NFL 2021: Week 4 Power Rankings & The Rest

Ranking the 0-3 Teams:

Tier 1a - The "Here we go again" Trio

5.) New York Jets  =  0-3  (20-70)

4.) Jacksonville Jaguars  =  0-3  (53-91)

3.) Detroit Lions  =  0-3  (67-95)

None of these are surprising, though I do feel bad lumping the Lions in with the Jets and Jaguars. For the Jets, I like the hiring of Robert Saleh, I think long term they may be building something, but Zach Wilson is so bad. I don't know if Lawrence will be bad, but he has been god awful so far, throwing late, terrible interceptions. Some of that may be playcalling that could work in college (like that ridiculous flea-flicker pick). For the Lions, they were outplayed for most of that game, but still needed a miracle to lose. They were spirited in Week 1 late, and led the Packers at halftime just a week ago. This is not a bad team, and Dan Campbell has them playing hard. That all said, the talent just isn't there.

Tier 1b - The "Wha... What... What happened!?" Uno

2.) Indianapolis Colts  =  0-3  (56-80)

The Colts were never going to be great, but they should be better. If you look at the games individually, they were very competitive against both Seattle and the Rams (two good teams - in fact they played the Rams closer than anyone). Wentz has not been anything above merely above average, but they're 0-3 without seeming out of place. The defense has been decent. There's just nothing better than good about this team and a tough early schedule gives you an 0-3 start.

Tier 1c - The "Seriously guys, we're not this bad!" Uno

1.) New York Giants  =  0-3  (56-74)

The Giants are 0-3 and two of their losses were to teams who otherwise have no wins (Washington, Atlanta). I probably am overrating them as the best 0-3 team, but that's because I think out of this group of five teams, they have the best single unit in their defense. They also lost both of their last two games with the other team hitting the game winning field goal at the gun. Yes, those are bad teams they lost to, but the Giants have been largely competitive, and even that Denver loss looks a bit better now than it did at the time. This is another lost season and it may prove to be that Daniel Jones just isn't going to cut it, but they have still been the best 0-3 team.

Ranking the 1-2 Teams:

Tier 2a - The "Thank god we got that win!" Trio

11.) Houston Texans  =  1-2  (67-76)

10.) Chicago Bears  =  1-2  (40-77)
9.) Atlanta Falcons  =  1-2  (48-94)

The Texans are to me this year's version of the 2020 Jaguars, who won in week 1 then never won again. I doubt the Texans go 1-16 but if they're forced into playing David Mills for an extended stretch it won't be too much better. The Bears still have a decent defense but that offense was a nightmare. First, it looked like they were basically playing the same game plan with Fields in for Dalton. The O-Line is a disaster, the scheme gets no one open. How Matt Nagy is in the same coaching tree as so many good coaches is beyond me. They need to blow it up. The Falcons are already seemingly committed to that idea but still employ Matt Ryan. That division is already a lost cause for them and I'm not sure what their longer term plan can be as long as they have to keep trotting out an aging, expensive Matt Ryan.

Tier 2b - The "Offense shouldn't be hard in 2021" Quadro

8.) Miami Dolphins  =  1-2  (45-82)

7.) Washington Football Team  =  1-2  (67-92)

6.) New England Patriots  =  1-2  (54-51)

5.) Pittsburgh Steelers  =  1-2  (50-66)

Through three weeks offense is slightly down - from 24.8 ppg and 359.0 ypg to 23.4 ppg and 352.1 ypg. These aren't huge shifts, and is right in line with what the league was at in 2018 (2019 was relatively down). Here are some of the culprits (thought more of them were in the earlier grouping and the 0-3 teams). The Dolphins have an excuse that they're playing a backup, but Brissett and that offense was just inept for three quarters before some miracle non-repeatable stuff brought them to OT. Washington should be better given the pieces they have, but it's very clear Tyler Heinecke is very much a stop-gap. the Patriots and Steelers though: I just don't know what the answers are. The Patriots have to hope Mac Jones gets better but they also have no real skill position players to help him get there. It all seems too tough, in a way it never was for even Jimmy G or Cassel. For the Steelers, I'm just glad that one of the older QBs is aging in a normal way. Ben Roethlisberger is playing like a 39-year old that got hurt a lot. What's staggering is how less efficient even this version of the offense is compared to last year's that was passable. They really need one of the receivers to turn into a better possession threat.

Tier 2c - The "We should be better!" Duo

4.) Philadelphia Eagles  =  1-2  (64-64)

3.) Seattle Seahawks  =  1-2  (75-79)

Ok, I realize saying the Eagles should be better after they got undressed all night on Monday Night Football might be a stretch, but let's remember they were dominant in Week 1 and hung with San Francisco most of week 2. First primetime game in Dallas was always going to be a tough spot for them, and Hurts looked lost. I still like the team overall. The otehr aspect here is most of the 1-2 teams are teams we expect to be bad - the same situation will come up when I rank Dallas. As for the Seahawks, well I have no idea how they lost by so much. They really should not have blown the game against Tennessee. Russell Wilson is doing his usual thing of having a 130 paser rating early in teh season. The defense is more of a mess than usual but the offense is still tremendous, up until Carroll tightens the reins inevitably in Week 10.

