Chef’s Classic Knock OUT ‘Bout

“8 Chefs. 3 Rounds. 1 Champion.”

It was a battle royale at St. James Academy last Saturday for the Chef’s Classic Knock OUT ‘Bout.

At this boxing-themed culinary throwdown, eight local chefs competed for a trophy roughly the size of a high school freshman. In each of rounds one and two, the chefs prepared an appetizer and all attendees got a ticket to vote for their favorite. The top two chefs then advanced to round three -- a secret ingredient, Iron Chef-style, head-to-head cookoff.

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Majestic Restaurant

Monocles optional.

For our most recent Guys’ Night, we decided to check out the Majestic Restaurant for some fancy drinks and cheap happy hour eats. Robert had been there for happy hour before, and swore on the deliciousness of the housemade corn dogs. Seeing as how we’re already big fans of your everyday non-gourmet corn dogs, he pretty much had Dorsett and I sold immediately.

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Brannigans Potato Crisps (U.K. Snacks, Part 2)

Pair these entrée-flavored chips with chip-flavored chips and you’ve got yourself a complete meal.

While Chris and I were waiting to board the plane back home, these unusual Brannigans flavors of chips -- pardon me, flavours of crisps -- caught my eye at an airport gift shop. You’ll notice they’re all based on main course meat dishes.

According to the bags, these are “proper thick cut crisps.” That’s good, because if one wishes to maintain a respectable standing within British society, one mustn’t be seen associating with crisps of the improper sort. You’d never live down the scandal.

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Natty Daddy

Bad dad.

Did you know that Natural Light is the fifth best-selling beer in the United States? It’s true, all thanks to the efforts of myself, Shaw, Dorsett and the collective buying power of the high school population of America. You’re welcome, Anheuser-Busch.

I cannot, however, say thanks back for Natty Daddy ($1.79), the latest addition to the Natural Light family. Discovered out in the wild on a Friday afternoon beer run, there was no way I could pass it up, but I so wish I had.

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Jammie Dodgers (U.K. Snacks, Part 1)

A nerd’s got to eat.

I had a list of souvenirs I needed to bring back from the U.K. -- Englandy toys for the kids, some kind of William & Kate bric-a-brac for Kelly, and so forth. But more important than all of that, I needed to get my hands on some Jammie Dodgers.

Jammie Dodgers are the Eleventh Doctor’s favorite snack, and I wanted to bring back enough to have a stash on hand -- at least enough to last me until this year's Doctor Who Christmas special. And when I found them on the shelf at Tesco, I discovered there’s such a thing as Toffee Dodgers too, so double score.

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Lunch Blog in the UK, Part 3: The Prince of Wales

Monarchy eats free on Tuesdays.

It’s no secret that British food has a justly deserved reputation as being less than stellar. However, at The Prince of Wales, they will totally give you fried cheese as an entrée, and I am 100% on board with that.

But first, the appetizers. Today’s special was Haggis & Macaroni Bites, which I incorrectly took to mean as haggis served alongside macaroni bites. Since I’ve never had haggis before, I was excited to try it, but this turned out to be little nuggets of haggis and pasta fried up together.

So while I still don’t rightly know what haggis tastes like, these went to show once again that you can fry anything and it’ll taste just fine. Even more so if you put a whisky sauce on it.

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Parisi Café at Union Station

Let’s hop aboard the coffee train.

Robert and I recently attended a tasting event at Parisi Café. Located in Union Station, this is Parisi Artisan Coffee’s first venture into the restaurant business, and it opened in September. Now while I don’t know much about coffee, I do know plenty about sandwiches, so I was excited to try the food.

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