Back to the Queen City and a Huge Surprise!

There were several places I had yet to try in Cincinnati so I decided to try them out. I took a quick hour long flight from Dulles and arrived mid-morning. Tne airport serving Cincnnati is actually in Covnington, Kentucky, hence the airport code is CVG. My first stop was "Big Jay's Place", a Caribbean Soul restaurant. It's a pretty small place seating about 15. I chose the Caribbean Salmon plate As I waited for my meal, I got meet Big Jay! My meal was salmon topped with a pineappe based glaze on top of rice and shredded vegetables. The veggies were tasty but very spicy, Scotch Bonnets, I 'm guessing. The glazed salmon was delicious, sweet and bold! Jay treated me two slices of his awesome pound cake. I was able to spend some time with Big Jay and learned about Guy's visit. He told me that Guy had been in the area to help local celebrity chef, Jeff Ruby celebrate his 70th Birthday, and did 6 places during his visit.

My next stop was in the small village of Camp Dennison. The town was founded during the Civil War, as it was the site of a Union Encampment. Ths "Schoolhouse Restaurant" was buit as a two room schoolhouse just after the Civil War. For 90 years it was a achool and for the past 60 years it's been a famiily style restaurant. The dining room is an old classroom. The menu is on the chalkboard. I was given a small single table. Most of the tables are large with a lazy susan spinner in the middle. You order your main meal. All of the sides are shared with everyone at the table. First you get salad and cole slaw. When your meal comes, you get cornbread, mashed pottoes and gravy, green beans and corn. I ordered the country fried steak. First course was salad and cole slaw, both were really good. My fried steak was good, like a chopped steak. The mashed potatoes were awesome as were the vegetables. This was a lot of food! I was able to meet Chris and Beth the onwers who spent about an hour telling me all about the restauranta,Guy's visit and my travels. After they signed my book they gave a slice of their special Chocalate Penut Butter Pie to take back to the hotel, and it was delicious, peanut butter cream with a layer of dark choclate. I highly recemmend Schoolhouse.

After finishing at Schoolhouse I decided to try one more place and boy was I glad I did! "The Governor Modern Diner" is in the village of Milford. The Governor seats about 30 with a bar. I took a seat at the bar and decided to try one of their desserts. When my server saw my Triple D book and said, "So, you're ready for the show?" and I told her that they were my 943rd Triple D place and her mouth dropped. I ordered the Cranberry Orange Cske, which was really delicious but very filing. The manager, chef and several servers came over to see the book and talk with me. The manager asked if he could name a burger after me and my Triple D travels as the special for the next evening? "Absoulutley". He told me that chef and sous chefs would come up with something and would post it on Instgram the next day after 3p. I ended my frst day very full and very excited about the next day!

My second day began with a 90 minute drive to Columbus to try one place in Ohio's capital city that eluded me on my visit a few year's earlier. "Ray Ray's Hog Pit" is a food truck in the Clintonville area of the city. I arrived a few minutes before it opened and met with my friend and fellow Triple D enthusiast, Chris. He had been to 498 places when we met that day! Chris introduced both of us the "Big Al" the pit master. who was amazed at our travels. I ordered the Brisket sandwich and Chris got a Pulled Pork sandwich. My sandwich came on a delicious roll with sweet barbcue sauce on the side. The brisket was fatty and delicious. I defintey want to try Ray Ray's again. It was also great seeing Chris and trading stories of our Triple D adventures.

After driving back to the Cincinnati area I decided to stop at a classic Triple D joint. "Blue Ash Chili" serves the unique Cincinnati style chili, which has cinnamon added to the mix, giving it a bit of a sweeter taste. Blue Ash has moved into a new, larger location. It's great they can accomodate so many more diners, but it kind of lost a bit of the homey atmosphere. I loved seeing the old sign and memoribilia inside the new place. I tried one of their classic Coney Cheese Dogs and it didn't disappoint!

I checked Instagram to check the specials at the Governor and there it was, the "#943 Wagyu Bill Burger". I had to go back! When you have a burger special named for you, you have to go and try it! The #943 Wagyu Bill Burger was an 8 oz. Wagyu Beef Patty on a Brioche Bun topped with Swiss cheese and Tomatoe Jam, shredded letuce, pickles and Montreal Mayo. It was messy and delicious. I am so so humbled that they did this for me. The Governor will always have a special place in my heart!

My last day in the Queen City started by heading into the downtown area. "Lucius Q" is a very cool place. It's on a very narrow street, in an eclectic neighborhood with aprtment, shops and restaurants. They have a stage and featuring live music. Of course they feature great barbecue. The featured musician the night before my visit was one of the Lucius Q's servers. I chose to try the Three Way, a brisket based barbecue chili on top of spaghetti and topped with cheddar cheese. It was a nice break from the traditional Cincinnati chili, more of a Texas style chili with a huge brisket chunks, it was very good. I was able to meet both owners who signed my book. They told me about Guy's visit and put me on their Instagram page. One of them told me that a chef from across the street, who knew Guy recomended Lucius Q for Triple D. TThey told me their business has increased drematically since Guy's visit.

My last place on this trip was in the College Hill area. "Kiki's College Hill" is a Japanese Bistro. I was seated at the bar, and I enjyed watching the bar tender mix all the exotic drinks. My server told me the menu was like a Japanese version of Tapas. I chose Scallops appetizer and Ramen with pork belly, a hard boiled tea egg and noodles. Both were really good. The scallops were topped with a sweet chili sauce. The Ramen had a nice broth that was accentuated with the egg yolk and a large piece of pork belly. Kiki's was a nice way to end the trip.

