Video games and food, my two great loves

If you have played a video game in the last 20 years, then you most likely have come across this concept: food gives you health.  Whether it was the older games like Pac Man or the most recent games, like my favorite, Bioshock, then you are aware that food is used to either give you more points or more health. 

I remember playing the original Gauntlet games with my friend and while playing as the Wizard, if your health was low and you walked into the food, it would replenish some health and give a sound bite :"Food is good".  I believe that it was the easiest way to represent health and the replenishment of health besides using a white item with a red cross on it.  For us, as humans, we know that our health will grow or replenish if we eat food.  Even a 3 year old knows that if you eat food, your stomach doesn't hurt and you can give your body the nutrients to fight off infections and other things.  If you don't eat, you get hungry and your body loses the nutrients that it needs.  In fact, if you stop eating, your body still tries to go through the processes and will cannibalize your own body to keep it going.  For example; if you don't have enough calcium in your body, your body will start to leach it from your bones.  If you don't have enough proteins, your body will start to break down your muscle and use it for other things.

For instance, we will look at one of my favorite games: Bioshock.  In Bioshock, when your character needs to replenish health, this can be done so with the normal medical pack or with a box of bandages, but this can also be done by eating food or taking other consumables.  Taking in vitamins, canned food, pep bar, potato chips and creme filled cakes, will raise your health back just a bit. 

Another one of my favorite games is the Castlevania series and in this game, finding things like a chicken leg or roast beef will replenish health.  Let's be honest though, if you were traveling for a day in some dark, cold and wet forests in Moldavia hunting after a werewolf, there is probably nothing more tasty than a nice roasted chicken leg or a giant plate of roast beef.  Think of the amount of good stuff in one of those dishes: a minimum amount of fat, tons of good proteins and filling as ever.  Besides, when was the last time that you have eaten a plate of roast beef or roasted chicken and not felt 'goo' afterwards?

My 4 year old, first started playing video games when he was 2 & 1/2 years old.  He picked it up all by himself, when he noticed that his character could eat food that he liked.  So, his guy walks over and grabs the cake or the carrot and he feels better.  Besides, my son loves carrots and cake.

Now, a history of video games would reveal that as the games first started out, food was shown as a way to acquire points.  It wasn't until games started with actual characters with a life bar or a health percentage, that food helped bring back that health. While this information isn't anything else that you couldn't find on your own, I do like to point out that it is only something that occurs in video games.  When was the last time that you saw Bruce Willis scarf down a burger and fries while shooting up terrorists on the silver screen?  Food is just food in the movies, as if characters do get hurt or injured enough, they can't instantly heal, as it is more attuned with real life.  Honestly, if a character in a game had to rescue his love from an evil winged devil, and he had 12 hours or less to do so, finding food would not help him.  Reminds me of another thing that they omit in movies even: potty breaks.  In a great movie, like Die Hard, you never see anyone use the bathroom.  But in the movie True Lies, you see Arnold use the toilet.  That makes the movie a little more realistic, as opposed to video games.  Imagine if your mage had to take a piss while on a fast raid through the Arthas' throne?  You would be there forever.   

Unleashing the monster

 I have to admit it, though I have given up soda, or strongly carbonated beverages that have no nutritional value, I do support and drink the lo-carb version of the Monster energy drink.  Now, most energy drinks contain sugar and caffeine and while that may be the norm for them all, the low-carb Monster energy drink seems to be at least somewhat healthy and good for you.

Unlike other energy drinks, Monster actually has vitamins and other chemicals that are considered antioxidants.  One can of Monster gives you twice of your RDA for B12, for instance.  This chemical is essential to your immune system and your health.  Taurine is listed as an ingredient and this chemical has been shown to act as an antioxidant and help the body run better.

Now the first energy drink was likely Irn-Brew, which was introduced in 1901 in Scotland.  Iron Brew, as it became known as, contains as many as 32 secret ingredients and while I would love to find out why it is so popular and what it did to become the first 'energy drink', it has such a large secret that only two people know of it at any one time and they cannot be at the same place at the same time; for safety.

Now, what are some issues with the other drinks?  Well, in particular, the largest competitor with Monster is Red Bull.  What is in a Red Bull and can it really give you wings.

