The upstairs area also is where the kitchen is which was pretty cool.  There even is a little two seat bar area where you can watch everything go down.  We had a nice quiet table to the side and man did we get an experience.  First and foremost our server Tom was amazing.  The guy was always smiling and was as excited about the food we were about to eat as we were.  He was knowledgeable about the dishes and the ingredients and knew exactly what to pair with each dish.  Maybe it was my recent hospital visit or the fact I don’t really drink but the first blood orange margarita was more than enough for me for the 3 hour dining experience.  I did taste the pomegranate and the hibiscus as well and both were amazing.  Nothing at all though would prepare us for the meal we were about to throw down.  A five course tasting of all off the menu selections created exclusive for our anniversary dinner.

For the first course we had to try the guacamole.  Tom suggested going off the menu on this with a goat cheese and smoked bacon guac.  It was amazing.  Their guac alone is enough for a nice lite dinner.  It comes piled high with a basket of fresh salted tortilla chips.  The cool goat cheese was the perfect compliment to the smokey bacon chunks.  It was undoubtedly the best guac I have tasted and that includes my trips to Tucson.  It’s just these amazing fresh flavors combined with the crispy salted chips that is something to die for.

Our first real menu course was a scallop ceviche.  The presentation was great as it was brought out in a martini glass and topped with cilantro microgreens and root vegetable “chips”.  It was packed with flavorful scallops, and avocado with some pepper and corn to add to the texture.  It was fantastic.  The taste was fresh with a hint of citrus and a little cilantro kicker.

The second course was a black bean Fundido with goat cheese served with warm corn tortillas.  For such a simple dish the flavors were outstanding.  It was like eating the best refried beans with roasted sweet onion and peppers.  The roasted tomatoes were as sweet as candy with a melt in your mouth texture.  It was so good we finished with our spoons when we ran out of tortillas.

The next course was completely ridiculous and possibly the best fish dish I have ever eaten.  It was seared sea bass cooked to absolute perfection served on creamy celery root and leek puree.  On top was a simple fresh salsa and crispy onion threads.  The flavors were amazing on their own but when combined…oh my freaking goodness.  The fish was cooked so perfect.  It was light and flaky but with an incredible char on the bottom.

For dessert we had a trio of chocolate themed sweets.  A chocolate and chili pudding served with fresh whipped cream.  A salted caramel flan, and a chocolate cherry jubilee with fresh whipped cream.  Complete chocolate overkill.  Each one was perfect.  They were not sickly sweet and the perfect ending to such an amazing experience.

This was an amazing meal and we were so done by the time the dessert course came out.  I almost wanted a coupon that said come back tomorrow for dessert because you can’t possibly eat this much food.  We were stuffed, beyond stuffed as a matter of fact.  The meal was not only delicious but it was abundant.  None of the dishes we ate are on the menu which only means one thing.  We need to come back to actually try food from the menu.  I don’t mind that at all.  Momocho is a hip little joint that knows how to treat all their clients to an experience.  Yours might not be as landmark as ours but I saw a lot of happy people leaving in the 3 hours we clocked in for our anniversary dinner.   Chef Williams has an amazing staff and his unique twist on Mexican is nothing short of genius.  Do yourself a favor and try them out if you haven’t yet.  The only regret I have is not coming sooner.

You are making $4,500,000.  Let me equate that in Cleveland speak.  The average Cleveland income is $30,000.  You make as much money as 150 residents of the city combined a year.  You make more money in one year than the majority of these asshole fans will make in a lifetime.  Someone needs to gag you and shut your fucking mouth in interviews.  If you get two guys on base how are you doing your job exactly?  You are paid to strike out batters, and close the game.  You are a closer.  You don’t have 6 or 7 innings to make up runs like a starter.  We want you on the mound throwing K’s and finishing the game.

Yep, you have a pretty solid record.  I have to give you props.  You are getting the job done.  What you fail to understand is these asshole fans in the seats booing you are paying your salary.  If they aren’t happy with your play they are going to boo.  It’s Cleveland.  It’s kind of what we do.  Is it in poor taste?  Sure it is.  These fans pay good money to come out and see you work some magic.  They come to see us win.  Why wouldn’t the fans get upset when there is a chance you are going to blow the game?

Should fans boo the home team?  Fans should do whatever the hell they want to do.  Do they boo in the Utopian St. Louis where Beltran went?  Yeah, they probably boo there too.  They boo a bad call.  They boo a shitty play and you made a couple shitty plays.  So yes, Chris they are going to boo you.  You make it sound like this is T-ball.   “Hey, you’re only one pitch away, or hey, it’s all right.”  Your coach can say that if you need someone to hold your hand.

