A Maitre'd Walks Into Lakeview Harbor

It is Friday. You are reading ESPN and People who are both incidentally talking about the same person. We don't waste good articles on Friday. So prepare ye for the snow by reading below.

Check out our review of Lakeview Harbor. The Lakeview area has been largely neglected by the press, city, and others; but one thing is for certain the resilient, tough Lakevillians need a good place to have a cold beer and a delicious meal. And Lakeview Harbor does that very well. Lakeview Harbor has that dark, dimly lit, this "would be a great place to drink all day while watching the game" vibe going for it. The burgers aint bad either.

But the real star are these dry wings. Fried to order, then rolled in a spicy dry rub. Be careful not to inhale the heat. Lorin Gaudin recommends the salads at Lakeview Harbor; I recommend that you not listen to such poppycock.
While you have your copy of offBEAT, read about Patrick Van Hoorebeck. The addition of Patreeck at August has greatly improved an already impressive dining experience. Plus, who wouldn't want to begin their day at eleven a.m. with a glass of Champagne?

See you next week with a recap of Dickie Brennan's Kentucky Colonel Coronation (a Colonation-or is that a medical procedure recommended once a year for men over 30?) and likely some more recaps of Asian food we are eating.

Pho Dat?

The Harbor

No, not Snug Harbor. I'm talking about Lakeview Harbor, which is usually referred to as the "Port of Call of the Lakefront" because of its emphasis on burgers and baked potatoes. I happen to think that the Harbor is better than Port of Call, but I try not to make that well known for fear of retribution from the diehards.

A few weeks ago I visited the Harbor with two of the Lakefront's finest citizens: Rough Country and Big Brutal Dave. Though we are friends from long long ago, both of these characters happen to be up-and-coming attorneys at different big shot firms in the city. Between listening to them talk about how many hours they billed last month, we managed to eat some pretty good food.

We started with an order of potato skins, which were a lesson in fried goodness. Some might wonder why we chose this as an appetizer considering that a baked potato comes with all of the sandwiches. But come on people. This ain't my first rodeo. Instead of the standard burger and baked potato, I usually go with...

A filet sandwich. It's back there buried underneath that mountain of sauteed mushrooms, grilled onions, and shredded cheddar. And an order of cheesetots. This plate is exactly the reason why I prefer Lakeview Harbor over Port of Call: variety - of which Port of Call offers none and Lakeview Harbor offers some.

As an aside, you may have noticed a few tots missing from the picture. (I apologize for the poor quality of the photo, but I have never claimed to be Robert Peyton.) Anyway, it so happens that when the food came, both Rough Country and I were away from the table. Seizing upon this opportunity, Big Brutal Dave decided to help himself to a few of my tots, but he was not fast enough and I caught him red handed (and red faced). After sitting back down I received a text message from a friend who had been watching the robbery from one table over. It said:

"What's interesting is that he didn't take a fry... it was all cheese... and he looked like a 5 year old on Xmas."