Red Bull is adapted from a Thai energy drink that when the name is translated into English, gives you "Red Bull".  It was introduced worldwide in 1987 and is considered the most famous energy drink of the world.  Red bull contains Taurine, caffeine, B vitamins, Glucuronolactone, Sucrose and Glucose.  There is 110 calories in a single 8.3 oz can.  It has 27 grams of sugar, 100% of your daily Niacin(B3), 80% of your B12, 250% of your B6 and 50% of your Pantothenic Acid(B5).

Taurine is an antioxidant which has been shown to also help lower bad cholesterol levels in the blood
Caffeine is the thing that gives us that buzz
B Vitamins are important for a healthy metabolism and immune system
Glucuronolactone is a sweetening agent that helps to detoxify the body
Sucrose is your basic table sugar
Glucose is the simple sugar that is produced by plants during photosynthesis
Pantothenic Acid is vitamin B5 which is important for a healthy metabolism of fats, carbohydrates and proteins

Now a Monster drink, in particular, the regular Monster drink, since I looked at the regular Red Bull, is 2.5 servings in a single can.  Red bull only lists but a small number of ingredients on their site or anywhere else while Monster lists as many as 15-20 ingredients.  A serving size of Monster will let you have 27 grams of sugar, 100% of your B2, 100% of your B3, 100% of your B6 and 100% of your B12. Also, it is not listed on the Nutritional table, but Monster does list Pantothenic Acid(B5) as an ingredient.  So, it does in fact contain the B5 that Red Bull has as well.

So, Monster has more B12, less B6 and B2 and some B5.  So, what is the difference?

B2 is important in the creation of energy from metabolism.  So, having this is ideal.  Monster wins.
B6 is a major co enzyme for reactions that help with the metabolism.  Red Bull wins.
B5 is for metabolism of fats, carbs and proteins. There is a tie.
B3 is for DNA repair. Tie for both.
B12 is for the brain and nervous system.  Monster wins, as it has more.

From what it looks like, B2 is actually more powerful than B5, so having the ability to get a greater amount of energy from foods is better than being able to metabolize the foods at all, I think.  Also, with the additional 20% of your daily B12, Monster seems to take the win.

Again, I prefer the low-carb Monster which doesn't give me the sugar and gives me the vitamins and nutrients that my body needs.

The party, this Saturday night, starts at 7:00pm

I know that this is not my usual bunch of banter, my collection of innocuous facts and figures and formulas about ingredients found at the back of the shelves at the store or some sugar free dishes made out of 3 things that taste like it was made of 30; but this topic in particular needs a place and that place is here.  Whether one knows it or not, St. Louis has a large presence of burlesque performers.  These ladies show their stuff while doing dances and acts that are reminiscent of the old days.  These women are not all "average" or "large" women but women in every size that show that all it takes is a bit of tease to drive any man wild; while not having to strip completely naked.  When most people hear of the word "burlesque" they are thinking of the girls whom in the past few years have made the art of tease into nothing short of a strip show. However, the girls of burlesque ion St. Louis, do a great job keeping up with the traditions of the skill and keeping it sexy without being dirty.

Ariana Bauer started to photograph these burlesque girls earlier this year, in positions that show the art and skill of burlesque and the beauty of the women.  These pictures that show the art and the time that Ariana spent editing them are up for show during her gallery showing, October 2-9th.

Even though it has nothing to do with food of any kind, nor anything that I am cooking or preparing, I highly suggest that anyone who likes seeing pictures of girls, to check out the gallery.  The prints are all moderately priced and most of these will be signed by the girl that is featured in the artwork.  Not only could you buy the limited edition, one of a kind signed print, but then you can meet the girl in the artwork at the gallery show!

While the 2nd through 8th is open to everyone and you can see and buy these wonderful works of art, the real fun is the closing party on the 9th.  Starting at 7pm, all of the big name burlesque performers of the St. Louis area will be present.  So, if you have a thing for Lola van Ella, not only can you buy a brilliant piece of artwork with her as the main feature, but you can also meet her!  Why would you miss your chance to meet these sexy performers?