Beltran went to St. Louis why exactly again?  Because we booed your performance?  It has nothing to do with the product the Indians have been putting out since the 90′s?  Sure we got close a couple times to get into the playoffs, but how many times have we witnessed the front office dismantling the team to save payroll?  Could we be pissed about other things too?  We boo because we are sick of waiting for the next bonehead trade or the next scrub we pull off the couch because no one with any sense wants him.  We boo because we signed Grady again after injury after injury when we should have let him go.  We boo because we sign undeserving players to multi-year contracts who aren’t worth it.

We boo for a lot of different reasons Chris.  It is part of the excitement of the game.  We are so used to having the rug pulled out from under us we boo.  Sorry, we have been screwed over by the team for a long time Chris.  It’s not about you.  It’s about the organization as a whole.  I highly doubt the almost 30,000 fans in attendance were booing you though, but there might have been a few.  It’s funny how you say “It’s even worse when there’s only 5,000 in the stands, because then you can hear it. It (ticks) me off.” when it was a pretty packed house.

What you need to do is close the game and shut your mouth in interviews about the fans that pay the ticket prices to pay your salary.  We had another guy named Albert Belle who shit on the fans in interviews and actions on and off the field.  He’s not what you would consider a hometown hero these days.  Take out your frustrations somewhere else.  The fans don’t want to hear a millionaire bitch about being booed for getting a couple guys on base.  All your comments did was piss off more fans.  You lit a fire and you’ll probably get it even more now that you brought it up.  If you think there is a perfect team out there with fans who applaud a poor performance on the mound ask to be traded to them.  Otherwise lose the attitude and throw some strikes and show some respect to the fans.  We don’t need to hear your shit ass comments about being shitty fans.  We didn’t get the front office memo we had to blow you every time you did your job and got a save.

Sincerely,

I’m not buying a ticket until you apologize

The problem isn’t the city though.  No, not at all.  The problem is that person.  If you can’t find something fun to do, or something different to do you seriously aren’t looking at all.  I will be the first to admit I was on the city hate bandwagon. Yep, Mr. 5-2 would bitch about the city in times past.  You know where I did it?  I did it from one of two bar stools that I would plant my ass at and drink whatever was wet and cheap.  I went to 2 or maybe 3 bars on a regular basis, hung out with friends, watch whatever sporting event was on and go home.  It was a pattern of “I don’t give a shit”.  Going anywhere outside of the norm or out of my comfort zone would “suck balls”.  I was a bar introvert.  I liked my Cheers Norm like status at the local watering hole.  Anything outside of my cage was weird, or different and obviously sucked.  So, yeah folks I was just like the ones I speak of now.

Don’t get me wrong though there are still places I won’t frequent.  I would rather have my testicles pounded with a mallet over going to the West 6th area.  It’s not so much the bars or restaurants because I think there is some real cool stuff out that way.  It is because of the people.  These are the haunts of the Cleveland self loather.  It’s Disneyland for the 21 and a day crowd and the actors and actresses pretending they are not lower middle class living a paycheck to paycheck life.  Cleveland is not filled with the well to do socialites of the Hampton’s party scene.  It’s filled with hard working sons and daughters of mostly blue collar parents.  That just isn’t sexy though.

I grew up in what was the most affluent suburbs in Cleveland in the 70′s and 80′s.  Yep, I was born and raised in Bay Village.  If you had money during that time you lived in Bay Village.  If you lived in Bay Village you were some wealthy elitist cult member.  I have news for you.  We were lower middle class.  I just had parents that wanted the best for their kids.  We had a small house on Lake Road.  A 3 bedroom ranch that has since been torn down to make way for a mini McMansion that barely fits on what was once a nice yard.  My parents both worked and struggled to afford that luxury for us.  I was driven to the zoo on a field trip in 1st grade in a stretch limo.  That, is a true story.  At the time our family car was a piece of shit Plymouth Volare.  However others in the Village were much more well off.

Things aren’t always as they seem I guess and as much as I feel larger cities like LA, Chicago, or New York are great I implore those who hate Cleveland so much to move to one of these utopias.  You’re going to quickly find it’s not the city, it’s you.  You have the freedom to be miserable in any state in the country as a matter of fact.  Just don’t go bad mouthing an entire city because you can’t find what you are looking for without leaving your backyard.  Sometimes you just have to go out and seek what you are looking for.  It’s not going to come to you saying please pick me!  Pick me!  Take off the blinders of suckdom for one minute and see what there is out there.  No one wants to hear your broken record of self pity.  You own your misery, leave me the fuck out of it.

