John is a beer aficionado.  He drinks a lot of beer, goes to beer tastings and reads about beer.  Which is why I wasn’t surprised when he told me that he was expecting a shipment of the world’s rarest & best beer for a private beer tasting.

Trappist Westvleteren 12

The Trappist Westvleteren 12 is regarded by many as “The Holy Grail of Beers”, as it is not only just about impossible to buy, but also  is considered the best beer in the world.  The beer is brewed by Trappist monks, and is one of only seven Trappist beers in existence. Six of those Trappist brews are widely available, Westvleteren being the rarest. The beer is so rare, that it is only available for (legal) sale in Belgium, at two places: the abbey where it’s brewed or at the cafe across the street, which the abbey owns.   John bought this beer from a third party who bought it at the monastery.   Later on, as I read about the beer—I found out that you’re not supposed to resell this stuff.  Oh well……

The Evening's Tastings

They had 3 other beers at the tasting, besides the ‘piece de resistance’—–one was a Baltika #9 Extra Lager from Russia,  a Delirium Tremens which is a strong, pale ale from Belgium & a Westvleteren #8.

Ready to Taste

They tried the Baltika first planning to work their way from worst to best.  Or cheapest to most expensive.  Since I was the photographer, I got to taste each one they opened.

I thought the Baltika was just OK.  Very strong at 8% alcohol (remember typical American style beers –think Coors—are about 4 %)  with almost a kick to it like Russian vodka.  Corn, malt, yeasty flavors along with a sweetness that was off-putting.  At least to me.

Baltika #9 Extra Lager

After the Russian lager, which they finished I have to add, they went for the first Trappist beer.

The Westvleteren #8 .

Westvleteren #8

When I got to taste it—I could see what all the fuss was about.  Lots of malt, a beautiful walnut color and just a hint to brown sugar sweetness.  Wow,  this would be a beer to sip slowly, not chug.  Really good.  And another one at 8% alcohol….but so different in taste from the Russian beer.

The Main Event

The evening’s grand finale was the Westvleteren #12.  The Delirium Tremens was not even opened because by this time they had so much alcohol in their systems—downing 1 more beer before the best of the evening would have been a waste for the #12.

This was a dark, creamy beer.  Some call it the ‘Holy Grail’ of all beers.  I don’t know because I’ve tasted comparatively few—but, I do know #12 was my favorite.  Tasted very smooth, fruit packed, I had a hard time giving the goblet back to it’s owner.  I wish I could have had it all.  I can see why this beer has attained it’s cult status and the alcoholic kick from a 10.2 % ABV was really not that apparent.

#12

#12

The color is beautiful.  This was a eye-opening, palate expending beer tasting that probably, due to the high cost (I think they split the $150 cost)—won’t be repeated soon by this trio of beer lovers.

But the memory of that #12 lingers……………..

skål!

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria is a Brooklyn, NY based restaurant chain that makes coal fired oven pizzas with water as chemically close to New York city water as possible.  To give it that authentic ‘New York’ taste, I guess.  So far, in Las Vegas, the best pizza, to me, is Settebello near the Green Valley Ranch casino and hotel.  But I was looking forward to Grimaldi’s because it was a lot closer to my house.

They had tables set up on the front outside patio but since it was 105 degrees outside we went in.  Inside,  the bar was to the left with a counter for eating and tables covered with the traditional red & white Italian checks lining up to the right and in back.

No happy hour prices on Sunday but the beer looked pretty good.  I got a Blue Moon Seasonal Draft and John a Tenaya Creek Pale Ale ($5.00 each).  My Seasonal was dry and crisp, but with a sweet finish and John’s Tenaya Creek was spicy and citrus-y with a rich malty mouth feel.

Beers in hand we ordered two salads to share,  a small Mediterranean salad ($7.00) which turned out to be large enough for two and really pretty good.  Lightly dressed with vinaigrette over crisp Romaine, Kalamata olives, Feta Cheese, cucumbers, red onion and tomatoes.  Everything very fresh.

Mediterranean Salad

Then we ordered a  Grimaldi’s House Salad (small for $5.00) which was big enough for two and came with the above mentioned Romaine, onion, tomato and roasted red pepper, mushrooms plus green olives in a vinaigrette.

Grimaldi's House Salad

This one was also very good, fresh and crisp.

I wanted a plain personal pizza ($9.00) to see how just the crust, cheese and sauce would taste. Very tasty, simple enough so the flavors shone and I appreciated the crispy crust.  Even this small pizza was more than I could finish so I ended up taking most of it home.

Plain 'Personal' Pizza

John and Vic wanted meat.  Namely the large with pepperoni and sausage ($16.00).   Even though they ate a lot more of it than I ate of mine, they couldn’t finish it.   They said it was pretty good and liked the crust.

Sausage/Pepperoni

The total bill (including iced tea for $2.50) came to $57.83.   And we took home enough pizza for another meal.  So the value was there.

