What's Cookin?

With all the excitement of publishing to the world without anyone having a word, edgewise, I almost forgot part of the purpose in this experiment in electronic nonsense...Hopefully selling some more food.

For the balance of October, we've got a really nice dinner special running...A Coffee Crusted Sirloin with Carmelized Shallot Butter, mashed potatoes and sauteed mushrooms. Yes, it may sound a bit odd...but it works...big time. We'll rub this twelve ounce monster with a blend of ground coffee, garlic, salt, pepper, romano cheese and other secret ingredients and then slap it in a smokin' hot broiler (truly, the only way to cook a steak...just ask the big city steak joints). Topped with a butter of carmelized shallots (little onions) and cracked black pepper...this is a thing of beauty. We'll throw in the salad and a fork to eat it all with for just 17 bucks.

As a pairing, we're also running a very nice California Petite Sirah from Bogle Vineyards for six and a half. It's a big & jammy California red with a ton of fruit and backbone that will stand up nicely to the carnival of flavor which is the Coffee Crusted Sirloin.

And, don't forget lunchtime. Here's the current lunch special lineup:

Monday: Mile High Meatloaf Sandwich

Tuesday: Roast Turkey Manhattan

Wednesday: Stuffed Chicken Breast on Pesto Risotto

Thursday: Roast Sliced Sirloin, Mashed, Creamed Spinach

Friday: Dealer's Choice Fish o' the Day

All lunch specials 7.50...available from 11:00 - 4:00

That's quite enough propaganda for now...

P.S. Have a nice day

What's Up-Town?

Yes, it's an awful play on words..."What's Up-Town?"...we completely understand your disgust. However, it's a marginally catchy way to lead into what's been going around the northernmost reaches of Downtown. So, for the sake of discussion, let's define Uptown as the the parcel of land bounded by Superior Street on the south, Barr Street on the West, Spy Run on the East, and the Mighty Saint Mary's River on the North...commonly known as 305 East Superior Street...otherwise known as Boardwalk...Park Place...maybe Pennsylvania Avenue...Seriously, though, this ground has it all...great street access, tons of space, four hundred feet of riverfront, more than a hundred years of history, horses trotting around, front row seat to Headwaters Park, and it's just a stone's throw from the Fries Hotel.

This little slice of Heaven has since 1958 been the home of The Gas House...the Mecca of straight-up good eats in Downtown (err...Uptown) Fort Wayne. If this isn't enough, we've also been tossing knives, flipping shrimp tails and telling corny Japanese jokes upstairs at Takaoka since 1978. And, to top it all off, we're home to the only riverfront restaurant in the City of Three Rivers...commonly referred to as: Nick's -or- The Deck -or- The Boardwalk -or- that place out behind The Gas House.

So, to get back to the original point of this rambling, incoherent babble...What's Uptown?

Well, as at least a few of you may know...2009 has been quite an eventful year for us. A comprehensive renovation of the restaurant which ran from January 'til May punched a great deal of snazz into what was (we'll be honest, here) a place that was at least a little bit tired. No, we didn't really like the 25 year old shutters in the bar room, either. And yes, believe it or not, the ceiling in the back dining room did drip from time to time. However, (and we'll be honest, again) what we have now is pretty damn cool if we do say so ourselves. It's swanky without being snobby, it's rough but refined, it's friendly without sitting down at your table with you. We'll cook you a fine piece of cow the way it's supposed to be cooked, but a burger and a beer works, too.

The way we look at it, every town needs a classic joint they can call their own...and we're definitely not talking about the TexasRoadAppleOutHouse. What we've got is real. And it can't be accomplished with a bunch of goofy t.v. ads convincing you that you're going to be just as happy as the guy who just discovered his new "favorite" pasta that some ding-a-ling just boiled up for him in a vacuum sealed bag. At the end of the day (God, I hate that phrase), what we've got here is a crew of dedicated folks looking to put out an honest meal and send you off wishing you never see another bloomin' anything for the rest of your natural life.

Now...that's quite enough self promotion...it's not really our thing (maybe it should be). It's back to what has gotten us to this point over the course of more than half a century...figuring out what tastes good, making it hot, and saying "hello" and "thank you" with a smile.

Insanity Grips Superior Street

A sign that things around our little burg are truly getting weird...A 51-year-old restaurant in the heart of downtown Fort Wayne has entered the world of conspiracies, political mumbo-jumbo, and self-important prose.

With an already never ending parade of mindless blather to distract us, yet another moron with a computer has decided to offer up his own version of entertainment and wit, "The Gas Leak". With a not so catchy name to its credit, this lackluster bit of tripe intends to offer the goings on at the Gas House Restaurant . . .get it, “Gas Leak.” Yes, terrible. Editor and publisher, Ben Hall, describes The Gas Leak as, “...something that I’ve sometimes thought that I might possibly be kindof good at.” Yep, a real page turner we’re sure.

Initially, The Gas Leak intends to offer such salacious material as monthly lunch and dinner specials, employee features, humorous editorial comments (we can’t wait for that) and other goings on about the restaurant. “In the future,” Hall says, “we’ll think about expanding into a little more hard hitting journalism, or maybe some personal ads, but we’ll stick to basics to begin with.” Sounds like a lark. In this writer’s opinion, enjoy it while it lasts, folks.