The Dude of Food has a favorite Vietnamese restaurant.

Sadly, Hue House has closed.

The Hue House, was located in Munchen, Germany, and was the best Vietnamese food the Dude of Food has ever tasted. It came recommended from 3 of my 5 friends in Munich and the Hue House menu was found in 2 of their kitchens! My first trip there was with a party of 4 and everyone asked for something different.

Arriving at the table before the main courses were served were the best spring rolls the Dude of Food has ever had the pleasure of eating. These things were hot but not oily. Slightly crispy and full of vegetables and light. These springs rolls were a delicious food conundrum dancing delicately between the tastes of awesome and unreal.

Then the Hue House laid out 4 main courses in front of us. All of the dishes were incredible and we couldn’t decide which dish was the best. They were fresh and incredibly delicious.

Thank you for all the great tastes Hue House. You are missed.

The Dude of Food introduces his plate of arms design.

Every grand family has a coat of arms, so while sitting in Prague, the Dude of Food created his own plate of arms. This was just a layout as the final version would be a plate covered with various nigiri sushi and the plate would be encircled in tacos. The 2 knives would be replaced by crossing chop sticks and the fork would be replaced with a forearm and open hand.

What does your family crest look like?

Below are some other famous family crests and coat of arms.

coa__house_of_bonaparte_by_firelord_zuko-d4gs56a — **Napolean Bonaparte family crest**

The Dude of Food finds the best pizza in Europe, at the Dusseldorf airport!

The Dude of Food had just left Munich. It was with a painful heart that he dragged himself away from Minga, a city that he loves. He had prepared for the long flight back to LA by staying up all night on his last visit in town before he left. He knew he had a 1 1/2 hour layover in Dusseldorf Airport’s Terminal ‘C’. Upon arrival to Gate 32 Terminal C a vision similar to an oasis housing a food mermaid revealed itself to this hungry traveler. A restaurant at the next gate (34 Terminal B) had a sign announcing food and beer that read Zigolini.

This small restaurant named Zigolini offered some good looking pastas and pizza for a reasonable price. The Dude of Food asked for a large beer. The guy next to me received a veggie pizza and that was it. I took one look and needed a pizza also. I asked for a sausage and bacon pizza. There is no exaggeration in saying that this may be one of the best pizzas ever!

The next time I flew through Dusseldorf it was a no brainer to go back. Zigolini was still there waiting for me in all her delicious glory. The only thing that was different was the sign now reads Marche. You can read more about Marche at http://www.marche-restaurants.com.

Muhamad Ali, the head chef and designer, personally told the Dude of Food that the restaurant is still called Zigolini even though the sign has changed. The receipt still reads Zigolini. Chef Ali has one of the best secret recipes ever and is a sweet guy that loves sharing with his customers. His pizzas are simply amazing and he will happily add the ingredients you may want if you don’t see the combination you like on the menu.

This pizza was better than nearly all I’ve ever had in Firenze, Rome, Germany, New York, Chicago, LA or maybe even ever! Certainly this is the Best Valued and Best Tasting Airport Food that the Dude of Food has ever encountered. If you are ever near the Dusseldorf airport and have some time to kill, the Dude of Food highly recommends that you go see for yourself about the pizza at Zigolini Italian Food and chef Muhammad Ali.

Veilen danke Muhammad Ali und Zigolini. Keep up the great work Dr. Ali.

Zigolini

Dusseldorf Flughafen Terminal B by Gate 34 Airside 40474 Dusseldorf

The Dude of Food encounters a market apocalypse!

empty aisle 2

When the Dude of Food walked into this closing local southern California market he didn’t expect to feel like he missed the party. There is something really ominous about walking around an empty market. Even if you are full from just having eaten, this sight has a way of making you feel hungry. Even now when I look at the photos I feel myself getting hungry.

The Dude of Food found his mind racing as he wrote this, as it seemed like some sort of Twilight Zone episode, and had to prepare some left over Chinese food to make sure all was right in the world.

He remembers wandering around the echoing, desolate market while enduring hunger pains that grew worse after witnessing aisle after empty aisle. As he walked through this empty space he began to think maybe everyone already knew something that he didn’t and they hurried out for a some life saving reason.

The haunting thought proceeded to grow and he had to remind himself to not touch anything, don’t breathe deep and certainly do not rub the eyes for fear of getting cooties. He realized he had seen enough as he reached the back of the empty place and swiftly walked to the exit.

The Dude of Food has always wanted to run a market and would love to have a small store of empty shelves to stock with quality goods for a neighborhood. Someday.

Adelholzener Alpenquellen – Bavaria’s finest lovingly supports global needs.

Adelholzener makes some of the finest drinks from Bavaria and the Dude of Food loves them. Tasty, refreshing and quality products by Adelholzener really help make life better.

