Jay Lake: Writer

[food|travel] Open dinner in Columbus, OH Friday, May 11th

Looks like I’ll be in Columbus, OH the second week in May on Day Jobbe business. Due to my meeting schedule, I’ll be spending Friday night there before flying home on Saturday morning. I’m declaring an Open Dinner in Columbus, location TBA, at 6:30 pm on Friday, May 11th.

Please let me know in comments if you can attend. I’ll repost this a couple of times, along with restaurant info once I know what’s what. Doesn’t matter if we’re old friends, acquaintances, or we’ve never met. If you can read this and will be in the Columbus, OH area that day, you’re invited.

Watch this space for more details.

Tags: Food, Ohio, Travel

Posted: 6:54 am Sat April 28 2012 | Comments(5) |

[travel|food] Having fun in Newark, CA

Last night’s open dinner at the Bombay Garden here in Newark, CA, was fun. We had about a dozen people show up. LiveJournal is down as I draft this post, so I can’t check LJ to namecheck everybody by their Official Internet Handles, but there was good spread of folks from dear old friends to brand new acquaintances. Author Juliette Wade brought her kids, who at about 9 and 7 reminded me a great deal of me and my sister at their age. Editor Gabrielle Harbowy was there, with Mr. G.H. and her assistant F—. K—, T— M— and her husband, Springtime Creations and Mr. S.C., as well as Dave a/k/a Dad. (I hope to Ghu I didn’t leave anybody off…)

Food at the Bombay Garden was pretty good, the service could kindly be described as eccentric, but that didn’t matter. It was a good bunch of people, and we hung out in the restaurant for about 2.5 hours.

Walked for an hour this morning, now gearing up for a day of Day Jobbery. Flying home tonight. With luck, I’ll finish the current section of Their Currents Turn Awry on the plane.

Tags: Books, California, Currents, Food, friends, Sunspin, Travel, Writing

Posted: 6:39 am Wed April 25 2012 | Comments(0) |

[travel|food] Repost: Open dinner in Newark, CA (East Bay) April 24th (today)

I will be in the East Bay area today and tomorrow on business. I’m announcing an open dinner at the Bombay Garden in Newark, CA [ Google Maps ] at 6:30 pm tonight, Tuesday, April 24th.

Let me know in comments if you think you’ll be there so I have an approximate headcount. If you’ve already RSVP’ed, I don’t need you to RSVP again.

Tags: California, Food, Repost, Travel

Posted: 5:43 am Tue April 24 2012 | Comments(2) |

[travel|food] Repost: Open dinner in Newark, CA (East Bay) April 24th

I will be in the East Bay area tomorrow on business. Apologies for the late notice, but I’m announcing an open dinner at the Bombay Garden in Newark, CA [ Google Maps ] at 6:30 pm, Tuesday, April 24th.

Let me know in comments if you think you’ll be there so I have an approximate headcount. If you’ve already RSVP’ed, I don’t need you to RSVP again.

I will be re-posting this Tuesday.

Tags: California, Food, Repost, Travel

Posted: 5:32 am Mon April 23 2012 | Comments(0) |

[travel|food] Open dinner in Newark, CA (East Bay) on Tuesday, April 24th

I will be in the East Bay area next Tuesday on business. I’m announcing an open dinner at the Bombay Garden in Newark, CA [ Google Maps ] at 6:30 pm, Tuesday, April 24th.

Let me know in comments if you think you’ll be there so I have an approximate headcount.

I will be re-posting this both Monday and Tuesday.

Tags: California, Food, Travel

Posted: 8:14 am Sat April 21 2012 | Comments(2) |

[food] The Black Molly at Killer Burger

Ate me a Black Molly at Killer Burger in SE Portland for lunch yesterday. To quote their menu…

1/3rd pound Beef Patty, Smokey House Sauce, Grilled Onion, Philly Steak, Provolone, House-Brined Roasted Green Chiles, Mayo, Bacon

This was one of the tastiest burgers I have ever eaten. One of the best.

mlerules and I had dined there a month or two ago, when this location first opened. At the time she had the Peanut Butter-Pickle-Bacon burger, and I had the Jose Mendoza. Good, crisp fries came with, and they were quite satisfactory burgers, for only a couple of bucks more than fast food prices. I liked it to the point where I made a note to come back.

