18 July 2009

yeah, bored. not sure what this means... but, wtf

31 miles per gallon

04 June 2009

Oh, this is too good to not post. thanks @sigsegfalt

HAHAHAHA

25 May 2009

Somehow I think this was to make his kid happy...

Too bad the thunderstorm caused me to miss this:

Franzen to Kane: "Uh Oh. There goes your mouth guard. "

23 May 2009

Restaurant Review: Twelve, Denver CO

Twelve Restaurant



12



May 21, 2009

We arrived around 7 to a mostly empty restaurant. Initially, I thought this isn't a good sign. We sit, offered menus, water, the norm. I jumped at the wine list right away. Good range of wines on the list. Some sonoma, napa, italian, some others, and of course french. I choose the Châteaunuef-du-pape, 2005. Since this isn't a wine review, I'll just say it was spicy, fruity, and good.

I guess I should give you a little background before I jump in. As the name implies, the menu changes each month, or "twelve" times a year. Opened in November 2008. I think the staff may have mentioned their blood types & horoscopes too, but I was too busy talking.

After some chatting and my usual 50 times through the menu, we started our order:


STARTERS

greens
baby lettuces, fine herbs, parmesan, banyuls vinaigrette

soup
english pea, vanilla, cipollini onion

sweetbreads
veal sweetbreads, oyster and shiitake mushrooms, garlic, veal jus

asparagus
warm green and white asparagus, black truffle butter

bacalao
brandade cake, panko crumbs, verde farms pea shoots, sauce mirepoix

romaine
romaine hearts, brioche crouton, white anchovy-garlic dressing


I asked Z, "Have you had asparagus?", to which he responds "Just the stringy overcooked kind." So we ordered the greens and the asparagus to share. The greens were very well flavored. A good balance between the vinaigrette, the root vegetables, and the cheese. Even though I abhor asparagus like a child hates bathing, I tried some. The asparagus was cooked perfectly and the truffle butter was fantastic. Z even asked for bread to use as a squeegee on the asparagus plate. L & Z both flew through their portions like hyenas and alligators who can actually kill their prey.

ENTREES

snapper
snapper, fingerling potato, purple potato, haricot verts, aged sherry vinegar

halibut
alaskan halibut, piperade, apple wood smoked bacon, chickpeas, fried quail egg

quinoa
quinoa cake, baby spinach, red onion, spiced carrot sauce

duck
breast and confit, rapini, honshimeji mushroom-potato hash

lamb
colorado loin, bulgar wheat, lemon, cucumber, parsley, harrisa

beef
prime strip loin and short rib, red beet, potato-morel tart

L went for the quiona. It looked good but I was far too interested in my duck and Z's beef to remember to try it.

First, let me describe the duck. Tender duck breast cooked to perfection, steamed broccoli rapini, and the hash: shredded duck confit, honshimeji mushrooms, diced potatoes with herbs, cooked in duck fat... This is the Saturday morning, post-binge drinking breakfast hash that we should have been served at the Olivette Diner.

The beef dish: Prime strip - med. rare, not much to say other than it was perfectly prepared. Z flew through the ribs, making remarks to the "fresh bacon" (cardamom spiced Kurobuta pork belly, madras curry scented fresh garbanzo bean purée) he had at rioja. I can only assume it was good. The potato-morel tart was very buttery, and smooth. The roasted beet served on a parsnip purée again made to the highest levels shown throughout our meal.

We finished our meal and then took a few minutes to finish the wine before ordering our desserts.


DESSERTS

chocolate
trio of chocolate

root beer
root beer float, vanilla ice cream, chocolate chip cookies

banana
feuille de brik, bananas, hazelnut-rum sauce

cheese
daily selection of three cheeses


Along with a few cafe lattes, the dessert order was for the first three. Trio of chocolate was as to be expected; pot de crème, ice cream, & gateau. Root beer float was fairly standard with crispy chocolate chip cookies. The banana dish was well constructed, well flavored, and a good finish to the meal. But, I am usually left flat by desserts. I prefer savory dishes to sweets. This is my bias.

Prices were more than fair for the meal created by Chef Osaka. After the meal, we spoke with the Chef about the meal and about Z's aspiration to become a Chef. Chef Osaka extended an offer to Z for a job in the kitchen; prep work, learn some techniques, and be exposed to a professional kitchen. Z is excited to follow up on the offer, and I am encouraging him to take the opportunity.

Summary:
Never judge a lack of traffic/patrons as a tell tale about a restaurant, especially on a Thursday night. With the interesting format of the menu, I can only wonder what the next month brings. If you are in the Denver area or planning a trip, I encourage you to eat at Twelve.

Hmm, this place is like...

a listing cargo ship half full of toyotas... I guess I should post something here more often. I blame twitter for my absence.

Edit: I will change the images soon... need more redonkulousness up in the header.

17 May 2009

Happy B-Day Mini!

Lot o Minis

16 May 2009

So... how does one figure out they can do this?

26 April 2009

Hmm, I may have been busy lately.

Nothing new to report. Work sucks. NHL Playoffs are in swing. Need more Guinness.

22 February 2009

Been busy for a month...

Found this, too funny to not post:

Dear Red States:

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and the entire Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly:
You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research and the best beaches.
We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.
We get 85 percent of America 's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama .
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue; you get to make the red states pay their fair share.
Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy
families. You get a bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home.
We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have:
firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce
92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit
95 percent of America 's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners)
90 percent of all cheese
90 percent of the high tech industry - most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal all living redwoods, sequoias and condors all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus ... - Stanford , Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with:
- 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs)
- 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes,
- nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes,
- 90 percent of the hurricanes,
- virtually 100 percent of all televangelists and their buddies like Rush Limbaugh, as well as Bob Jones University, Clemson College and the Univ. of Georgia.
We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you very much.
Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you nincompoops believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.

Finally, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have the Mexican stuff when they knock your wall down.

Peace out,

21 January 2009

Being that I work in a Federal Bldg.:

I am so happy that every morning when I walk through the front door, I no longer have to see Bush & Dick on the wall. Of course, there's no Obama & Biden there(yet). Govt. employees are so damned slow!