In n Out Burgers

This was my fourth visit to In n Out Burgers, the second on this trip to Las Vegas alone. I am on the quest for the world's best burger, and In n Out has been in the running since my first visit. My buddy, a career McDonald's manager had recommended it, and I had wondered what a McDonald's manager could possibly know about good hamburgers. Great Egg McMuffins, maybe, but hamburgers? Boy, was I wrong. Sorry I ever doubted you, Victor.

In n Out has been around since 1948. I imagine that Harry and Esther Snyder started out across the street from brothers Dick and Mac McDonald in California, although that's just the way it plays out in my mind. McDonald's started out in California in the late forties as well. The McDonalds sold out to Ray Kroc, a milkshake machine salesman, who sold the heart and soul of the great American hamburger in a frenzy of rapid growth, while In n Out stayed true to their passion - burgers, fries and a beverage. That's the whole menu. No freezers, no microwaves, no heat lamps. Great burgers, great service, good old American fast food. Burger, fry and soda pop for under $5 in only three states - Nevada, California, and Arizona. No franchises. The Snyder family still owns every store (200 of them +/-).

Great - the burger. Grilled on a flat top. A zillion variations, but only if you're in the know. Apparently there is a "secret" menu, but for the rest of us there is nothing on the menu except three combos using the same great burger with or without cheese, single or double. Fresh lettuce, onions and tomatoes garnish a toasted bun. Some sort of thousand island type dressing. The fries are matchstick cut, fresh - the kid was slamming potatoes through the slicer into the water filled sink while I watched!

Good - dining room cleanliness can get a little bit behind, but they were slammed and they were running out there trying to keep up, but the people just kept coming in right until closing time at 1:00 a.m.! The staff was exhausted but pumped and on their game right to the end. I haven't seen it that busy in a Canadian fast food restaurant in more than 20 years, but that's how it used to be at McDonald's in my little town.

Room to Grow? Forty-seven states and ten provinces, but let's hope not. They'd have to sell out to do that; they'd have to compromise. I hate the way Tim Hortons in Canada has sacrificed quality for growth and now sells warmed up frozen doughnuts and crappy coffee in more locations than Tim himself every dreamed possible. No, I'll stick to finding an In n Out on my occasional visits to the west.

The Only Comment Card Question that Really Matters: would I come back? Heck, I bought the t-shirt! I can't wait to get back.

The Annual Skunking of Molly

Every year, sure as the sun sets in the west, my dog Molly gets skunked. The first year it happened was the worst. She took it full-on in the face. Apparently the skunk didn’t realize or care that Molly only wanted to play. So, there I was at 2 a.m. drenching my year-old puppy in tomato juice. The timing was horrible as I was scheduled to get up at five and be on the road by six to drive across the province.

The next year I was in Montreal when it happened. My wife had to deal with it. When Gloria Steinem famously said that “a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” she obviously had never had to bathe her hound in tomato juice. Two things I have learned after many years on the road – first, don’t leave your wife at home staring at walls that need painting. Either take her with you or paint the walls before you leave. Secondly, when you’re on the road for extended periods of time, it is almost guaranteed your wife will need to deal with a crisis that should have been yours to handle.

This year the skunking wasn’t so bad as Molly is starting to catch on and she high tailed it away so that the skunk only caught the back end of her. High tailed it right into the house, up the stairs and under the bed. We just got our carpets cleaned less than three days ago.

At least I was home to crack open a case of Leamington’s finest.

Good things in Windsor - The Optimist Youth Band

If you read enough Windsor blogs you would think that there’s nothing to do in this town but complain and find fault. I blame that on the fact that... no, just kidding.

And so bloggers are the only source of dissenting opinion, it seems.

That said there are a lot of very good things happening in our fair city. Although it is my profession to sell this city as a destination, even I forget the small wonders that make it more than just a great place to visit; this is a great place to live for most.

Last night I took in a concert at the Peace Fountain on Riverside Drive. The Windsor Optimist Youth Concert Band performed. The setting was beautiful, and the exuberance of the talented youth in the band was contagious. We don’t hear enough about them. They are an award-winning marching band that represents our city very well indeed.

