Posts Tagged ‘vodka’

Friggin Awesome Burgers in Toledo!

// June 14th, 2011 // No Comments » // Blog, Restaurant Reviews

Tin Chef Chuck

I recently had the opportunity to try out two new burger joints in Toledo.  What is really newsworthy here is not how great they were, nor how awesome the service was or even how good the food was.  What really has excited me is that we now have two new restaurants that are pushing the culinary envelope.  Places that really have something unique to eat.  These are not another cookie cutter place that reheats generic burgers bought in bulk from a large restaurant supply house.  Rather each uses really high quality meat, makes handmade patties and then creates truly unique flavors by using really fresh ingredients.  Before I really dive into these new places, I need to mention one of my all time favorites.  Not quite as hip as Bar145, and not quite the gourmet experience you get at BurgerBar419, but if you are looking for an honest to God, greasy spoon awesome burger- you need to go to the Green Lantern on Broadway.  Don’t let the appearance fool you.  The Green Lantern has been around since the 1930’s for a reason.  It’s not heart healthy, but it is a great greasy cheeseburger place.  Stop in for breakfast and lunch.  Try a double Goopy, and tell Mo I sent you.  You go there once and I promised you will be hooked!

The first new place I want to talk about is Burger Bar 419.   Burger Bar 419 is located in South Toledo on 4400 Heatherdowns Blvd. or across from the Distillery in the old Matthews.  The first time we went there, we had almost every appetizer!  Start with the basic, good old fashioned French Fries.  The battered fried onion petals were good but nothing special, but then cam e the roasted marrow bones with sweet onion marmalade.  The first time we had this- it wasn’t perfect.  In fact it was almost raw.  But for crying out load- bone marrow in Toledo, minutes from my house.  Yes there were several errors in technique- but the concepts are there.  We were there a day or two after the place just opened.  The execution has gotten better and this really has become my favorite hangout in Toledo.  The pickled vegetables are awesome.  The chipotle pickled pineapple and goat cheese is great, I personally love the crispy pork belly with homemade kim chee!  This was another dish that was undercooked on our first go around, but the flavors and potential was there.  It was spectacular the next time we went.  Make sure you try the sriracha-soy deviled eggs with bacon and arugula.

The Burger Bar 419 has 15 or so burgers and they are all $9.00.  The offer a wide selection of home made mayonnaise and aolis, as well as several unique ketchup’s and mustard’s.  The Heater, Italian, Pate Melt, and Vintage Bleu are all awesome.  You can’t go wrong when you use all fresh ingredients and combine great flavors.  I can’t wait to try all of them.

We had the milkshakes for desert.  So far, this has been the biggest shortcoming of Burger Bar 419.  They were small, over priced and nothing memorable.  Personally, I would save your money and go to Handel’s!  Don’t let the deserts stop you from checking this place out though; I am sure it will become one of your favorite Toledo hangouts.

The other place we recently went to was Bar145° on Monroe Street.  Bar 145 is very different from Burger Bar 419.  First, it has a totally different atmosphere.  It seems more like a club than a burger place.  They have live music, a dance floor and a large bar.  There appetizers include fried pickled green beans, fries, artichoke gratin, a baked potato waffle, bourbon onion straws, mac and gouda, pretzel chips, and smoked salmon with garlic flat bread. By the way- any idea how Bar 145 got it’s name?  Overall the appetizers were pretty good, but nothing spectacular.  Most were served with generic salted/peppered flat crackers, which I think detracted from the flavor of several of the dips.  They have a few burgers on the menu, but they do a build your own menu.  What is nice here is that they use really high quality ingredients and do a pretty good job of creating your custom burger.  I may be splitting hairs, but I wish they would create a few more signature flavors by combining the awesome ingredients that they offer.  Surprise me, don’t make me think- create that special, signature burger for me!

We didn’t really try out the bourbon, but did have several of their gelato’s.  They had some nice flavors- but I am really partial to my salty caramel, so make sure you read TC Josh’s reviews as well.

