Okay, yes, everyone on the known Earth does a year-end list, so forgive us over here at Rice and Bread if we were initially a little hesitant to enter the “Best of 2014″ sweepstakes.
But, after some coaxing from some savvy members of our team, here we are, with an impressive gathering of staff, contributors and guests, naming off the stuff that stuck with us this year in hopes that all of you will take some of our recommendations and discover what we discovered: some of the best music and food going right now.
Let this collection of best-of tastes and sounds be your shining beacon to stereos cranked to “11” and bellies stuffed to “utterly satisfied.”
And while we’ve got your attention, we’ll be taking a much-needed couple of weeks off for the holidays, so please take some time to read all of the great stuff that you missed since we launched Rice and Bread Magazine back in June.
Rice and Bread will be back on Monday, January 5 for another year of kicking ass and taking music and food names along the way.
To pizzas carved into pentagrams and beyond!
Jason Schreurs upside down in the FEST melee (photo: James Meadows)
Jason Schreurs, Rice and Bread co-founder
Favourite album
White Lung – Deep Fantasy (Domino Recording Co.)
Far and away, this one got the most listens in 2014, much to the chagrin of Rice and Bread co-founder Megan Cole. I finally got her to come around on my runner-up, The Menzingers’ Rented World, but no luck on White Lung. Personally, I can’t get enough of this album; the serrated guitar work by Kenneth William worming its way into my head with some of the best guitar lines in recent memory. Add to that the emotionally raw lyrics and vocals by Mish Way, great bass/drum work, and a jaw-dropping production sound by Jesse Gander. Love this album so much.
Favourite meal
Megan’s chicken mole, among many of her other creations. So she doesn’t go ga-ga over White Lung like I do? Who cares? This lady tantalizes my taste buds on the regular, and introduces me to all kinds of great food (and music, to boot).
Favourite live show
Dancing my ass off during the five days at Pre-Fest 2 in Tampa and FEST 13 in Gainesville. Highlights included: Post Teens, Paint It Black, Hot Water Music, Sunshine State, Beach Slang, Whores, Melvins, Chuck Ragan, Prawn, and so many more. Plus, excellently done Nomeansno, Propagandhi, NOFX, The Loved Ones and The Weakerthans cover sets. Such a blast!
Favourite restaurant
Boca Fiesta, Gainesville, FL
I’ve gotta say Boca Fiesta. Co-owner Warren Oakes is a champ, and everything about this place is perfect for me. Sitting at the bar and meeting punks from all over the world while eating gator tacos? Unbeatable. Close runner-up: Cannibal Café in Vancouver, for some of the same reasons, minus the gator tacos.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
Talking to Adam Pfahler about Jawbreaker was the best. I got goose bumps a few times hearing about what the band was doing in the ‘90s. But the story I was most proud of was the Shotmaker one; knowing that fans of that amazingly underrated band now had a somewhat comprehensive story on them made me feel really good.
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
Every one of them is so rad, but as far as which one I’d love to dive into, it would have to be the Carcass veggie sammich.
Megan Cole, Rice and Bread co-founder
Favourite album
Bruce Springsteen – High Hopes (Columbia)
Thank god Springsteen is a machine and keeps coming out with albums or I might be forced to say something like The Gaslight Anthem made my favourite album. Ha! Just kidding, we all know what I thought of that waste of studio time. Like Rice and Bread co-founder Jason Schreurs, The Boss has the Midas touch.
Favourite meal
You’d think with all the cooking that I do I might have a favourite extravagant meal, but like Tommy Habetz of Bunk Sandwiches, it’s the simple things done well that I really love, and I think mine is going to be a steaming bowl of pho at Pho Vy in Victoria, BC (RIP?).
Favourite live show
Rocket from the Crypt or Joel Plaskett Emergency: Sled Island, Calgary, AB, June 12-13
It’s going to be a tough call between Joel Plaskett and Rocket from the Crypt at this year’s Sled Island festival in Calgary. Every time I see both Plaskett and RFTC’s John Reis, I get totally excited. They are both outstanding musicians who manage to keep me coming back for more. The whole Rocket gang was totally on point, and I can’t wait to see them again.