Tier 2d - The "We are better" Duo

2.) Minnesota Vikings  =  1-2  (87-78)

1.) Kansas City Chiefs  =  1-2  (92-95)

Both these two teams could be 3-0 right now (granted, the Vikings were trailing for most of the Week 1 game). The Vikings lost in OT, then lost that nail-biter to the Cardinals. The Chiefs were winning by 11 points at the start of the 4th quarter against Baltimore and then nearly beat teh Chargers despite the three early TDs. Both teams have flaws, namely defense for both, and their margin of error isn't huge. This isn't surprising for Minnesota, a team destined for 9-8 with an outside shot of something better (man, Justin Jefferson is incredible). The Chiefs just have to stop turning the ball over - there's a little bit too much late Andy Reid-era Eagles in the Chiefs right now with the turnovers and lack of attention to detail. Not overreacting yet, look there's a lot of Brady-era Patriots seasons with 1-2 or 2-2 starts that work out just fine.

Ranking the 2-1 Teams:

Tier 3a - The "How did this happen!" Trio

11.) Cincinnati Bengals  =  2-1  (68-54)

10.) New Orleans Saints  =  2-1  (73-42)
9.) Tennessee Titans  =  2-1  (71-84)

These aren't all surprising, especially Tennessee was a trendy sleeper pick, but after that disastrous performance in Week 1 it is nice to see them rebound at 2-1, and even nicer to see a bit of a pulse from Julio Jones in this past game. The Bengals are 2-1 and deservedly so. Really impressed with their defense so far, and of course the Burrow to Chase connection looks as good as we could have hoped. Their protection has to improve long term but so good so far there. Finally the Saints - it is just odd to see Jameis winning games throwing for 120 yards - of course mixing in a classic ridiculously dumb throw for a TD in the mix. The defense is every bit as good as it was last season. If they can unlock something resembling the good parts of the Bucs Jameis they could be a really good.

Tier 3b - The "We're really good... if everything goes well" Trio

8.) San Francisco 49ers  =  2-1  (86-74)

7.) Cleveland Browns  =  2-1  (86-60)

Both these teams can be really good, when the situations are right. I'm still not sure either can win a game when coming from behind (granted, the 49ers almost did). Both QBs can be great but need good pockets and rhythm to do so. Both defenses have d-lines capable of absolutely taking over games, but they can go silent for long stretches - with the 49ers its particularly mysterious how quiet their pass rush can be at times. I expect both teams to challenge for wild card (if not division) spots, but I don't think either has the maximum ceiling the six I have ranked ahead of them. Much like the 1-2 teams, I don't think there are many surprises in teh 2-1 set (Bengals aside...). So even the 7th best 2-1 in team is in a way the 12th best overall (the 2-1 teams + the five 3-0 teams).

Tier 3c - The "Just plain good teams" Duo

6.) Los Angeles Chargers  =  2-1  (67-60)

5.) Dallas Cowboys  =  2-1  (90-69)

4.) Green Bay Packers  =  2-1  (68-83)

The Chargers easily could be 3-0, they could be 1-2. What they have though is a great, young QB, a defensive coach that is scheming up that team already, and a team that is healthy, for now. You never know how long health lasts with them but for now they have something building. It is kind of funny that they beat the Chiefs, have all this positive momentum, but are still as of this moment in 3rd place in their own division. For the Cowboys, they're just really solid, but more than the offense still being dynamic with Dak, it's the defense playing surprisingly well - particularly in the secondary - that has me really high on them. Diggs has been immense, but the whole secondary has been solid (aside from covering Tight Ends....). The Packers are just good and that week one game just seems like an aberration. Most impressive part to me of the Packers is the state of their defense these last two games. They hounded Garappolo all game, despite not having Zadarius Smith. The secondary play was great as well in a tough environment where basically everything was getting called for pass interference.

Tier 3d - The "Our reputation precedes us" Duo

3.) Baltimore Ravens  =  2-1  (82-85)
2.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers  =  2-1  (103-88)

The Ravens were coming off a really emotional win on the road against a bad team and sleepwalked and still won. Granted, they should have lost, but they also controlled the line of scrimmage all game, and if not for some Hollywood Brown drops would have won rather easily. Lamar looked great as a passer in teh game. They have to hope the defensive guys in teh secondary come back healthy. Speaking of needing defensive players to return from injury, the Bucs defense has been sorely lacking so far. Even in their first two wins they were undressed at points. The offense is still great (I hate admiting this...) but the one hidden story of the Bucs run last year was how healthy they were. That's already being put to the test.

Tier 3e - The "Week 1 was a long time ago..." Uno

1.) Buffalo Bills  =  2-1  (94-44)

Every year there's some strange week 1 outcome that immediately makes us question pre-existing beliefs, and every year there's a few of those that are just that = week 1 overreactions. This is one of those. The Bills didn't even play that badly against Pittsburgh and probably win if not for the blocked punt TD. They have now undressed two teams, including one on the road with Miami. Allen looked great including throwing to people not named Stefon Diggs. Their run game is still very average but the rest of the team is playing great right now.

