-- Marion Burros, New York Times

We have to agree! Today, we are serving our newest Comfort Food Classic, our Lamb Sheepherder's stew made from all natural and organic Lava Lake Lamb.

And our Saturday night Comfort Food Classic our Bistro Lamb Shank Supper is now Lava Lake Lamb! If you are a fan of slow food, you'll want to try our slow braised Lava Lake Lamb all-natural and organic lamb shanks. We slowly braise them in our oven until the meat is falling-off-the-bone tender and then serve them with our Veggie Rice, Sauteed Kale and Burgundy Mushroom gravy. A Garden Salad and freshly baked bread complete this meal!

A bit more on why we chose to use Lava Lake Lamb, taken from their website information:

The lamb you buy from Lava Lake Lamb is 100% grass-fed, free-range lamb never placed in feed lots, never given hormones, never given antibiotics.

At Lava Lake, we believe there are many benefits to raising animals on a grass-based diet. First, lambs that forage over a large landscape are eating the way nature intended. Because they graze over long distances in the great outdoors they are lean, fit and healthy. Our lambs have a varied diet that is primarily a mix of wild grasses and herbs, along with an occasional stroll through a rich alfalfa field at the main ranch.

Second, a growing body of research indicates that eating grass-fed meat is a healthy choice for your family, because it is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin E and beta-carotene, and lower in fat than grain-fed meat. We believe that eating grass-fed lamb from Lava Lake is a healthy way to enjoy meat in your diet.

We look forward to seeing you for dinner soon!

Thursday, January 13, 2011 3:48:33 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)    Comments [0] 

One of the newest sandwiches on our menu is our Bistro Cheesesteak: a meaty, cheesy, pile of goodness that can barely be contained between two buns.  While neither of us hail from Philly, we do have a soul connnection with this sandwich, thanks to Jeff's youth.

When Jeff was in his early teens, his folks would send him packing every summer to visit his cousins just outside Philadelphia. Most of the time he would board a train at Grand Central Station for the two-hour ride to Philly's 30th St. Station, where he would transfer to the Paoli local line to his final destination. On one occasion, Jeff was picked up at 30th St. Station by his older cousin, Dana, who had driven in to Philly. Jeff had arrived around lunch time, so Dana took him to Pat's, were he was introduced to the Cheesesteak -- a memorable departure from the Italian style meatball grinders he was used to as a denizen of the Big Apple. Pat's became a must hit destination whenever Jeff was in Philly. Jeff had tried Geno's once, but preferred the melted provolone cheese to cheese whiz, which was essentially the difference between the two versions.

A classic Philly cheesesteak uses skirt steak, or any low-end beef cut, frozen then very thinly machine sliced and cooked on a flat griddle along with onions, sweet peppers and cheese. The key ingredient is the crisp-crusted Italian style roll the whole melted conglomeration is spatulaed into (we thought it was high time to turn spatula into a verb).

Our version....since we do not used a per order griddle......is to slow roast a naturally fed Double R Ranch top round. We slice it thin and combine it with fire roasted peppers and onions on fresh baked bread topped with our own cheddar cheese sauce. The grease factor on ours is considerable less than a traditional version, which hopefully will keep our customers alive longer without having to sacrifice taste and mouth feel.  You will, however, need to adopt a "wide stance" when handling this bad boy...but since we serve it on a plate, the more civilized among you can simply sit down and enjoy the experience.  Just be sure you lean well over your lap .

Now, if you'd like to learn more about Pat's and Geno's, just follow this link to the "battle of the Philly Cheesesteaks" -- then come give ours a try!

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/712611/philly_cheesesteak_restaurants_in_philadelphia.html

Monday, November 01, 2010 10:10:10 AM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)    Comments [0] 

Say what you want in praise of the wines of France and the Napa Valley of California, but compared to Italy’s history of wine making, they are mere poseurs.  

At our most recent World of Wine Tour class, “Summer Italians”, we had an opportunity to renew our Latin love affair with the help of six wines hand picked by Brad Cowan of BRJ Distributors that was designed to showcase just what Italy is capable of when it comes to summer sippers.  