But the Black Molly… Basically this is the bastard child of a sloppy bacon cheeseburger and a Philly cheesesteak. (No whiz, I’m sad to say.) If you’re an unreconstructed carnivore, the sheer, overwhelming savory meatiness of this burger is a major win. I like my food with a zing, so the chiles worked well with the combination, and what’s not to love about provolone and mayonnaise? And the base of the burger, the patty itself, is almost perfectly constructed and grilled. We are talking an earthquake in the mouth.

My only complaint is that the juiciness of that combination of ingredients rather overwhelmed the bottom of the bun. I wonder if the Black Molly would profit from being on a stiffer, thicker roll of some kind. But from a mouth feel and taste point of view, this thing is made of 100% USDA Grade A win. One of my top five favorite hamburgers ever.

Highly recommended (unless you have a heart condition, are vegetarian, or lactose/gluten intolerant).

Tags: Food, Portland, reviews

Posted: 5:28 am Fri April 20 2012 | Comments(0) |

[food] Last night’s open dinner

Last night’s open dinner was terrific. We had nine people, including me, meeting up at Threadgill’s in south Austin. My old friends Chris W. Johnson and Brendan Boerner, whom I’ve known since about 1986, turned up. So did my cousin N—, whom I see only once every few years. She came up from San Antonio. Some of the usual suspects were there, including mrtact, Sean Kelley, @dratz and Mrs. @dratz, as well as Austin area fan and writer John Gibbons.

A good time was had by all, and many calories were consumed. The cross-pollination was fun, too.

Me and my cousin

Photo © 2012 D. Reynolds, reproduced with permission.

Tags: family, Food, friends, Texas

Posted: 3:06 am Wed March 21 2012 | Comments(0) |

[food] Mmmm momos

Yesterday’s momo [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ] party was great good fun. the_child and I arrived at Dad and (step)Mom’s place around 10:30. Friends J— and T— showed up shortly thereafter to help cook. lillypond (a/k/a my sister) turned up as well, then tillyjane (a/k/a my mom) and the Niece came by as well, as did lizzyshannon and Mother of the Child.

We made vegetarian, chicken, lamb and buffalo momos, as well as apple filled and onion filled momos. Various folks brought relish trays, vegetables, cheese and so forth. A magnificent feast was had, and lots of good conversation.

Tags: family, Food, friends, Personal

Posted: 6:33 am Sun March 11 2012 | Comments(0) |

[food] Last night’s open dinner in Denver

Last night was terrific. We met at the Mellow Mushroom. My friend C— from the Day Jobbe came along. Carrie Vaughn and Matt Hamstra were there, as were keglinfool and mtfierce. The food was decent-to-good, the conversation was excellent, ranging wide as such dinners tend to do, and we had a lot of fun. I really want to thank everyone who turned out.

Tags: Colorado, Food, friends

Posted: 5:04 am Fri February 17 2012 | Comments(0) |

[food] Eating Haggis on Burns Day

Last night I went to a haggis party at the home of Jersey Girl in Portland. It was fun to be able to go out of an evening, and, well, haggis on Robert Burns day. And this was the real thing, made from scratch with authentic ingredients.

There was a ceremonial reading of the Burns poem on haggis, then there was the serving of the beast. It looked nasty and, honestly, to my palate didn’t taste much better, but I am glad I tried it. Kind of like a feral, inept sausage cut by too much oatmeal. I’m pretty sure I won’t ever need to eat it again. Still, it was fun, and the company of Jersey Girl’s friends was good.

And, well, haggis. Come on. How often do you get a chance?

Haggis in the pan

Haggis on the plate

Photos © 2012, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.

This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Tags: Food, Photos, Portland, Scotland

Posted: 6:28 am Thu January 26 2012 | Comments(1) |