Gut Consumption

More Carnivorous Eating in Esslingen!

2011-11-20T02:55:00.001-08:00

If nothing else, this tour is one of stark contrasts. Leisurely hangouts one day, long travel and train delays the next...Music-making one day, time off the next. Good food one day, crap the next.

We arrived in Esslingen, Germany near Stuttgart in the Southwest of Germany yesterday around noon. We had taken an overnight train from Aalborg, Denmark the night before, where dinner consisted of fast food garbage near the train station in Kolding. See Ty eating a "regular" slice of pizza above with day-old cheese, meat pellets and ranch-style dressing. He regrets putting that stuff in his body, but at the time was stirred to do so either by desperation, or perhaps a stubborn willingness to accept it as "food." That dinner was supplemented by salty salty salty peanuts (the hilight), gummy bears and dark chocolate bars on the train. Yes, if left to their own devices, a group of four grown men will eat as if they're a bunch of trick-or-treating ten year-olds.

But yesterday evening was a chance for redemption! So Ken did a bit of research and we went in search of a local brauhaus with good food. Our first choice place was full, which was too bad, as they had a number of enticing hirsch (venison) dishes on the menu. So we wandered a bit more, passing the construction crews working on the booths for this season's Weihnachtsmarkt (outdoor Christmas market). We finally landed at the Palmscher-Bau. The place had homemade spätzle (egg noodles), various hearty meats, seasonal/local beers, and an appealing old-German aesthetic. Oh, and they had a table for us if we could finish our meal in two hours. We decided to do our best in that regard. Ken and Ty were both intrigued by the Schweinshaxe (oven roasted pork knuckle), but decided instead to go with the chef's-choice meat plate. Adam ordered lentils, and Eric ordered the roast pork.

The cheese spätzle that came with Ken and Ty's platter seemed to edge out the butter spätzle that Eric and Adam had, but both were pretty good. The lentils were a bit of a shocker - "lentils" meant "lentils with three smokey-flavored hot dogs." Adam enjoyed the smoke-factor, and even rated these among the tastiest hot dogs he's had; but it seems like he intended to have a different meal than the one set before him. You can see the two-person meat sampler pictured above - it included pork medallions, lentils+hot dogs, fried doo-dads over spätzle, some cut of beef smothered in caramelized onions, and sauerkraut mixed with potato gnocchi-like noodles. In terms of excessive quantity, this platter was exceptional. But none of the meats was a standout. We were reminded of the Serbian meat platter we had back in fall 2009 during our Belgrade Jazz Festival tour - each item on that platter had a unique flavor profile, character and texture...the platter last night didn't reach such heights.

After all of that, we decided to split two dessert plates: one was a warm chocolate cake, the other was a plum jam-filled dumpling with vanilla cream sauce. The cake was good, but it was served with an odd frozen concoction - something that looked ice cream, but actually had no moisture in it and was incredibly brittle. It was like astronaut ice cream, and it had the faint taste of coconut. Not really that good. The dumpling on the other hand was quite good, with the plum jam winning over even those among us who tend to pass on such jams when they appear at the German breakfast table. Currants were the nicest of the fruits served as garnish.
Tonight we play Kulturzentrum Dieselstrass in Esslingen - if you're on this continent, we hope to see you there!

More Erlangen

2011-11-15T23:19:00.001-08:00

We probably began this post yesterday, which was the morning after our show at the Studenterhuset in Aalborg, Denmark. We had spent 9 1/2 hours on four different trains getting to northern Denmark from Rostock, Germany and still felt a bit glazed over from the experience. But glaze is the only thing that makes sense under such circumstances. Let's remember, we're a band on tour in Europe, and our circadian rhythms are absolutely screwed. We took an overnight flight to Europe; our first show in Erlangen was at 3pm; we then taught two days of master classes which began at 8:30 and 10am; we traveled from southern Germany to northern Denmark...we're not astronauts, but we are testing our physical capacities to withstand a certain type of abuse.

That said, we did eat pretty well way back in Erlangen...Erlangen?! That's right, we have to backtrack a few days. First we must mention the family style breakfast that inlcuded: dense whole grain spelt (dinkle) bread, three cheeses (fresh goat, gruyere and a brie with flower blossoms), salami (beef, pork), organic liverwurst (don't knock it, it was good!), eggs, yogurt, milk...You can see some of these items assembled at the very end of this post, along with jam and a sturdy bread knife. It was a nice way to start the day, especially given the very early and strikingly chilly (24 degrees Fahrenheit) Erlangen fall mornings.

We did have a decent dinner on Monday night at Jenn and Andrea's local Italian haunt, Salz + Pfeffer. We were joined by Marsha and Bill from the Franconian International School, who moved here some years ago from Atlanta, and they made for good company. Food-wise, Jenn's pumpkin soup with truffle shavings was apparently very good. It's not that she wasn't willing to share, but we forgot to ask - see it pictured above - it's the one that looks like soup. Most noteworthy for us in the band was the antipasto plate, which featured a variety of roasted peppers and tomatoes and a very nice bruschetta. The pasta dishes that we sampled - a pappardelle and a fettuccine (or was that spaghetti?) - were both fine. Nice ingredients like sardines, pesto, anchovies, parmesan - but all fairly tame flavors.

The real standout in that town was Tuesday night's dinner at a Franconian/Czech restaurant called Gaststätte Römming. See Jenn and Andrea pictured below underneath a tuba which hung from the ceiling and you can understand the vibe. We had to call several places to get a table even on a Tuesday night, because apparently the corporate types from Siemens (headquartered in Erlangen) take all the tables at the good restaurants in town most nights. And places like this only do one seating - so if you get a table, it's yours for as long as you'd like. That meant that Andrea had to do a bit of homework on our behalf. She found this place with a table available, we jumped on a bus and quickly made our way there.

Ken and Ty had their hearts set on ente (duck) with klöse and rotkraut (dumplings and red cabbage kraut), a southern German seasonal delight. And it seemed as though they were in luck, because along with Jenn and Eric, they ordered the last ducks in the kitchen. Eric had wanted rabbit, but that was already gone...Adam ordered goose (the one pictured below without the cabbage) and Andrea ordered a pig thing (see hers pictured with the sliced dumplings below). All of this food was rich, savory and delicious. Adam may have even called the goose "fantastic" or "phenomenal." It was the kind of food you'd like to eat when it's freaking cold outside, or it seems like it might snow - and there was some early winter frost on the ground that day...Either way, the meal rated "very good" on the highly-contentious Gutbucket scale of food criticism, and we were still burning those calories off several days later, walking in the suburban foothills of Denmark.

West Coast Greatest Hits

2011-11-14T08:50:00.000-08:00

OK, we confess...we missed a golden opportunity to share many nuanced and delicious tales of West Coast USA culinary adventures at the end of our May 2011 tour. We left out plenty of food from San Francisco, as well as everything we ate in Portland and Seattle. This is a shame, because we ate so well in those places. We even ate well in some of the roadside in-between places.

So we in no way mean to belittle West Coast cuisine by presenting some of our favorites in this photo montage. These photos aren't all particularly lovely either, but they give some insight into what we were feeding on during the latter half of that trip.

Some of the greatest hits: "morning buns" at La Farine Bakery in Oakland; either the al pastor or

carne assada burrito at El Farolito in San Francisco's Mission; muffins at Arizmendi Bakery in Oakland; Indian food at Vik's in Berkeley; sandwiches at Star Grocery in Oakland; German pancakes at Sanborn's in Portland; coffee-rubbed pork tenderloin, bratwurst with caramelized onions, and more at Adam's friend Adam Fream's house in Seattle; Korean blood sausage near Tacoma, WA; Vietnamese food near Ty's friend Marwan's gym in downtown Oakland...the details are a bit foggy...the calories were burned a long time ago.

Late Fall in Franconia

2011-11-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

We're sitting in the living room of our friends Andrea and Jenn, who are generously hosting and housing us during our 3-day residency at the Franconian International School in Erlangen, Germany. We've gone over tomorrow's music lessons, argued about music education a bit, reflected on some of the crappy elements of our individual music education experiences, and have also nuzzled a bit with the cats (except Ken, who's allergic). We're in the south of the country, by the way- in Franconia- though less enlightened souls may tell you it's Bavaria. Like in many parts of the US and elsewhere, people care about regional identities here. As winter approaches, the local food is appropriately hearty and warm, with beer to match. The beer garden/brewery we went to last night is called Steinbach, and the special on the menu that day was a pork-based meatloaf called "Hackbraten" (made from "Hackfleish," or chopped meat) with dumplings and a salad. This is what Ken, Adam and Ty all ordered (pictured above). Eric ordered a pork cutlet with potato dumplings (klöse). The meatloaf was delicious, with a generous amount of black pepper and fresh herbs, a crispy crust, and a tender interior. Those dumplings were bread-based, and they were the perfect accompaniment. The two house-made beers that day were an unfiltered lager, and a regional specialty called the Weizenbock, and both were tasty and noteworthy.