By way of introduction, Brad gave us a few pointers.  “Italian whites should be served at an optimal temperature of 50 degrees,” he recommended.  “The entire country is within a few hours of the sea, so Italian white wines typically pair well with seafood. 

We started off with a Filippo Gallino Roero Arneis from North Italy’s Piedmont region.  This pale white gave us a hint of pineapple and citrus with a bit of cedar, that would cut through a fattier seafood dish like grilled salmon or seafood pasta.  “The arneis grape is a very dry, austere grape that when aged in stainless steel barrels has bright acidity and a clean, crisp acidity,” said Brad.

For our next wine, a 2007 Planeta Segreta Bianco, we traveled south for a sweeter, fruitier vintage from the Sicilian winery of Planeta, a family that whose land holdings go back to the 1600s.  The Planeta Bianco is a blend of 50 percent grecanico, an indigenous grape, 10 percent viognier, 30 percent chardonnay (for some added body), and 10 percent fiano, a grape similar to pinot grigio.  

Our next wine was a 2008 Anselmi San Vincenzo, which sounds about as Italian as you can get.  The Anselmi Vineyard is located near Venice and is a 5th generation wine maker.  The San Vincenzo blend is a bold vintage that includes some treviano, and is aged in stainless steel for six months before being bottled.  It has a very clean and mellow finish. 

From Veneto, we moved north and east to just near the Austrian border and the highest vineyard in Italy at 3,000 feet above sea level: Altanuta.  We enjoyed an outstanding pino grigio that Brad described as “crisp as a mountain breeze with subtle citrus notes.”  This fruity wine begged for some more of the smoked gouda from our cheese platter.  

Wine number five was a departure from our diet of white: a “dolce” delight the color of rasperries in a bowling pin-shaped bottle.  With its main grape constituent being merlot, our Zonin Baccorosa vino spumanti (also from Italy’s Piedmont region) was delightfully sparkling and sweet, with a smooth finish despite its fizzy nature.  Challenged with what to pair with it, Brad offered up a rich cheddar cheese, cheesecake, or glazed walnuts. 

We ended the evening on yet another “sparkling” note with a Mionetto Il Moscato, which describes itself as “THE gentle sparkling wine.”  The moscato grapes from Italy’s Veneto region give this wine a sweet, floral taste and a lively, refreshing and fruity bouquet that would go nicely with pears and caramelized pecans.  Don’t be fooled by its traditional crown, rather than cork, seal: it’s the real deal, regardless of requiring a bottle opener rather than a corkscrew.  

If all this puts you in the mood for great wine, good food, and convivial company – not to mention the opportunity to learn more about the wide world of vino – be sure to join us for our next class on September 28: Zinfandels – a subject near and dear to our hearts!  

Salute! 

Brad Cowan of BRJ Distributors

Monday, September 13, 2010 4:37:06 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

In our continuing quest to deliver new adventures in comfort food -- especially ones that we can put between a couple of slices of bread -- our latest inspiration takes us to a comfort food tradition from Latin America.

The term "picadillo" comes from the Spanish verb, "picar", which means to mince or to chop.  In many of the countries where picadillo can be found (Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, the Philiippines, Puerto Rico) it is made with ground beef and served with rice.  Back in the 1970s I discovered a recipe in a Life Magazine Cookbook that borrowed from the Cuban version of picadillo, which typically includes peppers, onions, garlic, oregano, cumin, tomato sauce, stock, olives, and on occasion raisins, potatoes, and capers, and is usually sauteed in olive oil and white wine, depending on the region. Cuban picadillo is served with black turtle beans and rice.  That, and a cold cerveza, is good eatin', Latin-style.

We fell in love with the combination of flavors in picadillo, and it seemed a natural for a tasty sandwich when combined with our Double R Ranch beef.  We're not sure what the Cubans would think of serving this sandwich with coleslaw (the sweet/vinegary flavor and crunch of the slaw makes for a great flavor and texture counterpoint to the picadillo) and a side of rum pot beans and potato salad, but we'd like to think that it would improve diplomatic relations with Havana far more than any boring trade agreement.  Claro que si!  