What a great trip! Delicous meals, great restaurants and a special burger named for me! As I headed home with my Tripe D count was 947!

Heading West to Idaho, Washington and Wyoming - Part 3

I continued the trip in Laramie, Wyoming taking an early flight from Spokane to Denver where I would get a car for the 2 hour drive into Wyoming. Any time I have a car in the Denver area I have to stop at one of my favorite Triple D places, "Lauer Krauts" in Brighton, Colorado. Robin, the owner has been featured on Triple D twice and once on Triple D Nation. I'm so grateful that Robin came in ton her time off to visit, I'm proud to call her a friend. She served me the Lauer Krauts version of a Chili Dog, a thick german style sausage wrapped in a fresh baked roll, served Pig-in-the blanket style. The chili was hearty with a kick of spice, although there were homemade condiments on the table, they weren't needed. The sausage was flavorful but the real highlight was the roll, fresh baked and tasty. Robin also gave me one of their newest t-shirt printed in 70s retro style! One fun fact about Robin and her first Triple D fiming, at the time she was 8 months pregnant, the day I visited was her sons 13th birthday, she calls him her "Kraut" baby! Thank you so much Robin and your incredible staff. If you're anywhere in the Mountain Time Zone Lauer Krauts is a MUST!

The drive to Laramie was very scenic, rolling through small canyons and hills, just a beautiful drive. I arrived into Laramie, home of the University of Wyoming and got started. "Alibi Wood Fired Pizzeria and Bakery" lives up to it's name featuring pizza and sweet pastries. I decided to try the Agrodolce Burrata. It was like a pizza without cheese. Mine was topped with garlic and Balsamic Vinegar, with fresh cut tomatoes and fresh housemade mozzerella. The wood fired crust was crispy and delicious with the mozzerella and balsamic adding to the great taste. Being so close to the university, I could sense it is a popular spot for students.

Before heading to the next place I went to check-in to my hotel and it was closed! I don't want to go into great details but the nightmare portion of the trip had begun. Luckily I was able to find a place, unfortunately it was so bad that I decided to get all the places done and head back to Denver! My next stop is the place I was looking forward the most. In Herndon, just a short walk from my apartment is a place called, Jimmy's Old Town Tavern. Jimmy's is almost like a modern day Cheers bar. It also is where Buffalo, New York sports fan gather to celebrate their Western New York sports teams. The current QB of the Buffalo Bills is Josh Allen and he attended the University of Wyoming, so I noticed people wearing a lot of Wyoming gear but I noticed a fair amount of Bills gear, too. "Weitzel's Wings aka Double Dubs" is a food truck system as they operate a sevveral trucks in the Laramie and nearby Cheyenne communities. One of the featured spicy wing sauce is dedicated to and a favorite of Josh Allen. Weitzel's has participated in the Buffalo Wing Festival and taken home 12 winning ribbons! I loved this truck, it was painted like a fighter jet and even had art to reflect the winnig ribbons from the festival. I ordered 6 wings in what they called C79 sauce, which was a Bufflo style sauce with a bit of a kick. They were really good. The truck, parked in a liquor store lot, was doing a huge business, but the guys running the truck took the time to talk to me and sign my book and I really appreciated that.

After a rough night at the hotel, I made out a plan to go to the last places in Laramie. I headed out to a small but very popular place in the downtown area. "J's Prairie Rose" caters to the breakfast crowd. I was given a seat at the counter. With a few other places to try I went light, or so I thought! I ordered one pancake and a side of hash browns. The hash browns were good, but the pancake was huge, the size of a dinner plate, it was tasty and filling, so good that syrup wasn't really needed. The service was very good and the staff extremely friendly.

After packing up and thankfully checking out, I headed out to the last few places in Laramie. First stop was at a place featuring pub grub. "Born in a Barn" is a small place at the corner of an area with numerous shops and restaurants. I took a seat at the bar and ordered a Chicago Style Hot Dog. It was true to the Windy City staple. The huge dog was served on a tasty roll topped with mustard, tomatoes, relish and sport peppers. It was so big, I needed to use and knife and fork. Before leaving I met the owner who signed my book and ironically later that night they were featured on a Triple D rerun.

About 200 yards from Born in a Barn was my next place, "Sweet Melissa", a Vegan Restaurant, which is not a cuisine I usually eat. I decided to try two dishes based on foods I enjoy. I tried the Crab(less) Cakes and Kimchee scallion pancake. Both were good, I thought the pancake was ok, it came with a spicy chili sauce. The Crab(less) Cake was interesting, it looked like a crab cake but made from veggies. It didn't have a crab taste but it was really good. I had the nicest server and when I told her about what I wa doing she went and got the owner and namesake of the restaurant, Melissa, to come over to the table to sign my book. I did enjoy Sweet Melissa, more than I thought I would, if you enjoy Vegn then Sweet Melissa is the place for you.

After visiting the University of Wyoming bookstore, I headed to wmy last stop in Laramie. "Crowbar and Grill" is in the same area as the last two places and features Pizza, both by the pie and by the slice. I ordered a white pizza slice with ground beef and ricotta. It was tasty but my favorite part of the slice was the awesome crispy crust.

My trip ended with a two hour drive south to Denver. It was a fantastic trip, I got to try a lot of great places and food, see old freinds and make new ones, what could be better? As I flew home my Triple D count stood at 940.