Grit & Grace

Last night, DB~ and I went to Grit & Grace, the newest venture from chef Brian Pekarcik and owner Richard Stern.  The two of them chef/own both Spoon and BRGR.  Spoon is one of our favorite places we've been, even though we've been there just once.  Both of us were eager to check out Grit & Grace.

Spoon is refined, modern American cuisine.  G&G is more casual, trying to play off the energy of nearby Market Square.  They actually have a very creative sign outside to court lunch traffic saying "Think Outside the Square".

G&G is in the space previously occupied by Taste of Dahntahn.  If DB~ and I weren't at that place right before it closed, we wouldn't have known it was the same space, because they completed gutted the place and started over.  It has a sleek, clean look with taupe and celery colors.  They have dark teakwood slats layered in patterns against the wall to give added depth and texture.  DB~ liked the recessed shadow boxes filled with doorknobs and hinges.

DB~ went with the American Dim Sum menu that G&G is known for.  There were five options last night to choose from, each of them $5.  She went with three of them -- pork belly, smoked tofu on soba noodles, and a tomato/bulger salad.  She ordered them one at a time, but we were both disappointed by the lag time between the dim sum girl returning to our table.  True dim sum, served by tiny Chinese ladies that bark at you, is virtually served continuously on wheeled carts that are pushed with the labored resignation of knowing you are tiny, old, and soon ready to die.  Ahem.  Scratch that last part.

I went with two small plates.  First was my siren call of short rib.  This one was served on a biscuit imbued with cream cheese and topped with a scallion shaving.  It was divine.  I wanted to line my pockets with foil and steal a basket of them.

I also went with the Chicken Meatball Ramen.  It was a very large serving with two chicken meatballs, two pieces of chicken thigh that practically fell apart at the touch of the fork, shavings of kimchi, pieces of daikon, all in a rich broth full of flavor.  I really liked this a lot and shared with DB~.

Overall, I would say G&G is 'very good' but not 'great'.  I guess we just expected more from the chef/owner of Spoon.

Pirates Need For A Frontline Starter

Imagine it's October 1st and the Pirates are getting ready to play in the Wild Card Game.  Who do you pick to pitch?

• Liriano, who has been inconsistent and ineffective for most of the season?
• Cole, who has been hurt and oddly non-dominant for most of the season?
• Morton, who is prone to one bad inning it seems every game?
• Locke?  Volquez?  Worley?  Do you really trust any of these three in a one game playoff?

Then think of the Dodgers (Kershaw/Greinke), the Cardinals (Wainwright), the Nationals (Strasburg).  These teams all have bonafide aces to throw out there, guys who are locks for 8 innings in a crucial game.

The Pirates need a name pitcher.  I hope that Cole comes back from his rehab stint in early August and becomes that guy that we all hope he can be.  If so, that would be a bonus.  But right now, the Pirates need a horse.

Neal Huntington has been collecting prospects like they're Star Wars toys in their original packaging.  When he breaks open one and deals them one year, then I'll know that the front office and ownership both believe the Pirates are a World Series contender.  This year, if he deals Taillon, Glasnow, Kingham, Bell, or Meadows, that will signal to me that they are making a run and not worrying about the future as fastidiously.

There's a lot of big names out there, but most are out of the Pirates' price range for 2015 and beyond (Price, Lee, Hamels).  I see two that are viable candidates -- Lester of the Red Sox and Kennedy of the Padres.

Lester is a low end #1/high end #2 level pitcher.  He's got about $4.3M left this year and is then a free agent.  The money this year shouldn't be a problem, since I calculate that the Pirates have $8M left from their original offseason spending pool when they were rumored to have $19M last offseason for free agents.

The Sox want one premium and one other top 10 prospect for Lester.  I'm comfortable trading Bell and someone like RHP Adrian Sampson for Lester.  The Sox had a great deal of interest in Bell during his draft year, but avoided him due to the infamous note his mother sent to all 30 teams asking them not to draft her son so he could go to University of Texas.  Bell would be a loss, but that sting should just motivate the Pirates to win more.

Kennedy is a #2 pitcher and not as flashy of a name as Lester, but he would be an upgrade for this rotation.  The Padres are said to be seeking an ML-ready starter for the rotation and a prospect for him.  Since Vance Worley is basically found money for Huntington, why not include him?  Worley has 3 more years of control and has revitalized his career.  Imagine him in Petco.  I would also use Universal Trade Chip Adrian Sampson in this scenario.