Thursday, September 09, 2010 9:30:03 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

It all started at 5th and Main

Has it really been 26 years since the Brick Oven Bistro opened its doors?  My, how time flies when you're having fun.

Those of you who have ever paused at the entrance to our restaurant have probably noticed some old black and white photos on the wall just as you walk in.  One of those photos is of our original location at 5th and Main (the current home of Addie's).  For those too young, or too recent, to recollect the story behind our relocation from there to our present site on The Grove at 8th and Main (what a difference three blocks can make!), it is a story worth re-telling.

It was only about five years after opening our doors that we realized we would need more space (we thank our customers for that necessity), and we began looking for a new location.  As ideal as our current location may seem today, since we like to think of The Grove as the beating heart of downtown Boise, it was a very different sort of scene back in the late '80s.  The Grove was quiet.  I remember as we were building our new restaurant, looking across the “plaza” that no one was walking by, or around...and the thought came to me, what were we thinking?  There was no hotel and few events at the convention center in those days, so everyone from the banks walked out the door and toward other parts of town.  It was a bit daunting to say the least!  I remember years later talking to a friend from Argentina who arrived in Boise with her husband. She, like I, came from a country with plazas where people walked the plaza at night, where the plaza was the center of activity.  She recalls waking up on a Sunday at the current Hotel 43 – then the Statehouse Inn - and looking down at the “plaza” where nothing was moving.  She thought she had been brought to a wasteland!  She wasn't far wrong.

But we believed in the potential of The Grove, and more importantly of our downtown Boise core; so with the passion and optimism of yourth, we plunged boldly forward.  To commemorate our move, we decided that we wanted an event more unique than a ribbon cutting.  We decided on a "parade of chairs".  Gathering up our employees and 30 of our customers, we we congregated in the parking lot of the old restaurant and blew up balloons, tied them to the restaurant chairs and took off down Main Street.  It would be interesting to talk to John at Old Boise Music to see if he remembers us coming by his shop.  It was  festive, fun and lighthearted -- attributes that we like to think characterize all that we do at the Brick Oven Bistro to this day.

I'm happy to say that our optimism has been vindicated by the test of time.  We enjoy all the visitors that we get to engage with, and our location makes us feel as though we play the role of “Boise welcomers”.  The plaza has indeed become a  plaza, with families and individuals enjoying the quiet and all the falling water.  Children love the freedom of being able to wander to the water, feed the birds and ducks, while their parents appreciate a “fume-free”, safe, and comfortable spot to be.  We have helped enliven the plaza, bringing color, foliage and great food to the area – an added reason to walk around The Grove.  There is something about being in the center – for if you think of, it The Grove is indeed the center of downtown.  It has been a delightful space – away from the bustle of autos and trucks – an oasis in the centre of a metropolis.  And for us, it all started with a parade of chairs...and a leap of faith!  

The Grove has truly become an urban plaza

Monday, August 16, 2010 5:32:33 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

Sarah Carrico enjoys a bowl of crawfish etouffee.  Hold the mayo on that!

Of course you would.  After all, she recently won a complimentary bowl of crawfish etouffee as a result of a Brick Oven Biistro Memory that she shared on our Facebook page:

"I'm 27, and for the first, oh, ~22 years of my life, The Beanery [old habits die hard...] was the only place I would eat mayonnaise. To this day, I still consider a turkey on white with everything and mashed potatoes [with a dollop of muffaletta!] the only candidate for my last meal - no joke. I used to get a Clearly Canadian every time, too, but... I drink alcohol now :D"

"My meals taste just as good as when I was a child - now I'm able to appreciate the goodness even more, and, shucks, I loves me some Brick."

Well, we loves us some customers like Sarah...not just beause they are customers, but because of their commitment to our local culinary scene.  Sarah, for example, works as a prep cook for our friends across The Grove at Bar Gernika (Bar Gernika owner, Jeff May, worked his first restaurant gig at the Brick Oven Bistro, we're proud to say) and as a wine sales person at Bueno Cheapo Vino up on Vista near Rose Hill on Sundays.  