Ranking the 3-0 Teams:

Tier 4a - The "Insanely Fun" Duo

5.) Las Vegas Raiders  =  3-0  (90-72)

4.) Arizona Cardinals  =  3-0  (103-65)

I may be underrating both of these teams, especially Arizona. The Raiders easily could have lost two of the games but also controlled Miami for 95% of that matchup. The defense has been a revelation with their pass rush but you have to think that falls off against better competition. The Cardinals defense has some way to go against better offenses (as seen by their performance against the Vikings) and the offense is still a but boom or bust, but that team is still running strong at 3-0. I don't think either team is long for the undefeated (read: maybe this week) but I do think both are playoff team caliber, especially in a 14-team playoff field. All I do know are both teams are really fun to watch and it would be incredibly entertaining if they played each other (they don't....).

Tier 4b - The "Is it good defense or bad offense...." Duo

3.) Carolina Panthers  =  3-0  (69-30)
2.) Denver Broncos  =  3-0  (76-26)

How do you rate a defense when both teams have played the Jets? How do you rate it further when Denver's other games are against the Giants and Jaguars (yes, the Broncos are 3-0 against three 0-3 teams), and for the Panthers it was bad Jameis and David Mills? I have no idea. Both defenses have fronts that have been insanely fast and have the talent that they should back that up for most of the season. The offenses should reliably score 20 points. The quality of opponent will increase greatly but the Panthers and Broncos have done what they're supposed to do: easily beat bad teams.

Tier 4c - The "I guess he was right about Stafford..." Uno

1.) Los Angeles Rams  =  3-0  (95-62)

I'll admit, I was somewhat skeptical of the idea that Matt Stafford would get unleashed in LA and be a viably different, better version of the Detroit Stafford. We'll see long term but through three weeks he's been everything the Rams could have wanted. More than that though is their OL returning to a high level of play - their pass protection against the Bucs was stunningly good. The defense also has remained quite good without Brandon Staley. Yes, they depend heavily on top talents, but they have those top talents for now and right now they are to me the best team in the league. They get another chance to show it this week against Arizona.

Looking Ahead to Next Week's Games

16.) Indianapolis Colts (0-3)  @  Miami Dolphins (1-2)  (1:00 - CBS)

15.) Detroit Lions (0-3)  @  Chicago Bears (1-2)  (1:00 - FOX)

14.) Tennessee Titans (2-1)  @  New York Jets (0-3)  (1:00 - CBS)

13.) Washington Football Team (1-2)  @  Atlanta Falcons (1-2)  (1:00 - FOX)

I call it "Really, already so many bad games!" Sunday, 

12.) Jacksonville Jaguars (0-3)  @  Cincinnati Bengals (2-1)  (TNF - NFLN)

11.) New York Giants (0-3)  @  New Orleans Saints (2-1)  (1:00 - FOX)

I call it "Can Burrow or Jameis really go 3-1?" Thursday and Sunday, 

10.) Houston Texans (1-2)  @  Buffalo Bills (2-1)  (1:00 - CBS)

9.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1)  @  New England Patriots (1-2)  (SNF - NBC)

8.) Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2)  @  Green Bay Packers (2-1)  (4:25 - CBS)

I call it "Ah, great mediocrity" Sunday

7.) Cleveland Browns (2-1)  @  Minnesota Vikings (1-2)  (1:00 - CBS)

6.) Kansas City Chiefs (1-2)  @  Philadelphia Eagles (1-2)  (1:00 - CBS)

I call it "A lot of good teams trying to get-right" Sunday

5.) Carolina Panthers (3-0)  @  Dallas Cowboys (2-1)  (1:00 - FOX)

4.) Seattle Seahawks (1-2)  @  San Francisco 49ers  (2-1)  (4:05 - FOX)

3.) Baltimore Ravens (2-1)  @  Denver Broncos (3-0)  (4:25 - CBS)

I call it "Just plain good football games!" Sunday

2.) Arizona Cardinals (3-0)  @  Los Angeles Rams (3-0)  (4:05 - FOX)

I call it "the most unexpected 3-0 vs. 3-0 game ever?!" Sunday

1.) Las Vegas Raiders (3-0)  @  Los Angeles Chargers (2-1)  (MNF - ESPN)

I call it "Why oh why is the Manningcast off this week!?": Monday

Spain & Portugal Trip: Azurmendi

And now for the main event, the meal that might equal Maido (Lisbon) or Gaggan (Bangkok) as the best meal of my life. Azurmendi is a three michelin star restaurant, #14 currently on the World's Top 50 list, a relative newcomer that has shot up the list in recent years. After dining there I can see why.

There's a few conceits about the place. First off, the serve the meal in stages, with three mini courses of many small bites in different rooms ahead of sitting down. It's all centered around the concept of sustainability, the garden and other stuff that seems corny on paper but was absolutely lovely in person. The setting of Azurmendi is stunning, high up a hill about 20 minutes outside Bilbao. The entrance has a giant glass facade, a bit meaningless given it was pitch black outside, but I can imagine how beautiful it is in normal times.

Anyway, the meal starts with us getting a glass of Basque-country wine on the house, and sitting in the entrance area we're greeted with a picnic basket of little bites, all kept inside the basket, neatly created and just a truly beautiful way to start the meal:

The Welcome Picnic

1.) Piquillo Ice Cream: I have no idea what a piquillo is, but it had this great sour, sweet taste and the ice cream just melted in your mouth. Granted... I guess that's what ice cream is supposed to do.

