The Frothy Monkey

Since getting back home from the PalmSource Mobile Summit & DevCon 2005, I’ve been busier than I’ve ever been, this morning being no exception. I had an appointment first thing this morning, but after taking care of a couple of small items, I ran into a snag. For me to finish up the work my client needed, I had to wait for a return phone call. Since my office isn’t all that close to where I was working, I opted to do a little nomad computing and setup shop in a nearby coffee house.

My usual haunt is at Caffeine. It’s a fantastic coffee house and I was sorely tempted to go there since I know what to expect. However, I spotted a new coffee house last week when I was driving down 12th avenue one evening. Feeling a little bit adventurous and up for something new, I headed to The Frothy Monkey instead.

The Frothy Monkey is located at 2509 12th Avenue South in an area that’s just south of Belmont University. The building is a converted house, typical of the businesses in the area. And like most businesses in this area, parking is a challenge as well. There are only a couple of spots out front, so more than likely you’ll have to find the alley that runs parallel to 12th street and make your way to the back of the building. If you’re familiar with doing this it’s no big deal, but if you’re not it can be a bit confusing.

Once inside you’ll find a nice open layout with a hodge podge of seating to choose from, ranging from high tops, booths, tables and even a sofa. If the weather is nice, there’s always the porch beckoning. If you’ve ever been to Bongo Java, the setup is very similar, but the clientele is a little bit different. It’s a mix between business and students and as such gives off a hip, professional vibe.

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The Wing Basket

The other night Holly and I were feeling like “being bad” and getting something not on our South Beach diet. As we sat there on the couch, I threw out the idea of going to a new place that opened up near us called “The Wing Basket”. Much to my surprise, Holly took me up on my suggestion and we headed off in hopes of finding a place that “does wings right.” Although buffalo wings are now fairly common, most places don’t prepare them “right” in my book. Sure I can order wings from Dominos, but that doesn’t mean that they are any good and in Domino’s case, they aren’t. Usually there’s something wrong with the sauce, or they’ve prepared the chicken itself poorly – this is especially true when the wings are breaded. I’m sure there are others who prefer their wings breaded, and to each his own, but when I go out for wings I want a nice spicy experience with nothing between me and my chicken.

As Holly and I walked into the restaurant, I could instantly tell that Wing Basket was a chain. Growing up in Louisiana, I’ve been spoiled by family owned restaurants and I try and steer away from chains whenever possible. Having someone local cook up a nice dinner will always be head and shoulders above what a restaurant chain can offer 9 times out of 10. Preferences aside, Holly and I stepped up to the counter to see what was on the menu. Other than a couple of side dishes, the only item on the menu were buffalo wings. That was fine by me and I was rather pleased to see that they were so specialized. Yet wings aren’t the focus on the menu. According to their slogan, “It’s all about the sauce”.

The Sauces
With a slogan like that, I figured it’d be best to sample as many of them as I could. Typically the wings are served coated with sauce, but we asked them to put it on the side so that we could try the whole range of the menu. We started with just two sauces, but we kept going back for more to try different ones. Here’s a run down on the ones that we tried:

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I’m A Coffee Snob

I gently pour my coffee from my french press coffee maker into one of my favorite coffee cups. I let it cool for a few minutes and let the air permeate with the smell of freshly made coffee. I lift the cup to my lips and take a small sip to minimize burning my tongue if the coffee is still too hot. It’s not and the hot liquid easily slides past my taste buds and down my throat. Getting the full taste of today’s brew, I make a small grimace as the sound “Eh…” pops out my mouth. It’s then that I finally admit to myself – I’m a coffee snob.

From Humble Beginnings
That’s right, I admit it, I’m a bit of a coffee snob. I suppose it was always this way in some form or another. When I was younger and began drinking coffee, only Community Coffee would do. The difference between then and now is that back then (and still to this day), Community Coffee is considered the State coffee of Louisiana. It’s served everywhere and is a staple of the coffee diet in the deep south. So I really wasn’t being a snob per se, I was just going with the natural order of things.

Then came the coffee house boom of the 90′s, where Starbucks began popping up on every corner along with mom-and-pop shops and alternative chains. All of a sudden it seemed you weren’t cool if you didn’t frequent a store that specialized in coffee. Naturally, I stopped into near by Perks, since Starbucks hadn’t made it to Baton Rouge. It was there that I was introduced to such coffee drinks as Cappuccinos and Espressos. There was a whole world out there that I had yet to experience, so I sampled everything they had to offer.

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The Final Days Of The Bacchanal

As with any new year, many of us will decide to turn over a new leaf. To make positive changes in our lives so that we will be happier and healthier and all that jazz. With the new year looming just around the corner, I too am planning on making resolutions to change certain habits that I currently have. One in particular is to get back on the South Beach Diet. My family went on the diet last year and it worked very well. 95% of the weight that I took off has stayed off. The diet was fairly easy to stick to and the food tasted good, however in today’s American culture, it’s easy to fall of the wagon.

Since the summer my diet has been a downward spiral into fast food and junk food. To be honest, it’s not that the food tasted any better. It’s not as if a Big Mac is a culinary delight, it’s just easier. When your day is stressful and you’re looking to cut a few corners to get through it, it’s just easier to eat at McDonald’s than it is to go home and cook.

On top of that there’s been the holidays. Spending the holidays in Nashville would be hard enough, but having the holidays in Louisiana is a whole other bailiwick. Every time we go to Baton Rouge, Holly and I graze from one side to the other. Holly and I have been to Baton Rouge three times over the past two months, so we’ve gone back in some cases for thirds. They say that food is life. If that is indeed the case, then life in southern Louisiana is good. Just to give you some idea of what I’ve had to eat over the past two months, here’s a quick run down.

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My New Favorite Weblog

Thanks to a entry on one of my favorite weblogs Simple Bits, I stumbled onto a new weblog that after the first read has become my new favorite weblog. It’s the “Rants & Raves” section of Alton Brown’s web site and it’s an absolute hoot!
For those of you not familiar with Alton Brown, he hosts the Food Network show Good Eats. Before losing cable, something I’m still struggling with demons to try and keep from getting back, I use to watch his show regularly. Brown has this innate ability to go into great detail regarding food and cooking and yet make it VERY entertaining. He lives in Atlanta, which isn’t very far from here (so what that makes him a neighbor?) and in his show and now his weblog he comes across as a regular Joe. Well, a regular Joe who knows a LOT about food. I guess you could call him kind of a cooking geek and I mean that in a good way.

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