Last Sunday, my friend Erich invited me to celebrate Oktoberfest at the Indian Road Cafe. It was a little later than all of the other Octoberfest’s, and had a Halloween theme!
The Indian Road Cafe is one part restaurant, one part coffee house, one part pub, and a fantastic addition to the Inwood neighborhood.
I wish we had one in Jersey City. Erich had an art instillation up:
Perfect for a Halloween themed-Oktoberfest! And so we drank. I’m always game to enjoy a beer the size of my head:
Erich’s beer appears smaller.
But it’s just that he has a much larger head. 🙂 We also ate this:
Tasty, soft pretzels (I ate an entire pretzel), Bratwurst cooked in beer and shipped from Usinger’s in Milwaukee. (I’ve got to remember to order some stuff from them!) I ate quickly and greedily while we listened to this band:
They played polka! Folks you haven’t heard Lady Gaga unless you’ve heard her played by a polka bands. “Paparazzi” was clearly enjoyed by the locals:
And we finished up our beer with this cake:
A German Chocolate Cake. Shortly after we started the cake, the Indian Road Cafe’s chef, Randy Carpenter, came to visit with us. We talked shop for a bit. For instance, did you know that Indian Road Cafe supports and entire restaurant on a convection kitchen? It’s true! I think it’s challenging enough to cook for one in a conventional kitchen with a gas range. I simply can’t imagine how Randy does it… and makes everything taste great! He must be some sort of genius. A generous genius, for he brought us a lovely soft cheese.
I don’t remember the name. I should have written it down. All I remember was that it was aged in ash, and had a smokey bitterness to it. I loved it. So I ate that, too.
In fact the food was so good and I ate so much, I had to catch a cab. Which was probably best, after that big beer. Prost!