If the past 24 hours (ok maybe more like 28 hours) I went to the Grog Shop for a comedy show.  The Grog has bands pretty much every single day of the week or something going on.  I am sure out of 365 days out of the year that every band, comedian or other doesn’t suck.  Fine, go to the Beachland or Happy Dog ,or Peabody’s or any of the other 50 venues that hosts national and local talent.  Oh, that all sucks too?  Okay, this morning (in that 24 hours) I went to the Police Memorial Parade downtown.  I saw marching bands, horses, and your standard parade fanfare.  But 52, there isn’t a parade every day.  Okay, cool after that I went to the Rock Hall.  But 52 the Rock Hall sucks and is too expensive.  Okay, well I pay $75 a year for a membership and can go any time I want.  You don’t have $75 (or $50 for a solo membership) to pay for that?  The Rock Hall sucks, is an argument that will never be won against me.  If you can’t find something at the Rock Hall to check out you are an idiot.

Okay, scratch the Rock Hall, after the Rock Hall we went for Pho at Minh Anh.  Surely you can’t bitch about the food scene in Cleveland.  You have to eat right?  I mean we have Michael Symon for crying out loud.  We have tons of interesting restaurants in the city that cater to every ethnicity, creed and culture.  Surely the food is awesome right?  No, okay cool food scene here sucks too.  Well for Happy Hour we went to the Flying Monkey in Tremont for a cool book swap thing.  I met people I never would have met before and got a new book to read.  I met one of the pioneers of the Cash Mob craze Andrew Samtoy and chatted with a former ballet dancer in the 70′s and talked about his life and how much he loves the city.  Okay, books and literature suck too.  I capped off the night at the record release party for Roosavelt and saw Don Dixon open for them at the House of Blues.

Cleveland sucks and there is nothing to do however in the last 24 hours (give or take a couple) I saw 2 comedians, 2 bands, a parade, visited the Rock hall, and ate Vietnamese food.  Throw Thursday in the mix and you can put Sokowlowski’s in there too because that was lunch.  Everywhere I went was about 20 minutes from my front door.  I was never stuck in traffic for more than 2 minutes.  I was never raped, mugged or murdered. The river never caught fire and I am still alive unscathed and unharmed.   The grand total spent?  Maybe a hundred bucks and change.  Is Cleveland the problem really?  I think the problem might be you.  I can’t wait for you to leave this shit hole either.  One last question though.  Can I help you pack?

Well, this is my first time writing a blog. I hope you guys find this entertainable and enjoy the read.

There is 1 thing that I am tired of hearing and reading about. No it is not the Browns draft, but the Indians attendance. Lets face it, why would we not want to talk about and watch a first place baseball team. I have much respect for our local respected media members that keep bringing this to light to try and bring more people downtown, but I do have a problem with the the media that throws it down our throats and do not even attend games themselves. It’s not just the media, but pretty much all people that just like to complain. I can only wish that the media members sitting on their couches typing out 140 character tweets would actually be typing those out from the stands. I really can’t stand when the national media starts blaming us fans for not going to games. I mean, how can somebody that lives 500 miles or more away from here, know how it really is. How many games does the national media actually pay to attend themselves. I know that some of the local media still have to pay to park and for food like the rest of us. The only thing they are recieving are complimentary press pass tickets. Well, how often are the Indians giving away tickets through specials and promotions? They are probably one of the most generous professional sports teams that we know.

There are many members of our media that actually attend games on their off days and interact with the fans. Lets face it. How many of you go to your work or like to talk about it on your day off? I know i dont.

There are many excuses coming from all around. One being the economy. Well I have a feeling that the people that say they can’t afford to go to an Indians game will be the same people that love spending their hard earned money at the new casino. The other excuse is the weather. I know we all do not like to sit outside and go to games when it is 40 degrees and raining outside. Ok, fine. BUT there is other places to enjoy the game from including the new Kids Clubhouse. Rain, Snow, Cold, and Sunshine, there is always a place to watch the game from inside the stadium and still be comfortable. I have attended a few games myself this year and will continue to do so. It is a great experience and everyone should experience it when capable of doing so.

Parking is another excuse I hear a lot about. Well, don’t be scared off by the private parking lots charging $20 -$25 directly outside the stadium. The gateway garage is only $12 and surrounding parking lots are anywhere from $5 – $10. That is a great deal and you only need to walk about a block to get to the stadium.

I support all of our teams and will only continue to do so. I hope to see the stadium full again like it was in the mid 90′s and can only hope it doesn’t take till the playoffs for that to happen.

Thank you for taking the time to read my first blog. I hope to write some more sooner rather than later !