I guess my only gripe was, although, everything was good—it wasn’t that over-the-top greatness of Settebello’s Pizza.  Where I thought everything was absolutely delicious.  Good, but not great.  But, since it’s so close, I’ll definitely re-visit to try it again.

Meanwhile, my pizza craving is satisfied.

A Birthday Bundt Cake

One of our church’s community groups meets at our house every couple of weeks.  People gather, we discuss the morning’s sermon for an hour and then have food, drink and talk together.  It’s a lot of fun and a way for us to get to know each other better.

Waiting for Party Time

Mary is a member of our group and I heard that she was turning 30 so we decided to celebrate!  Pam brought over a Nothing Bundt Cakes, Bundt Cake and I decided to serve Champagne Cocktails with the cake as a festive way to say, ‘Happy Birthday’.

I had infused some vodka with ripe strawberries and left the infusion in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.  The vodka had a beautiful deep pink color and fresh strawberry aroma.   The taste was pure summer.  I decided to rim the champagne flutes in the vodka and some sugar.It was easy to dip the edge of the flute in the infused vodka and then into the sugar.

Rolling in Sugar

Sugar Encrusted Flute

This is what the glasses ended up looking like and then I left them out on the counter for several hours to dry.  I do this so the coating doesn’t fall off the rim as soon as someone takes a sip.  This coating, after drying, will last through several refills.  Of course, that’s supposing the drinker doesn’t lick the coating off first!

The Finished Flute

This was supposed to be a surprise for Mary, so we set out food and drinks as we normally would:

The cocktail itself was easy, I just used the same strawberry infused vodka to make the drink by pouring about 3/4 oz. of the vodka in the bottom of a flute, topping it with Champagne and garnishing the rim with a strawberry.  Here’s our Birthday girl with the cocktail in one hand and the beer she was drinking in the other.

Mary Celebrates

Some Party…….huh?

I’ve been reading about this place ever since I moved to Las Vegas.  And periodically would make a mental note to visit.  It got good reviews and  is the only raw foods restaurant probably in the entire state.  But, never did go—-.

Then a Groupon coupon appeared in my email for Go Raw Cafe and I bought it.  This was the impetus I needed and Friday night we drove over and pulled up in front of the restaurant.

Outside Dining at Go Raw

It’s located in the Lakes and one of them is right outside the restaurant so it’s a pretty location.  Plus I saw some tables which would be great for outdoor dining when it gets a little cooler here.

60's Vibe

Walking into Go Raw is like taking a trip back in time to the 60′s.   Peace, Love and  Kum ba Yah.  But it’s for real here.  They mean it and you do feel peaceful, happy and relaxed after spending some time inside.

It’s a pretty large menu and it’s all live, vegan and organic.  Starters, Salads, Soups, Entrees Sushi, Wraps, Pizza and Smoothies, Shots and Desserts.  No flour, no sugar, no salt, no fryer…..everything advertised as living and healthy for you.

I really wasn’t sure how this could be that tasty.  No cocktails?  No wine or beer?

Part of the Large House Salad

Our waitress urged us to order the Go Raw House Salad because she said everyone loves it.  And she said the full order would be too much, that we should split a half order. ($7.88).  She was right.  Everybody loves it for a reason—it was delicious.  And big.  We tried but we couldn’t finish it.  Just a super fresh mix of greens, cucumbers, shredded carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, sprouts, avocados, onion, nuts & seeds.  With the house dressing.  This was so good.

Enchiladas, Half Portion

Vic wanted the ‘Enchiladas’— again, a half portion ($8.88), which were enchiladas filled with a ‘cheese’, salsa and guacamole and served with ‘sour dream’, yam rice, ‘beans’ and flax crackers for crunch.  He said it was really great.

Mexi-Wrap

I had the Mexi Wrap (half portion $6.88) which was a mixture of nuts, seeds, herbs and spices filling collard green wraps.  Topped with salsa and guacamole and served with flax chips.  Unusual, different and very good.

Blueberry Cheesecake??

We were both full but I had to see what desserts would be like so I ordered a blueberry cheesecake ($6.48).  How could this, with no dairy or sugar, possibly taste good.  When the waitress brought it, I was surprised.  It looked like something I’d buy at the 7-11 in the frozen dessert case.  Well, maybe at the vegan 7-11.

Cheesecake Side View

Then we ate some….wow…delicious.  Creamy, sweet, berry flavors with a crust of coconut, seeds and nuts that was also so tasty.  We quickly finished it up.

So not only is this food excellent—but you leave feeling virtuous and healthy.  Kind of ‘at one’ with the Cosmos.

We hadn’t seen Mark & Sharon for about a year, which is a poor excuse since they also live in Las Vegas (on the far east side of town), so, when we invited them for dinner Saturday night, I wanted to pull out all the stops and make our evening as special as I could.  Mark is a newspaperman, working for the Las Vegas Review Journal and Sharon is a syndicated columnist and are both the kind of people that anyone would be happy to spend the evening with.