Today began with a relaxed and hearty brunch at Andrea and Jenn's that featured a number of good cheeses, hard-boiled eggs, bread, jam, French honey, cappuccino, rooibos tea, and homemade "bircher muesli" (rolled oats soaked overnight with yogurt, shredded apples, raisins and coconut). The muesli was delicious, especially when mixed with a French version of quark called fromage blanc. Sorry there are no pictures documenting the spread - as good as it was, the muesli was not particularly photogenic, and we wouldn't want it to be misrepresented on this blog.

Tonight's dinner was Greek food, and it was arguably pretty good, not bad, or fine...depending upon which of us you ask. After performing our soundtrack to the French animation film "Jeannot L'Intrepide," we took our time packing up and then made it to the restaurant by 5:15. We were the first ones seated, since the place didn't officially open until 5:30, but no worries, they were welcoming. Like some troublesome restaurants (including New York's classic "Greek diners" - no relation, by the way), the menu was vast and a bit intimidating. But we took our time, asked a few questions, and got some translation help from our friends. Each of the four of us ordered a different assortment of mixed-grilled-meat platters. The offerings included a variety of lamb, cow and pork products. The unanimous hilight was the grilled lamb cutlet, which were small pieces of lamb on the bone, grilled to a delicious and savory perfection, with ample amounts of char, salt and fat. The beef liver was strong and not for the faint of heart - Adam couldn't finish his, but Ty gave it rave reviews (he's generally a fan of liver). There was a mysterious item called "Suzuki," which turned out to be a piece of chopped pork, re-shaped into a sausage-like item. The familiar yogurt-based Zaziki (or tzatziki) sauce was rich and tangy. The tomato-rice was a good starchy accompaniment, and the french fries were fine, but apparently not worth mentioning (oops).

Our dinner guests ordered many ice-cream-based desserts (banana split, ice cream sundae, Greek pastry a la mode) consumed by various parties at the table (see an example below), but we four opted out. They seemed seasonally inappropriate, since it was well below 30 degrees Fahrenheit when we woke up this morning. But more to the point, we were so full by then that even Ty - typically our resident dessert-sampling-champion- took a pass.

Tomorrow we begin our teaching day at the unfortunate hour of 8am, so for now we have to sign off! Stay tuned for more tales of European tour food to come...

Two Countries, One Day

2011-07-15T20:56:00.001-07:00

Luscious 3 course meal in Paris before our concert two weeks ago is still somewhat fresh in mind. We began with a salad of mixed greens, yellow tomatoes, cheese, and vinaigrette, served with fresh baguette (torn, not sliced!). The main was a light white fish, stewed vegetables and black rice. And the dessert of panna cotta with fresh berries ("frutti di bosca") and French press coffee (of course) was the perfect finish.

Folks were lined up to get into the show- in fact many ran to get seats once they were let in- and the audience of nearly a thousand was very appreciative. We were in a beautiful park (le parc floral) surrounded by flowers, sculptures and a large duck/goose pond.

Had our schedule allowed it, we would have stayed longer, but of course because we're us, we had a show in London at 9:30pm. So we rushed into a taxi at 4:19 to catch a 5:30 eurostar international train. Our cab driver was poised and quite skilled, skirting along side streets, carefully navigating Saturday's Parisian traffic. We reached the train station with 25 minutes to get through customs and passport control, which we did, despite a comically slow and probing British passport inspector...and in fact, we boarded the train with a whopping 3 minutes to spare!

Paris preview

2011-07-09T12:52:00.001-07:00

Our only dinner in Paris with friends at this restaurant near the Pompidou centre featured a salad of various cow/goat/sheep cheeses (this is Paris, so of course this stuff was amazing), dried meats, greens and bread, followed by a rare and wonderful variety of main courses.

Ty and Adam had the salad poetique, which featured three cuts of duck: a wonderfully smokey cured filet, a super-smooth confit, and a melt-in-your-mouth leg as the centerpiece. Eric had a duck filet with a compellingly sweet potato puree, and Ken had the lamb (both gave very positive reviews). See photos below (you can also see the African chicken in the foreground with Ken's lamb).

All of this was followed by creme brulee with ginger, dark chocolate cake, and apple tarts. Then fresh mint tea, aperitifs, and a nice walk to the subway that just beat the rain. Thanks so much to Guillaume and company for bringing us out for this very relaxed and delicious Parisian dinner. More information on our meal at Le Parc Floral the next day, a catered affair nestled in between a 10am sound check and a 3pm set at the Paris Jazz Festival before a crowd of nearly a thousand!

And just another note- lest you think our trip to London and Paris won't beget any posts about what we ate in London...let the record state that food in London was actually pretty good...London is just an easy scapegoat for food jokes- our cab driver (who was a long-ago emigrant from Poland) took a few jabs at London cuisine on our way to the airport, and perhaps he was being unfair (although good kielbasa could probably take down your average British sausage in a taste test). It was definitely unfair of him to make us listen to his Aerosmith-laden classic rock playlist while tailgating slow highway drivers so early in the morning.

Back to Northern Cali

2011-05-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

May 10 was a special day. Not only was it the day after our wonderful REDCAT concert in LA, but it was also Ty's daughter's 3rd birthday. So it was an occasion for the band to split up for about 12 hours...Ty took an early morning flight up to San Francisco to meet his wife Megan and their daughter Zora for a Bay Area birthday extravaganza...While Ken, Erc and Adam leisurely woke up in LA, ate amazing Kogi taco truck food, and slowly ambled upstate with our minivan and gear. Zora's a young food lover at heart, so part of her birthday had to incorporate great eats.

Megan and Zora picked Ty up at the Oakland Airport, and then they made their way to the San Francisco Ferry Landing, which is sort of an upscale foodie mall, with both sit-down restaurants and food stands selling stuff a la carte. After some bird chasing and boat watching, the trio went to one of the carts and chose some delicious slow-roasted pork ramen noodles. The pork had a bold sweet/smokey flavor, and it was tender enough to fall apart in your mouth. There were some nice mushrooms and scallions in the soup, the noodles were good too (a kid-pleaser), but really...the broth was just outstanding. Savory and a little thicker than water, it had kind of a lovely fishy flavor. We gladly drank it in lieu of a more traditional lunch-time beverage (who needs a beverage if there's good soup, anyways?!). After sharing some decent sweet corn and cheese tamales as well, Megan and Zora went to play while Ty scoped out surprise birthday cupcakes and coffee. He went for a decaf latte at the famed Blue Bottle coffee shop, and it was pretty good. Maybe it was amazing. But with so much hype around the name (yes, it's in Williamsburg, Brooklyn too...blah, blah), and with Ty in a bit of a rush to get those cupcakes, the moment didn't allow for genuine, relaxed, coffee indulgence. Next time.

Cupcakes were found - with rich chocolate cake strawberry buttercream icing and purple flowers, no less! And that sealed the deal on the Ferry Landing for us. Thanks to Jeremy (our friend from Pitom) and his wife Liz for that recommendation!

Coming up - more burrito tales, Indian food at Viks, dynamite sandwiches, burgers, and some other super-edible Bay Area crud.

Last day in LA

2011-05-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

We relocated from Valencia to downtown LA on Sunday before Monday's show and a lot changed. We went from the practical and convenient Extended Stay Hotel to the chic, sexy and modern Downtown Standard Hotel (hello rooftop pool with red waterbed space pods on deck!). We also had new food options. We made the trek downtown after Sunday's excellent rehearsal with the CalArts crew and split up...Ken, Eric and Ty went to dinner at the home of pianist (and CalArts faculty member) Vicki Ray and composer Sean Naidoo. Adam went out with his girlfriend Greta Gertler. Nothing to document their meal, but for the three of us, Sean and Vicki grilled delicious chicken and vegetables, all California-fresh, and served with a raw kale salad. Kale is usually bitter when eaten raw, but this salad had a tangy, slightly sweet vinaigrette dressing that cut through the bitterness and made it work. The whole grilled zucchini impressed even Ty (who's usually bored by that particular member of the squash family), and the chicken had a spicy mole-like sauce that was also a crowd-pleaser. We ate in their backyard and had a great time - thanks for hosting, you two!