2.) Smoked Fish Brioche: This was amazing, just a little roll of smoked fish which was truly delicious, though a bit hard to handle. We would soon learn the breads here are just bonkers

3.) Tartar of "Iberico" Ham, which was maybe my favorite of the four, just a little roll of pork tartare, which I didn't really know was a thing. Once again the presentation for this little bite was just perfect.

4.) Piparra Mitxelada: Not sure where the idea came from to have a michelada (traditional mexican drink) in the menu, but it was made using a basque Piparra pepper, which was a little sweeter and less shocking than a normal michelada (read: better)

After the picnic, we were taken into the kitchen, a giant space with far less noise than you usually see in kitchens, even in restaurants like these. I have to say, the kitchen was pristine. Anyway, we were brought to a table up front to get some truffles.

5.) Truffled Meringue: probably the best small bite in the start of the meal, but just a nightmare to hold and get a picture of. It had just the perfect amount of truffle and everything else in it was perfect. Just a stunning bite.

6.) Vermouth Marianito: this tasted fine, quite sweet, and drinking up the foam ("air" they called it) was nice, but in the end of a bit more style than substance.

7.) Truffled Egg: this was a lot of style but with more than enough substance. When we entered we saw a chef take a syringe and pull out some egg from the yolk and then inject a truffle sauce. I have no idea the chemistry behidn this. It seemed like magic. But it worked, and it was great.

The last pre-table part was being taken to the "greenhouse" which was set-up with five little bioramas on the sides all set up for further dishes. Again the presentation here was just ridiculous.

8.) Daiquiri Rose: it tasted and looked great, but the best part is the surprise. We were first taken to the little display of roses where they poured a rose water smoke which was great. Then, the chef just plucked five roses which happened to be the iced daquiris. That was something.

9.) Fermented Apple: this was a very pungent cider - a bit of a mixed bag and oddly two of the group had a far blacker color than the one I had.

10.) Grilled & Roasted Red Mullet: The presentation here was great but honestly this was the one disappointment. It still tasted great but it is the only thing on the menu I could make. I'm a good cook, but I couldn't dream of making anything else. This? This I could - probably not as good but a reasonable facsimile.

11.) Smoked salmon roe and mori with lemon zest: this I couldn't make, so delicate, so zesty (that little bit of lemon zest worked wonders), so good.

12.) Kapiritxa: They called it a "surprise", a little red ball with flowers on top that would explode in your mouth. It for sure did and they never told us what the surprise was. This was probably my favorite of the greenhouse dishes and the second best overall in this pre-table part of the meal.

At this point we were finally seated at our table, with a clear view of the kitchen through its floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

13.) Summer Leaf: This was dried tomato turned into a leaf, which tasted a bit too much like tomato for me to love it, but was just a stunning little piece of decoration initally put on the table as the centerpiece.

14.) Asparagus: though it was asparagus three ways, no idea what the ways were. This was one of the best vegetarian bites I've ever had. I like asparagus, I have no idea how this was asparagus, why it was, anything. Just mesmerizing.

15.) Spider Crab burger: again a bit of a nightmare to hold but just really tasty with the softest, tastiest bread that would make a reappearance very shortly.

16.) Bilbaina Fish taco: this was excellent, fish tartare, little purple edible flowers (the edible flowers here was just mastery all around), with just a perfect crunch.

17.) "Limon Grass" which was a little foi gras of lemon (what?) inside of a lime, with again just perfectly placed little flowers. This was just a bonkers idea, again I am just in awe of the consistent creativity at these places.

18.) Sea Txakoli: which was some combination of txakoli (basque white wine) and chocolate in a little tea like substance. No idea how this worked but the chocolate was so subtle and good.

19.) Idiazabal "Shortbread": Which was a cheese bread with a little cute sheep printed on it. So adorable but so cheesy, with just a fantastic, salty aftertaste.

20.) Marinated langoustine & caviar: maybe the simples dish (I guess in theory I could do a reasonable version of this). The one thing that I could never get was how buttery soft and sweet the langoustine was. The green citrus sauce was also "lick-your-plate" tasty.

21.) Tempura oyster with olive juice and flowers: Ok, this was just a brilliant dish, presented on an upside down bowl. The idea was to take the oyster (2 bites), run the olive 'juice' (really some ash like thing) and the flowers together and dig in. It was incredible. Probably my favorite single dish in terms of both presentation and actual taste. The actual olive juice in a cup was also so smokey and great.

22.) Shrimp with gelatinized vegetable juice: I have no idea how the presentation works here. The gelatin veggie juice was so still, but lightly nestled the flowers and shrimp. Again the shrimp here was just perfectly buttery.

23.) Cod tart: This was another brilliant one, though a bit messy. Cod is so much better in the Iberian Peninsula (both here and Portugal) than anything I can conceive of back home. The dish here just had a fantastic, smooth taste.

24.) Roasted lobster with pepper juice and purple onion: The lobster is great, obviously, but for me the real star were these crunchy little 'purple' onions, which is an ingredient I want to work with immediately.