I’ve mentioned the cookbook, “Two Dudes, One Pan” before, and said that everything those boys make is delicious.  So, when I knew I wanted to make Short Ribs I looked it up in their book.  Slow cooking main courses are really better if you make them in advance and just let them sit and mellow in the refrigerator for a few days.  Which makes them perfect for a dinner party.  After the ribs were browned and the chopped veggies were browned in the same pan but one at a time; then everything was combined with spices and a bottle of dark beer to cook slowly in the oven.

Ready to Braise

Here’s the menu:

Puff Pastry with Gruyere & Prosciutto -appetizer

Crab Salad – First Course

Short Ribs of Beef, Pain d’Epi and Butter, Grilled Asparagus – Main Course

Fresh Strawberry Tart

Our Cocktail was a Cherry Sidecar and Mark & Sharon brought two wines over to have with dinner.  The white was a Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2009 and the red a 2003 Shingleback Shiraz.  We had the white with our first course and the red with the short ribs.

The Sidecars were so good.  Cherry infused simple syrup combined with cherry infused brandy combined with fresh lime juice.  Shaken with ice and strained into a martini glass.  Garnished with a fresh cherry and a slice  of lime.  Not too sweet, not overly strong…fresh cherry flavor with a note of lime.  Wonderful.

With our Sidecars we had the appetizer course.  Puff pastry spread with a little Dijon mustard, then layered with proscuitto and grated Gueyere cheese and baked.  Cheesy, salty and crisp–we finished every piece while we drank the cocktails.

Gruyère Puffs Baking

Gruyère & Prosciutto Pinwheels

The Crab Salad was simply lump crab meat combined with chili sauce, mayonnaise, fresh chives, s & p and lemon juice.   Again, simple but oh, so good.

Crab Salad with Avocado

The Sauvignon Blanc had citrus-y (grapefruit to me) melon flavors and was acidic enough to cut through the creaminess of the Crab Salad.  At about $20 a bottle, this was a great match.

For the main course, of course, the Short Ribs.  Rich and meaty with a sweet undertone from the Star Anise used in the braising liquid.  Everyone absolutely loved this.  The meat was so tender it literally fell of the bone.The Shingleback that we served with it was a strong, fruity, smoky wine.  Plenty of heft to stand up to the strong flavors of the meat.  Priced around $20 a bottle.

I accompanied this with asparagus that I tossed with olive oil, s & p and grilled.

Grilled Asparagus

Pain d'Epi

For a starch we had Pain d’Epi which was perfect with the sauce of the short ribs.

Main Course

Dessert was a Strawberry Tart and most of the components of the tart were made in advance.  I made and baked the tart crust 3 days before and just let it sit in the lower oven.  The strawberry glaze was also made 3 days before and refrigerated. To make the glaze:  I cooked strawberries and sugar together with a little cornstarch and lemon juice.  When it got thick, I strained it and let it cool.  That’s it.

The pastry cream was also made a couple of days ahead—just milk, egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar and vanilla.  Cook until thick:

Pastry Cream

Strain and let cool.  Then refrigerate.  On the day of the dinner, just smooth the pastry cream into the tart shell, decorate the top with freshly sliced strawberries and thickly glaze.

Strawberry Tart

Strawberry Tart was the perfect ending to a perfect evening with friends.

Here’s another place that’s great for a Sunday after church lunch (or just for Sunday lunch if you don’t do church!).

Good prices on specials, great sushi and good service.

We sat in the bar instead of outside on the patio where we usually want to sit–mostly because it was 110 outside and the bar was deliciously cool.

Best reason to go?  Great limited selection drink menu prices.  I don’t know if this is just on Sunday, or if these prices are good during the week but this was wonderful.   Pair these drink prices with good sushi at reasonable prices and this is a place you’ve got to visit soon….!

Hibiscus Cocktail

Maren had hot tea, Vic had iced tea, that left me to man-up to the challenge of cocktails–and I was ready.  I ordered a Hibiscus first.  At $4.00, this cocktail was such a deal.  You can see the dried hibiscus flower floating in the bottom of the glass.  This drink was Absolut Pear vodka, St Germain liquor and sparkling wine.  It was delicious, light and refreshing with a subtle flavor and at $4.00—a real deal.

The sushi was all fresh tasting and very good.

They have a page of ‘any two items for $8.25‘ selections and that’s what Vic went for:

Sushi & Salad Plate

Maren and I both stuck, loyally, with the sushi.

My second drink was a Bloody Mary at $3.75.  They used Absolut Pepper Vodka and Siracha hot sauce combined with Zing Zang Bloody Mary mix and it tasted great (except the last 1/8 of the drink got too spicy), garnished nicely with olives, a dill pickle spear, a lime wedge and a long, fresh stalk of celery.

Prices were so good—I had to try another drink.  This one was called a Vine.  For $3.75 it combined Three Olives Grape Vodka, grape syrup, lemon-lime soda and sparkling wine.  Way too sweet—tasted like a light bodied grape soda.  Next time I order this, I’ll ask that they leave off the lemon-lime soda and see if that improves it.

The Vine cocktail

The Sushi was all fresh and delicious.  So was the salad.  Good food + Good prices = Return Visit