Jazz

The Chandler Jazz Festival happend 21-22Apr2006, in historic downtown Chandler. I went down there two nights in a row. Friday night, I heard some young guys from Mesa Community College (except the guy on bass) who were really entertaining and creative. I got the impression they hadn't been playing together all that long (not sure) but they were all very good at their instruments.

Saturday night, I heard a good band; it turned out that they play their frequently; bandleader goes by "Chops."

So that's jazz two nights in a row. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed some good food and wine at the same time (The bands I heard were playing at 98 South wine bar).

The downside is I managed to spend $80 on two dinners. This means I'll be eating peanut butter and jelly all week. But that's just the price of hearing good jazz. You can live like a king on the weekend, if you don't mind living like a peasant during the week. But this does mean no DeFalco's all week, and that hurts. If I'm thrifty enough, maybe I can go on Friday.

One thing that is certain is that I will never resort to Top Raman in an effort to save money.

DeFalco's

About a month ago, I was saved. There is a problem in the Phoenix area. The place is growing so fast that rents are going through the roof; and so many big businesses are coming here that it has been more and more difficult for local business owners to survive. Since moving here, several times I have tried to visit places that were supposed to have great authentic Italian food, and several times I have been just weeks too late. Then one Thursday, I was driving on Scottsdale Road, and I passed a building I'd never before noticed. Its sign said, "DeFalco's Italian Grocery and Deli."

I turned around. It was late, and I didn't have time to eat much. I ordered a shot of espresso. E' state Buonissimo! I went home happy.

In the weeks following, I have discovered that DeFalco's serves other-worldly sandwiches. You can get the hot or mild italian sausage with red sauce and roasted peppers and onions sandwich on a crusty baguette, with a side of pasta salad and prosciutto-stuffed peppers, with a Pellegrino, for example (this would probably run you about $15). Or you can just get a half cheese steak with hod Giardinara peppers added and drink water for about $5.50. That's more realistic for lunch most days. Let me emphasize that these sandwiches are sooooooooooooooooooooooo good.

Now every Friday, I go there for lunch with my good friend Jean-Phillipe Bellier (JP is from France, and misses old-world cuisine).

So if you're ever in the Phoenix area, pay DeFalco's a visit. And if you already live here, I expect your duty is clear by now.

The worst thing about DeFalco's is that they don't open early enough for me to get my morning coffee there. I'll have to work on that with them.

Black Butte Porter Float

I finally did it. I tried a porter float. For those of you who have never lived in Oregon (there are probably precisely zero of you), Black Butte Porter is a splendid porter brewed by Deschutes Brewery in Bend, OR. It's named after Black Butte (pictured above). Whenever I buy a six-pack of Deschutes beer, I brag to the cashier that the beer comes from my home town. They usually just think I'm weird. But I was at Trader Joe's recently and it turned out that my cashier had lived in Bend back in the seventies. He had even skied the cinder cone (this is the cinder cone on the side of Mount Bachelor, after which Deschutes Brewery named their Cinder Cone Red, which is available now through sometime in the fall).

Anyway, I always thought that a porter float would be good. I had some support for this theory:

* McMenamin's serves a Terminator Milk Shake, which contains their Terminator Stout.
* Coffee-flavored milk shakes and ice cream are good.
* Black Butte Porter has a distinct coffee-ish flavor.

I think you'll all agree that this pretty much proves that a Black Butte Porter float would have to be good. So I finally tried it. At first, I didn't put enough ice cream in, and it just tasted like there was something wrong with the beer (kind of like when you don't put enough ice cream in your coffee--if you do that).

But I didn't lose heart. I just scooped more ice cream into the frosty mug and stirred the thing up really well (by the way, it fizzes a lot).

And you know what? It was terrific. I highly recommend it.





-Allan Friesen