Valentine's Day Lunch:

David went into work on Saturday morning while I was lazy and slept in. When he returned he was absolutely starving, but since it was Valentine’s day, I got to pick where we had lunch.

I really wanted wings, so I chose the Dilly Deli. They were not that busy at 2:00; though I am sure, like everywhere else they were packed that evening.

Dilly deli goes through a lot of wine

We sat at a nice round table and ordered our beers.

I ordered a Goose Island Imperial IPA, which I had tried the week before at the Catskeller beer tasting on Wednesday 2/11.

Most imperial IPA’s have a grapefruit or evergreen scent because of the type of hops used—often Centennial, Simcoe, Columbus or sometimes Warrior— but the Goose Island is much more fruity. It smells like a can of peaches. Tettnang, Simcoe and Cascade Hops contribute to it's unique aroma.

David got the Duchesse on tap.

I'm starting to think of her as the "other woman" at this point

Currently on tap at the DD:

Morland 'Old Speckled Hen'
Tripel Karmeliet
BarrelHouse Belgian Winter Ale
Stone IPA
Founders Double Trouble IPA
Duchesse de Bourgogne
Brooklyn Savoir Faire
Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold Lager
Goose Island Imperial IPA
Chimay Blanche (White)
Mt. Carmel Winter Ale
North Coast Old Stock Ale
Troegs HopBack Amber Ale
On Cask: Bells Porter

We've had the beers in Blue.

We ordered our favorites of beer cheese ($8.00) and 12 dilly wings ($9.00). I think that Teller’s (where we are headed tomorrow) and the Dilly Deli are fast becoming our regular haunts.

yoink--David gleefully finishes the last of my IPA


I chose a Double Trouble for my second beer.

David wanted and entrée, so we went with something different—the mushroom and duck salad ($15.00). The duck was cooked perfectly, and though David prefers salads with creamy dressing, the dark greens, stilton and bleu cheeses with toasted walnuts and vinaigrette were a delicious combination.

We wandered to the back of the beer store to pick up some beers while we were there.

FAIL beer

I decided to try Scaldis Noel, as well as some beers with labels I can’t even pronounce. I was pondering how much more beer I could carry safely to the cash register when a Dilly Deli patron, Dave S, introduced himself.

He recognized us from our beer blog posts! I was very excited. We exchanged numbers—hopefully soon we can attend a Catskeller tasting together and go to Party Source’s beer and burgers in April or the Stone tasting at Jungle Jims coming up soon. (Really looking forward to both)

Dave also, strangely enough, has a black and white cat, also from the Scratching post whose name is also Jack. (Insert twilight zone theme here).
As we were checking out, David couldn’t resist adding some cookies and cream gelato from Madisonos.

David needed some caffeine, so we stopped by Starbucks for a quick espresso doubleshot and booked it back before our gelato got too melty.

How was your Valentine's day?