Allez Cuisine!

I try to spoil myself with good food and drink on a fairly regular basis, but I know I must be hard up for something new and exciting when I see an $11 beer on a menu and can't even think of not getting it. To my credit, it was bomber-sized, and I did go through more than one server trying to get an accurate description of it. Furthermore, one doesn't go to a sushi restaurant looking at prices--one fills oneself chock full of sushi until not another grain of rice can be consumed, all in the hope that such an overwhelmed stomach can't possibly regret a large bill at the end of the night. Throwing some beer and sake into the mix can't hurt either. Now that's what I call foresight.

Kate and I were at Sushi Tora, a restaurant that rightly claims the title of "Boulder's Best Sushi," boasting of real wasabi and homemade sauces. The fish is fresh, the chefs are friendly, even the rice has the perfect amount of vinegar to make your tongue sing. But back to beer. The beer I couldn't resist was Rogue's Morimoto Soba Ale, a buckwheat ale that has found the perfect companion in sushi. It's grainy, with just a tinge of hop flavor, and it's the cleanest finish you'll ever find in a beer. It's like having a tasty side dish of soba noodles in a bottle. In short, it will make you eat way too much sushi. And yes, "Morimoto" refers to the one and only Chef Masaharu Morimoto, no doubt the coolest of all Iron Chefs, east or west. I'm curious to see how this beer would stand up to other foods or by itself, but with sushi, it's my new king.

On another note, the writer's strike has reinvigorated my love for the Food Network, as it is now one of the only things worth watching on television. Its only failing is that it motivates me to eat, not cook.

-Jon