Sarah has a big adventure ahead of her this October.  She is planning to visit a friend in Shanghai, China, to take in the culinary scene.  Turns out that her friend works at the legendary Peninsula Hotel in Shanghai, so Sarah plans to divide her time bewteen haute cuisine and street food.  We're jealous, but we're hoping she'll drop us a postcard.  Better yet, we're hoping she'll come back for a turkey sandwich when her adventure is through and share some stories with us.  

By the way...Sarah's bowl of etouffee was the first she'd ever had in her life.  Beats the heck out of mayo, doesn't it?

If you'd like to share a Brick Oven Bistro memory with us, just click here to tell your story.  There may not be any such thing as a free lunch, but at least we won't make you sing for your supper -- unless, of course, you don't mind seeing your performance on YouTube!

Saturday, August 07, 2010 4:32:24 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

By now you've probablly realized that we love to come up with new sandwich ideas.  We'd like to say that these ideas are the result of some mystic revelation...but that would only be true for 98 percent of our menu.  Part of the remainder falls into the "necessity is the mother of invention" category.

In the case of our Gaucho Beef Salad Sandwich, both revelation and neceesity played their parts.  On the "revelation" side of the equation, it occurred to us that you just don't find too many beef salad sandwiches out in the culinary universe -- and our San Francicso Beef Salad Sandwich was such a success that we wanted to come up with another recipe in that vein.  On the "necessity" side, we found ourselves with an abundance of Double R Ranch beef that we needed to work into the menu board.  What to do?  As is often the case in such situations, we poured ourselves a generous glass of Sabes d'Azur rose (see our previous blog on Summer Whites), pulled out a bunch of cookbooks, and started "concepting'.

A few glasses (but who's counting) later, we came up with the Gaucho Beef Salad Sandwich.  What makes this a "one of a kind" sandwich, besides the quality of the beef?  It's the chimichurri sauce: a condiment that you'll find gracing steaks served in Argentina.  According to Wikipedia, the origin of chimichurri is as follows:

"The Argentinian gourmet Miguel Brasco claims that the word chimichurri originated when British were taken prisoner after England tried to invade the Spanish colony of Argentina. The prisoners asked for condiment for their food mixing english, aboriginal and Spanish (castilian) words. Che-mi-curry stands for "che mi salsa" (dame condimento) or "give me curry". Later "che-mi-curry" corrupted to chimichurri."

Chimichurri is made from finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, vegetable oil or olive oil, white or red vinegar, and red pepper flakes. Additional flavorings such as paprika (pimenton dulce), oregano, cumin, thyme, cilantro (coriander leaf), lemon, and bay leaf (laurel), and in the red version, tomato and red bell pepper may also be added.  It is the only seasoning for grilled meats, organ meats and chorizo sausages in Argentine and Uruguayan asados. It can also be used as a marinade for grilled meat; as seen in Nicaragua.

To give our Gaucho Beef Salad Sandwich its distinctive picante bite, we add green olives to our chmichurri sauce -- which proves that "spicy" doesn't have to mean "hot".  Much as we'd like to find some apt culinary analogy for this sandwich, comparisons fail us.  You'll just have to come on by and experience it for yourself the next time it's on the menu.

Ole!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 4:43:29 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

Somehow over the years it became fashionable to look down your nose at white wine if you fancied yourself a wine lover.  While it’s not for us to pass judgment on anyone’s taste when it comes to the fruit of the vine, we can’t help wonder if there isn’t a bit of pretension at work in that bias – which is precisely why we devoted our June 29 World of Wine Tour class to the wonder of vino blanco.

Under the tutelage of Brad Cowan, our wine instructor from local distributor BRJ, we worked our way through six wines, along with Brick Oven Bistro hummus, quiche, cheeses, fresh veggies, and generous helpings of triple fudge brownies.  The countries represented during the course of the evening were Italy, Portugal, France, Germany, New Zealand, and Spain – all of which know a thing or three about producing great tasting white wines.