Favourite restaurant
Little Hut Curry, Powell River, BC
One of my favourite restaurants is right here in my town of Powell River: Little Hut Curry. If you’re ever up in our neck of the woods, stop there (right after you come and say hi to us!). The service is awesome. Owner Mohinder Singh makes you feel like a guest in his home, and the food is always delicious.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
My favourite was the piece I did on moonshine: The true cost of legalizing moonshine. I love when you go into a story having one idea of how it’s going to turn out, and then the source manages to turn it in to something completely different. I learned so much about this craft and the product from writing this story.
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
It’s always fun to see what John comes up with, but the one I wish he’d come over and make for me is Down-inspired Temptation’s Wings and Waffles. I love chicken and waffles, and this looks epic.
Chef John Hurkes, Rice and Bread Perfect Pairings contributor
Favourite album
Exodus – Blood In Blood Out (Nuclear Blast)
This album will make the dishwasher at work shit his pans and threaten to quit. It’s an old-school platter of thrash, bursting with fresh riffage. It’s a bonus hearing hip-hop producer Dan the Automater (Deltron 3030) open the album. Best track: “Salt the Wound” with Metallica’s Kirk Hammett guest shredding.
Favourite meal
The stuffed cabbage rolls from Kramarczuk’s Sausage Company in Minneapolis, MN. They are submerged in this delicious tomato cream sauce. The place is a neighbourhood deli that serves East European-style fare. Their main staple is the outstanding selection of handcrafted sausages. The food is reminiscent of my grandmother’s “German from Russia” cooking.
Favourite live show
Eyehategod: Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis, MN, June 16
Nothing’s more poetic than watching singer Mike IX Williams hammer a bottle of Tito’s Vodka to a wall of pure feedback and riffage. Eyehategod dished out all of their classic sludge and left me with a hearing deficiency for a whole week. Best “Self Medication Blues” remedy ever after working a Sunday double in the kitchen.
Favourite restaurant
Strip Club Meat & Fish, St. Paul, MN
Easily some of the best grub in the metro. It’s this upscale meat and fish joint over in east St. Paul. They do small plates and entrees using awesome locally sourced ingredients. It’s got this classy and dark atmosphere. My favorite dish is the NY strip steak with the “XXX-cargot” butter.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
The Slayer conversation, because it’s the nerdiest conversation about Slayer I’ve ever read!
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
The Slayer Pizza, because I got to eat the whole damn thing.
Blake Morneau (left) with interview subject Sims
Blake Morneau, Rice and Bread contributor
Favourite album
Scott H. Biram – Nothing but Blood (Bloodshot)
I’m known around here at Rice and Bread as the “hip-hop guy,” but my love of bluegrass and true, gritty country music runs surprisingly deep for a coloured kid from the Canadian west coast. As I also share Biram’s penchant for religious imagery, his tales of remorseful sinning and a near-desperate need for redemption strike deep into my music heart. With hearty splashes of punk and sludge metal in the mix, Biram continues to do the good work of true country rebels.
Favourite meal
A holiday potluck with friends at my ex’s house. I hate most things about the holiday season, but last weekend a group of my very good friends, partially fragmented because we’re at that point in life, took a few hours to forget everything and enjoy each other’s company. There was stuffing, miso soup, curry, salsa and chips… nothing matched and it was utterly glorious. Eat with your friends and family. It’s really important and you’ll feel closer every time.
Favourite live show
Featurecast: Shambhala Music Festival, Salmo, BC; and Latyrx: Rifflandia Music Festival, Victoria, BC
I know this is a copout, but this is a tie. Featurecast’s Shambhala set was the definition of “destruction” and finally gave me a platform for dancing to drum ‘n’ bass. The hugeness of this cannot be overstated. But Latyrx, come on! I raved about them for Rice and Bread when I saw them, and I still kind of can’t believe I did. Feet from legends.