The Pirates have rebounded amazingly from their April malaise and positioned themselves well for the playoff run.  It's time to solidify it.

Tender

It's fun when you go to a restaurant expecting one thing and it turns out to be something completely different.  Going to Tender in Lawrenceville, we knew there would be hand-crafted cocktails.  We figured that the name Tender was a shortened version of "bartender".  To my surprise, the restaurant actually has a double meaning, as it appears to be situated in an old bank.

The floor is that marble/terrazzo look and the entrance is this enclosed little box that made me wonder if a would-be robber ever got trapped in there.  Their logo has the same font and look of legal tender U.S. money, as well.  There was even an old (original?) bank-looking clock on the wall.

Oh...yeah..right there on their website it says they occupy the old Arsenal Bank from the 1880's.  I'm dumb.

We knew that the menu was limited and would mostly be some artsy appetizers.  We were here for the drinks and atmosphere.  The drink menu is extensively extensive.  Pages and pages of cocktails, followed by a page of wine and a page of beer.

I went with Don't Give Up The Ship, a gin based drink with Fernet Blanca, vermouth, and curacao.  Strangely, the curacao didn't tint my drink blue at all, but perhaps the vermouth cancelled it out.  DB~ went with Aviation -- also a gin based drink with lemon and two other things neither of us had heard of before.

To dine, I went with two appetizers.  The first were Wild Boar Meatballs served on a bed of polenta and topped with a touch of pesto.  These could have been a little more moist, but were otherwise excellent.  The Wild Boar gave just enough punch to the meatball.

My second appetizer was a segment of Pork Belly with cherry and apricot sauce, with fennel mixed in.  It was seared on the non-fat side.  The fatty belly melted in my mouth with the fruit sauce giving a sweet base to the savory bacony taste.  It was topped with some pickled onions and fresh arugula.

DB~ went with the Tender Burger, which was interesting because she doesn't like red meat.  Oddly, she seems to be reverting BACK to being a carnivore of late.  This was a standard cheeseburger, but it was well crafted.

Since I was driving, DB~ had a second after dinner cocktail and went with Immortality Juice.  This was a sparkling wine with a pear liqueur, walnut liqueur, and apricot liqueur, squeezed with lemon.  She preferred this one slightly more.

The background music was a mix of 80's synth and 80's cheese like Phil Collins' "Sususudio" (I probably misspelled that, but I don't care enough to look it up).  I didn't quite get that part of the atmosphere.  Is that what hipsters listen to in hipster cocktail bars?  Jazz, anyone?

Tender is a great place to drink and grab a small plate, but probably not as a pure dinner destination.

Central Diner

The name is nondescript.  The location is one next to a Red Roof Inn, off of a cluttered Route 60.  It sits slightly below the road, so you don't even really notice it, unless you're looking for it.

But that would be a shame, because you would be missing out on the Central Diner in Robinson Township.  Diner carries a certain connotation, neither positive or negative in my mind, of a tiny worn down little shop with the same standard fare.  A diner is solid, dependable food, consisting of all the staples.

And then there's the Central Diner.  This gleaming chrome and wood exterior belies just how massive it is inside.  This diner, replete with a case full of tantalizing desserts, also has a well stocked bar -- if you're in the mood for something alcoholic in the morning or at late night when they're still open.

This diner is owned by a Greek family, many of whom are on staff when you walk in.  There are hints, but not overtures, of their Greek heritage on the menu.  No matter if you're Greek or red-blooded American, this is the place for you.

We went with DB~'s dad and our widgets on Father's Day.  I've been remiss to wait so long to put this up.  There will most likely be a wait when you go, but they cycle people through quickly.  We knew what we wanted before we sat down.

Little Widget was going to have a bottle of formula, house blend.  Medium Widget selected the Pancakes with Oreos inside, topped with peanut better and whipped cream, drizzled with chocolate.

They might as well have just given this to every kid who walked in the door.  DB~'s dad went with the omelette topped with sour cream and bacon, plus a side of home fries.

DB~ went with a cream cheese filled French toast, stuffed with blueberries.

I chose the Napolean French toast topped with walnuts and strawberries.

This is the kind of diner that is worth driving to go check out.  You don't even have to call it a diner, if you don't want to.