In the end these are 2, no make that 3 great places.  If you are looking for breakfast during the week or on Saturday, the make sure you try the Green Lantern.  The Green Lantern is also a great place to grab lunch during the work week.  Once you meet Mo (Maurice), you will fall in love with the Lantern!  I look at Burger Bar 419 more as my local neighborhood hangout, where I can sit at the bar and talk to the chef as he cooks my next burger.  Bone marrow, pickled vegetables and cold Heineken and an awesome burger- can it get any better? To me Bar145 is that place you go to on a Friday or Saturday night, have a great burger and take in some great music.  All 3 places offer unique atmospheres- each may be more appropriate depending on your mood or day of the week.   But all 3 of these places need to be experienced.  If I hear one more person complain that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, no where to eat in Toledo- I swear I am going to slap the #@%& out of you!  Places like these 3 restaurants would have waiting list in any other city- if they struggle, it’s your fault!  Take a walk on the wild side and try one of these places this week, in fact, try all 3 and leave a comment on which one you think is best.

 

Tin Chef Chuck

 

Great summer cocktail ideas: Part I

// June 24th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog

Tin Chef Chuck

St. Germain-  An indescribable French liquor from the elder flower.  Try it with vodka and apple juice.  Makes for a delicious and refreshing summer drink.  It can also liven up a gin and tonic and makes for a wicked good margarita.  Let me know what you think…

A Little More About Our Story

// May 17th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Blog

OK, now for a little background. Toledo Tin Chef’s has evolved from several ideas and interest that the three of us share. My name is Chuck Gbur, I am an interventional cardiologist from Toledo, Ohio. Josh Wagy was my neighbor a few years back. Steve Hockenberger’s wife Lydia was a pharmaceutical rep who called on my wife and I (My wife, Carolyn, is a cardiologist too). Lydia and Carolyn became friends, and it turned out they lived just down the street from Josh and I, eventually Steve and I became friends as well. As it turned out, all three of us enjoyed cooking. Josh’s girlfriend is Emily. Her parents own Caper’s and she runs the show there. More about Caper’s later. One summer night we decided to grill out as a group and voila, the next thing you know I am typing this blog. Of course, something good always happens when you mix 1 part charcoal, a splash of charcoal lighting fluid, 1 part meat and 2-3 parts beer.

I recently have gotten into the weird science stuff… Now I am no Ferran Adria, but I am finally putting all of those years of chemistry class to use. By the way, if you are interested in trying this stuff, the best reference by far is “Texture“. It is a free recipe collection and can be found by click on the link above. It is really pretty cool and there seems to be no limit on what you can do. It does take a little practice though, I have some really good looking caviar that didn’t taste so well, and some globs of goo that tasted wonderful, but was too ugly to take a picture of.   By the way, Josh and I both are also into photography.  Josh also does the majority of graphic design stuff. He is definitely much better at food presentation and all that artsy stuff.

This weekend I made it downtown to The Farmer’s Market. If you haven’t been there, you really need to go. I spoke with Mike Billau from Billau Farms in Ottawa Lake. Mike and his son Shawn are 4th and 5th generation farmers. There family has been selling locally grown produce for 5 generations.

Toledo's Farmers' Market

The market is just getting ramped up for the season, but it really is worth visiting. We will be holding a cooking demonstration sometime later this summer, so look out for us.

We did get together to cook this weekend.

Deconstructed blueberry vodka martini

I am showing my deconstructed martini, but I have a lot more that I will post later. I also plan to publish a review of a few cookbooks that I recently finished reading and I feel are well worth reading. Of course, the free one (Texture) listed above is a great reference source, so make sure you download the file. The molecular stuff is a lot harder than it looks, so don’t get discouraged. I made several batches of vodka flubber way before I came up with anything that was worth a picture. Of course, not wanting to waste good vodka, I ate my mistakes, so that may explain why it took so long to come close to an acceptable result.

Anyway, much more to come, so please pop in often. Make sure you twit us on tweeter or tweet us on twitter, what ever. I still need to tell you how I came up with Toledo Tin Chef’s and what we are trying to do. To be honest, I am not sure any of us know where this is going to take us. For now, we are just 3 regular guys who cook, like to take pictures, and know enough about computers to get this thing up and running. Anyway, more pictures and recipes to come, but for now I need to get back to my day job… CJG