Then on Monday, Eric and Ty went out for tacos and had a very LA experience - they walked through a streetside set of some dumb new cable show. Unfortunately, the taco stand where they chose to get a decent but unimpressive brunch was part of the set, and they were asked (without much choice) to eat inside instead of outside. Should've asked the show to pay for the meal, but didn't think quickly enough. While eating, an actor repeatedly ran into the restaurant, retrieved a half-eaten doughnut, and then walked out to run across the street. Six or seven times during brunch. But hey wait - what a good idea - doughnuts! After Ty grabbed a damn good decaf latte at Spring For Coffee (Stumptown, as per Ken's post), Eric and Ty went on a doughnut excursion.

What they found within walking distance after a tiny bit of research was a place called Babycakes NYC (their other location is in Soho). The treats they served were vegan and gluten-free. But Eric and Ty were undeterred - they wanted a sweet treat! So they split a mocha doughnut and each got their own salted caramel doughnut. The three-doughnut price tag? $11.25. Good lord! It's hard to imagine a doughnut being worth that much, but Eric and Ty sat outside and comfortably enjoyed their platinum confections. The salted caramel was a winner; the mocha was ok. But these were not your typical doughnuts - take away the egg and gluten and you're working with a different animal. It's good - sure - but it has a different consistency and character. Calling it "Circular Vegan Cake" would have been more accurate.

Then it was time to head over to REDCAT for four hours of set-up, rehearsal and sound check. Everything went well as we worked slowly and methodically with the tech crew. We also spoke with our ace concert producer Lauren Pratt from CalArts/REDCAT about where to eat that night. Not only was Lauren the key resource for this entire production (huge thanks Lauren!!!!), but she also had a sushi spot in Little Tokyo that she recommended. Around 6:45pm, we went to nearby Toshi Sushi.

Adam, Lauren and Ken each ordered a rice beer and Ty had the homemade iced green tea. All were delicious. Because we were being time sensitive, we ordered efficiently. Lauren and Eric each had the vegetarian combo; Ty and Ken had the sushi combo; and Adam had the sashimi.

Pictured you'll see Ty's sushi platter. There were some standards like tuna and yellow-tail (all impeccably fresh and wonderful), and some surprises. The best of these was the marinated baby squid. The large salmon roe tasted amazing, as did the grilled eel (so sweet, fatty and rich). Eric said his vegetable tempura (pumpkin, squash and more) was hands-down the best tempura he'd ever had. Adam quietly snarfed his sashimi with methodical gusto. We lavished in sushi heaven for a crisp hour and 15 minutes and then headed back to REDCAT all fueled-up for an amazing concert.
And we're pleased to say that you can read about it in the LA Times! http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/05/jazz-review-gutbucket-chamber-orchestra-at-redcat.html
More tales about working our way back up north are on their way!

And more Mexican, Veitnamese, and Korean tacos (!!)

2011-05-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

Well, Ty's been doing such a great job it seems ridiculous for me to stick my head in.

But since LA we've diverged a little bit... me not making it in time for one lunch and finding my own ... and then Ty going ahead of the band to San Francisco, and me staying across the city with my sister. So I have a report.

I'm writing this from Philz Coffee in the Mission District. I admit that I've been basically following the internet for where to go. Philz' thing is (and they have a few places) actually brewed coffee; they brew each cup fresh, which results in a really

pleasant brew. The cream they put in (I asked for it) results in a very mild and creamy brew despite asking for a dark roast recommendation. (You have a choice of 19 coffees... wonder how many of these are freshly roasted?) Was it worth $3.25 for a small cup of coffee? It's delicious though I think I'd rather get a $2.xx macchiato at Blue Bottle. There's something about filter-brewed coffee that's doing it less and less for me lately.

There have been a lot of discussions this tour - to Ty's annoyance - about what we (me, Adam, and formerly Eric) have in Sunset Park and how it compares to Californian mexican options. I have to say that despite some good experiences in LA, there's nothing that I've seen in this country like the Mission District in San Francisco. I walked up 24th Street from the BART to La Esposita today and - although I've heard great things about LA - there's nothing like being able to WALK down the street, and walk by an amazing assortment of restaurants, bakeries, and groceries, all of whom have their own thing. The feeling that I could live here for months and explore something new and inviting every day is something that is one of these rare things that you rarely find... with little no interruption of corporate bullshit.

No matter how much people tell me about the LA culinary scene, it feels utterly weird to me to drive around in your little pod and dart to the "chosen" places. I understand this is comforting for some people... the safety and serenity of your automobile... but for me, it's just bizarre. I feel so much more comfortable in neighborhoods; places where you can walk around, discover something new, and be inspired. San Francisco has that.

I ate two burritos this trip... El Farolito, the old fantastic standby, at about 1am on Tuesday night, and La Espiga de Oro on this Thursday afternoon pre-Philz visit. El Farolito - the mammoth and still perfect Al Pastor burrito which I've eaten countless times over many visits to San Francisco (including recording and mixing Gutbucket's Sludge Test at Tiny Telephone Studios half a decade ago). La Espiga was a find on burritoeater.com. The only burrito I saw that got a 9.25 rating -- the super carne asada (pictured). And it was good. It took them longer to cook mine up than it would at El Farolito, but the result was wonderful... more cheesy than EF and the meat was well spiced, tasted marinated in citrus. The proportions were perfect, the beans and rice were solid and the tortilla tasted fresh. The chips tasted homemade (not sure if this is true at EF) and were served for free ($.50 at EF); the salsa was a little more tomato-based than I wanted it to be, but I appreciated the fresh herbs and onions liberally mixed in.

Last night with my sister and I took a trip to the Richmond section of San Francisco for Vietnamese food; the place La Vie had been recommended as a little bit more expensive but worth it. The portion size was reasonable and the

ingredients were fresh and very well cooked. I ordered the the Beef Luc Lac which I haven't run into. The meat was very well cooked in a sweet (but not overly so) brown sauce, a little crispy on the outside but tender inside. The special thing about this dish was the side of salt and pepper lime sauce which was unlike something I've had before. Very savory and you would spoon it on for a really nice "optional" but wonderful touch to the meat. The iced coffee was worth talking about (though apparently not picture-worthy, whoops)... a small double-shotglass of condensed milk with a slowly dripping freshly poured coffee on top of espresso-quality. When it was finished dripping (very slow, took about 5 minutes), you would pour the whole thing over a glass of ice. Definitely the best quality Vietnamese coffee drink I've had.

Richmond felt like a neighborhood less "curated" or "manicured" than a lot of San Francisco. I dug it, although I'm told due to its proximity to the sea, it sees a lot of fog. I probably wouldn't wind up here (and nor would my sis) if I weren't playing foodie-tourist. It's nice to be a tourist - you don't mind going way out of your way for anything; everything always seems so much more tiring in your home city.

Back to LA now; Ty has very well-described our late night taco truck experience. No doubt there are many other trucks to have sampled from. After hearing a disappointing review of Ty and Eric's lunchtime, I went on my own, asking the hotel clerk where

to go. She suggested this place Mas Malo, walkable from downtown. This is more what I expect from California/LA, kind of a yuppified Mexican place. I realized I could afford just a couple tacos... so I ordered them. At $3.50 each, were they worth 3x the taco truck? I ordered a baja taco (I now know what this is ... deep fried fish...) along with the recommended carnitas taco - which was excellent and tasted like good meat just a little bit shredded, something closer to something I would have made after a trip to the Park Slope food coop - and the standout was the grilled fish taco. Not sloppy at all (as they often are, I love them so), but a solid and nicely seasoned piece of fish. The 3 tacos did the trick. I was full. Stopped by Spring for Coffee on the way back to the hotel, which was truly excellent, if with a grumpy barista; they were brewing Stumptown and Intelligencia-- I guess the good part of being independent is they didn't have to pick sides.