Adelholzener Alpenquellen is owned by the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul which is a congregation of women with simple vows, founded in 1633 and devoted to corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Thank you sisters. The company’s proceeds are therefore channeled into numerous social welfare projects. My grandmother was a member and I volunteered my first 100 hours at the old St Vincent hospital in Los Angeles when I was a young boy.

My buddy and I were known as ‘candy stripers’ because of our uniforms and we brought books and smiles to recovering people throughout the hospital.

According to their web page, www.adelholzener.com , Adelholzener places utmost importance on all of their products being of the highest quality. Their broad range of products offer the right kind of refreshment for every situation and befitting of any event or occasion. Anyone who is health conscious can enjoy our Organic Spritzers made with juice (Not-From-Concentrate) and certified.

The Dude of Food respects what these women do and likes the quality of their products. Anything I can do to help make this product become more recognized I will do. My tee shirt size is XL.

Again, veilen danke to the sisters of St. Vincent de Paul. Keep up the good work and may the good Lord continue to bless you.

Unternehmen_UberAdelholzener_Detailseite2

Handheld graters with storage drawer

 
Sagaform brings traditional Nordic 
design to your kitchen

So the folks who added the drawer / container to the traditional grater have really done the Dude of Food a huge favor. Say goodbye to the grater sliding off the plate and the paper towel under the grater to catch the gratings. Now we can cut, use and store with little effort. No mess and by simply plopping the top back on the container you are preserving maximum freshness.

Betterware makes this cool grater with a drawer shown here in black. They also have been seen in white, pink and green.

The Dude of Food gets nothing for this recommendation and is not sponsored or connected in any way. It’s just a cool kitchen product that I like.

Oida! Oktoberfest Wedding. The Dude of Food loves Munchen, Bavaria und Helles bier!

Oktoberfest approaches again and the Dude of Food can barely wait!

The original Oktoberfest celebration began as a wedding party in Munich on October 12th, 1810 when Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (later King Ludwig I) married Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. All of Munich and the surrounding areas were invited to enjoy the joining of these 2 love birds. It’s been written that approximately 40,000 folks attended the party. The celebrating included a large feast, jousting and a horse race in the Sendlinger part of town at the current Oktoberfest party grounds. The wedding party lasted for many days. Everyone partied and good times were had by all.

There was entertainment at the Marienplatz, the Promenadenplatz and other spots about the city. 32,065 buns, 3,992 pounds of Swiss cheese, 400 kilos of mutton, 8,120 sausages and 13,300 pairs of smoked sausages were distributed for free. 6,125 gallons of beer and 98 gallons of Austrian white wine were also served. 150 musicians entertained the fun loving crowd.

The actual wedding took place in the Court Chapel of the Munich Residenz.

I worked for Heidi Klum for 9 years on Germany’s Next Top Model and fell in love with the awesome crew, German people and their culture overall. Oida! Ish liebe Bavaria und Germany. Vielen danke und prost.

The United Nations World Food Program

The United Nations World Food Program is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger. This agency and the good people that work here are doing something to help. Go to their web page and get educated about what is going on and how your business can help.

You may be able to help pick up the waste left over by these camps too. Trash left behind

The Dude of Food picks a new California Chardonnay Taste Test leader.

The results are in. From the 6 bottles tested in round 1 of the Dude of Food’s search for the best inexpensive California Chardonnay on June 22, 2015 we have a winner. The notes have been compared and the winner of this tight competition was Sonoma County’s Storyteller Chardonnay. That was until I updated this story on July 28, 2015. While the Storyteller was holding down the 1st place spot the Dude of Food added three more bottles of Chardonnay to his list. The new results follow-

1st Place – Nitty Gritty Chardonnay Napa Valley 2012 3.9

2nd Place – STORYTELLER 2012 3.8

3rd Place – Ghost Pines Chardonnay blend 2013 3.6

4th Place – Kendall-Jackson Vinter’s Reseve 2013 3.5

5th Place – Benziger 2012 3.3

6th Place- Frei Bros Reserve 2013 3.2

7th Place – Hawkstone 2013 3.0

8th Place – EDNA Valley 2013 2.9

Paella search Barcelona? See the Cheriff.

There was a time when the Dude of Food was wandering around the streets of Barcelona with his Bavarian brother Dominic asking folks where they could find the best paella in the city and there was 1 name that kept popping up. Located on a corner in the easily accessible Barcelonetta district, sits this highly recommended restaurant named Cheriff.

Cheriff opens for dinner at 8p and there were 3 parties waiting to come in when the doors opened. Dominic and the Dude began with a bottle of local dry white wine and salads.

Both items were satisfying for both of us. When it came time to order I had a last minute change of mind and instead of ordering the normal seafood paella, I decided to try the black ink squid paella. We both asked for that dish.

The choice turned out to be a good one and the black ink paella with fresh squeezed lemon was delicious.

The Cheriff is a family run place, where mama is running the kitchen and papa is managing the finances. They are great people who make awesome food. Muchas gracias Mrs. and Mr. Cheriff.

The Dude of Food advises you to go here!