While most of the audience was obviously parents and grandparents and family, my wife and I were there because we enjoy a good show in a peaceful setting in the company of good friends. Congratulations to the Windsor Optimist Youth Concert Band for being such fine ambassadors for and good neighbours in our city!

Employee on Sick Leave has his reputation tarnished by an elected official in the press

The CEO of the Windsor Public Library is on sick leave. This is public knowledge. The Chair of the Library board has an issue with what the CEO is doing on his sick leave. Fair enough. Why not approach the employee on sick leave and talk to him about it? Because the attention grabbing Chair of the Board is a city councilor who has never passed up an attention grabbing antic that would put him on the front page of the local rag. So instead he runs to the press. Shame on you, Mr. Councilor. Shame.

"Free" tank of gas with a new car?

My son got a new car. It’s a very sweet car. He deserves it; his mother and I agree that any kid that puts himself through University and comes out debt free has earned the right to drive a nice car, after he’s got himself a nice job of course. Just minutes after he left the lot the warning chime sounded that the hatch wasn’t fully closed, and upon inspection he discovered that it couldn’t be closed properly. He didn’t have time to get back to the dealership as he was on his way to work. So the annoying chime continued all the way to work and his car sat with an unlocked hatch (with 60/40 folding back seats allowing access to the cabin of the car) overnight.

I suppose it’s possible that the Dealer drove 400 kilometers to bring in this dealer trade from Pickering and didn’t hear the chime. I suppose it’s possible that the latch malfunctioned right after my son left the dealer’s lot.

I also suppose that the reason they give you a full tank of gas with a new car is that you may need every drop of it going back and forth to the dealership for warranty issues. Let’s hope not.

IN Support of Chauvin

Our town is in an uproar because Mr. Frank Chauvin is considering returning his Order of Canada after learning that Morgentaler will be similarly honoured.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=cae01509-d70b-4616-8065-ac4e5b2b28ab

Frank is a man of good faith who has dedicated the latter part of his life to helping the poor in Haiti. It's ironic that our Governor General, originally from Haiti, would forget the sanctity of life and recognize a man like Morgentaler, who with all best human intentions, has done great evil in our world with the taking of so many innocent lives.

I have never met Frank Chauvin, but I believe that whether or not one agrees with him on the Morgentaler issue, the man has seen the beauty of human life even in the most terrible of conditions in the slums of Haiti. He may not have carried a child in his womb, no man has, but this man has carried God's children in his arms and was moved to fight for the lives of the most unwanted of humankind, by our shameful societal standards.

Eggspectation Restaurant in Ottawa, yesterday morning

Eggspectation is a pretty busy restaurant in Ottawa. My old friend from high school days and I get together almost whenever I'm in Ottawa, and because the restaurant is close to my hotel and his office, we meet there. The food is always good. The ambiance is kind of funky dirty (it really could use a good scrubbing), the tables are small, and the staff are uber-cool in black t's and pants with matching attitude. Although some are quite pleasant even to the point of smiling, you never real feel overly welcome. A real throwback to the 80's / 90's when restaurants could establish a theme without spending a ton of cash. Open concept kitchen.

Good - hearty breakfast, served very quickly (if you can get someone to take your order - read on...), kind of a 80's roadhouse type presentation, kind of like what you'd expect if a university area nightclub opened for breakfast (and this is not necessarily a bad thing)
Great - full menu with nice play on any word that starts with the prefix "ex" - like "eggspectation", "eggsuberant", etc.)
Growth area - service, service, service. The menu was "eggstensive" so I asked the server if they had any healthy breakfast recommendations. She told me there were lots on the menu. Unfortunately, they weren't marked "healthy choice" or something like that, so I asked her to recommend something. Her answer? "I'll give you a few minutes..." and off she went. I didn't need a few minutes, I'd already had a few minutes (quite a few), I needed the "eggspert" advice of someone who knew the menu.

I kid you not, in the time it took for her to come back the guy next to us had been seated, ordered and received his breakfast. Clearly I was being punished for being indecisive.

I suspect the amount of time I spent studying the menu in the meantime was likely longer than she had ever looked at it.