I'm assuming Ty has told you about our little Tokyo meal; the other highlight of the trip was our visit on Tuesday morning to the heralded Kogi truck. We had been hearing from many people about this Korean taco truck - it's actually a set of 6 Korean taco trucks that, every lunchtime, spread out throughout the city. One day we came to rehearsal at CalArts and found the truck waiting there in the parking lot, with what looked like a 2+ hr line. We had just gotten crappy Starbucks sandwiches -- we were all in a rush spending much of the night and morning working on editing, re-writing, and adding music to our Chamber Orchestra arrangements -- and we were annoyed to see the famed truck had showed up.

So Tuesday morning, Ty had flown to SF ahead of the band to celebrate his daughter's birthday with his family, and I checked the Kogi Truck twitter feed. I googled each one and finally found one that looked on our way. (Since then I've seen you can see their weekly schedule

on their website, you don't need to follow their Twitter feed.) We followed the google directions to this corner of LA in the 134/I5 nexus that turned out to be beside the Disney Studios parking lot. After the last turn, and what seemed like a journey powered by faith alone, we saw the truck. Only a line of about 5.... and wow was it worth the trip. All of us except Adam ordered too much food. The only slightly negative comment was that after Adam finished his burrito, he said there was a little too much vinegar taste after the whole thing. But Eric and I both mixed and matched. He had some enviable looking sliders. My plate(s) were overstuffed; I started with the delicious calamari taco with tomato-based sauce. It seemed natural enough to make me wonder why I had never had one before. The spicy pork taco was topped with kim chee and was actually somewhat spicy (not this "spicy" that many Mexican places put as an adjective for carnitas or enchilada pork)... it was a flavor combination I hadn't had before. The spare rib taco was wonderfully browned and with a flavor I considered a little too sweet. The blue moon mulita was a triumph, flavorful and tender BBQ chicken with sharp cheddar in a small quesadilla with sesame seeds and something they call "salsa azul" on top. I took a dessert to go which I ate much of about 5 hours into our drive up I5 to San Francisco; it was a tres leches chocolate cake which tasted exactly as it sounds, it was creamy, milky, with strong enough chocolate, and delicious.

Despite fantastic sushi in Little Tokyo, this thoughtful truck was the culinary highlight of our LA residency.

Worth noting - as perhaps Ty has - is the incredible hospitality we received this trip - including some fantastic home-cooked food, and wonderful people. We're all very grateful.

Taco Trucks Part 1

2011-05-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

By Saturday evening, Ty was actually starting to feel a bit antsy about the band's lack of taco consumption. Unlike Adam and Ken who live in Sunset Park, Brooklyn with a large Mexican community and cuisine to boot, Ty does not eat good Mexican food on a regular basis. And this was Gutbucket's critical time in Los Angeles - is there arguably anyplace in the U.S. with better Mexican fare?

And so it was the Saturday midday Kogi tease that put Ty over the edge. More on Kogi to come - but the short story is that it's a Korean/Mexican fusion taco truck with a growing cult following in LA...AND, they were parked in the CalArts parking lot at 1pm with a line stretching about 100 meters long. Rehearsal was scheduled for 1pm...There would be no Kogi for Gutbucket's Saturday lunch.

We had a very productive rehearsal on Saturday, really digging into the material with the student members of the Gutbucket Chamber Ensemble. We ran a bit long and finally by 5:30 were ready to walk out and grab an early dinner. What to do? We compromised and went to Newhall- the town nearest Valencia that promised a bit more than chain restaurants. We didn't have a good recommendation for tacos there, so we ate decent Thai food. But for dessert, Ty and Eric stumbled upon their first LA tacos (Adam and Ken were too full and abstained). These were at a place called Las Delicias that we found randomly while driving. Ty had one al pastor taco (the house specialty) and one lengua taco (tongue), while Eric had one al pastor and one carne asada. Ty's tacos are pictured above after the first bite. The tortillas were excellent- fresh, warm, and thick with a strong and prominent corn flavor. The meat was ok. The al pastor had a small slice of mango with it, and the salsa here was decent. Ingredients like radishes, fresh cilantro and onions were available at a salad bar, and Eric and Ty both loaded up. But while these tacos were good, they were not incredible.

Let us then fast forward a bit. The band had a fun show that night at UC Irvine. College kids danced wild and spastic dances while we played. We left the campus around 12:30am and wanted another meal, so we asked our drummer friend Corey Fogel where to go, and he suggested the TacoZone taco truck back in LA, mentioning that it was open very very late.

TacoZone was in the parking lot of a Vons drugstore in Silverlake and just as we pulled up, a van full of drunken USC students graduating in two weeks pulled up and ordered 50 chicken tacos and 2 veggie tacos. 52 tacos! The guy in front of us who placed the order apologized for the wait that would surely ensue. Our jaws dropped. We were tired, hungry AND it was raining in LA. Oh, and it was cold. Los Angeles in May is not supposed to be cold and rainy!! Seattle, perhaps - but not Los Angeles. We tried to maintain good spirits. And miraculously, the two women working the TacoZone truck served up ten plates of five chicken tacos each (plus one plate of two veggie tacos) in less than ten minutes. They knew what to do.

Sadly, by that late hour, they were out of al pastor, which was what some of us were hungry for...So we settled on an assortment of suadero (beef brisket), carnitas (fried pork), chorizo (spicy sausage), and carne asada (grilled steak) tacos - four tacos per person, in fact. See the before and after pictures of Ty's plate with and without fixins'. We ate silently and efficiently. Slowly but steadily, tacos disappeared into our bellies. Ty really enjoyed the chorizo, Eric not so much. Adam liked the carnitas, and Ken liked the suadero. It was all really good, but was not the crown jewel of taco trucks we were hoping for...that story will appear soon, so stay tuned!

Heading South

2011-05-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

The night after the show in Palo Alto, we fueled up with a good breakfast at Coupa Cafe in downtown PA. This Venezuelan food spot had spicy hot chocolate, Eric's best arepa to-date (Venezuelan corn cake sandwich), good omelets, coffee, etc. It was a good place to start the day and enjoy a last hang with Glenn, despite being overcrowded with Stanford-style nerds talking about their next tech company start-up or their favorite deep tissue spa treatment (these were not actual conversations we eavesdropped in on, but they were implicit in the vibe of the place).

From there, we went to Beltramo's liquor supply to get Adam and Ken some fancy beverages, both for their own consumption, and for gifts to bring home. Ty was impressed by the non-alcoholic Bundaberg Australian ginger beer - something new to him, but not to our friend Greta Gertler, who apparently knows it but doesn't particularly enjoy it. Once we were stocked up, we began our journey to southern California. We've traveled the road between the Bay Area and SoCal a number of times and it's not a particularly lush strip for food - somewhat akin to I-80 in Pennsylvania or I-70 east from Denver...but there were a number of roadside fruit and vegetable stands, and after 45 minutes on the road, we decided to stop at one.

We passed on the blood oranges, plums and apples and instead went for a big bin of fresh sweet cherries. We washed them in back and began eating right away. They were sweet, juicy and highly enjoyable road food. They held us over for a couple of hours as well.

But by mid afternoon, it was time to eat again. What to do? Let's reiterate that the southbound highway between Palo Alto and LA is like many highways in the US - bleak and filled with fast food chains. But wait, you say...It's California, right? So why not go to In-N-Out Burger? OK people, lets' set the record straight here. First of all, we four have somewhat stark disagreements about the alleged merits of In-N-Out Burger. Adam is very much in favor of the place. Ken, Ty and Eric don't get it. Look at the pictures here of Adam eating a "protein style double single." For those who don't know the secret code, this is a sandwich with two slabs of burger, one slice of cheese and no bun. But the meat is gross. Doesn't taste much better than your average school cafeteria burger, except that it's been freshly cooked rather than spending time under a heat lamp. We all agreed that the lettuce, tomatoes and especially raw onions were fresh and enjoyable. Fries weren't good. Chocolate shake was too sweet and had a chemical-induced thickness that implied the presence of artificial stabilizers and other weird ingredients. It's easy to rail against a chain restaurant based on principals alone, but In-N-Out is an easy target here. The hype is unwarranted.

So we all consumed these "burgers" and then moved on towards Valencia, and what would be our first rehearsal Friday night with the west coast version of the Gutbucket Chamber Orchestra. More tales to come...

California Part 1, day 1 revisited

2011-05-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

We've been in California for several days now, and it's of course a state with bountiful food options. And yet the discussion about food out here can be polarizing. Locals have their pride, or even the stuff they take for granted. And opinionated New Yorkers like us approach certain things with an attitude of "oh yeah?!? Well let's see how good this ACTUALLY is." A culinary west coast tour is no laid-back, simple thing.