You can find KP @1be4igo on Twitter

Congratulations to David Makoroff who was the lucky random winner of the 2 tickets to the IX Center Beer Fest.  Thanks everyone for the comments, retweets and shares.  By the looks of things this appears to be the place to be this weekend in Cleveland.   The folks at the IX Beer Fest certainly know how to throw a party.

Ménière’s disease is a disorder of the inner ear that effects my hearing and balance.  For years before being diagnosed I assumed I had tinnitus, a ringing in the ears that is annoying as hell.  If you ever had a hearing test and remember what those tones sound like in the headphones imagine that sound buzzing your ears for hours on end.  It’s annoying to say the least.  My Ménière’s attacks are normally gradual however there are some folks that have drop attacks where you pretty much just pass out on your feet.  I dread ever getting one of those, but it could happen.  This thing is completely unpredictable, and strikes randomly.  There is nothing you can do to prevent an attack.  I can feel mine coming though.  I know the ones I can get through and I know the ones I need to get home and get to bed immediately.

Today I went into work knowing full well I was having a mild attack.  I stayed for an hour or so thinking it was going to pass, shot a message to the boss and went home.  Like I said, kind of embarrassing.  The embarrassing part is what I turn into during a full on attack.  I get hot, flush, rapid heart rate, I start to sweat, my speech is slow and slurred, my ability to walk is impaired, I get nauseous and focusing requires complete concentration.  If this sounds common to you, you probably understand what it is like to be completed wasted on alcohol on a bender sort of night.  I start to feel confined, and get very anxious because I know a couple things could happen.  The first is I could completely puke my brains out.  The second is I could pass out.  So, I gathered up my stuff today, sent an email and snuck out of the office like a thief in the night avoiding eye contact or anything that could require concentration.  People can tell something is wrong but I get completely annoyed by their questions.  I understand they are just showing concern but at the same time I need to focus on something as simple as walking.  You can’t really explain that very well to someone who doesn’t understand the disease.  Plus, they go into panic mode and that puts me in super panic mode and things get ugly.  I have been known to hurl obscenities at loved ones that would make a trucker blush in the middle of an attack.

My brain works fine during this if we are talking brain to fingers.  I appear to be able to make complete sentences here, in print.  If you talked to me right now however it would be a completely different story.  Brain to mouth, doesn’t work so good.  So, how did you get home you might ask?  I drove.  I drove with the concentration of someone with party plates at 2am on a Saturday night.  I learned a long time ago to really use the mirrors in the car.  Sudden head movements only make this worse.  I keep my head straight and use my eyes to glance at the mirrors.  Yes, it is stupid to drive home like that, but it’s either that or have a ride in an ambulance or wait for a ride to pick me up.  If I wait or have to wait panic ensues.  I feel trapped in my own body, and I freak out completely like a tiger in a cage.  To say it makes it worse is an understatement.  So, I never let on exactly how sick I am.  If I ever have a drop attack, well, that’s a completely different story.

The attacks last anywhere from a couple hours to a couple days.  I usually can ride them out but days like today I just need a little rest.  It’s more the anxiousness, the mild panic like attack I get that does me in.  I can’t be around people in these situations.  I can take an antivert which lessens the sea leg like symptoms, and helps me focus.  There are surgeries that can be performed but at a pretty great risk of hearing loss.  I don’t get the attacks very frequently as some folks do.  I think this is my first big attack in a few months honestly.  The mild ones come and go and are over in minutes, but ones like today are pretty rare at the very least.  I am thankful for that.  So, that’s my obligatory vertigo post.  Yep, it sucks.  I just am very self conscious about the way I appear to be in this state which more or less is drunk.  It can give off the wrong impression if you don’t know me or my history with the disease.

As pioneers of the genre they took the live show to a new level over the years.  Sadly not many hip hop acts followed the lead and still don’t to this day.   They brought in instruments and talented DJ’s to create a live sound close to what was on the record.  While there are a handful of hip hop artists that followed suit there are many more who more or less do rap karaoke.  What I saw open for Madonna was rap karaoke.  If you look  at Beastie Boys performances through the years you see it evolve into a multimedia experience.  That is why they were honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  They defied racial divides and brought in a whole new audience to listen to hip hop.  This cracker ass white boy never would have picked up a Public Enemy before the Beastie Boys.  They helped bring Hip Hop to the mainstream and made it accessible to everyone.

