Finch & Knave, live on stage 5-14-10

ATTN: People of Atlanta:

If you've been wondering whether this Adam P. Knave cat who I keep talking about working with actually exists in three full dimensions, here's your opportunity to find out! In an exclusive, one-night-only engagement, Mr. Knave will be performing readings of his works and other verbal shenanigans on stage at Java Monkey, the independently owned café and beer bar nestled snug against the social spine of Decatur. He'll be accompanied by one Juliana Finch, who will delight the assembly via her wit and vocal works, being armed only with her vim, verve, and an acoustic guitar.

These wonders, having been Christianed "Forgive Us Our Bus Passes", will begin at 8 o'clock in the evening of Friday, the 14th of May, in this year of minor miracles, 2010! The show is free and open to the public, limited only by the local capacity laws. Come one, come all!

chocolate as only the '80s could do

Just a quick note of foreshadowing:

Occasionally my Jewish grandmother sends me things that she's had around for a while and thinks I'll dig. (I'll favor you with a picture of her fabulous vintage '60s aprons as soon as I can set up an appropriately Mad Men/Bioshock-y photoshoot.) Last week, she sent three back issues of Chocolatier magazine (which has apparently become DessertProfessional.com in the meanwhile) from 1985 and 1986.



Oh yes. 1985 & '86. You know what that means. And if you don't know what that means, allow me to demonstrate via a snapshot of a featured spread from the Autumn 1985 issue:



There's gonna be a mousse party up in here.

restaurant: Prohibition

It's Prohibition -- you've heard rumors. An underground pub. A hidden door, accessible only by entering a secret code in an inconspicuous phone booth. Inside, amidst the dark woods, rich leather, cozily low ceilings, and sepia-toned lighting, bartenders sharp in vests and ties serve cocktails to men smoking cigars at the bar and ladies lounging by the fireplace.

Okay, on East Andrews in 2009, it's schticky. The fireplace is electric, there's a flat-screen above the bar that's likely to be tuned to a basketball game, and UK-style phone booths, while not entirely exotic in the Brit-pub–loving Atlanta metro area, are not even vaguely inconspicuous. But honestly, it's no more artificial an atmosphere than any of the other bars in Buckhead or Midtown sport, and the quality of the cocktails is worth the kitsch.

Before I tell you more, full disclosure: A dear friend of mine, Darrell Autrey (seen here in full-speed-mixing mode), was hired on as one of Prohibition's bartenders, so A) I'm probably biased, and B) I went on the very first night that the place saw customers, so the staff was still gaining their pub-legs. A few things could've gone better, but the drinks were spot-on.

Among the five people in my party (which I mention as so to look less like a complete lush), we sampled their:

• Ramos Fizz, which is their take on a silver gin fizz: A light, creamy, refreshing gin & lemon juice & egg white cocktail made with an additional hit of tart raspberry liquor. Don't be afraid of the egg, or the gin. This drink has converted everyone who's tried it on both accounts.


• Fancy Tequila Cocktail: Made with Lunazul tequila and fresh-squeezed citrus juices, this, out of everything we tried, was the drink that made me grin involuntarily upon tasting. It's everything good and pure about margaritas.


• Aviation: Gin + maraschino liquor + lemon juice + crème de violette = a juicy SweetTart. Try this if you'd usually order a Cosmo.


• Dark & Stormy: They make this popular rum & ginger drink with a kick-yo-mamma-strength ginger beer, rum that adds just enough sweetness, and a squeeze of lime. It's simultaneously spicy & soothing.


• A new thing that is possibly being called a Ten-Penny Piece: Drambuie, gin, a twist of lemon, and a bit of orange peel that's briefly introduced to fire on its way to your glass. Refreshing, herbal, and slightly sweet, this drink is everything I love about the retro craft-cocktail trend: it's yummy art.


• Tom Collins, with muddled mint: The addition of mint makes this version taste even less like alcohol than usual. Like dangerous soda pop.


• Mount Zoom: Aviation gin, cream, honey, and a dusting of nutmeg, which all together taste like a bright, snowy Christmas day. (No really.)


• A Cooley Sinister Proposal: amaretto and orange peel tempered by slightly bitter Cynar (artichoke & herb liquor), forming a sweet-but-not-too-sweet nightcap of a cocktail.

The food showed promise but a less complete delivery. Three sample dishes were being passed around:

• Lamb chops on the bone over a mushroom risotto: The heaviest of the three, and the most in need of work. The lamb, while perfectly (i.e., rarely) cooked was a bit greasy, and the risotto was salty and somewhat crunchy. With slight tweaking, it'll be every bit as warm and stick-to-your-ribs as it's intended.


• Thin slices of smoked duck breast piled against a salad of arugula and roasted corn with a creamy dressing (blue cheese, I think): The lightest and most balanced dish. The smoke treatment took most of the gaminess out of the duck and left it wonderfully tender, and the salad's play of sharp, bitter greens against sweet corn and mellow dairy simply worked.


• Crisped prosciutto wrapped around melty cheese (mozzarella, maybe), plated with a yellow heirloom tomato salad: This dish was the most craveable. Though a few of the tomato slices I got were mealy, most were good and bright-flavored. Dressed casually with a sprinkle of fresh herbs and perhaps a tiny bit of vinegar, they melded with the oil from the prosciutto on the plate. And the crispy prosciutto/cheese rolls were pornographically delicious, a combination of salty, crispy, fatty, and chewy that makes for the perfect indulgent drankin' snack.

