Viewing by month: May 2009
Good food and great beer at the Vermont Pub and Brewery.
On our recent trip to Vermont we stayed in the cute university town of Burlington, which is right on Lake Champlain. It was a gorgeous spring evening, so we ventured into town looking for a place to eat. Church Street, several blocks of which are pedestrian only, was packed with college kids, many of whom graduated the next day. Because the weather was fine, restaurant and bar seating spilled out onto the sidewalks and the celebratory mood was infectious.
We did a quick tour of the town, checking out various menus along the way. A block down College Street, The Vermont Pub & Brewery caught our eye. The line for seats on the patio was long, but the wait for inside tables wasn't too bad. So we put our name on the list, got a beeper, and sidled up to the bar.
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Hear your favorite Steely Dan album, performed live.
Steely Dan has stood the test of time better than most bands. Fifty-somethings who grew up with the duo have remained steadfastly loyal. But a surprising number of forty-, thirty-, and even twenty-somethings can sing along to My Old School.Even so, I was surprised when I heard Only A Fool Would Say That while shopping at Macy's.
The group's complex, jazz-rooted melodies, dark lyrics, and impeccable production were finally rewarded when Two Against Nature - their first album in twenty years - won the Album of the Year Grammy in 2001. Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that same year provided the impetus for a successful tour.
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Hawaii's best hot dogs at Puka Dog.
There's plenty of good food on Kauai, but not a lot of inexpensive choices. Puka Dog in the Poipu Village Shopping Center isn't exactly cheap - $7 is pretty steep for a hot dog - but it is one of the few places on the island where you can eat lunch for about ten bucks. Plus, it's enjoyable.In Hawaiian, "puka" means hole, and that's the gimmick here. A conventional bun is impaled using a device that looks like something from the Spanish Inquisition. The process toasts the inside of the bun and creates a receptacle for the dog and its condiments. Which makes the whole meal highly portable.
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