Featuring Images of:
Lola van Ella
Foxy La Feelion
Faith McQueen
GoGo McGregor
Jeez Loueez
Gravity Plays Favorites
Roxy Rockets
Dewy DeCamille
Dimples Divine
Bella Sue DeVianti
Angel Saint-Marie
Fiona Flame
Moxy Malicious
Honeysuckle Rose
Sammich the Tramp
and more



Soulard Art Market
2028 S. 12th Street
Saint Louis, MO 63104
(314) 258-4299
SoulardArtMarket@gmail.com
Corner of 12th and Russell, across from McGurks Pub

Thank you Mr. Bourdain

Through a gift to me and my wife, I was lucky enough to come within throwing distance of Mr. Anthony Bourdain; writer, chef and world traveler.  Now, I will admit, that while he is a celebrity chef, I don't tend to get star struck. I know that there were many women there wearing slutty outfits in the hopes of getting hit on or looked over by him.  After a long wait, at 8pm exactly, Mr. Bourdain took the sage, nervous, fidgety and talkative.

He shared with us his life story, his thoughts and his feelings about the way the world treats him and others like him.  His talk reminded me of the time I saw Bill Cosby give his talk.  Comedy mixed with undertones of truth.  Mr. Bourdain talks and writes with such truth and such common vernacular that you realize that as he said, this man, has no special skills: he has been lucky. He said it himself: he was lucky enough to write something that originally he thought was crap and no one would read.  But his story was one that explained the real world of cooking and revealed what was behind that romantic view of a chef.  He split the facade open and showed the world what life was like, working behind the grill at a fancy restaurant.  His uncensored language broke the mold on how a chef should behave and earned a nickname of a bad boy chef/writer.  He was lucky and I only wish to be so lucky.  Not so much with my writing or cooking but maybe just a little of both.

I can say though, whether you are hearing him and seeing him speak or sharing a quick 30 second conversation with him while signing his book, he's not a snob.  This is a piece of truth that you must know about him and he probably wants to hide forever.  No matter how long you talk to him or who you are, he is genuinely interested in what you say.  Its not like other celebrity chefs who just push everything through.  Anthony Bourdain arrived in St. Louis a few hours before his show, stayed for an hour or so afterwards for book signings, then left a few hours later.  I can't imagine that amount of jet lag that this father would be feeling and the sight of him coming home and just crashing onto his bed like a tree being felled in a mighty forest. 

Maybe he was drunk or high on Jesus but whatever it was Mr. Bourdain took the stage and commanded such a presence that everyone didn't land their eyes off of him.  As I said, he didn't laugh at anyone during the question and answer part and even a simple view of pain and hope could be seen in his eyes, when the young child stood up and after announcing that he was diagnosed with leukemia this year, wanted Anthony to suggest the place with the best seafood.  You could tell that unlike the bad-ass that he presents on TV, Mr. Bourdain is an honest and caring guy. 

Even though our meeting was brief and short lived, I would like to enjoy meeting him for a few more minutes, or even let him allow me to buy him a Guinness.

Shout out: to all other chefs, I want to meet you!

What's better than food? Women.

I know that this is not my usual bunch of banter, my collection of innocuous facts and figures and formulas about ingredients found at the back of the shelves at the store or some sugar free dishes made out of 3 things that taste like it was made of 30; but this topic in particular needs a place and that place is here.  Whether one knows it or not, St. Louis has a large presence of burlesque performers.  These ladies show their stuff while doing dances and acts that are reminiscent of the old days.  These women are not all "average" or "large" women but women in every size that show that all it takes is a bit of tease to drive any man wild; while not having to strip completely naked.  When most people hear of the word "burlesque" they are thinking of the girls whom in the past few years have made the art of tease into nothing short of a strip show. However, the girls of burlesque ion St. Louis, do a great job keeping up with the traditions of the skill and keeping it sexy without being dirty.

Ariana Bauer started to photograph these burlesque girls earlier this year, in positions that show the art and skill of burlesque and the beauty of the women.  These pictures that show the art and the time that Ariana spent editing them are up for show during her gallery showing, October 2-9th.

Even though it has nothing to do with food of any kind, nor anything that I am cooking or preparing, I highly suggest that anyone who likes seeing pictures of girls, to check out the gallery.  The prints are all moderately priced and most of these will be signed by the girl that is featured in the artwork.  Not only could you buy the limited edition, one of a kind signed print, but then you can meet the girl in the artwork at the gallery show!