They have an extensive cigar list that I can't speak to because I don't smoke -- if anyone who's been has any comments about it, let us (my readers & I, not the royal we) know!

The atmosphere was thematic and cozy, mostly. The music was jazzy and at that elusive audible-but-nonintrusive volume. The lighting was moody but not too dim to read the wood-bound, clear & cleverly written menus. The chairs at the bar were wide and comfortable, if a little low-sitting. My only gripe concerns that flat-screen TV over the bar -- it's distracting and (I am seriously saying this about a pub) anachronistic at best, and tacky at worst. I understand that sports are important to people, but it injures my delicate aesthetic sensibilities to see a classily-over-the-top theme smashed by such a direct reminder that it's all just play-pretend.

Overall, Prohibition isn't a place I'm going to call home -- like most of Buckhead, it's a wee bit outside of my nerd/hipster comfort zone and price range, and I'm sorta-definitely That Guy Lady about smoking in bars. (I'll put up with it occasionally, but I don't like it. Cigars are at least atmospheric, to a certain extent and in a themed place like Prohibition, but I can't abide that kind of pollution on a frequent basis, especially if I'm trying to treat my palate.) But for the kitsch factor, the cocktails, and to check out the evolution of the menu, I'll certainly be visiting again.

If you want in, I'd keep an eye on their website and Facebook page (dudes, I know). Or drop me a note, and I'll see what I can do.

an announcement that smells faintly of salsa

Yes, the rumors are true! Come January 2009, you will have access to the best full-page, M-W-F-updated, black&white-inked webcomic about foodmagic THAT EVER HAS BEEN CREATED.

You have questions. Don't worry, that's perfectly normal.


What's all this about, now?
An ongoing webcomic called Burrito Blade, to debut in January! Each update will be a full page of black-and-white comic book, and will appear at BurritoBlade.com every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

And who’s responsible for this?
Adam P. Knave writes it. Renato Pastor draws it. I poke it with editsticks. D.J. Kirkbride is our spiritual guide and/or inspiration-imp.

But what is it about?
The Legend of the Burrito Blade is an epic fantasy story set in modern-day New York. It's a story about how mythology affects us and how we effect mythology. It's also a story about how we choose sides and what those sides mean. And, you know, it has food-based weaponry and silliness and action and humor and everything else you might fear expect from the likes of us.

How long will the whole story be?
We are people who enjoy getting ahead of ourselves, so right now we're planning for the story to be somewhere between 500 and 600 pages of comic. I believe I mentioned epic? It'll be broken up into ~30-page chapters, which will ultimately be broken up into 3 volumes, for ease of consumption.

How regularly will new comics be posted?
The majority of the time it'll be updated M-W-F, like clockwork, sirs. The plan is to take a week off between chapters (maybe 3-4 times a year) and two weeks off between volumes (once every ~16 months), during which we'll be posting sketches and original fiction and such instead of new pages.

Dare I ask how this idea came about?
Dare on, my copatriot! See, Adam was joking around with D.J., like they often do, and he decided that since D.J. likes burritos and is a ninja that he should have the Burrito Blade. The goofiness grew into an idea in which Adam saw some odd spark of potential, and he decided to use this unsuspecting idea to tell this huge story. Then he asked me to join him, because I edited this similarly wacky book for him and it worked out pretty well. Then Brian Cronin over at Comics Should Be Good offered to run an ad for an artist because he is a great guy. Renato was one of the people who applied, and Adam knew instantly that a deep friendship was written in the stars. They seriously just get along. And thus a team was born. A team!

Does this team have a name?
It does, thanks for asking! We have decided to form AWESOMANCY STUDIOS as an umbrella for our work. We are, by name, AWESOMANCERS. This is Awesomancy Studios’ first project, it will very much not be the last. We all also enjoy doing other jobs, so you shouldn't be shocked if our team grows and changes roles as time marches on (like it does).

Is it true one of the characters is named after Kirkbride?
Yup! D’Jay (who might be the big bad, but you never can quite tell), is named directly after D.J. Kirkbride. (We hate apostrophes in fantasy names too, but you try coming up with an asthetically pleasing phonetic alternative.) Accidentally, he happens to even look like him. Seriously, accidentally. Renato hadn’t seen a picture of Kirkbride when he drew D’Jay.

I'm not really into websites anymore, so can I subscribe to a feed?
You're lucky that we're living in the incredible future. If you happen to be on LiveJournal you can friend burritoblade, and if you use an RSS reader you can add http://burritoblade.com/feed/ to your feeds. There will be (mostly!) silence from now until we go live, of course, but tidbits and trinkets will be going up periodically in the meanwhile.


Any questions?

welcome

It was almost chilly this morning! This makes me want to drink coffee, bake squashy pie, find my sweaters, go for a walk under oak and maple trees, procure apple cider, snuggle, wear a scarf, read a ghost story, and be in elementary school again. Not necessarily in that order.

Welcome to Autumn and this blog, folks. I'm Lauren, and I'll be your dorkful host. Pardon my Webdust as I figure out how the hell this thing works, and stay tuned for actual content, including a recipe that involves nearly equal parts chocolate chips and bacon.

This is what I looked like as recently as Labor Day weekend. [Photo by Cyclone Larry, who was really excited that I wasn't wearing the cupcake shirt that I am mysteriously always wearing when he sees me.]