Favourite restaurant
Sizzling Tandoor, Victoria, BC
There’s no other Indian restaurant I’ve been to that hits both quality and value so consistently and deliciously. Their vegetarian selection is exquisite, with over a dozen veggie-friendly options. My personal favourites include the Navratan Korma and Spinach and Cheese. Paired with some tasty onion and cilantro-stuffed naan bread, you can’t wrong!
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
Album Club featuring Run the Jewels’ masterpiece RTJ2, because of the minor shit-storm it started on Twitter, culminating with a Killer Mike invite to a strip-club for beers (see below).
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
I don’t know anything about Carcass, but as I said earlier, I’m a wussy vegetarian who also likes a nice bit of heat to my food, so I can imagine this Carcass veggie sammich hitting a couple pleasure points for me.
Greg Pratt, Rice and Bread contributor, Jawbreaker/Slayer obsessive, and head writer on A Fat Wreck documentary
Favourite album
Vallenfyre – Splinters (Century Media)
A jaw-dropping production that captures the true energy and essence of ragged, passionate death/doom. This one shifted the Earth’s axis a bit.
Favourite meal
Anything my wife makes. Why? Because she’s secretly an amazing cook who makes delicious meals.
Favourite live show
Carcass: Vancouver, BC, March 28
My first time seeing one of my favourite bands of all time, and they sounded just perfect.
Favourite restaurant
White Spot, Victoria, BC
I have two kids. No time or money for your fancy shit. Delicious family dining and if I drag a crying kid outside it’s nothing too unusual for the joint.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
My favourite was the Jawbreaker interview piece, because it gave me incredible insights to a band I’ve loved for years and years.
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
Hmm, tough one. I love the fact that a Sacrifice one exists, but the headline for the Slayer pizza one just cracks me up every single time I read it.
Malcolm Lasky, Rice and Bread contributor
Favorite album
Outright (AUS) – Avalanche (Reason and Rage Records)
I feel like I could write a whole essay about this album and why I love it. For starters: I usually run screaming from hardcore. This album had me holding onto it for dear life, start to finish. What really grabbed me was its cohesiveness as a unit. A lot of albums are just collections of songs, whether it’s a good or bad one. This comes off less like a record and more like a hardcore opera. Perfection.
Favorite meal
I really have to pick one meal from the entire year? Damn. Well, the cheesy answer is: any meal I got to share with friends, because I’d always rather share things I love, like food or music, with people that I love. That said, the (first of many) Scarface cuban sandwiches, followed by a quesito, at Flaco’s in Gainesville, FL was heavenly and I had to wait an entire goddamn year to have one after last Fest.
Favorite live show
A Wilhelm Scream with The Holy Mess, Blind Mice and Rebuilder: The Sinclair, Boston, MA, December 13
An incredibly intense show (as it always is with AWS) and I had the benefit of knowing some 20 people who were there. Nothing beats seeing your favorite band while surrounded by great friends.
Favorite restaurant
Fish Market, Allston, MA
This is a sushi place I was introduced to by a friend, and now that I know of its existence it’s rare I’m in the Boston area and I don’t go for food here. Probably my favorite sushi restaurant I’ve ever been to. Along with a lot of classics, they’ve got some great specialty rolls, like ones with kobe beef or foie gras, that are absolutely fantastic (if you can stomach the steep price for them).
Favorite or least favorite Rice and Bread story this year
The interview I did with Brooks Harlan of War on Women. Perhaps it seems a bit self-centered to choose one of my own articles, but I pick it because when I started this gig with Rice and Bread I wasn’t sure if I could hack it, particularly the interviews. That piece showed me different.
Favorite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
The Slayer Pizza. I say this having tasted none of his dishes, but I love pizza because I’m not a heartless monster. Also, this dish has the benefit of being paired with the only band on these pairings that I actually know.