We landed in Oakland on Thursday and played a really fun house show in Palo Alto at our friend Glenn Cornett's place on Thursday night. Between Oakland and Palo Alto is Fremont, a southern Bay Area community with a huge South Asian population. So before we got to Glenn's, from the airport we went to a Pakistani restaurant called Shalimar. We had been on a plane for 6 hours, woken up at 5am and hadn't really eaten at all that day, so by lunch time, we were pretty damn hungry...almost to the point where it wasn't safe to operate a vehicle or other heavy machinery. But we managed to find Shalimar in its strip-mall home. And by the way, note to east coasters: many restaurants out here - for better or for worse - are in strip malls. In fact, MANY THINGS are in strip malls. You have to suspend your disbelief in order to deal with this, because while plenty of them are garbage, some are quite good. Shalimar was quite good.

We ordered the Brain Masala (lamb brain cooked w/butter, onions, tomatoes and spices), Murghi Korma Shahi (chicken curry w/saffron, yogurt and spices), Bengen Bhujia (eggplant cooked w/onions, tomatoes and spices), Palak Paneer (spinach and cheese w/spices), Raita (yogurt w/cucumber, cumin and mint), rice, naan, onion kulcha (tandoori bread stuffed with onions and butter), and garlic naan. And a round of mango lassi. Above you'll see pictures of a single plated loaded with everything and a mango lassi. The plain naan was excellent - wow - we were sorry we didn't order more of it. The brain masala was really delicious as well - tender and well-spiced. The chicken was very tender and flavorful. The palak paneer was a familiar dish and also a bit of a disappointment - the cheese was much better than the spice quotient in the spinach itself. And while the eggplant had a strong hint of cumin and (perhaps?) curry leaf, we didn't get universal band approval on this one. Ty liked it a lot, Eric was a bit unmoved. The garlic naan was strong, spicy and our second favorite bread, and the onion naan followed in not-too-distant third place (a bit overstuffed). The mango lassi was a bit too sweet and not cold enough, perhaps because it lacked sufficient yogurt content - not enough sour. But it was also pretty light and not overbearing. Overall, we ate well at Shalimar, ambling outside in much better spirits. More tales from the road to southern California and our residency at CalArts to come!

All Under One Roof

2011-05-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

Why don't all rock clubs serve really good free snacks? Is it just the expense? Is it simply the assumption that people want beer and music and nothing else? What about treats like chocolate-chip apricot scones, maple tahini granola, cinnamon-glazed oatmeal cookies and other sweet or savory delicacies? It would make the experience of going to see a show that much more complete.

We suppose cooking author Leah Koenig is too busy with the release of her new book The Hadassah Everyday Cookbook to supply all the clubs we love with such snacks. But we were lucky to have her talents be the central focus of our show with our good friends Pitom at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn on Monday 5/2.

The show was a dual celebration of Pitom's new Tzadik CD "Blasphemy And Other Serious Crimes" and Leah's book. And this brought together two things we love- music and food- so how could we pass on such fun?

Immediately after Ty showed up at the club for sound check, he said hi to Leah and she said hi back with a cookie. It was really good. It was bite-size, chewy, and sweet with just a dash of salt. But it didn't stop there. More chatting, a few more friends wandered in, and then it was time to taste some granola. This maple tahini (tahini?!) granola had ample ginger and dried cranberry, and was not overly-sweet (a crime committed by most granolas, in our opinion). The tahini was very subtle. And then it was time to try the only truly savory offering - roasted chickpeas with lemon and thyme. Leah downplayed them...she wasn't totally pleased with how they traveled, suggesting that they need to be eaten hot from the oven, as opposed to room temperature several hours later. Eric disagreed though, saying that the flavor was rich and interesting (though he did agree that they could have been crispier). Ty wanted more salt.

But the biggest hit was the chocolate-chip apricot scone. These were small, sweet and fairly light, almost cookie-ish in texture...not too dense. Unlike plenty of scones that can be dry and demand a beverage accompaniment, these stood well on their own. Ty, Eric and Ken all had one before our set and were pleased. By the end of our set, the scones were the first to join the clean plate club. People (like Ty) are sometimes suckers for things with chocolate in them, but these scones were no gimmick.

The one challenge to our food experience at this show was that none of us had a real dinner before we got to the club. The Rock Shop serves burgers and bar food, and there was apparently an over-priced taqueria across the street, but neither seemed too attractive. Adam decided he was too famished to wait and went for the pre-show burger. But the rest of us waited. Adam said the burger and fries were "fine" as expected. And then we played. We played through some technical difficulties that often arise when you don't have a proper sound check (mysterious kick drum noises in the monitors? Sure! talk-back microphone feedback onstage? Sign us up!!). But hey, we're professionals, we can handle it.

And then after the show it was time for Ty to grab that burger. It was cooked to order, medium and was just fine. They were out of cheddar, so he had to go with swiss. No one likes to make that kind of choice. The pre-seasoned fries were the same kind of orange-colored twigs you've had elsewhere, but at least they hadn't been sitting around. Eric said he was full enough after having his treats from Leah and a beer (an excellent Sixpoint local brew called Sweet Action). Ken decided to wait to go to a diner.

After some downtime during Pitom's strong set, we joined them for their last song, Azazel - a slow, heavy "Jewish sludge metal" tune that was a lot of fun to play. Before that Leah announced the winner of the night's raffle - her friend Annabelle (pictured with Leah above)! They claim it wasn't rigged. And then we all slinked home, just a few days before heading out to the West Coast, where we plan to eat tacos nearly everyday.

Practice Routine

2011-04-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the contributions and details on both your dinners last night, Adam! On the legitimacy of the Park Slope Food Coop, Ty will keep his boxing gloves off and avoid the invitation to wax philosophical on the subject. Among the two categories of people Adam lists, there are also sub-categories that include those staunch Coop-ers who choose to engage in self-righteous banter and posturing (Ty circa 2002), and those who simply enjoy the food/concept (present-day Ty, our buddy Irene Haelbig, etc...). 'Nuf said?

On to today's post...Some of you know that Gutbucket not only travels the world performing music, but we also teach workshops and master classes. In fact, we'll be doing just that beginning next Friday May 6 at CalArts, and the residency will culminate in a May 9 performance by the Gutbucket Chamber Orchestra (with CalArts students joining the mayhem onstage) at REDCAT in Los Angeles. When we teach and solicit questions from students, we are sometimes asked about our process - how do we write/rehearse/do our musical thing? We often point to specifically musical things, but it seems a bit limiting to do so. We should also spend some time talking about what we EAT on our off days to prepare ourselves to do the musical things we do.

Today is an off day, though we will be rehearsing tonight. What did we have to eat for lunch, you might ask? Well, Ty had a luscious salad of mixed baby greens, olives, roasted almonds, celery, carrots, herbed goat cheese and a nice vinaigrette. He also had the last few pieces of an Italian wild boar salami. Yum. See below:

The salad was nutritious, varied, and flavorful. The greens and veggies were fresh, the olives were tangy, oily and nicely salted, and the salami was rich and hearty. This kind of fuel makes for good music-making. The only snag: Ty wishes he knew more about the farmed sourcing of the wild boar that went into the salami (he's been trying to avoid as much industrial, factory-farmed meat as possible). Given that it was NOT made in the United States, but instead a place like Italy that tends to have a more intelligent food culture, he's optimistic.

See all you West Coasters soon!

Brooklyn Homecoming

2011-04-28T02:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight's show at Union Hall in Park Slope, Brooklyn was hard to pin down from a culinary standpoint. For starters, this is where all four of us live. And when we play a hometown show, we don't usually eat together. So this post will be a mixed bag of loosely-tied-together food information bits - a web of disparate elements that will perhaps generate a nourishing whole. The common thread may simply be the currency we were encouraged to use by the staff for purchasing drinks and half price food, or the paper jewelry we were forced to wear in order to prove our age and status:

We assembled in the downstairs venue after we each (presumably) had dinner. Ty was the first to arrive, set up, test the house amp (a decent Fender Twin), and eat his dinner-to-go. Purchased at the Park Slope Food Coop up the street, he had a Maple Hill Creamery lemon yogurt drink (reliably delicious), accompanied by a pre-packaged avocado, hummus, lettuce and tomato sandwich on sprouted multi-grain bread. It was serviceable, healthy, and fine for under $6 (thanks Food Coop!).

