I’ve had many culinary firsts, and can easily remember them all. There was my first octopus. My first foie gras. My first meal in a Michelin-starred restaurant. My first sous vide. My first suckling pig. My first guinea pig. My first visit to a restaurant on the World’s 50 Best list. My first durian.

But a first I’ve never experienced before is visiting a restaurant run by a chef I’d originally met when he was a toddler. That took place Sunday night in Portland at Chef Gabriel Rucker’s Le Pigeon. I was supposed to dine there with Gene O’Neill, with whom I’d attended Clarion in 1979. Gene’s kids used to babysit Rucker when the families were neighbors, and I apparently met the future chef during one of my visits to Napa. Who knew that chubby cheeked kid would turn out to be a world-class chef?

I was supposed to head over to Le Pigeon with Gene the Friday night of last weekend’s World Horror Convention, but my old Clarion pal cancelled out on the con. I wasn’t going to let that stop me from hitting Le Pigeon, though, especially not after getting a look at its amazing menu. Which meant that Friday night was given over to Pok Pok, and I made Sunday reservations for Le Pigeon.

I ended up going with Ellen Datlow (who’s joined me for other fine dining outings), Portlander Leslie What (who shared a ton of local foodie tips), and Greg Chapman (an Australian with whom I co-presented this year’s Stoker for Superior Achievement in a Graphic novel).

Le Pigeon is set up for communal dining, and I was glad we arrived before the four others who were to join us, because our rectangular table narrowed as it jutted out from the wall, and if we’d been on the outside, that would have meant less room for food. And since the many dishes we ordered were large and beautifully plated, we needed all the room we could get. (more…)

I arrived back home yesterday from a trip to Portland for this year’s World Horror Convention, which turned out to be another one of those cons at which the only programming I attended was my own plus the awards banquet. So my con experience was primarily in the hallways, at the bar, and on the streets of Portland, where I continued my quest to never, ever have to eat in a hotel restaurant. And while out and about, I always try to drag along as many friends as I can, to in effect have a con away from the con.

Friday night’s traveling con took place at Pok Pok, known for Thai food that hasn’t been diluted for American tastes, but is instead representative of what can be found in Thailand—as well as for its fish sauce wings. If you read Yelp and other foodie review sites, you’ll see the wait can often be 90 minutes to two hours, but once I noticed that parties of five or more are allowed to get reservations, I made sure to wrangle at least that many people. The group included Keffy Kehrli and some of his writer friends whom I’d never met before, so I had a chance to experience new food and new people. Perfect!

With that large a party, I was hoping we’d have an opportunity to try those famous Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings in both the regular and spicy varieties, and we did. You can probably tell the difference between the regular …

… and the spicy by color alone.

The spicy was not, as I’d expected, “OMG, my head is on fire spicy,” but enough of a wake-up call for the meal to follow. I loved them both, though, because even the default wings have a satisfyingly complex flavor. They definitely live up to their buzz. (more…)

I’ll be off early tomorrow morning for Portland, Oregon to attend the World Horror Convention, but as my friends know, sometimes it’s debatable what’s actually bringing me to a town—the con or the food. And since I’m often asked where I plan to eat while traveling, here are are my Portland foodie destinations.

Friday night’s dinner will be at Pok Pok, chef Andy Ricker’s restaurant which, according to everything I’ve heard, serves Thai food unadulterated for U.S. tastes. Per their FAQ: “We serve food found at pubs, restaurants, homes and the streets of Southeast Asia with the majority of the food coming from Thailand, and specifically from the North and Northeast of Thailand. We do not make ‘fusion’ food here; everything has been researched, eaten, and/or prepared in the country of its origin prior to being put on the Pok Pok menu.”

My number one goal will be to sink my teeth into their signature dish, Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings. They’re available regular and spicy, and I assume our party will try both. (more…)

A working draft of the World Horror Convention program schedule has been circulating on Facebook. Here are the panels to which I’ve been tentatively assigned.

Four Color Calamaties: Horror in Comic Books
Friday, May 9, 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
Creators from indie to mainstream in the graphic novel industry methods of getting your work out there and the challenges within the medium.
with Greg Staples, Cullen Bunn, Brian Keene, and Kari Yadro

Life After ‘The Walking Dead’: Zombie Fiction Today
Saturday, May 10, 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
Zombie stories are a tough sell after WORLD WAR Z and WALKING DEAD. But for some reason, when done well, the form just doesn’t stay dead. Find out what makes great zombie fiction come to life.
with Joe McKinney, Steve Rasnic Tem, John Skipp, Dana Fredsti, Brian Keene, and S.G. Browne

Unfortunately, I don’t land In Portland until 1:20 p.m. on Friday, so I won’t be able to make that 1:00 p.m. comics panel. Since I doubt it’ll be moved on my account, your only official chance to see me will be at Saturday’s zombie panel. Though the reading schedule has yet to be announced, so who knows?

Hope to see you at the con, whether on a panel, in the dealers room … or at the bar!

And here I had such good intentions!

On Friday morning, I posted what happened on Thursday, my first day at the 2012 World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City, but then I got too busy at the con to report on the rest of the con during the con, which violates Edelman’s Schadenfreude Rule of Convention Reporting.

And now that I’m home, I see I don’t have the time (and am unlikely to find the time) to tell you the details of my further schmoozing, my trip to a cemetery with Wasatch Paranormal Investigators, and all the rest of my misadventures. So here are six videos that’ll have to stand in lieu of a blow-by-blow description of my weekend, because life intervenes.