25.) Hake "kokotxa": So first they served us just an empty plate and then a guy came aroud with a pan and poured a piece of hake collar and a thick sauce on top. It was very "homey" for a 3-star restaurant but tasted so good. I truly wish I could have a whole pot with some rice.

26.) Iberian Pork, idiazabel cheese bonbons and pesto: this was the most 'traditional' in a sense but was just perfect. The pork was velvety soft. The cheese bonbons were a delight. The pesto was just the right level. Just a great way to end the main part of the meal.

27.) Iced Mojito: This was a wine based mojito made live from mojito granita, flowers and other stuff. Just a great idea, though in the end, all it was was an iced mojito.

28.) Herb infused curds and honey: just a delightful little scoop here, with a great combination of the honey foam and curd cream below. I'll say this, Azurmendi deserts were as good as the rest of the meal, including the continued amazing use of flowers.

29.) Black olives and cocoa: Olive apparently is a key ingredient here, with an olive ice cream and other little chocolate bites. Just a perfect way to end the meal.

At the end, Azurmendi probably is still below Gaggan for me, but I probably have it above Maido on sheer quantity and audacity. It was a once-in-a-lifetime type meal, one I would hope to have again one day. I posed photos on Instagram during the meal, and to my surprise head chef Eneko Atxa liked them during the meal. That was the cherry on top of just a perfect experience.

NFL 2021: Week 3 Power Rankings & The Rest

Ranking the 0-2 Teams:

7.) Atlanta Falcons  =  0-2  (31-80)

6.) New York Jets  =  0-2  (20-44)

5.) Jacksonville Jaguars  =  0-2  (34-60)

4.) New York Giants  =  0-2  (42-57)

3.) Detroit Lions  =  0-2  (50-76)

2.) Minnesota Vikings  =  0-2  (57-61)

1.) Indianapolis Colts  =  0-2  (40-55)

Ranking the 1-1 Teams

18.) Houston Texans  =  1-1  (58-52)

17.) Cincinnati Bengals  =  1-1  (44-44)

16.) Miami Dolphins  =  1-1  (17-51) 

15.) Washington Football Team  =  1-1  (46-49)

14.) Chicago Bears  =  1-1  (34-51) 

13.) Pittsburgh Steelers  =  1-1  (40-42)

12.) New England Patriots  =  1-1  (41-23)
11.) Philadelphia Eagles  =  1-1  (43-23)

10.) Los Angeles Chargers  =  1-1  (37-36)

9.) Tennessee Titans  =  1-1  (46-68)

8.) Cleveland Browns  =  1-1  (60-54)

7.) Green Bay Packers  =  1-1  (38-55)

6.) Seattle Seahawks  =  1-1  (58-49) 

5.) New Orleans Saints  =  1-1  (45-29)

4.) Dallas Cowboys  =  1-1  (49-48)

3.) Baltimore Ravens  =  1-1  (63-68)

2.) Buffalo Bills  =  1-1  (51-23)
1.) Kansas City Chiefs  =  1-1  (68-65)

Ranking the 2-0 Teams

7.) Arizona Cardinals  =  2-0  (72-46)

6.) Denver Broncos  =  2-0  (50-26)

5.) Los Angeles Raiders  =  2-0  (59-44)

4.) Carolina Panthers  =  2-0  (45-21)

3.) San Francisco 49ers  =  2-0  (58-44)

2.) Los Angeles Rams  =  2-0  (61-38)

1.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers  =  2-0  (79-54)

Looking Ahead to Next Week's Games

16.) New York Jets (0-2)  @  Denver Broncos (2-0)  (4:05 - CBS)

15.) Atlanta Falcons (0-2)  @  New York Giants (0-2)  (1:00 - FOX)

14.) Arizona Cardinals (2-0)  @  Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2)  (1:00 - FOX)
13.) Baltimore Ravens (1-1)  @  Detroit Lions (0-2)  (1:00 - CBS)
12.) Miami Dolphins (1-1)  @  Oakland Raiders (2-0)  (4:05 - CBS)
11.) Indianapolis Colts (0-2)  @  Tennessee Titans (1-1)  (1:00 - CBS)
10.) Carolina Panthers (2-0)  @  Houston Texans (1-1)  (TNF - NFLN)
9.) Chicago Bears (1-1)  @  Cleveland Browns (1-1)  (1:00 - FOX)

8.) Green Bay Packers (1-1)  @  San Francisco 49ers (2-0)  (SNF - NBC)

7.) New Orleans Saints (1-1)  @  New England Patriots (1-1)  (1:00 - FOX)
6.) Cincinnati Bengals (1-1)  @  Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1)  (1:00 - CBS)
5.) Washington Football Team (1-1)  @  Buffalo Bills (2-0)  (1:00 - FOX)
4.) Seattle Seahawks (1-1)  @  Minnesota Vikings (0-2)  (4:25 - FOX)

3.) Philadelphia Eagles (1-1)  @  Dallas Cowboys (1-1)  (MNF - ESPN)
2.) Los Angeles Chargers (1-1)  @  Kansas City Chiefs (1-1)  (1:00 - CBS)
1.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-0)  @  Los Angeles Rams (2-0)  (4:25 - FOX)

Spain & Portugal Trip: Belcanto

I don't know if it was the best part of the trip, but one of the main highlights was the two different world-class tasting menu meals we had, first at Belcanto in Lisbon and then Azurmendi, outside of Bilbao. These meals were well timed, coming on the first day we were in our full group of five, and the last day of that group as well. I want to talk about each because they were both fantastic, and also my first taste of proper European fine dining (quick shout out to iPupi in Sicily, which is excellent also).