Colin Gillespie, bassist of Greys and Rice and Bread Blindfold Test participant
Favourite album
Viet Cong – Cassette (Mexican Summer)
I guess this is, in a way, cheating, as the band self-released Cassette as a real, live cassette in 2013, but what the hell, Mexican Summer reissued it as an actual record this year, and it even includes a nifty cover of Bauhaus’ “Dark Entries.” I’m re-gifting this Christmas.
Favourite meal
Pizza at Franco Manca‘s in London, UK. Before our European/UK tour, everyone I talked to just crowed about how Europe’s food was invariably amazing and England ate literal gruel. Well, everyone’s an idiot, because after nearly dying from eating French/Belgian/German sausage rolls for weeks, London’s Franco Manca’s even beat the shit out of Toronto’s best pies.
Favourite live show
Oneohtrix Point Never: Great Hall during NXNE, Toronto, June 20
After escaping eviction from the Horseshoe for “pocket-liquor,” I somehow made it to the Great Hall in time to catch Oneohtrix Point Never’s mind-melting set during NXNE. My brain was thoroughly massaged by psych-ambient blurts of noise accompanied by DMT-esque visuals.
Favourite restaurant
Cafe 668, Toronto, ON
Even after forsaking a vegetarian diet so I could eat pulled-pork burritos on the reg, Cafe 668 still holds up as some of the best Thai fusion food I’ve ever had. Bonus: it’s insanely cheap and they make faux gluten-chicken actually edible, and subsequently, addictive.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year:
Least favourite: Any article endorsing bacon as a zany main ingredient. Enough already.
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
The Slayer Pizza. As hypocritical as it is to bash bacon in one sentence and celebrate shitty pizza in the next, I plan to cut all my future pizzas in Hurke’s pentagram style.
Adem Tepedelen, author of The Brewtal Truth Guide to Extreme Beers, Perfect Pairings contributor
Favourite album
Iron Reagan – Tyranny of Will (Relapse)
I’m just a total sucker for crossover and this gives me that 1983 feeling all over. Tyranny is, however, way heavier than previous IR releases, so it has its own updated take on crossover. And in this genre of metal, there are no vocalists better than Tony Foresta.
Favourite meal
The Mastodon Burger at Kuma’s Corner in Chicago, IL. You could practically see the smoke from the grilling burgers roll out the door when Kuma’s opened at 11 am. The black metal was already blasting, the smell of cooked flesh hung heavy. That damn burger was sloppy, delicious and filling, but the ambiance sealed the deal.
Favourite live show:
3 Floyds Dark Lord Day w/Iron Reagan, Brain Tentacles, Corrections House, Vulgaari, and Eyehategod: Munster, Indiana, April 26Incredible craft beer, some of my favorite bands and tons of great friends. Plus, Richard Christy was the drunken MC. This was the highest (pun intended) concentration of people shit-faced on high quality craft beer I’ve personally witnessed. The metal was good, too.
Favourite restaurant
Zeek’s Pizza, Seattle, WA
My son and I share a medium pepperoni and my wife gets her own gluten-free crust on any of their amazing pies. Add a glass or two of Reuben’s Double IPA for me, and this is a meal my whole family loves.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
Least: That one where you made Greg Pratt give his opinion about a hip-hop album.
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread:
FUCKING SLAAAAAAAAAAYERRRRRRRRR PIZZA!!!!!!!!
Touché Amoré (photo: James Meadows)
James Meadows, Iwasrighttherephoto, Rice and Bread photographer
Favourite album
I have two: Code Orange’s I Am King and Single Mothers’ Negative Qualities. When I listened to both bands I was not impressed, initially, then seeing them live they both gave leave-it-all-on-the-stage performances.
Favourite meal
At my house, whenever I have a group of friends over, I like to make Moqueca (Brazilian fish stew). It’s hearty and normally people walk away with something they’ve never had before, even at a fine-dining Brazilian restaurant.
