Home Depot Center: Y U No Serve Decent Food?

The consensus among just about everyone with whom I spoke at the CrossFit Games: The food options at the Home Depot Center were sorely lacking. If you looked hard, you could find the In-N-Out truck tucked away in the ass end of Tent City, and you could load up on the snacks sold by a couple of Paleo food booths (including Steve's Original, purveyors of my favorite Paleo crack in the world -- a.k.a. PaleoKrunch). The Wahoo's stand served up a special rice-free (though not bean-free) Protein Bowl that was pretty satisfying, too -- especially after I drowned it in hot sauce. But for the most part, the vendors at the stadium were hawking stuff that didn't appeal to this particular crowd of insanely fit, food-quality-obsessed people. (Seriously: CINNABON?)

My disappointment was exacerbated by the fact that I had dinner the night before the Games at my brother- and sister-in-law's place. 

Over the past couple of years, they've cultivated an amazing vegetable garden in their backyard; it's teeming with fresh produce: tomatoes, cabbage, potatoes, corn, lemon cucumbers, peppers, wine grapes, blueberries, watermelons -- you name it.

You think my wife's obsessed with food? My brother-in-law makes his own wine, brews his own beer, smokes and cures his own meats, and makes his own sausages. And my sister-in-law is a professional chef. (Now you know why I feel totally inadequate in the kitchen.)

To steal a page from Nom Nom Paleo's book, here's all the homemade, homegrown stuff I ate at their house:

A suggestion for next year's Games: Grilled meats and vegetables. They'll sell like hotcakes grilled meats and vegetables.

Now that I've gotten the food porn out of the way, I guess I'll start posting photos from the actual Games. Stay tuned -- same Bat time, same Bat channel.

Breakfast of Champions

Two chains in the neighborhood I don't mind having around -- especially when I'm in the mood for a quick, cheap hit of caffeine and beef: Philz Coffee and In-N-Out.

That there's a protein-style, mustard-fried double-meat burger with onions, chopped chili peppers and pickles -- hold the spread -- plus some awesome single-cup drip coffee.

Sadly, not everyone in our family's a fan of Philz' dark-roasted Turkish blend.

No accounting for taste, I guess.

Eating Paleo in NYC: Shake Shack & Eataly

Today was devoted to stuffing my face.

I've been hankering for a burger at Shake Shack for a while now. And devouring burgers in the park at 8:30 a.m. California time seemed like an excellent way to kickstart a drizzly New York morning. By the way: Intermittent rain + 11:30 a.m. burgers = No lunchtime line at Shake Shack -- a true rarity.

In an attempt to stay Paleo (well, Paleo + Dairy), we got our Double ShackBurgers sans buns. (It's listed on the Shake Shack website, but the server nonetheless blinked in surprise when we placed our order.) Unlike In-N-Out's Protein Style Double-Doubles, the low-carb equivalent at Shake Shack doesn't come sheathed in lettuce; rather, a small 2-inch square of greens and sliced tomato sits atop the cheese and meat. Not a problem: We tore into 'em with plastic forks and knives.

I'm a devout fan of In-N-Out, but ShackBurger patties are definitely thicker, juicier and more tender. Our Doubles were perfectly seasoned and a little pink inside. I know there've been complaints of inconsistencies between Shake Shack locations, but we had zero complaints about the meat and cheese at the Shack in Madison Square Park. Believe the hype.

On another important measure, though, the ShackBurger loses out to In-N-Out: PRICE. A Double-Double at In-N-Out costs less than 3 bucks. At Shake Shack? $7.25. Plus a plane ticket from San Francisco to New York.

Our burgers constituted just half of our meal. We felt the need for vegetables, so we headed a block over to Eataly -- the ginormous new Mario Batali /Lidia & Joe Bastianich Italian food emporium.

Eataly reminds me of the vast food emporiums found in high-end department stores in Japan, only with nothin' but Italian food. The enormity of the place is a little staggering, and there's lots to be found in the nooks and crannies, like a fresh mozzarella bar, a Nancy Silverton-run bakery, a salumi counter (with salumi from Seattle's Salumi -- natch), and rows and rows of everything from dried pasta and canned sauce to fresh produce and grassfed dairy.

Our hunt for vegetable matter ended at the Le Verdure counter. We loved it. The service was attentive and efficient, and the food was simple and fresh. The price tag was high (fifty bucks for, essentially, two smallish plates of vegetables), but we're money-stupid. (Any recommendations for good money managers are appreciated.)

And the dishes we ordered were nothing short of amazing: Grilled Japanese eggplant with arugula and caper vinaigrette, and roasted porcini mushrooms with shaved, raw butternut squash, frisee, carmelized onions and aged balsamic. In particular, I could have eaten plate after plate of the raw butternut squash and porcinis.

And then, for dinner, we went to Per Se. Which was ridiculous. That meal deserves it own post, which I'll try to put up tomorrow.

KFC, Krispy Kreme, and Luther Vandross

You know about Luther Burgers, right? They're burgers with glazed donuts in place of the bun. Here on the West Coast, where In-N-Out Burgers are often located within spitting distance of a Krispy Kreme, a cult of Krispy Kreme / In-N-Out Luther Burgers has been spawned. (Added bonus: They're named after Luther Vandross.)

It was only a matter of time before someone decided to cobble together a hybrid KFC Double Down / Krispy Kreme sandwich -- possibly both the best and worst fast food sandwich ever created. Check this out:

(Thanks for the link, Pam!)