We first made a pit-stop in Lawrence, KS. As it turned out, Dan's band had a show scheduled in Lawrence on the same night we were planning to arrive in Topeka. Since the two cities are close in proximity, we decided to see the show. We missed Dan's show in Denver, so we were glad to get another chance. We got to see Caroline again as well; she was traveling with Dan to Lawrence for the wedding of a mutual friend. The show was enjoyable, but we were mostly happy to be able to spend another evening with friends.
The next day, we met Thad for lunch at Bobo's in Topeka, a tiny town treasure that had been featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives. Bobo's is famous for their "Spanish Burger" and their home-made root beer, so Carl and I ordered those. The food was pretty good, but it didn't make my taste-buds dance as I had hoped. The special Spanish sauce tasted like Sloppy Joe sauce, which gave the exotically-labeled burger a familiar taste, but it didn't really scream "I'm a Spanish burger straight from Chris Columbus' cookbook" like it should have. The root beer was pretty creamy and smooth, and the made-from-scratch onion rings were notable, but anything fried and greasy just tastes fried and greasy after a few bites. Here's Guy Fieri's take on the place, though:
Fieri has such an easy job. He gets to act overly-excited about mundane ingredients going into recipes, then chow down on national television with a "don't-you-wish-you-had-this-job-and-my-hair" grin on his face.
I think the Food Network should hire us to re-judge each restaurant that its food critics have reviewed. Every show I've seen gives all restaurants rave reviews; where's the truth? Why don't the hosts just shrug their shoulders and say, "This is alright. I've had better..."? We all know they must think that sometimes. But I guess if I were to be paid as much as Guy Fieri for giving an exaggerated review of a restaurant, I'd do the same thing. For now though, folks, we've got the truth right here on the tour blog. Food Network, when you're ready to give the public honest restaurant reviews, you know where to find us. But I digress...
The afternoon was a piping 110 degrees Fahrenheit (Carl's car actually said 123, but we didn't have the camera at the time to document it), so we spent most of the afternoon sitting in Thad's living room enjoying the air conditioning.
The show at Billy Vanilly that evening wasn't too bad (especially for a show that was scheduled the day before). A few of Thad's co-workers showed up, as well as his brother-in-law and his roommate, so there were a few people to hear our sad, sad songs wilting in the summer heat.
On the bright side, we tried a few masterfully-crafted cupcakes. They were pretty tasty, but since it was so hot, the air conditioning couldn't save them from fatal frosting-melt. The frosting on my Death by Chocolate cupcake slid off the cake as I set my plate down on the table, so I didn't have much time to admire the aesthetics of it, but that didn't matter. The cake was moist and flavorful, but not too rich. The frosting (a little liquidy, but understandably so) was a lighter chocolate that complemented the cake well, and wasn't deathly overpowering (which was relieving). The flavor that "took the cake," however, was the Strawberry Shortcake. It was simple yet sublime. The strawberry flavoring tasted like true strawberry rather than the manufactured strawberry syrup that litters too many strawberry sweets. Like with the Death by Chocolate, the cake was moist and spongy, and it pulled apart perfectly without crumbling all over my lap. The frosting was simple and fluffy, topped with only a few sprinkles to add a tiny crunch to the tasting pleasure.
After the show, we went to a local brew-pub for some Topeka-made ales along with some dinner. The place was The Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant, the first microbrewery ever established in Topeka, Kansas. It was named after the Prohibition-era phenomenon of dive-bars charging patrons to see "exotic" animals (i.e. stuffed tigers or simple farm pigs) for entertainment, then sneakily serving up a tumbler of gin or other sketchy bathtub-made beverage. Apparently, "blind tigers" and "blind pigs" still exist in certain areas of the US today (says Wikipedia), and we may have even played a show at one in San Francisco...
Carl and I both ordered the sampler, which included 4 flutes of any beer of our choice. All of them were enjoyable, but one stood out in particular: the Java Porter. It was thick and dark with strong notes of well-roasted coffee, balanced perfectly with hops to create a creamy coffee concoction of adult beverage radtasticness.
Our food was great as well. Carl got a fresh-grilled chili-crusted Talapia with rice and black beans, while I opted for the black bean quesadillas, I shared my family-sized plate with whoever was sitting to the left and right of me, we all enjoyed our brews, and then we headed back to Thad's to rest up for another long car ride.
When we arrived at Thad's, his roommate Eric Adell, who had joined us for dinner, mentioned something about writing his own music. Carl prodded a little more, and it wasn't long before he started rapping for us right there in the kitchen.
Worn out from the excitement of the day's events, we stumbled downstairs to the refuge of a cold basement and a comfy blow-up mattress.
Driving Music:
Megafaun - Heretofore
Strand of Oaks - Pope Killdragon
White Rabbits - It's Frightening
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
Jackson C. Frank - Blues Run the Game
William Elliott Whitmore - Song of the Blackbird
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Joanna Newsom - Ys
Leonard Cohen - Live in London Discs 1 & 2
No comments:
Post a Comment