Did someone say burrito?

Holy cow! No, seriously...I think I moo-ed after eating this:

Wowza. Burrito Supreme.

      I have to say that I really enjoyed my experience at Sam's No. 3 in A-town. You can't throw up your hands and beg for mercy in here unless you want them doused in Kickin' pork green chile. 2 eggs, gyro, ham, sausage, bacon, homefries, and one heart attack later...I was thoroughly pleased with this Sunday brunch. I would have liked my homefries to be cooked just a little more, but the burrito was all I could ask for and more. It's the only thing I ate all day!

     Side note: it was BUSY in here and I was lucky to get a seat at the counter, but if you're with a group and it's a prime eating time, expect a 1 hour wait. I don't lie about the wait time to food nirvana. (This place has been on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives for the Kitchen Sink Burrito, built for all people willing to take the challenge.)

     Truth moment: I'm not a huge fan of this green chile thing that Colorado has going on. I had never had it until I came here...and it's the only kind of chile around here. If I made an analogy, it would be like the necessity for butter in the south. I think that Sam's has very good green chile, but sometimes...I just get too much of it. I think I would prefer it on the side.

     The waitress I had was a machine. Everyone that works in there is because there are about 15 customers to every member of the wait staff. If you want to watch an oiled machine work without paying the outrageous gasoline prices, come to this joint. My waitress made sure that I was never lacking coffee. I had so much caffeine that I ran over to Colorado Ski and Golf (another favorite of mine and about 3 skips from Sam's) and saved one minute of my life. It's still a mystery. 

Rule #1: Don't eat sushi and then run.

Snail mail? What is it good for? If I didn't order weekly from Amazon...I would cancel my subscription. Can you do that with the USPS or do you fall off the map, literally?

And speaking of the 89.5% of worthless mail that I get, one little insistent pamphlet kept popping up every week. They served sushi and that means that eventually I had to cave in to this. When you crave sushi, you will go to great lengths to get sushi. Like drive 5 miles.

The funny thing about this landlocked state of Colorado is that we have GREAT sushi. I haven't been to a place that I don't like (I do avoid the places that look at little...ripe). But I will always tell people that they should never move here because I don't want it to become more crowded. ;)

Found the caterpillar...
Where is the Cheshire cat?

Okay, back to food. Dear Rice Bistro, thanks for existing. Here is the situation...I love this place, my new favorite sushi restaurant around this area. Let me tell you why: price, very good sushi, as well as fast and friendly sushi chefs. I wish I had gotten my favorite chef's name but next time I go back, we're getting a blog worthy photo together.

I ordered the california roll and the caterpillar roll, as well as the colorado roll (I think that was the name of it). I usually order 2-3 rolls for me when I'm famished...like haven't eaten in 10 hours or something. But, that would have been 24 very filling pieces here and my sushi chef knew to hold off on making the last roll. He asked me if I wanted it before he made it, and I definitely didn't! Also, the waiter was very efficient with my check and making sure that everything was 100%. When people think of sushi around here, they traditionally always hear about Sushi Sasa or Sushi Den. But, honestly, those places can take forever to be seated and served. I'm talking hours...and is the sushi really that amazing? They do have some rare items that are interesting to try, but I would reserve those places for a special event. Sometimes, I just need awesome sushi NOW. For that, I have my lovely new bistro around. The only advice I would give to this restaurant would be to cut down the non-sushi menu...sushi is where you shine and the other menu was about 8 pages of overwhelming.

Also, if you happen to love spicy and/or Sriracha sauce like I do...they definitely have some speciality rolls for you. I'm hitting that vibe up on the next round of sushi madness.

Addendum: You need to ask for the sushi chef named Pin. He is the man. The other people are good, but he is THE best at this place!

The Early Years

I know, it's starting out like a wikipedia title. There is hope for knowledge in here!

Drug of choice as a child

After my fiasco as a baby with rice pudding, apple juice, and milk, my first memories with food included sourdough bread and corn pudding made by my grandma. And brunswick stew, yum! I have the recipe for the corn pudding as well as the starter for the bread, but it never tastes the same because I prefer when people put some of their love into my meals.

We used to eat at this restaurant in Henderson, NC called the Cardinal Restaurant on Sundays and they had amazing soup and pecan pie. I always hated getting up to go to church in my uncomfortable patent leather shoes, there was too much playing that needed to be accomplished. But there was a good meal at the end of it...so I suffered through the amens and awkward singing of hymns from smelly books for the hopes of something awesome to cleanse my palette later. (Side note on this blurb: you self-proclaimed 'morning people', you were born that way, but please cherish my divergence from this lifelong path of sunrises and I will show you the way with beautiful sunsets. I will prevail!)

False.

There were bad food days, too. Grits and turnip greens. These were invented to make children question what they did wrong and why they deserve this plate of questionable items. I still refuse to eat such items. But maybe if appropriately hidden in a sushi roll, I may consider it as a new alternative form.

My motivation for this blog stems from the realization (thanks to my good friend Jamie) that so many of my memories throughout my life were associated with food.  I remember so many places were I have eaten, and in so many states/countries that I wanted to share the things that surrounded these events. However, chronological order is not my cup of java so I'm going to go in my own order. It's my blog, I can. Later, readers.

The Introduction Without a Thesis

Food. It always brings people together. When you don't know where someone is in the house...you look in the kitchen. You know you do, don't deny yourself the right to agree with this blog entry.

Did you know that the average American makes about 150 food related decisions throughout the day? As with most statistics, this seems excessive but who doesn't love a little hyperbole with their googling? I know there is one decision I made about food tonight...I decided to write about it. I have neglected to write anything in the last 4+ years and I feel like it's my duty as a well educated American to help you all out with your 150 decisions.

Let take a journey through my life via the route of the food...yeah?