Look The Part. Plus Another Vegan Burger...This One With A French Laundry Connection!

For the second time in a matter of months, I've been mistaken for somebody who knows what he's doing on a surfboard. No joke. The first time I was headed to the water in my wetsuit, board under my arm. I was almost at the shoreline and a couple was seated there in the sand. The girl looked up at me and said, "Are you our surfing teacher?"
     "Huh?" I answered.
     "We're waiting for our surfing teacher," said the girl. "I thought you might be him."
     Well, needless to say, I set her straight. Later, I texted this incident to a real surfing teacher, the one who did his best with me for a really long time.  He got a good chuckle out of it, for sure

Then, just the other day, I was out again. It was a pretty mellow morning surf on some pretty small waves, so a good day for me. There was a long time between sets and so lots of downtime. At one point this girl on a board nearby said something that sort of made me laugh.  "I'm just going to watch you," she said.
     "Really?" I answered.  "Why?"
     "Well, because you kind of look like you know what you're doing."

So I set her straight too. I can sometimes look like I know what I'm doing, and sometimes, if everything comes together right, I can even impress myself, but most of the times I'm still in the Kook category.

Knowing what one is doing is good thing, both on a surfboard and in the kitchen. One chef who way  more than knows what he's doing is Timothy Hollingsworth, whose career I've been following for a while. Hollingsworth (who also surfs, btw!) was for many years Chef de Cuisine at the French Laundry in Yountville, and he may even have been there when we were lucky enough to be chosen as guests to attend a meal at the French Laundry by a dear friend. This was a multi-course menu, complete with different wines for each course.  It started around lunch time and we all rolled out of there several hours later. In short, that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and anybody interested in cooking or food should definitely make a journey to Yountville, if you ask me. But back to Chef Timothy. He's now in LA, with two restaurants under his belt -- the barbecue-oriented Barrel and Ashes in Studio City, and Otium, downtown next to the Broad Museum. I haven't gotten to Barrel and Ashes yet, and we're reserving Otium for a special occasion like an anniversary or a birthday, so I was happy to hear that Chef Timothy was doing a partnership with Burgerlords, which is a really awesome little burger spot in Chinatown. I've had both their regular cheeseburger, and the Vegan version.  Burgerlords has begun doing monthly partnerships with chefs around town, available I believe on Mondays only, and Chef Timothy was the first.  He created two burgers, one featuring eel, and a Vegan burger that included shaved carrots, carrot top pipian (kind of like a mole), avocado spread and habanero pickled onions, which you see here, along with that heaping mess of crisp, delicious fries. I chose it because I like to eat vegetarian or vegan when I can, and it was a great combination -- it totally satisfied, and I didn't miss the meat at all.

So keep an eye on these guys. I, for one, can't wait to see who they'll collaborate with next.  More on Burgerlords here--

http://www.burgerlords.com/#new-page-1

Jason V. Stingray! Stingray For The Win!

If you spend any time in the ocean -- either as a surfer or a swimmer -- you probably have heard of something called the Stingray Shuffle. My first surf teacher told me all about it, about how you need to shuffle your feet in order to convince stingrays to move out of your way. Otherwise you risk getting stung. And, I was assured, getting stung is no fun. So I pretty much always shuffle my feet when I'm heading into the water. Once you can jump on your board and paddle, you generally don't have to worry about Stingrays.

Except...

When ya do!

First, a little background on these little creatures: these little suckers are cartilaginous fish, more precisely from the suborder Myliobatoidei, which derives from the order Myliobatiformes. Got that? (and thanks Wikipedia!). They are flat fish (like the skate you might dine on at a good seafood restaurant), bottom feeders that like to hang out in the shallows just beneath the sand. The key thing you need to know is that they have one (or more than one) barbed stingers on their tails. These are put to use when you accidentally come in too close contact, and when you get stung venom is released.  Here's a typical Stingray, just for your information--

Sort of freaky to see what lurks in the sea, huh?

Anyway, back to the Stingray shuffle. The other day, I headed out for a surf because conditions were nice and mellow and in my sweet spot. Of course I shuffled my way out in the shallows, then hopped on my board to paddle out to the sparse line-up.  As is my custom, I just watched the waves for a bit, just to size up what was coming and what it looked like I could handle. Along came a wave I thought I could go for, but I was a little late and missed this first one.  Then came another, and this too looked like a good one, so I paddle-paddle-paddled, caught the wave, and got up on my board.  All good so far. But my balance was off, and I toppled over. My right foot went straight down and touched sand, and right at that moment, I felt it -- like something bit me, right between my pinkie toe and the toe next to it!

The first reaction was something like this: "Ouch! What was that?"  It didn't initially feel like much but a quick nip, but when I got back on my board and looked back, there was blood. And then came the pain!! This Freakin' hurt!!  (Oddly enough, another thought passed through my head just before I noticed the blood...."Can I stay out and keep going?"  Well, once blood was involved I figured it was time to head back to the sand, and with the pain and the bleeding it seemed like a good idea to consult with the lifeguard.

Lifeguard Alex was, I have to say, awesome.  He got on his radio and before I knew it along came another lifeguard truck and then before I knew it here was a yellow bag filled with super-hot water and I was told to stick my foot in it because the hot water would 'cook' the venom and help ease the pain. You have to soak the sting for a good half-hour to forty-five minutes and Alex sat with me the whole time, and then when my foot was done soaking he bandaged up my foot! This is a good reason to always swim and surf near an open lifeguard tower if you can. If you run into trouble, these guys and ladies are the best, and I wholeheartedly thank them for helping me. Look, here I am all fixed up, and I got to keep the soaking bag!

So, in a way, I feel like I've been initiated into some club. Although I'd have preferred to have been excluded from this club, to be honest.  I had planned to check out Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken for lunch and report on it after this session, but with my still achy, bandaged foot, I figured maybe next time.  But a bit about food. I was pretty hungry when I got home, and after something like this comfort food was in order, so I made an egg and cheese on a roll and pretty much devoured it.

Next time, Gus's!!