Food

I don't know what it is about road musicians, but it seems like most of them that I've worked with want to seek out the best food in each city they hit. Everyone knows of a great Indian place or a great Sushi place. Don't get me wrong, I dig it. Heck, I love food. And I've been lucky enough to eat at some fantastic restaurants in my career (including an Indian restaurant today that prompted me to write this). Here's a list of some of the best restaurants I've been to on the road. In no particular order:

Pizzitola's Barbeque, Houston, Texas
I love barbeque and fancy myself a bit on an expert. In my mind there is nothing better than Texas barbeque and the best Texas barbeque is at Pizzitola's. Jerry Pizzitola is a childhood friend of Steve's and caters all of our sounchecks when we play in Houston. The best brisket around, and his mother's vanilla pudding is the perfect dessert.

Fourteen Carrot Cafe, Seattle, Washington
Just a great breakfast and lunch. The Eggs Benedict is a favorite of mine. There's plenty of laid-back, hippie, student vibe in the joint and the waitresses are smartasses but a lot of fun.

The Dakota Jazz Club, Minneapolis, Minnesota
The best thing about this restaurant is that it's a club too, so you eat there for free when you play. They have a carpaccio that is unreal, the lambchops are also great. The cook and the staff are also really friendly and like to hang after the gig.

Hell's Kitchen, Minneapolis, Minnesota
They take food seriously in Minneapolis. The most unique breakfast place you'll ever eat at. They make their own peanut butter, ketchup, and jams. I suggest the shrimp egg scramble with goat cheese.

Kaiten Sushi, Ropponghi, Tokyo, Japan
This isn't the name of the place, I don't know if I ever knew the name of the place as it was in Japanese. But it was some of the best sushi I've ever had. A kaiten sushi place has a conveyor belt that goes around the sushi bar and you pull off whatever you want. Each sushi is on a different colored plate and each color is a different price, when they ring up your bill they simply scan the plates to tally the check. This isn't the greatest sushi you can get in Tokyo, I don't have the wallet for that. But it certainly is some of the best I've had.

The Red Fort, London, England
This is the Indian restaurants I ate at today. It was really good (or as the English would say "its quite nice"). The Chicken Tikka was perfect and the spinach was some of the most flavorful I've ever had.

Carnegie Deli, NYC, New York
I know it's a tourist spot. I know there's usually a line around the block during the tourist season. I know you've probably heard about it from countless television shows. That doesn't make it taste any worse though. The Corned Beef is a classic, the Matzo Ball soup is amazing, and the cheesecake is the best cream cheese cake I've ever had.

House of Nan King, San Francisco, California
My favorite Chinese place ever. Just go in and let the cook bring you whatever he wants to bring you. You'll love it.

Ruthie's, Brooklyn, New York
One of my favorite places ever. The best soul food on the planet, fo' sho'!

Honorable mentions to: Fiorlinni's, NYC, New York; The Mayflower, London, England; 13 Coins, Seattle, Washington