There is a World's Top 50 Restaurants list that is fairly well established and while there are of course politics around holds some weight. Both of these two restaurants are on that list, with Belcanto at #42 (highest in Portugal), and Azurmendi at #14 - somehow just the third highest ranked restaurant in the Basque region. We were waitlisted at one of the higher ones - Asador Extebarri - and the other - Mugaritz - was not all that well reviewed. Aside from that Top-50 list is of course Michelin Stars, an even more politically mixed list - but for that Belcanto has two (the first 2-star restaurant in Portugal) and Azurmendi has three. Anyway, let's get to talking about the meals.

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Belcanto is just fancy. It's proper, it's white table clothes (was the softest white cloth I've ever touched). it's named for an opera as it is a block away from the main opera house in Lisbon. There is a regal-ness to Belcanto which stays consistent with quite a few of their dishes, including maybe the most known named 'The Garden of the Goose that laid the Golden Egg.' But more on that dish in a minute.

The night started with a specialty whiskey-sour esque cocktail made with a Portuguese liquor. We were told to drink it in one sip, which we all happily obliged.

The first few courses were all served at once, a series of small bites each tastier than the last. The themes, if any, were seafood (which of course, it's Portugal!) and decadence. Up first

1.) Brioche with cod liver, which was so soft, so interesting, and so well presented with the little flowers on top. It was so soft it crumbled in my hand - not a bad thing in this case.

2.) The 'golden sphere' of foie gras and port, which is an incredible combination of things - this one looked better than it tasted mainly because it looked ridiculous, like a giant golden marble. This was a truly stunning little bite.

3.) Braised sardines with roasted foam of eggplant and peppers which was incredible. Portugal is known for its sardines and these were just perfectly, lightly cooked.

4.) The squid taco with chicken skin - this might have been the one slightly off dish of the small bites, mainly because it was a bit too crumbly. Still really tasty however

5.) Oyster of tuna belly and 'borage', which was just insanely good. How can you make an oyster better in a fine dining restaurant? Add tuna tartere and a little 'pearl'.

6.) Carrot three ways, with a chestnut sauce and dill - a lot more interesting than my famed (in my house, at least) carrot three ways a year back. This dish was made for me by the weirdly good taste of the chestnut sauce.

7.) The bread and butter course, whcih might have been the highlight due to the butters (the black one) which was infused with smoked rosemary which tasted insanely good. The chorizo infused butter (the red one) was one of the sole disappointments, mostly because we expected more.

8.) This was an interesting dish, with chilled Portuguese shore prawns in a pine nut cream. I'm not sure if this was the intention, but once again the sauce was the best part, as the weird pine nut cream was just so oddly interesting.

9.) This was the 'garden of the goose.....' dish, which is just 'oh my god.' It's basically a lightly cooked egg, with mushroom crumble. I have no idea how he does this, I have no idea why it works. But man was this a show-stopper.

10.) Seabass with avocado scales which looked amazing, though as someone who isn't an avocado person this was probably my least favorite dish of the night.

11.) Roasted squad with hazelnut sauce and a mushroom and truffle nata - which is just ludicrous. The squab was perfect, but that mushroom and truffle pastel de nata was just about the best thing I've had in the meal - so uniquely Portugeuse and so great.

12.) I'm usually not one for the deserts at tasting menus - even at Gaggan, probably my favorite meal, the deserts were a bit "take it or leave it". At Belcanto they were great, starting with a weird 'chocolate' dish which had a squid ink base. The best part was how black it made all of our teeth.

13.) The final dish was a sweet egg cream inside of a fake edible egg-shell, again another just ingenious, simple, tasty desert. 

Overall, Belcanto was a great meal, if not for the one to come would've easily been the highlight of the meal. There are two tasting menu options there, the 'classic' menu which is what we got, and the 'experimental' one. Truly I do wish I had a chance to eat both, but I'm happy I went with, and got to fully experience, Chef Jose Avillez's classics.

Next up - Azurmendi, which has a shot at being my favorite meal to date

A to Z of my Spain/Portugal Trip, Pt. 2

N is for Natas

I don’t know why I never really tried Pasteis de Natas before, or more worryingly if I did try them and didn’t like them. For that reason I kind of expected not to like them this time around as well, but that first bite into a Pastel de Nata in Lisbon’s TimeOut Market and I was hooked. I didn’t get to try them at the place maybe most famous for Natas in Lisbon – Pasteis de Belem, but that is one thing of quite a few on my list for next time. We had them at TimeOut Market which were great, but really after sampling random ones in coffee store/bakeries and even grabbing a couple in Lisbon airport on our way out, I can confidently say that it is very hard to find a bad Nata in Lisbon and the good ones are otherworldly, especially with the light sprinkle of cinnamon on top. Food too often defines a city for me but it’s rarely one specific food. There were other great things I ate in Lisbon, but the Nata will define it.