When I think back on MCA in the media there isn’t too much.  He was quiet.  Adam Yauch was an example of how you can completely alter your direction (creative or spiritual) and find new success again and again.  He took out the party part of Fight For Your Right and fought for the rights of those who needed it.  Yauch was a practicing Buddhist.  He became an important voice in the Tibetan independence movement.  He created the Milarepa Fund, a non-profit organization devoted to Tibetan independence and organized several benefit concerts to support the cause including the Tibetan Freedom Concert.  He was like this super reserved and quiet version of Bob Geldof.  You never saw him in tabloids drunk, drugged out, stints in rehab, flipping off paparazzi or fucking the nanny.   He lived his beliefs and stayed out of the attention of the media.

When I was invited to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony I was pretty excited to see the Beastie Boys perform.  I was let down a little when I learned they would not be performing and Yauch was home sick.  I didn’t realize he was going to pass away a couple weeks later.  He went out the way he lived his life; quiet and out of the public eye.  At the induction taking to the stage without his bandmate, Adam Horovitz – alongside Diamond and longtime DJ sidekick Mixmaster Mike – read out a statement from Yauch, who thanked the Beastie Boys’ fans, writing, “This induction is as much ours as it us yours.”  He was a truly humble rock star, plain and simple.  And with one more jab to Axl Rose I say that is why you accept an honor when presented to you.  You never know what the future might hold.  When I think of rock stars of past and present I can’t think of any other that lived their life with the honor and humility as Adam Yauch did.  He will be missed.  He was a pioneer and a true role model.

The kitchen is clean, huge and modern.  They supply everything you are going to need and you are going to learn some great techniques you might not have ever known.  My class was with Owner – Founder and Chubby Cook himself Scott Groth.  We took a Southwestern Cooking class and learned how to make Jalapeno Poppers, Southwestern Polenta, Tortilla Soup and Enchiladas.  It was amazing the things I learned and I consider myself pretty good in the kitchen.  First off, even if I was a complete idiot in the kitchen I know for a fact Scott would have taken his time with me.  He explained ever single step, and covered all the how’s and why’s throughout the class. He even gives you recipes to take home and recreate your masterpiece at home.  The class itself cost as much as a nice dinner somewhere fancy, but clocked in at a 4 hour experience.  Folks, that is cheap for what you get.  You are educated, you cook with real hands on training with a couple Chefs and you eat afterwards.  Scott was constantly on the go too.  He told many a kitchen war story to entertain as well.

So if you are looking for something completely unique that you probably have never done before this is one  for the bucket list in Cleveland.  If you don’t want to take a class with a bunch of yahoo’s like me then book a private event.  If I had friends that were into this sort of thing I would pull a group outing in a heartbeat, but this isn’t a perfect world so I will stick to the open classes found on the calendar on the Chubby Cook website.  There is even one that is recreating the film Big Night coming up next week with open slots.  It’s pretty much around $50 a head and for what you get it is a complete bargain.  He has an Classic American,  and a Grilling class coming up soon.  Wives…seriously buy this one for your husband, you know those steaks taste like shoe leather but you are too sweet to admit it.  Husbands…buy a class to take with your wife she will love you for it.  It’s romantic, it’s fun and it is something completely different.  If you have a group of friends and book one, invite me as I have no friends.  I’ll be glad to come along again.

Touring to promote their new best-of compilation, Made in Germany 1995-2011, Rammstein filled the packed-out venue with walls of sound and columns of flame, from microphone stands wreathed in fire to flame throwers and lead singer Till Lindemann’s extraordinary angel wings during the spectacular Engel.

What’s always astonishing about a Rammstein concert is how many people in the audience can sing along, word perfect with the mostly German lyrics.  I guess that’s what they do in non-English speaking countries too though when an American band hits the stage there.

Someone like me who isn’t overly familiar with Rammstein’s music, except for their only North American hit, 1997′s “Du Hast,” attends these type of concerts for one reason: to be entertained. In others words, for the pyro. Both Lindemann and keyboardist Christian “Flake” Lorenz are licensed pyrotechnicians, and work with designers to set up pryo, lights, and other effects for their shows. And the pyro did not disappoint. There were giant flames from the stage, fire coming out of metal wings on Lindemann’s back, flares blaring out of the end of Lindemann’s big-ass bazooka, fireworks, sparks on wires flaming out over the audience, flames from the top and the bottom of the stage.

Set List:

DJ Joe Letz does 20-30 minutes of Rammstein mixes and then directly into…

Sonne

Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen -

Keine Lust

Sehnsucht

Asche Zu Asche

Feuer Frei!

Mutter

Mein Teil

Du Riechst So Gut

Links 2-3-4

Du Hast

Haifisch

Band moves across gantry to B stage for next songs

Buck Dich

Mann Gegeb Mann

Ohne Dich

Band moves back across gantry to Main stage and takes bows comes back for encore

Mein Herz Brennt

Amerika

Ich Will

Engel

Pussy