Eric probably cooked something good for himself and the family at home. What was it? Dunno right now. Ken? Adam? Dinner mysteries. But Ken and Eric DID each have a Sixpoint Brownstone beer on tap that they seemed to enjoy.

The show tonight was definitely a musical feast. Travis LaPlante played a solo saxophone set to begin the show that was intimate and powerful. He did three pieces using lovely multi-phonics, long tones, and percussive blurts. Alex Hamlin of HOG Trio followed with TWO guest musicians sitting in for regular drummer Ted Poor and bassist Mike Chiavaro. Alex wins the good spirit award for the night, given the unexpected (and last-minute) changes to his line-up. He also plays a seriously mean bari sax and is always great to hear. Our set was a lot of fun - the crowd was small (where were YOU?!?!) but appreciative and engaged (or simply drunk by 10:30pm). We played loud and well - hooray for being in tour mode.

After the show and a brief hang, it was time to go. This is where we give a few tidbits from Ty's late-night snack excursions. Once he finished walking to his subway stop, Ty ate a wonderful mutsu apple that he had been saving for the occasion (thanks again, Food Coop!). A perfect blend of sweet and tart, this particular apple also tends to be very crisp and juicy - all of the things you'd want an apple to be. Being in New York, good, local apples are plentiful...and despite this being an unseasonal treat, the apple didn't taste like it had been in storage for months (even though it must've been).

Once home, Ty also remembered that he had made peppermint chocolate chip ice cream from scratch yesterday with his daughter. No, he didn't MAKE the chocolate chips (thanks for those, Ghirardelli), but all the rest, yes. Take a look below. It was worth having at least a bite or two before bedtime, right? Especially on such a special occasion. Sweetened with grade B maple syrup and made with a 2:1 cream to milk ratio, the ice cream was good!!
And even better a day later. 30 hours gave the maple syrup a chance to relax, not having to assert itself so much. The ice cream was also made using a custard (with egg yolks and arrowroot powder). Ken also enjoys making ice cream and he claims that it's essential to make a custard with egg yolks, cream, milk and sugar BEFORE you churn your ice cream...but Ty disagrees. He's had some good experiences without doing the custard thing...but here, it was the right way to go. Rich, creamy and highly-caloric. Now it's finally time to brush teeth and catch some sleep...at home.

Hall of Fame Yuck Photo

2011-04-28T02:00:00.000-07:00

By the way, no one in Gutbucket ate this while we were at the train station in Regensburg. Should we have?

Linzer Torte, Where Are You?!?!

2011-04-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

We finished our final show of the tour here in Linz, Austria, several hours ago. It's time to go to sleep. But first, a few words...This was our first time here, and our show was at Posthof ("post office"), down the street from the Haribo gummy bear/worm/etc factory and (we think) headquarters. Just take out that somewhat hidden bag of gummy-whatever-candy you have in your kitchen (behind the old box of jello mix or last year's Passover matzoh), and it should say it's from Linz in fine print somewhere. Unless they outsource their North American production to another facility. Regardless...here we are at Posthof. The stage was big, the crew was very professional, the gear was very nice, and the people were very welcoming and accommodating. Among other things, we were asked by the guy who does lights if we had any preferences for him, and when we said "no, just have fun" he asked if "hazers are ok." What is a hazer, you might ask? Smoke machine. He used it sparingly during our long set.

It's important to mention that not only is Posthof a large venue, it's an all-inclusive facility that has a nice restaurant (Posthof Beisl), a bar, an outdoor cafe and an upstairs lounge and rooming house for musicians. We've played in other venues that have crash-pads for musicians, but this is different. We are not tossing sleeping bags on the floor or sleeping in ratty old beds: we each have our own room with individual bathrooms/showers, and everything is very clean (actually clean! imagine that - musicians do not need to sleep in layers of filth!). The lounge has tables, chairs, couches, fridge, cold food (fruit, bread, cheese, sandwich meat, peppers, tomatoes), plus coffee, water, beer, wine, and juice. There's free wireless internet (that's why this isn't being written so hastily). The only thing it's missing is a pool table, ping pong table, or some other related recreational option.

We played our show, and the small crowd was very appreciative. After packing up, we were hungry. Ken's not a fan of post-show meals because he likes to ingest the calories before exerting himself onstage. He was especially eager to eat dinner and felt a bit run-down. So off we went to Posthof Beisl. Ken ordered the Speckkäsenockerl mit salat (ham and cheese pasta dish with carmelized onions and side salad). Ty, Adam and Eric all ordered the Kaninchenrücken im speckmantel in rahmsauce mit kartoffeln und mit salat (rabbit wrapped in bacon with cream sauce, potatoes and side salad). Ken said his meal was exactly what he had in mind for dinner - he couldn't finish it, though, and said it was a bit on the salty side for his tastes. He did thoroughly enjoy the Gösser Zwickl/Naturtrüb beer he ordered - it was an unfiltered Austrian wheat-ish beer. Later tonight, when Ty told his 3 year-old daughter that he had rabbit wrapped in bacon for dinner, she asked if he was joking. It's not something that they usually have at home. He was not joking of course, but the rabbit was pretty mild, tasting similar to chicken, and a little on the dry side. The side salads featured a nice selection of mixed greens, very fresh tomatoes, corn and cucumbers, with just a little too much vinaigrette. We all shared a Schoko Gugelhupf mit Schokosauce und Schlagobers (warm chocolate cake with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and fresh currants/berries). We were so full at this point that no one had much room for dessert, but we decided to try it anyways - because there was no linzer torte on the menu! Apparently THAT kind of sweet treat is more of an afternoon tea sweet than it is a post-dinner dessert item. The cake did not hold up on its own, but bites that included all four elements (cake, whipped cream, chocolate sauce AND fruit) were enjoyable. Thanks for having us, Posthof!

Freiberg Sugar Specialty

2011-04-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

After last night's really fun show at the Freiberg Jazz Tage Festival in a circa-1812, three-level theater, two new friends named Antje and Wenke came up to chat, buy cds, and mention oh-so-casually that they had been reading this blog. If you're reading this now, hello!!!

Well, of course, we're interested in enjoying local fare everywhere we go, so we asked the two of them what we should try while we're in Freiberg...What's a signature dish or treat? Without much hesitation, they told us we needed to have Freiberger Eierschecke ("eier" means "eggs"). They said that it's very sweet, so we should have it with coffee.

So the next morning, just after his run through the streets, parks and surrounding countryside of Freiberg, Ty went to the recommended shop on Petersstrasse called Markgraf Otto. It was located near the center of town along a cobblestone street where many people were already out walking, shopping, and cafe-sitting. Markgraf Otto had six pieces of Frieberger Eierschecke left, and Ty selected four, along with a piece of Dresdener Eierschecke (for comparison), and a piece of chocolate tart. All are pictured above.

When Ty met everyone else for breakfast just before 11am (hooray for places that serve breakfast this late!), there was also Freiberger Eierschecke available at the buffet. Adam, Eric and Ty all sampled THIS eierschecke for comparison, and it elicited a strong reaction from Eric: "Too sweet! And dry!" Not much enthusiasm there...Adam and Ty both thought the eierschecke at breakfast was ok, but certainly very sweet. Ken decided to wait.

So we set off in our rental car (a compact minivan, to be exact), and after two hours on the road, it was time for a snack. We had one option: Freiberger Eierschecke. Adam unwrapped the cake and doled out pieces to each of us. This eierschecke was much more attractive than the cakes we were served at breakfast. It featured a thin layer of flaky cake along the bottom, topped with a very sweet egg custard filled with currants, which was delicately browned on top from baking, and dusted again with sugar. Eric still insisted that it was too sweet and not his thing. Ken liked it. Adam and Ty did as well. Unfortunately there was no coffee - only water - so nothing strong and flavorful enough to counter the sugary burst. It was not a well-balanced lunch, but it did inspire Adam to sing along to some of the overly-sweet pop-dance songs we had trouble avoiding on the radio. Truly inspirational.

[Note: the Dresdener Eierschecke was taller, had a layer of quark and no currants, and for Ken was "not good" - he was intrigued by the first bite, and then decided otherwise after another. Adam and Ty thought it was ok, and Eric passed on it. The chocolate tart, which Ty mistakenly thought had bananas in it as well, did not - it was simply cake and chocolate, and was a little too fudge-y for us.]