Favourite live show
Touché Amoré: Ukrainian Culture Centre, Los Angeles, CA, February 14
Between playing with mewithoutYou, and also playing in their hometown, the place was just an unstoppable force of unison of the crowd and the band.
Favourite restaurant
13 Gypsies, Jacksonville, FL
They recently passed ownership back to the chef and the original creator of the food. This place is looking to put people in old-world situations and promote affordable, slow-dining experiences.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
Least: “Philly cheesesteak satisfies The Jazz June drummer Justin Max
,” because obviously he doesn’t know about the “South Street Special,” which would be a slice from Lorenzo’s Pizza down the street: they are huge! And then ou put that baby Jim’s Cheesesteak inside it. Bam! Now that’s how it’s done!
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread:
The Pentagram rillette
, because all things should be kneaded on a pagan altar. All hail the mighty Pagan Lord.
Officer Jackson Bradford, handler for Masked Intruder and Rice and Bread Blindfold Test participant
Favourite album
The Bat Bites – The Bat Bites (Monster Zero)
This Dutch band sings effortless, upbeat pop-punk full of hooky guitar leads and boy/girl harmonies. My favorite track, “Heartbreaker,” sounds like a poodle-skirt-clad breakup at a sock hop and features guest vocals from The Leftovers’ Kurt Baker. Most importantly, they let me sleep on their floor once.
Favourite meal
I occasionally post an expletive-laden cooking segment on Facebook called Bullshit Meals for Assholes. Measurements are in “paws” and everything goes in the microwave covered in cheese. I think my favorite was my Thanksgiving Leftovers Shepherd’s Pie. It was terrible. I loved it.
Favourite live show
PEARS: Metal Grill, Milwaukee, WI, October 3
You didn’t think I’d do a 2014 list without talking about PEARS, did you, dummy? This was the day after I got back to my hometown of Milwaukee from six weeks in Europe. I returned only to see it utterly DESTROYED by the frantic foursome in PEARS. Milwaukee is in ruins now. Look it up.
Favourite restaurant
Golden Harvest, Lansing, MI
This tiny-ass brunch spot only has, like, four tables. They make you wait forever outside, even in pouring rain. You love the punishment. Once inside, the Cretins from Nuke ‘Em High serve you mountains of playful breakfast to a blaring soundtrack of old-school punk and oddities. Try the Cap’n Crunch French Toast.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
Your FEST recap. Mostly because I never want to not be FESTing. Ever.
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
Japan’s Coffins-inspired Uke Mochi Burger includes all of my favorite things: beer, pickles, beer pickles, FUCKING BEER PICKLES, GODDAMNIT. I’m also really hoping to get to Japan in 2015!
Deacon Batchelor, drummer of Andrew Jackson Jihad and The Roaming Fork columnist for Rice and Bread
Favorite album
Pallbearer – Foundations of Burden (Profound Lore Recordings)
This album is everything I look for in metal these days. This is one of those recordings that I can listen to over and over, and never get bored of. Sonically, it’s bone crushing. Also, they engage in a style of composing a metal opus versus banging out a bunch of tracks. Every note, beat and lyric is intentional and have purpose. It’s all sorts of nasty and heavy, which is why I chose this record.
Favorite meal
Roka Akor in Scottsdale, AZ is currently at the top of my “best ever” list. I enjoyed a 20-course Omakase meal here. It was a three-hour event, covering all styles of modern Japanese cuisine, highlighting at least 15 species of land, air and sea creatures, alongside one of the best Sochu cocktail selections in America. If I was in The Matrix and took the blue pill instead, every meal would be at this restaurant.
Favorite live show
Pissed Jeans w/Gay Kiss: The Cresent Ballroom, Phoenix, AZ, November 7
This was the best combination of noise/hardcore and sweet dance moves. Both bands totally owned their styles. Roger from Gay Kiss seemed to be on the verge of a mental breakdown, and Matt from Pissed Jeans gave us authentic “Punk Prince Realness” and reminded the youth that when you get old, you sit down at punk shows.
