These meetups in person can be sometimes intimidating. This is especially true when you come alone and feel that you are an outsider joining trying to mingle with a close knit group. It doesn't get any easier even though I'm a part of another foodie group as well. By no means am I a social butterfly, in fact, I'm quite the opposite. My personality is rather reserved and a follower of my blog aptly summed up myself in two words: quiet passion. Doesn't it sound like an oxymoron when you think about it? When you are passionate about something don't you want to scream aloud and want the whole world to know about it? It is how to express this passion not just about food but in life that I try to find the balance by coming to these groups. Food Existentialism... this is going to my million dollar idea or land me in the looney bin!
The Fuel House is the type of place I can see myself coming to every night. It is very cozy and friendly place where I can see myself come after work and pulling up to the bar and talk to @MackChiu about anything. Coming in, I see a woman diligently trying to finish up some work on her laptop. Resting on the bar stool I see that it is Stella aka @foodieyu. We exchange greetings as I hold back my excitement since she is celeb by all account. Casually we talk about things such as blogging, daily events and of course what to eat... and then a bowl of fries shows up at the bar! I couldn't help but hold in a laugh as Stella said that her self imposed restriction on fries have been lifted. It was then that I felt that my problems were a world's away. There are very few places that I can feel so comfortable that it was almost profound! I didn't want to interrupt her work any further so I started to look a the menu and I chat with Mack about sports, UFC and the cool Sapporo tap handle.
The specials of the day was $8 for a sandwich and pop or $12 for beer instead. Everything on the menu looks great and so much has been said about the bahn mi that it was a no brainer until I heard they were running low on turkey. I regret not taking a picture of the fabulous menu items. To start things off I ordered the deep fried pickles.
Not wanting to waste any more time I used my hands and picked one up to sample. As someone that hates dill pickle chips, these were great. I don't know if they make their own pickles or not but they do not have the heavy vinegary taste that I normally associate with it. The batter has a nice crispiness to it and the pickle was still quite firm as there was a nice snap from my bite. As other guests dropped by I wanted to share some with them. Pressing down on the pickle with my fork the piece split cleanly down the middle and the batter held intact. That is some nice battering on the pickle!
Fearing the kitchen getting slammed later I take Mack's suggestion and order the Pulled Turkey Sandwich with Beau's Ale. I'm really interested in microbrews after sampling Black Oak from WVRST sausage hall (which I really should be working on Epic Friday Evening that's all about WVRST!). Beau's has a nice hoppy taste and no bitterness. Those apps had held over my appetite until it finally arrived.
Just wanted to say that the plating on the last picture was just me trying to clear some table space by putting both dishes together. The burger doesn't come with the fried pickle on the side although it does look good doesn't it? Mack also mentioned the buns are freshly made from OMG Baked Goodness. They are synonymous with cupcakes so that I really shouldn't be surprised they bake bread as well. The moist mound of turkey was not overwhelmed by the smooth flavorful coffee bbq sauce. Inside the sandwich also contained was a refreshing coleslaw that entertained the palette from all the soft textures of the meat and bread. Accompanying the sandwich was a side coleslaw but slightly different with what tasted like chili peppers to give it a spicy kick differentiating from its sandwich kin.There were other great dishes there such as the thick house burger with the slab bacon and the ever popular bahn mi. A few people ordered the ice cream cookie dessert. I didn't want to be rude to leave a conversation to take a few photos.
When the place filled up nicely where it had a nice buzz without being too loud to have a conversation. Aside from the side corner of the bar it never felt too cramped and it was easy to swing by from table to table getting to know fellow foodies. As the night ended late for a wednesday night I can't help but wanting to come back with a friend to watch a UFC fight and hook up that pork belly poutine that I had my eye on all night.
Here is something to think about... If you are in a room full of foodies, do you think they will notice a flash going off?
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December 11,2011
Followup: Forget what I said about keeping the word count low... :)
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