 

O is for Open Squares

Other than maybe second to closed pedestrian alleys, nothing speaks to being more European to me than the open squares that are in every big city – and as I learned in this trip even smaller cities. The Plaza Mayor or Puerta del Sol in Madrid is known, and I had been there before, but the main square of Granada was charming. The one in Seville was sprawling (both the actual one and the ‘cool’ one which was littered with bars and restaurants on every side). There were many inside of San Sebastian’s old town and a couple within Bilbao’s. There’s also the great different types, either the large one with a statue in the middle, tons of people milling about and restaurants serving tapas/pintxos on every side, or smaller ones that also have statues in the middle, lesser numbers of people milling about, and maybe a few interesting spots on the alleys. All in all, Europe has some amazing squares, Spain is absolutely a leader in this capacity, and more than maybe anything else about it, this is what the US should adapt.

 

P is for Pintxos

Pintxos, the Basque form of Tapas, was our mainstay food in the region outside of going to Azurmendi. We didn’t get true ‘Pintxos’ until Lunch on our second day in San Sebastian, with three of us needing some time to kill while the other two were getting haircuts. We found a couple Pintxos spots, pointed to pieces of bread covered with various toppings, asked “Que es?” many times and ordered what we thought would be god. We were more often than not right. My favorites were the ones combining multiple elements, like some interesting greens (e.g. friend onions) over a slice of jamon, with a strip of anchovy on top or something to that effect. We had traditional pintxos again for dinner that night when we needed to find a place last minute to escapte torrential rain in the heart of old town. We had it a few other times throughout there and Bilbao as well – never getting old of each places spin on traditional pintxos. I really could eat these for lunch and dinner for a week straight – with the stout, short glass of cerveza – or at least could if not for the heavy bread count!

 

Q is for Quality Time

Honestly, the best part of the trip was the time spent with friends, both with ones I see often though in the confines of New Jersey, to those that moved away over time and we got to see in more meaningful ways than we have since nearly the old pre-pandmenic world. We’ve done these group trips since 2014 when we took a cruise (that was the same five of us, plus four others), and then done further ones in Denver (6 of us), Peru (3), The Balkans (7), Italy (6), San Diego (6) and now this. This trip was probably the most complex, definitely the most finely planned, and ended up without a hitch but with a bunch of great memories just chilling in AirBNBs, or meandering down streets and so much else. Sure, it’s a different type of vacation than I normally do – even this planned one was far less planned then the ones I take solo. But in the end, we got to see great places but mostly got to restock the reserves of insides jokes, laughs and great times.

 

R is for Roaming Streets

This wasn’t necessarily a trip about museums and grand churches, though we did a few of those. What it was most was a trip to roam around street to street, alley to alley and just ‘live’ these cities. The best ones for this were Lisbon, where we did it by tuk-tuk but largely the same, or Sevilla where we got in a bit late so could only do one site (the great Alcazar) and walked from one end of the main part of the town to the other. We did the same the last day in Madrid, my favorite city which held strong to that designation by just wandering around and seeing the grandeur of Passeo del Prado and the smaller streets off of it. Even Barcelona we did a lot of wandering, especially after its forced 12:30am curfew, where we were joined by hundreds of other youngsters still wandering around. My favorite though was probably in Granada, each day after their curfew of 1am we took beers to go from the local craft beer bar, one to drink on the 20-min walk back through the town, past small alleys, its main square and main street befixed with ‘rubiks-cube’ esqued streetlamps. You can get lost so easily in this city and there truly may not be a better way to experience them.

 

S is for Sintra

Sintra was the only ‘day-trip’ that we did in the more literal sense, taking most of our middle day in Lisbon. I was told both by one friend in the group who had been there when he went to Lisbon in 2017, and my parents, that Sintra is a great little town. It was definitely that. What I didn’t realize is how picturesque it really is. I had long seen photos of its multi-colored palace/fortress at its apex without realizing it’s from Sintra so that was definitely a nice suprirse. What was more of a surprise is their town built into the cliff, with its own little open square, and National Palace worth visiting with incredible views in every direction, along with great rooms – my favorite being one with different blue-tile murals in every direction and ceiling. We had limited time in Lisbon – limited time everywhere to be honest given the pacing of the trip – but giving up one of our days there for Sintra was absolutely worth it.

