back to his roots. I actually hate the okie sauce, but I do understand there are people who like their food sweet. Blech.
In the true spirit of barbecue there are no plates, because really this is more of a joint than a restaurant. Yes, there may be a few good barbecue restaurants, places where you sit down at a table and have food served to you. However, I tend to eye most of those places with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Capital Q has six stools along a counter in front of a window overlooking the street. And if the weather is nice there are a couple of picnic tables on the sidewalk. This has never been a problem for me, because getting one of their pulled pork sandwiches with a side of meat is something that I like to enjoy all by myself. It allows me to focus my full attention on the food, and not get distracted by idle chitchat with a friend.
“Did you say side of meat?”
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The Wine That You Eat
This is not a post about wine. And no, it is not about Wine Gums either. It is about cooking. Wine just so happens to be involved.
Even if you are not a big wine drinker, occasionally a recipe you want to make calls for using wine. Usually the recipe will only specify the color and the sweetness of the wine you should use (e.g. semi-dry white, a dry red, etc.) and then leave you to your own devices.
There are a few basic tenets about cooking with wine at home. Maybe you know them all, but even still, it is best to read on just to make sure.
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Foot Long Fish
Almost every town has its local specialties. When I first moved to Albany I knew that I wouldn’t necessarily be able to find the things I loved on the West Coast. But in my heart of hearts I knew there would be delicious things unique to the area.
I had a few strategies. The Best of Metroland section proved completely useless. But I did tap into Yelp, and there were a few Albany pioneers who were particularly invaluable – Megan W., Ryan H., Cynthia C., Lai-Yee Y., Jess X. and Ian W.
Plus I had another strategy as well. Look for full parking lots at old dilapidated restaurants that had stood the test of time. This was how I found Ralph’s. And Ralph’s was unique for me. There was nothing quite like it in the Bay Area. It is a great example of the Italian-American taverns that seem to be a fixture in the northeast.
But still, it is not unique to the area.
It did not take long before I noticed the fantastic neon sign on Central Avenue, one of Albany’s main arterials. In some ways it was reminiscent of the In-N-Out burger sign with the giant arrow of joy pointing you in the direction of good eats. But this sign read, Bob & Ron’s Fish Fry.
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Why Wine?
The profussor has a question for all of you. This would be another great time, if you are a reader and have yet to comment, to speak up and let your presence be known.
When you eat dinner, either at home or at a restaurant, what do you have to drink? And what goes into that decision?
I am curious. Is it wine, water, juice, beer, milk, soda, cocktails, seltzer, tea, coffee, spirits, or perhaps you don’t drink anything? Do different beverages fill the bill at different times or with certain foods?
Since I am asking, it’s only fair that I give you a peek into life at the casa del fussy.
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It doesn’t feel like so long ago that I compared two Italian restaurants, one in Albany, New York and one just over the Berkeley border in California.
The argument was that the Oliveto menu was a serious menu for a serious restaurant. And I stand by that.
Taking another look at the menu, I realized there was something else to talk about. How does one deal with esoterica that may fall outside of one’s comfort zone? Yes, it is marvelous that Oliveto’s menu is challenging. But what if you didn’t study up on Italian cuisine before sitting down for dinner?
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Build A Bar
There are two schools of thought when it comes to building your home bar. And I have spent time at each of those schools. So I thought I would share my thoughts.
I expect Raf to be the first to chime in on this subject, since currently he sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from me. But I can’t blame him, I’ve been there, and its draw is very powerful.
One school is to slowly build a home bar so that you have everything. You become a collector of sorts. Sure, it can be modified to select for only the libations and spirits that you and your friends are likely to consume. No need to stock cream liqueurs if all your friends are lactose intolerant.
The other school is to limit yourself to a few bottles at a time. Your bar is a reflection of the handful of cocktails you enjoy and would like to share with your friends. It is the culmination of your lifetime of experiences, and your well-entrenched preferences. Sure you may try something new, but that’s the reason God invented bartenders.
There are a few problems with trying to build a full bar at home.
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Take the Donuts, Leave the Cannoli
A few commentators recently made statements along similar lines.
Appauled said:
“You’ll probably always leave your heart in the Bay Area.”
“The other thing is that we sometimes, when relocating, tend to see the flaws and the shortcomings in our new place.”
Mr. Dave said:
“You are going to need to stop expecting culinary sophistication and start enjoying our post industrial, New England-esque, culinary stubbornness as bleak as it may be.”
And it made me realize something important. In my drive to improve the standards of food around the Albany area, I may have been using too much stick and not enough carrot.
Before I get to today’s post, I would like to briefly address the above comments.* Leaving one’s heart away from one’s body is never a path to happiness. I look back fondly on my time in the Bay Area and am grateful for the experience. But now I hope to take what I learned while I was there and bore all of you with it. You who continue to read this infernal thing. And hopefully you will then impose it upon others.
It may not be so clearly apparent, but I am keeping an open mind about the area. And I think I am doing a pretty good job. There are certainly things out here that I enjoy, and that I have mentioned on this site. Three things come readily to mind: diners, the Vodka Farm, and the Honest Weight Food Co-op “Food for Thought” film series.
So taking some guidance from Mr. Dave (who appears to be back from his sabbatical), let me tell you about something else I love to eat around these parts that has nothing to do with culinary sophistication: Donuts.
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Reader Requested Recipe #1
In most of the country it is summertime. And that means hot. And that usually means things like summer foods.
Cooling glasses of lemonade or something similar.
Grilling outside to keep heat out of the kitchen.
Salad, if you are into that sort of thing.
So on one level I am disinclined to share this recipe now. On the other hand, a reader, who is also a surfer and spends her early mornings in the frigid waters off the coast of Southern California, has requested it. (Yes, I know it may not be cold to some, but I grew up in Miami; if it’s not bathwater, it’s cold.)
And if you do happen to live in one of those warmer climates, perhaps you have air conditioning, or maybe it’s not too warm in the morning to make this most delicious breakfast treat.
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Hunting Vegetarians
Well that was unexpected. I was a bit nonplussed to find the monthly “Food for Thought” screening was a documentary about a Bay Area vegetarian who moves to Alaska. I imagined a whiney piece about how difficult it is to eat low on the food chain in the tundra. And I said to myself, “What on Earth did she expect?”
My preconceptions could not have been further from the truth. In the film this lifelong vegetarian is beheading live shrimp, skinning mammals, and shopping for guns. She even smacks down a group of Alaskan vegans for promoting an unsustainable lifestyle.
I am not so sure how this went over with many of the vegetarians in attendance at this screening cosponsored by the Honest Weight Foods Co-op. I suspect many of them had the same misconception of the film, although much to their credit, I didn’t see anyone walk out.
One of the topics discussed, which you should know all about as regular readers of the FLB, was the danger of farmed salmon to the wild salmon fishery.
But the overall thrust of the documentary is that eating locally is a more ethical solution than eating meatless. Especially when that meat lives in the wild and is dispatched with care.
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