Hot Fudge! Hot Damn!

After spending and afternoon at GRAB on Saturday, I feel like my IQ went up about 10 points. I always love being around people who are excellent or expert at something, and they are certainly experts on cheese....cheese from Europe, cheese from all over the United States, including right here in New York.... It was fascinating to listen to everything they had to say......and their customers were interesting too..... I found out that there's apparently a enclave of banjo pickin' bluegrass playing people right here in Brooklyn.... Brooklyn never ceases to amaze me....just when I think I've it can't have one more sub-culture or ethnic group, I discover another one. And he told me that there were some North Carolinians in his group....and when you add that to me, and the guy from Tennessee and the girl from Alabama I met last week....I can't help but notice that Southern population in Brooklyn is growing like kudzu.

Later that night my roomate invited me to go to BAM to see that Daniel Day Lewis movie that's been nominated for an Oscar, and for a drink at the BAM Cafe. When we got there, that movie was sold out, so we decided to go to Juno, which was a little later. As we made our way towards the cafe, one of the guards informed us it was closed for a private party. So many roadblocks were being thrown in our way....how could we salvage it......of course the answer was: "with a beer." Neither of us had ever been to Thomas Beisl, the Viennese cafe across the street, but boy am I happy we ended up there.

A few minutes before we were about to leave, we met Thomas, the owner and executive chef, and that was the highlight of the whole evening. Once again that day, I was in the presence of someone excellent. I had noticed some waiters with arms full of some pretty beautiful desserts as I came in, but I didn't take a really good look as I had beer on the brain at the time. Somewhere in the course of the conversation, Thomas mentioned they only had a six burner stove. What! Get out! That's just two burners more than most people have at home.....and that usually becomes a real juggling act once you're trying to cook for 20 or more.....And they had a whole restaurant full of people and the food was beautiful and delicious.

Of course Thomas is no novice, and he well understands that good food is a matter of context, something you suit to the people you're cooking for and the place you're cooking in, and not some pretentious idea you stuff down people's throats. Now that's what I respect. I respect chefs who live in the real world and take a stand for what they think is good and don't need somebody else to tell them what that is. He asked me what I did for a living, and I told him, and he said...."you have to try my hot fudge". He opened the window the the kitchen and asked for it, and two minutes later, out came a hot, fresh, beautiful golden crepe, covered in hot sauce and whipped cream. It was delicious! I'm honored he shared it with us. I will definitely be back for Sunday brunch. Thomas Beisl, I bow to you, to your hot fudge, and to the multiple fudgasms it induces.