 

T is for Tourism

I’ve written a few times about how much losing being able to travel, and also a few pieces about my first forays back, trips to Arizona and Colorado earlier this year. Well, thisis a new first as well – the first time going out of the country. I used to go out of the country weekly right before the pandemic started, granted to Canada, but still that feeling of being somewhere else was a constant part of life. From a truly vacation aspect, my last trip away from the US was to Cape Town for President’s Day Weekend in 2020. It felt so good the first time I got a new passport stamp since that Cape Town trip, the first time having to deal with customs, deal with drawing different money than my own, trying to converse in Spanish or speak English with a portugeuse accent. All of it was not new, but novel having not done it for 19 months. This was just a great trip from that aspect. More ‘foreign’ destinations that I used to hold reserve for these 2-week trips (e.g. Israel, Egypt, Africa, Vietnam, etc.) are unable to be visted at this point so we focused on friendly Europe, and it was just a blast to be back for a lengthy visit. b

 

U is for Unexpected Visitors

I said earlier this trip was a group of three for Barcelona, Granada and Sevilla, and then five for the remainder. This is factually true, but unexpectedly and amazing not true in heart. One of this group’s other members moved at the start of the pandemic to Barcelona. We always joked how we would never see him again (he was in California prior to Spain, we already started seeing him just 1-2x/year). Well, that wasn’t why we went to Barcelona but we ended up getting to spend a bunch of time with him, meeting him for dinner both nights, and going to his and his girlfriend’s place on the third day – choosing that bit of extra time with our ‘long lost’ (in a way) close friend than see another museum or palace or something. Like you would expect little of the time was spent drilling into his ‘new’ life Spain, but rather to reminisce about our shared years together, joke around and act as if he was a sixth member of the trip. It was just a great joy that added to an already great trip itinerary.

 

V is for Views

If I was trying to be as accurate as possible, this should probably be ‘Miradors’ or ‘Miradouros’ but in each case of the word it comes back to the amazing views. The one advantage of so many cities we visited being built on or immediately below hills is that they lend itself to amazing views. The best were probably on some of the main hills of Lisbon, with the water and tiled roofs in every direction. Bilbao had some great ones from actually very near our AirBNB. There were great views on San Sebastian from the top of Mount Urguell (probably even better ones from the other Mount that we didn’t do). And of course of Barcelona from Parc Guell. These cities are so beautiful from up high, with the terracotta tiled roofs, the greenery, the water, all of it was great. On our last night in Lisbon, our AirBNB in Bairro Alto is a block in from a viewpoint that gives you a slight glimpse of the sea, it was such a gorgeous view even in night we spent much of our last night there just passing a couple Super Bock beers between us – we were not alone as this seemed to be a possible common late night spot for many groups of young locals. In the end the views are important but always best captured as memories, never looking as good in person as they do in person in the moment.

 

W is for Wine (& Port)

We were never really a wine drinking group, and I wouldn’t say we are becoming one, but with age does bring about a bit more interest in the stuff. We often shared a bottle instead of a round of cervezas at dinner, or got the house wine during tapas. I’m definitely no winophile at this point, but maybe I can see a future of it. What I definitely can see a future in is port. The one request from my parents in terms of a gift from the trip was a bottle of tawny port from Portugal. We weren’t going to Porto (will happen at some point after this!) but I did go down to the Taylor showroom to taste a couple glasses and man was port incredible. This wasn’t even a fancy variety for them – their standard 10year aged Tawny port. So perfectly sweet and easy to drink. I’m definitely not a wine guy, but I may be a port guy, and if this is the stepping stone that does it so be it.

 

X is for X’s in Basque

I always never have a good idea for an X, especially if there’s not an easy answer. I’ll go with the fact that the letter ‘x’ along with a few others, is so present in the strange language that is Basque. From what I gather, there’s no real known starting point for where the language came about – there’s no set connection to any other European language. When we looked at menus with Basque & Spanish written it was hilarious how different they were. All in all, I’m not even sure if I ever heard anyone speak Basque, as it sure seemed like the default language of conversation, both when being spoken to and overhearing others, was standard Castillian Spanish. That said, Basque is first on signs and roads and menus and everything else, the absurdity of the number of ‘X’s and ‘K’s and so many others will never not be funny and humorous to me.

 

Y is for Y Class

In Airline parlance 'Y Class' means 'Business Class', and I was fortunate enough to take it on the initial flight of the trip from Newark to Barcelona. I was not lucky, I used my hard earned upgrade points that are set to expire in December after United is seemingly not going to follow Delta's lead and let status get extended another 12 months. Anyway, due to a late equipment switch I got to ride in United's Polaris stylized cabin, which was great. If anything, it was cozy enough I was almost unnerved - I guess more seasoned business class traveler would have no such issues sleeping flat on a sky bus moving 500mph. The food is still lacking, mostly due to pandemic limitations (or at least that's the excuse the US airlines are using), but the seat, the Saks bedding, all of it was a great way to start the trip.

 

Z is for Zero Regrets

This is a common ‘Z’ for me – similar issue here as with the ‘X’. In this case, I mean it as well because it was such a new trip – the first time traveling during a pandemic. The first itme facing those protocols and curfews. It definitely impacted this trip but in the end didn’t impact the fun. Cities forced curfews at times between 12:30 – 2am (either way well before their pre-pandemic operating levels), but we were able to keep the fun going in our AirBNBs. We all had to take at least two if not three covid tests during the course of the trip, and all results came back negative. This was not a normal trip – it was the longest we had done together (at least for the three of us that spend the full two weeks). It was the one with the most flights and changes to city and place. It was done with a good deal of planning, but also a lot left unknown, and in the end it all worked. It always does. Sure, there’s a few things left on the cutting room floor in terms of sights not seen or restuarants not eaten at, but in the end the trip accomplished its goals: two weeks of bliss away from laptops, emails, at times even English, and just fun in a world in its current form seemed built to limit it.