While the 2nd through 8th is open to everyone and you can see and buy these wonderful works of art, the real fun is the closing party on the 9th.  Starting at 7pm, all of the big name burlesque performers of the St. Louis area will be present.  So, if you have a thing for Lola van Ella, not only can you buy a brilliant piece of artwork with her as the main feature, but you can also meet her!  Why would you miss your chance to meet these sexy performers?

Featuring Images of:
Lola van Ella
Foxy La Feelion
Faith McQueen
GoGo McGregor
Jeez Loueez
Gravity Plays Favorites
Roxy Rockets
Dewy DeCamille
Dimples Divine
Bella Sue DeVianti
Angel Saint-Marie
Fiona Flame
Moxy Malicious
Honeysuckle Rose
Sammich the Tramp
and more



Soulard Art Market
2028 S. 12th Street
Saint Louis, MO 63104
(314) 258-4299
SoulardArtMarket@gmail.com
Corner of 12th and Russell, across from McGurks Pub
Gallery Hours
Thursday - 6pm-10pm
Friday - 6pm-10pm
Saturday - 12pm-8pm
Sunday - 12pm-6pm

The elephant in the corner...

This Saturday night, my wife and I went to the Elephant Bar, which is a restaurant near the West County mall.  This restaurant has food that is inspired by the co-owner's trips around the world and his time in a kitchen in Hong Kong.  Basically, everything is pan-Asian inspired.  They want everyone there to have an enjoyable dining experience, with a jungle/safari atmosphere and just a relaxing and casual experience. 

Well, I have had my doubts on this dining location, especially since it is located behind a large parking garage and the 40 spots that are in front of it are always taken.  My wife called ahead a reservation for myself, her and our two kids for 7:00pm and we walked a bit in the mall.  We had come out at just 5 minutes till, found a nice and close spot to the restaurant's doors and walked inside.  My wife told the hostess that she had made reservations for the 4 of us for 7:00 and she told us 'just one moment' and handed us one of those coasters that lights up when it is your turn for seating.  Well, we waited and waited and figured out that when you call for reservations, it doesn't actually save a table for you, but just puts your name on the list.  I also saw a few booths that were clearly available, but no one was seating anyone in those spots.

I will admit that they finally got to us about 8 minutes after our supposed reservation time, sat us at a booth that I had seen empty since we walked through the doors, and completely ignored us every time we went up to the hostesses, but they did get a server with us, almost immediately.  The thing about the menu is that it is supposed to reflect the travels that this main executive chef had taken throughout the world.  These travels meant eating things like bland food and overly salty sides.  If this was the case, I would hate to travel where this chef went to. 

Is that a harsh thing to say about a chef and his restaurant?  Yes, but it is also the truth.  There is no way around it.  I thought the food was about as good as the food at MacDonald's.  For the same price, we could have gone to the Cheesecake Factory and had incredible service, food and a great dining experience, even with the kids!

My wife and I were hungry, but also thought that ordering a larger dish and each of us having a side would be good.  So, we ordered the Kona BBQ Pork Ribs.  We had a choice of white or brown rice and we picked brown.  We ordered a half rack and this is what came:

Um, if you look on their website at the great picture: http://www.elephantbar.com/Menu/Menu.aspx, and click on the Global Grill, their picture of the same dish had different items, like french fries, for instance.  Now, let's get right in. The BBQ ribs were okay, it tasted like your usual store-bought sauce, as they were tender enough to fall off the bone also.  We had a scoop of coleslaw, which tasted like your general coleslaw.  There was a skewer of grilled shrimp that tasted fishy, even to her, which meant they were not fresh at all.  The BBQ chicken breast was tough.  It was good and cooked fine on the thinner side, as it was a half a breast, but the other side was hard on the bottom, so it was not cooked evenly.  The brown rice that we asked for was in fact arborio rice and it was vastly under cooked.  It was not hard and crunchy but hard and chewy, like gum or a gummy bear that was stored in the refrigerator. The biggest thing that didn't fit on the plate was the small cup of brown beans, just like your basic pork n' beans.  However, these had no pork in them and instead tasted like they were cooked in the Taco Bell hot sauce packets, then someone sprinkled some cheese on top.  Besides this, the plate was $16.95!  I give the plate a sad 2 out of 5 stars.