Brad Cowan gets his game on

We started our evening with Twin Vines Vinho Verde, a wine that comes from the Jose Maria Fonseca winery of Portugal.  The name, which translates as “green wine”, refers not to the wine’s color, which could be described as “straw”, but to the Vinho Verde region of Northern Portugal, a coastal area whose soil was once an ancient seabed.  The Alberino grapes grown there produce a wine that has both spicy and mineral notes.  Low in alcohol, this is a great patio wine that is best served well chilled.  You can have some fun with it by adding slices of lemon or lime, or even some raspberry puree.  Think of it as a Portuguese summer cocktail.  

Rose never seems to get the respect it deserves, so it was appropriate that Brad selected one from Provence, the Sables D’Azur Rose – a wine that makes you feel sophisticated just saying the name correctly.  Made with Grenache and Syrah grapes, the wine has a pink apricot color and is bone dry with floral notes.  It was easy to see why Brad considers Provence his favorite place in the world for rose – and why this particular vintage is seldom in stock after July.  We enjoyed it so much that we are now serving it at the restaurant by the glass or by the bottle – so keep that in mind the next time you order a Bistro Club Salad.

We made yet another visit to New Zealand with our next wine, which was a Walnut Block Collectibles Sauvignon Blanc.  The Walnut Block winery is located in Marlboro, at the north end of South Island in New Zealand – an area well known for the quality of its wines.  This straw colored wine has a slightly citrus and herbaceous nose that makes it sweet but not syrupy.  

We moved on to somewhat more familiar white wine territory with a Spanish Quarter Chardonnay – a fruit forward wine made from 60% chardonnay and 40% albarino grapes fed by the waters of the Pyrenees Mountains.  With notes of ruby red grapefruit, this is a sweet wine that you can chill and enjoy on a warm summer afternoon.

Next up was a sparkling wine from Germany, a Henkell Trocken.  Similar to Italian prosecco but sweeter, this is an off dry wine that drinks smoothly, with what Brad described as a “fine rain of bubbles”.  Now that’s poetry, my friends.

We finished up the evening with a Zonin Primo Amore Juliet from Italy, where vino and amore go together like Romeo and…well, Juliet.  This was a delightful wine that was smooth and sweet, with mellow pear notes.  Like the other wines we tasted during the class, this is a wine made for summer, a season of light and sweetness when less is more, and the weightiness of a bold red wine is not such an appealing companion to summer salads, cheeses, light pasta dishes, or simple grilled chicken or fish.  

These are wines that cool your palate like a soft breeze, and make the heat of the day worth getting through to enjoy a simple repast outdoors.  These are wines that celebrate not just summer, but la dolce vida – and at a sweet price as well.  Amazingly, all of the wines we sampled during the class were light on the pocketbook at under $10 a bottle. 

We’ll see you on July 27th for our class on Spanish wines!  

Life is short...eat dessert first!

Friday, July 09, 2010 10:32:57 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

Most of us try to show some restraint when it comes to dessert, but our experience has been that when it comes to enjoying the sweeter side of life, self-denial is no more a virtue than self-indulgence.  And while many of our guests think of Yankee Pot Roast or Citrus Chicken as iconic menu items at the Brick Oven Bistro, there are many who would just as quickly name bread pudding, strawberry shortcake, or a chocolate malt as the foods that most readily come to mind when they think of us.

The fact is that we take dessert every bit as seriously as any of our menu entrees, and desserts have been a long-standing part of the Brick Oven Bistro tradition.  I was reminded of this the other day when I was talking to a guest who admitted that he first visited us more than 15 years ago because he had heard that we made the best milkshakes in town – then discovered to his surprise that we were actually a restaurant and not a soda fountain.  