Favorite restaurant
Husk, Nashville, TN
This restaurant is blowing my mind right now. The proprietor, Sean Brock, is a James Beard Award winner and Mind of a Chef star and he takes Southern traditional cuisine to the standards of modern four-diamond fine dining, but without the fuss and pretension. I attended one of his tasting events and had one of the best menus of my life, and I even bought his cookbook.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
The Fest coverage, overall, was really fun to read.
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
I’m a poutine-ophile, so the Sacrificial deer-heart poutine is my jam!
Matty Weaver, Rice and Bread contributor
Favorite album
Brave Bird - T-Minus Grand Gesture (Count Your Lucky Stars Records)
This album is absolutely perfect from start to finish and highlights what I love about the modern emo scene: twinkly riffs and power chords, strained yelling and somber singing, and start-stop post-hardcore breakdowns that make your spine tingle. They were the best band in the genre. R.I.P.
Favorite meal
The Jamaican Jerk Tofu at Reggae Shack in Gainesville, Florida. I go to The Fest every year to see friends and to chow down. There’s nothing like Reggae Shack in my home city and once a year it’s what I look forward to. I’m a huge fan of vegan/vegetarian dishes, even if I eat meat sometimes, and this is definitely one of the best.
Favorite live show
Modern Baseball, Tiny Moving Parts, The Hotelier and Sorority Noise: The Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids, MI, June 12
I’ve been on tour with Tiny Moving Parts and their live show never gets old. Sorority Noise is my favorite band at the moment (‘80s metal + pop-punk? Hell yes) and their live show is absolutely insane. Coupled with the two other powerhouses on the bill, my throat was raw for days.
Favorite restaurant
Brick Road Pizza, Grand Rapids, MI
I love pizza. I love burgers. I love vegan/vegetarian food. Brick Road’s the only place in the city to get all three. I’ll usually chow down on the Vegan Pulled Pork or the Buffalo Tofu Pizza and then enjoy a wonderful local beer, of which they have plenty on tap.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
“Writer Adem Tepedelen: Craft beer and metal share ‘kinship’“: I love metal and I love beer and this article helped me understand how well they can (and do) go together.
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
The Re-Animation Poutine: how do you get any more metal of a dish than putting venison hearts into poutine?
Amanda Starling, Rice and Bread contributor
Favourite album
You Blew It! – Keep on Doing What You’re Doing (Topshelf Records)
Emo, post-rock and punk never blended more beautifully for You Blew It! until this release. There’s an element of reflection and inflection balanced in Tanner Jones’s whine, matched by the romping energy. I didn’t think becoming introspective could be so energizing. Roaring from the start, “Award of the Year Award” and “You & Me & Me” ace as verbal lashings and melodic showcases of this Orlando band’s talent.
Favourite meal
Casita Bowl from Casita Taqueria in St. Petersburg, FL. Chain grocer and bargain-addicts’ haven Trader Joe’s claimed the land of this shack taco joint, but it was only a year later that the Mexican restaurant reopened its doors in downtown St. Petersburg. Fans lined the block for the grand reopening weekend, and the rich flavours locked in this bowl are the cause. With the balance of fresh ingredients (a layer of white rice, black beans, queso fresco, pico de gallo, guacamole, and your choice of meat or extra veggies), the explosion of flavours claims you for a lifetime.
Favourite live show
Prawn: Fest 13, Gainesville FL, November 1
I was outside of High Dive, a Fest venue. The lines were atrocious because it seemed like the best shows of the night were hosted at High Dive (great venue, but horrible for hosting so many great sets in such a tight space). I was cut off from entry right at maximum capacity of the venue. Halfway through the opening song, “Scud Running,” I was admitted inside. There’s something satisfying about entering an anticipated indie-post rock-punk “love of your life”-quality show at the last second. I’ll always adore these New Jersey punks; just see my review from their recent Tampa visit.