Turkish Food in Hamburg

2011-04-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

We traveled across the German countryside again, this time from Hamburg to a small town of 42,000 called Freiberg - criss-cross, like a pendulum on this tour! This post is on the clock (no free internet here), so it will be brief, with further elaborations to come. Last night before our show, we scoped out a Turkish restaurant between our hotel and the club (Stellwerk) called Oz Urfa. We went for an early dinner around 5:45, since we were expected at the club around 6:30. Ken ordered lamb cutlets with salad, rice, yogurt and yufka (special homemade flat bread); Adam ordered a mixed grill kebap plate with lamb, chicken and the same sides as Ken; Ty ordered an eggplant/ground beef kebap plate with the same sides as well (minus the yufka); and Eric ordered a döner and cheese pidé (flat bread baked like pizza).

The meal began with an order of another flavorful home made flat bread, served with a yogurt/herb sauce and harissa. The harissa was our first truly spicy experience this tour, after so much German and German-infused fare that tends to shy away from serious chili-peppering. We were all very hungry, and after ten minutes of snacking and waiting for our food, a delicious aroma drifted our way from the open kitchen that took up nearly half the dining space. Our Pavlovian response kicked in (especially Adam's), we began collectively salivating for more food, and our plates arrived as they were ready, Eric's being first. He heartily dug into the pidé, and soon the other plates appeared. Each salad included chunks of tomato, cucumber, a roasted green chili pepper, lemon wedge, parsley and yogurt. Ty's eggplant/beef kebap included nicely charred eggplant slices alternating with small patties of ground beef that complemented each other well. Ken's lamb got a strong positive reaction, as did the yufka. Adam seemed to enjoy the lamb a bit more than the chicken, and did what he could to get through the generous portion of food placed in front of him. The rice was an unusual surprise - it was short grain rice that actually looked like pearled barley, and it was likely cooked in a tomato sauce, as it had a reddish color.

After finishing the hearty dinner, we were served small clear glasses of very hot black tea. We added sugar, waited for them to cool, and then sipped our final component of the meal. The tea provided a small nudge out of the collective food coma which plagued our slow walk to Stellwerk for sound check. There was unfortunately no time for baklava or other sweets on the menu. Our waiter said they were open 24 hours, but when we walked back to the hotel post-show after midnight, they seemed to have closed. No late-night either!

Do You Know Schäufele??

2011-04-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Good morning!! Hello!! Good morning!! Enjoy Your Meal!! Today, we woke up at the un-musician-ly hour of 6:45am in order to leave Jenn and Andrea's apartment by ten minutes to eight, so we could set up and play a middle school assembly at 8:45am. Good morning!! Welcome to the dynamic and ever-changing world of Gutbucket on tour in the world, circa 2011. Despite the physical shock of making ourselves play our high-energy propulsive music just after breakfast, we had a really fun and interesting day. FIS has really nice facilities with a lot of very appreciative and engaged students.

We worked with a bunch of 5th - 11th grade musicians in large and small groups who were pretty willing to try things...so we worked on improvisation, grooves, call-and-response, dynamics, ensemble playing, practice techniques, and even some sound painting. But enough of this academic drivel - isn't this a food blog?!?! You might want to know about the photos we've inserted here, hmmm?

Well, Andrea and Jenn's friend Bettina (who joined us for dinner last night and tonight) has a brother who runs a restaurant connected to the Kitzmann brewery here in Erlangen. We had decided that it was time to have some regional and local German fare for dinner, so this was the place to go. And the dish the four of us chose is a Franconian specialty - another pork delicacy called schäufele. This is basically roast pork shoulder served with a delicious, dark gravy ("schäufele sauce" - what's in it?? Dunno!), sauerkraut, and klöse (dumplings). You'll see a pair of before/after photos to the left. It was delicious, rich, and quite filling- a bit less fatty than our Frankfurt train station schweine-haxe, but still with a crispy char, and tangy meat that was chewy and flavorful. Plus we had ample time to sit and enjoy it, without a train to catch. It was a hearty meal - the kind of food you'd eat before climbing a mountain...building a log cabin...going off to battle...or before teaching music to a bunch of middle school students. But instead we chose to have the meal after tackling that feat.

Dinner was served with a seasonal Kitzmann beer called the kirchweihbier, which is named for a seasonal church festival thing-y when monks (probably) brewed it around this time of year several centuries ago. It was dark and tasty. The apple strudel with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and strawberry/orange/apple slices on the side was a classic German sweet plate finish at its finest - a serious punctuation mark to an already delicious dinner. Eric and Ty shared dessert, as did Jenn and Andrea, while Ken and Adam nursed their beers. Now we just need to remember to be patient with all of our digestive tracts - those klöse are almost as big as American softballs.

2011-04-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

Schweine-haxe - literally "knuckle of

pig" - is Ken's latest lunchtime favorite when we pass through the Frankfurt train station. It's a cut of meat from the pig's leg between the ankle and knee, and it's salty with a delicious crispy crust and deep pink flavorful meat underneath. It's also quite a deal at 3.80€. Ty added sauerkraut for another 1€. The mustard (senf) was not that good, so the pork had to speak for itself. Each serving was a ridiculous meaty indulgence: not for the faint of heart, not for the kosher or halal, not for the vegetarian...but today, it was lunch for 75% of Gutbucket...and it was damn good.

Pictured here is Adam lovingly trying to finish his portion of schweine-haxe on the train from Frankfurt to Würtzburg, and he did well. We applauded his efforts.

We did not need to eat for another 6+ hours, and even then, we all had meatless fare for dinner. Another pasta dinner, actually, and again, despite being somewhat far from Italy (though closer than those in Brooklyn), the meal was quite good. We went to Salz und Pfeffer in Erlangen, with our friends Andrea, Jenn and their friend Bettina. Jenn and Andrea are kindly hosting us here in Erlangen, and we'll be teaching music all day tomorrow at the

Franconia International School (FIS) where they both teach. Salz und Pfeffer is a short walk from their apartment, and we all had mixed green salads with carrots, tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette. We then each had a triangolino pasta (like a triangular cheese-stuffed ravioli) with sage butter, pine nuts, basil and fresh pepper and parmesan. It was pretty rich and quite tasty. For dessert, we shared homemade tiramisu and a pine nut torte - the former was sweeter than the latter, but both were very good. We have to get out the door by 7:30am to teach tomorrow - not our typical musicians' hours - so that's it for now!

Leverkusen Catch-Up and Spargel Report

2011-04-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

So we've had a few quiet days here. Our second show in Dresden on Saturday was noteworthy primarily because we played a new-to-us art space called geh8. The room was enormous, acoustically-challenging for some of our more rapid-fire music, but very interesting for more ethereal pieces like "Murakami" and "RocknRoll" (see photo of gigantic neon art installation above). Plus it was run by a cool group of artist/musicians, and the audience was very receptive and engaged. There were sandwiches and snacks that night which included cheese, bread, radishes, piggy lunch meat (yuck), an avocado, carrots, etc. After the show, Ty spoke with a sound artist named Grit Ruhland who also gathers mushrooms and various edible plants and tree leaves. Ty and Eric sampled some from the collection she brought to the show, including young beech and birch leaves, and (we think) kaffir lime leaves. One of these (the birch) was sour with a smokey aftertaste, and another (beech?) was bitter and subtle. But this was merely a distraction from our hunger for warmer post-show nourishment.

So around 2am that night, our host Andre and our new friend Eckehard Fuchs (a painter who is also Andre's neighbor) agreed to take our gear back to their building. And we decided to visit our old friend Steini at his 60th birthday bash. We wanted to sing him happy birthday - AND he had mentioned that he was cooking wild boar for his party- so off we went! But it being 2am, our hopes were quickly dashed. The boar was long-gone. There was some homemade creamy German-style fish salad, hackepeter (raw ground pork with onions), bread, strawberries, beer and wine. Adam and Ty tried the hackepeter and the fish salad on dark German bread, and liked them both. We nibbled, chatted with the late-night party-goers, leafed through Steini's book of song lyrics (there was a blues jam session earlier)...and then by 4am it was time to go.