How could this have been fixed?  Well, it was supposed to be inspired by something. Most of the time, anything with the word 'Kona' in the title is supposed to have something to do with Hawaii.  I find it hard to believe that the food in Hawaii is served like this.  The boring Southern style cole slaw, Mexican inspired beans, and undercooked Italian rice.  Nothing went together on this plate at all.  I think before they fix the plate, they should have decided what culture or cuisine were they trying to copy or play with.

My wife and I each ordered a small side to go with our main dish.  My wife ordered a pear salad.

I ordered the Fresh Sauteed Spinach and it was good.  It had just the right amount of cheese and spices on top and I actually ate the whole thing and was happy.  A 3 out of 5 for me, chef.  It was just your basic cooked spinach, still crunchy but still tender.

The kids got a great deal as we ordered a chicken quesadilla for one and the other got the hamburger.  I can honestly say, that my son's burger was tastier that my grill platter.  The bun was brushed with butter and grilled with a bit of garlic on top: perhaps even with Whirl. The burger was as thin as a MacDonald's burger and it came with some simple french fries.  I ended up eating most of my son's burger, as he was not that hungry anyway.  His burger was a good 3 out of 5, it really was.

What did I learn from this?  Well, the higher the food prices, does not relate to how good the food is.  So, it was possible that the $39 that we spent on the four of us, did not deliver to us $39 worth of flavor and tastiness.  Now, one of my biggest issues was this:  Our server handed me the bill, at $39.06.  I didn't have enough small cash to give her the standard tip we do, which is about 18%.  So, I gave her $50 and asked for change back.  So, math people, work with me here: If I give you $50 and the bill is $39.06, how much should be delivered back to me?  Say about $10.94 right?  Guess how much she gave back to me?  $10 in ones.  That's right, she did not give me back the 94 cents.  Why?  I don't know, but I found it unsettling that instead of giving me back the full amount that was not on the bill, she kept the 94 cents.  Now, was it an accident?  Maybe, but she should have noticed it when were leaving the table and she took the money.  She could have remembered, 'oh, there are no coins, what happened, oh, I didn't give him the change!' Instead, I gave her just her a tip and even so, I counted that 94 cents which she already took, as part of her tip. Moral of the story, don't steal from the customer.  I had a feeling that she was actually going to expect that I tip her another 15%, from $40 or even from $39 which would have meant that she received $5.85 as she already pocketed the 94 cents.  The total would have been $6.79, which was likely closer to a 17% tip. I don't play that way and in this case, her % tip did count the 94 cents she stole.  So, did she get less than she may have expected?  Yes, because I didn't see that money. 

It's what I do....

People may think it is easy, but it is not.  The only people who think it is easy are those who have no baking skills and don't really understand how food works. It is something that requires patience, the knowledge of science and the ability to not give up. What is it that I do? Recipe creation and experimentation. 

So, your favorite dish is a flan, which is traditionally made with such ingredients like a can of sweetened condensed milk and a few cups of sugar.  With enough tries, I was able to adopt someone else's recipe and create this flan, sugar free, low fat and with a sugar free caramel sauce.

I have been told that with enough time, anyone can make sugar free desserts out of anything.  Well, I'm sorry but you can't.  Anyway, can make these sugar free desserts if they have the time, the patience, the understanding and a bunch of other good stuff.  At one time a cafe said that they were interested in my desserts and then when I told them that they would have to pay me for these recipes, they replied that what I make "is not special and anyone could do it."  I'm sorry but let's be honest, has anyone who is reading this, been able to take their favorite dessert and make it sugar free? 

They said that not enough of their business is requesting sugar free and while that may be a good point, you should always have at least one sugar free option at anywhere that serves food.  Also, that sugar free item should taste good.  Which is my crusade.

When I worked at Old Country Buffet/Home Town Buffet, over the whole menu, there was perhaps 3 things that were sugar free.  There was an apple crisp, a jello mouse and an awful cake which I remember as a bad chocolate mousse.  Well, the jello cake had a flavorless crust on the bottom and a bright pink cherry jello flavored mousse with some sugar free whipped cream on top.  I tried it along with the other sugar free things so as a manager, I could tell when something was wrong or cooked incorrectly.  The apple one is the only one that tasted good, since you cannot screw up apples.

While I was there, I was once asked why the sugar free things tasted like crap.  Well, they don't have to.

So, for future desserts we should be expecting a sugar free tres leches, a gooey butter cake and some chocolate chip cookies.