Our dessert tradition began whimsically enough with unique milkshake creations such as the Fuzzy Navel, New York Cheesecake, Bananas Foster, and Mom’s Apple Pie – all of which continue to be made the old-fashioned way with high quality hard ice cream.  Our friend and Denver food diva Pat Miller contributed her infamous Triple Fudge Nut Brownie, and we also began baking chocolate chip and almond sugar cookies.  As time went by, we further expanded our dessert portfolio with favorites such as our Apple Bread Pudding with Bourbon Walnut Sauce and our summer dessert standard, Strawberry Shortcake.  

Not content to rest on our laurels, we’ve continued to experiment with new dessert items – most recently our Chocolate Espresso Pecan Pie and our Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Cheesecake, which proves that when it comes to dessert, less is definitely not more.  While most of our guests don’t have a whole lot of room left over when they finish up a Brick Oven Bistro lunch or dinner entrée, there are plenty who enjoy sharing a dessert or take one home to eat later.  

We’re proud of our dessert tradition at the Brick Oven Bistro, and we’re delighted that so many folks make our cookies and brownies a highlight of their working day.  We even know some local musicians who refuse to play on our patio until they’ve had their obligatory Brick Oven Bistro Carrot Cake.  Sure, you could call that indulgence, but we’d prefer to think of it as simply getting your “just desserts” in life.  

Friday, July 02, 2010 9:36:53 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

If the Brick Oven Bistro were to have a patron saint, the Earl of Sandwich would certainly be in the running for canonization.  After all, when it comes to summer, it’s hard to beat sitting under an umbrella on our patio with a frosty brew and a hearty sandwich.

Over the years, we’ve taken the zest for adventure that informs our menu and tried to find new ways to deliver that experience between sliced loaves of fresh-baked sunflower wheat and savory Italian breads.  To date, here’s a quick litany of some of our more innovative creations.

Let’s start with the San Francisco Beef Salad Sandwich.  We begin with a familiar comfort food, strips of beef sirloin, then take it to the next level with a creamy oriental star anise dressing, and garnish with fresh tomato and lettuce and marinated English cucumbers (ah, those English and their cucumbers).  

I left my heart in SF...but not my sandwich!

For more pedestrian appetites, there is our ever-popular Turkey Club Sandwich, the sandwich that launched our search for the perfect slab cut bacon – and eventually to a contract with a small meat packing company in Minnesota that resulted in what today has been popularized as Applewood Smoked Bacon…a culinary wonder that has since been picked up on by numerous other restaurants.  Another of our favorite twists on the classic turkey sandwich is our turkey slawich – a meeting on bread of two perennial picnic favorites that screams “welcome to summer!”

You say you like chicken salad?  How about our Cashew Chicken Salad Sandwich, or our more exotic Chicken Tarragon Salad sandwich?  For the latter, we start with that delicatessen staple that we all know and love, then add tarragon to it and serve it with tomatoes and lettuce and marinated English cucumbers -- with the optional touch of red onions and a jalapeno pepper on the side, just for that extra kick.  

Now you're talkin' turkey.  The Turkey Slawich, that is.

If you have a yen for something hot and spicy, there’s our Tuscan Meatball Sandwich.  You like beef?  Howzabout our Beef Peppers & Onions Sandwich?  We start with thin, hand-carved slices of roast beef, pile it on our Italian or Sunflower Wheat bread slathered with horseradish mayo, then add fresh lettuce, tomato, and cucumber, then top the glorious mess with sautéed onions and red peppers.  

Hummus is one of those foods that in the years since we first opened our doors has gone from being esoteric to darn near a pub food standard.  One our managers brought us the recipe that we use, and we put a bit of a Mediterranean twist on it by using kalamata olives and lots of garlic.  The sliced cucumbers on the sandwich compliment these flavors quite nicely.

And of course, with any of our sandwiches, if you want to kick it old school (aka, picnic style), we add some coleslaw and Rum Pot Beans on the side.  And we’d undoubtedly disappoint Bar Gernika owner Jeff May if we failed to at least mention our class Reuben Hamwich.  Doesn’t it make you wish summer could last all year?  Earl of Sandwich, we salute you! 

The wonder of the Reuben Hamwich

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 3:34:50 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0]