Favourite restaurant
The Burg Bar and Grill, St. Petersburg, FL
After an evening of smokey warehouse shows and packed bars, you need a breather in a favorite hole-in-the-wall. The Greek-themed menu at The Burg features a delicious chicken souvlaki, feta fries, and daily deals that could feed you for a week. The best deal: 50-cent wings on Tuesdays. Pair the wings with one of 50-plus rotating beers (personal favourite, a $2 Fat Cat Wheat) and the comfort of a local dive, and it’s paradise.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
Wishing I could travel to Calgary the moment I read “butterflied hot dog, bacon, a single beef patty and cheese.”
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
Temptation’s Wings and Waffles. Aside from being a Southern favorite, it’s syrup, spice, and everything nice.
Julie Kolakowski, Rice and Bread contributor
Favourite album
The Hotelier – Home, Like Noplace Is There (Tiny Engines)
Every time it feels this album has been overplayed in my iTunes library, it’s played again. And again. Capable of giving goose bumps. It’s bone-chilling, but also a sing-along album.
Favourite meal
Spicy Thai Chicken Noodles from a food truck outside High Dive at FEST 13 in Gainesville, FL. The meal was hot. The portion was generous. It had been a long and cold day at Bo Diddley Plaza. The noodles were completely necessary and delicious after seeing Less Than Jake and Descendents back-to-back.
Favourite live show
Korn and Avenged Sevenfold: Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Spring, NY, July 23
Standing front row. My middle-school fantasies were fulfilled. Enough said.
Favourite restaurant
Life Alive, Cambridge MA
Vegan paradise. Even if you’re not vegan, they’re serving smoothies made of irresistible combos (peanut butter, banana and chocolate, anyone?). Plus, charming veggie-quinoa/rice bowls each with a signature sauce.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
Since we didn’t didn’t get to see The Smith Street Band play at FEST, this Pre-Fest video footage was a chance to live what it could have been like.
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
Chef John Hurkes’ Down-inspired Temptation’s Wings & Waffles: I can only imagine the loveliness of eating this creation… and the grease-filled-stomach pit of regret afterwards.
Tommy Habetz with one of his Bunk Sandwich partners, Nick Wood
Tommy Habetz, Bunk Sandwiches
Favourite album
Ages and Ages – Divisionary (Partisan Records)
This is a particularly tough year to pick a single favourite album. There was so much great music released this year: Mac DeMarco, Angel Olsen, The Jicks! But this record by Ages and Ages really hit home for me. It really is a huge leap for the band in terms of writing, orchestration and delivery. Great pop hooks and harmonies. What’s not to love?
Favourite meal
Taqueria Nueve in Portland, OR, a few months ago. It was a date night with my wife. And with five Bunk Sandwich locations, two kids and a Moon Pizza in the works, date nights are few and far between. Taqueria Nueve is a Portland institution that went away for a few years, but is back in a new location and better than ever. Great tacos, margaritas and moles. Great date night.
Favourite live show
Xylouris White w/Marisa Anderson: Bunk Bar, Portland, OR, October 7
I had no idea what to expect with this show. I had never seen Jim White with The Dirty Three, but I can safely say he’s one of the top five drummers I’ve ever seen. The day that they played Bunk Bar, Xylouris White had just found out that their first record, Goats, had just debuted at #1 on the Billboard World Music charts. Amazing live show.
Favourite restaurant
Le Pigeon, Portland, OR
Gabriel Rucker is one of my best friends. And to see how he’s created the perfect casual, haute cuisine restaurant that continues to get better and better makes me so proud of him. To see him continue to push himself to be a better chef, father and husband is inspiring.
Favourite (or least favourite) Rice and Bread story this year
The interview with Adam Pfahler from Jawbreaker. I’m a huge Jawbreaker fan. I loved all the Jawbreaker love that Rice and Bread gave the band this year.
Favourite Perfect Pairing dish created by Chef John Hurkes for Rice and Bread
The Slayer Pizza. Two great things that go great together: heavy metal + pizza cc: Sizzle Pie. And Slayer totally rules!