The Ultimate Comment Card Question (the only one that really matters): Based on this visit, would I come back? Frankly, yeah sure, the food is good and not too pricey, but I'm going to be looking for another place to meet my pal for breakfast in the future.

-- Jeremy Tyrrell

Propaganda War in Windsor

I can't tell the difference between the City of Windsor's "Greenlink" and the Province of Ontario's "Parkway" proposal - and I've been paying attention. Sure, there's a bit more roadway buried in the city's plan, which I really like, but the province's plan is perfectly acceptable to most reasonable people, I suspect. Our city council wants a Cadillac solution, and the Province came back with a Buick. I liked our solution, and I like Cadillacs. But you can't have what you can't afford. And for the record, I still think the DRTP alternate truck route was head and shoulders above anything that's come along since council caved to a vocal minority.

So now a ton of money is being spent by both sides to propagandize their proposals, on top of the money already spent in consultants and lawyers by our city council.

Hey, I may be wrong, maybe this will work. All I know is that from where I'm sitting we're down to splitting hairs and waiting for the other guy to blink. And the meter is running.

Il Fornello - A Return Visit

I wrote a nice review of Il Fornello a while ago with a little bit of a suggestion on improving service. The nice people at Il Fornello were kind enough to write to me and ask me to stop by and try them again. So I did - but to be very clear, I wasn't enticed in by any sort of compensatory offer. The food is good at Il Fornello, and the menu is creative and I really like the "Ontario" section -it's creative and socially aware. I don't mind paying for it.

The service was the same - so maybe I'm the problem. I just don't get the feeling anyone really cares if I'm there or not, almost like they're doing me a favour by serving me. My server was friendly, but not attentive. For example, when I told him I wasn't sure which pizza to choose, instead of making a few suggestions (which I would have welcomed and tried to ask for) he did the Diner dash instead - "I'll give you a few more minutes to look over the menu." I'd already had far too much time between being seated, being acknowledged by the waiter, getting my drink and now being approached for an order. I didn't need more time, I needed some help from the expert - Il Fornello's waiter. I guess he had something more important to do.

Look - I'm really low maintenance. I will eat whatever a waiter sincerely suggests. I order from the menu, I don't complain, I keep a very low profile and I tip well when the service is great.

I really enjoyed the pizza, I'd eat there again, but I'm in no hurry. I think the feeling is mutual.

The Loose Moose - Toronto

I have often walked by this restaurant and thought about going in. The patio at a nearby restaurant was jammed on this first really beautiful day of the new Patio season, so I figured that the restaurants without patios should be fairly quiet - and the Loose Moose was only somewhat busy nearest the open windows.

What are your expectations of a bar that clearly caters to, and probably does a lot of business from the tourist sports crowd on their way to a Blue Jays or Maple Leafs game? This place is about what you'd expect.

Trouble is, just meeting expectations isn't even the entry level for restaurants these days. I'm not in any way criticizing the place, and hey, if they're kick-ass busy most of the time, who cares what one guy's expectations are for creativity and great food?

The thing is, sometimes I go into a pub for lunch and the food is surprisingly outstanding. This was surprisingly banal. It wasn't bad, it wasn't all that good.

I had the Cobb Salad, which was a boring mix of ingredients readily available in the kitchen for other menu items. Romaine lettuce (iceberg in a Cobb makes more sense), chopped tomatoes, chopped green onions, shredded cheese and a dollop of guacamole (hunnh?). These double as fajita/nacho/texmex ingredients, no doubt. Bacon bits, sliced egg (not chopped?) and cucumber spears finished Cobb. Boring and unimaginative, and it could have been a refreshing summer salad.

Good - the young lady who served me was keeping an eye on her section quite nicely, and there seemed to be some teamwork in getting meals out to the tables.
Great - I bet a nice cold beer and some wings during the playoffs would go down very well in this place.
Room for Growth - don't treat lunch as the necessary cost of being open for evening bar biz. Clean the place up, and present a unique and different menu.

The Ultimate Comment Card Question, the only one that matters: Based on this visit, would I return? Not on purpose. Don't get me wrong - the place was OK. But for the same price within a half mile radius you can get better than OK in easily a dozen other pubs.