We spent 9 hours on 5 different regional trains on Sunday, ate crappy crap along the way, and ended the day with a mediocre döner kebap served with a bit of malice in Heusenstamm (home to Eric's wife, Natascha!). Natascha's brother Lars-Peter kindly picked us up at the train station and dropped us at his parents' house. We eventually got to sleep, had basic German bread, cheese, yogurt, etc for breakfast, and then were on our way to Leverkusen. And here we are! We ate tonight at Arkade, a decent restaurant in a hotel in town. Because it's mid-April, it's the beginning of asparagus (spargel) season. This snuck up on us, but it is often a treat. Most of the asparagus in Germany is white because it's grown covered in soil to prevent photosynthesis. Unlike the green asparagus that's typical in the US, spargel must be peeled, and it tends to have a sweeter taste. We all ordered entrees from Arkade's spargel-menu, but sadly, we also learned that Arkade has a habit of over-cooking its spargel. Or at least that's how they thought we wanted to have ours served. Covering it with hollondaise sauce ensured that it was not tasteless, but unfortunately nothing could undo all that time spent in boiling water. Along with the spargel, we had some potato products. Restaurants should not serve potato "croquettes" that look like defrosted, oven-toasted, oblong tater-tots, but Arkade did. Along with these vegetables, Ty had a tasty rumpsteak, while Eric, Ken and Adam all ordered grilled pork cutlets. The steak was Ty's saving grace: it was juicy, well-cooked (medium, with a bit of pink in the middle), and had a sprinkling of coarse black pepper on top. The pork did not elicit much comment from anyone who ordered it, but Eric and Ken cleaned their plates...so we'll mark it down as "fine" or perhaps "acceptable."

Sigh of Relief in Berlin (part 2)

2011-04-09T05:14:00.000-07:00

So first, a bit about Supamolly, the club we play every few years in Berlin. We've played at least seven different clubs in Berlin over the last ten years, and finding a good home for our music in this big city was tough. It's like NYC - there are many clubs, they open and close regularly, and they each have their own fleeting niche/audience/scene. But Supamolly is a stalwart. It's a former artist squat dating back several decades that became an "official" club a number of years ago. The building's exterior is covered in skeletal metal sculptures and graffiti, and the interior courtyard features an enormous, three-dimensional airborne dragon. You enter through a large set of doors with a cafe/bar on the right, and artist apartments (where we stay along with many local residents) on the left. Our 11:30pm start time was the earliest we've ever gone onstage here, and there's never been an opening band. The cover charge is low, and the full-house crowd swells to 150 - 200 dance-crazed people, making the room warm and energizing.

We're greeted every time with a home-cooked meal, made by one of Supamolly's many community-members-at-large. There's a large communal kitchen and dining room on the first floor of the apartment complex, and this time, our cook was a tall pony-tail wearing German guy named Mischa.

Now yesterday you'll recall that we were distracted by a missing instrument, so we didn't spend the typical four hours of chill time in the kitchen after sound check while Mischa cooked. But once we learned that Ken's horn had been located, we managed to finish sound check and get to dinner by the respectable hour of 9:45pm. After dinner, Ty spent a good half hour talking with Mischa about his menu, and here's what he learned...

Our hearty, substantial dinner included kohlrouladen, duvec (pronounced doo-vetch), couscous, rice, fresh salad and for dessert, blatterteig with sweet cream, vanilla pudding and a mango/rhubarb/citrus compote. Kohlrouladen is a traditional German dish that literally means "cabbage roll." There was a meat version with a beef meatball-like interior and small pieces of speck on top, and a vegetarian version with a multi-grain stuffing ("dinkel," couscous, "hertweizen," and rice). Mischa was disappointed with the accompanying sauce, but we were not - perhaps he has higher standards than we do. The sauce was made with everything Ken says he loves: dark beer (dunkelbier), espresso, dark chocolate, toasted flour, butter and (usually, but not this time) sherry. Mischa hypothesized that the lack of sherry was his critical error. Duvec is a typical Yugoslavian stew with rice, tomatoes, peppers, peas, onions and paprika. The couscous dish had tomatoes and herbs. And the salad had a mix of fresh greens with a homemade vinaigrette. All great. We eagerly ate a bit too fast. Beverages included Czech beer (Staropramen), mineral water and Afri Cola (Germany's answer to Coke dating back to the 1920's). Ken really wanted to know how Mischa made the pastry dough (like phylo) for the blatterteig. This cake was shaped a bit like a heart, with many layers of dough and butter forming the crust (like baklava, but no gooey honey character), and with a lower middle area containing chopped walnuts and a muesli-like grain mix ...Mischa confessed that he did not make the dough himself- it was store-bought- but it was still very good. The sweet cream we drizzled over it was augmented by the mango-rhubarb-citrus compote (made from scratch). And the side of vanilla pudding insured that we were well-sugared and nearly comatose before our show began. Thanks, Mischa!

Ty made the small mistake of having another helping of dinner/dessert around 3:30am after the show while others drank at the bar or brushed their teeth before bed. This gave him crazy psychedelic dreams. Yum.

Ken woke up early to take the train to Stralsund at 8am (good morning!!!), and he successfully retrieved his saxophone. Horn in hand, he's meeting us at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof (main station) a little after 3pm so we can play our second gig in Dresden tonight. Hopefully we'll be able to stick to mere topics of food and music for the rest of the tour, and keep all of our irreplaceable tools of the trade with us at all times.

Sigh of Relief in Berlin (part 1)

2011-04-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

We had an epic day yesterday...but more on that later. First, a bit of catch-up. We began the tour in Dresden on Thursday at Jazz Club Neue Tonne, our 8th show there since 2001. We've got good friends in town, including our European booking agent Steffen Wilde. We ate dinner with Steffen at Die Pastamanufaktur, a local place that does just what the name implies: they make their own pasta from scratch. Now, Dresden is not that close to Italy (or China, for that matter). But this place is good. We've been there three times over the years, the menu always changes, and that night Ken, Ty and Adam all had the homemade spaghetti with sardelle (small fish like sardines, but a little different?), radicchio, red peppers and parmesan cheese...Eric had the papardelle (thick egg noodle) with radishes, watercress, "fresh" cheese (frischkäse) sauce and chives. All great. The chocolate/espresso tiramisu and pannacotta with chunky raspberry sauce were deliciously rich as well. We were very cute and judicious and shared one of each dessert amongst the five of us. Italian delights six hours north of the border.

The next day (Friday) we went through a touring musician's nightmare. Ken left his saxophone on a regional train during a transfer in a nowhere town outside Berlin. Never happened before...ever - we're very cautious and thorough on tour. But we were distracted by loud drunk soccer fans and a silly-to-some-sickening-to-others conversation with a fellow American train rider. So, yes, we got off without the sax. This was at 4pm, just a couple hours before we were scheduled to soundcheck at Berlin's wonderful Supamolly. Thus began an epic search involving Steffen, several police officers, a handful of Deutschebahn employees, a number of German friends scattered across the region, and some musicians from everywhere who pitched in to save the day. Well, actually it was the woman in Stralsund (several hours from Berlin) at the end of the train route, who was the fourth person to search the train, who FINALLY found the sax just as we had left it - tucked snug under Ken's seat. Collective blood pressure slowly normalized. Ken got the good news from Steffen around 8:30pm while driving to pick up a loaner from a friend of our pal Greta Gertler's. No problem - thanks Greta! So Ken took a train in the morning to pick up his temporarily lost horn. It was not stolen. Our faith in human goodness was renewed. Thanks Steffen for being persistent with those Deutschebahn employees! And thanks to everyone at Supamolly for being so accommodating and patient.

Montreal Airport

2011-04-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

This marks the premiere of Gutbucket's tour food blog. We are four highly-opinionated omnivores who talk about the food we eat almost as much as we talk about the music we make and listen to. If you'd like a glimpse at what hits our plates while we're on the road to inspire such banter, it will be found here. We humbly begin our Spring European CD release tour for our new CD "Flock" at the Boulevard Cafe in the Montreal Airport. This cafe provides a nice place to sit.

Adam brought his own turkey sandwich, Ty prepared a luscious trail mix of various nuts, dried fruit and chocolate chips, and Eric wolfed down some disappointing fries and sandwich (a surprise, given how low his expectations were to begin with). Ken had a sandwich with cow meat on it that did not elicit comment. He did, however, bring a sampling of homemade cookies on our flight here, which included chocolate lime chocolate chip (Ty's choice!) and chocolate chip meringue (Eric's preference - thanks Irene!).

While Ken and Adam enjoy an afternoon beer before our connecting flight, Eric and Ty consider the more interesting food fare ahead. We'll likely skip an analysis of Air Canada's in flight offerings (unless they're exceptionally atrocious and warrant a consumer's warning)...More to come from Dresden's pre-show meal tomorrow!