First, take a tour of Friday’s night’s mass signing, at which you’ll spot every author, editor, artist, etc., in attendance at the con. (Except me, of course, since I’m wielding the camera.)

Then check out Saturday’s interview of Guest of Honor and HWA Lifetime Achievement Award winner Joe Lansdale by the effervescent Del Howison. Lots of wisdom here!

Next, a few snippets from the Bram Stoker Awards banquet, held Saturday night, starting with Toastmaster Jeff Strand’s always entertaining opening monologue. (more…)

The first day of programming for the 2012 World Horror Convention wasn’t going to begin until 3:00 p.m. Thursday, so at 9:30 a.m., I threw myself out on the streets of Salt Lake City. I didn’t return to the hotel until 1:00 p.m., having spent 3-1/2 hours jumping on and off buses and street cars, getting lost as none of them took me quite where I wanted to go, walking around 4-1/2 miles, having lunch for breakfast, and hunting the elusive ukulele.

I was going through ukulele withdrawal, so I had this crazy idea that I’d visit a music store about three miles away, pick up one of their extremely cheap bottom-of-the-line ukes so I could continue to practice each day, then give it away to some kid before I flew home. But due to that getting-lost thing, I never made it there. So I abandoned my plans and instead headed to the first stop on my Man V. Food tour of the city—Bruges Waffles and Frites, where I began my day with their famed Machine Gun Sandwich, which is “a fresh baguette stuffed with: 2 merguez (lamb) sausages, fries, andalouse sauce.”

Yes, there are two spicy sausages buried somewhere under there! (Adam Richman did NOT let me down.)

From there, I headed off to Intermountain Guitar and Banjo (which was much easier to find than that other uke place) to check out their collection of vintage ukuleles, including this 1929 Gibson banjolele.

But I’d made the mistake of showing up on a day the uke specialist wasn’t there, so I didn’t get to lay my hands on any of them. I might sneak back Friday afternoon, though, when there’s a break in the horrific con festivities.

When I returned to the hotel at 1:00, I immediately left again with Jeff Strand, Lynne Hansen, Gabrielle Faust, Stephen Kling and Derek Clendening so they could experience Bruges (it’s that good), followed by much schmoozing in the halls until the 6:00 p.m. opening ceremonies … which you can watch below whether you were in Salt Lake City or not. (more…)

I’ll be in Salt Lake City next weekend attending the World Horror Convention, which was last in that city in 2008.

As you can see from this photo of Gary Braunbeck, Lee Thomas, Nicholas Kaufmann, and me, things got UGLY back then!

But I’m not up for a Stoker this year, so there’ll be no need to wrassle other nominees. My pal Gene O’Neill, though, who’s up for three Stokers, had better watch out.

Aside from the awards banquet, where I’ll be a co-presenter for one of the categories, you’ll be able to find me on a Stephen King panel at 10:00 a.m. Friday (will any of you be awake?) along with Rocky Wood, Jason Brock, Blake Casselman, and Michael R. Collings. I’m sure that the average audience member will know as much about King as I do, but I’ll do my best.

Where else will you be able to find me? Well, if you’ve been following my con-going exploits, then you surely already know! (more…)

One of my favorite parts of the World Horror Convention—and the final thing I want to tell you about that weekend—doesn’t really have anything to do with World Horror Con at all. Liz Gorinsky invited a bunch of us along with her on what she termed an “illicit cultural outing,” which really meant we were sneaking away from the con Friday night for a performance of the play “I’ve Never Been So Happy” by the theater company Rude Mechanicals.

I knew nothing about the troupe other than the fact that Liz called them “reasonably experimental,” and nothing about the play other than what I could glean from this poster.

Which wasn’t much.

It was definitely not a poster designed to have independently induced me to want to see the play, and as I was to learn, it wasn’t at all an accurate indicator of what we were to see once we got there. Later, after being blown away by the amazing evening, I realized I could have come up with a dozen posters better designed to draw people to the theater, but … that was still in the future.

After dinner with Liz, Nick Mamatas, Eugene Fischer, Meghan McCarron and Jen Volant at Casa Columbia, we walked to the theater, where we immediately learned there was a lot more than just a play planned for that night. We were met by cast members in western gear who convinced us to dress up to get the total experience.

So we were led through a “transmedia shindig” (a carnival-like set-up out front about which more later) to a room filled with clothes which we all tried on until we found something suitable. Since I’m tall, I despaired of running across anything that would fit, but luckily I discovered a long circus ringmaster’s jacket with tails. And since my head’s large, and none of the cowboy hats would fit, I took a scarf and rather than wearing it around my neck, well, take a look at me and Eugene below to check out my ensemble.

Now suitably garbed, we entered the theater, found some seats (since it was general admission, we didn’t all end up together), and I opened the program to discover what the play was about. Or perhaps I should say, discovered that there was no way I would understand what the play was really about without actually seeing it. Because here’s the description of Act 1, Scene 1:

“Annabellee’s Dream” — Annabellee dreams of a mountain lion and plans her escape from her father, Brutus, with help from her dachshund, Sigmunda.

At that point I realized that reading the program was pointless. I’d just have to let the performance wash over me. Which it did, going something like this …

Annabellee and her father, Brutus, run something called Brutus and Annabellee’s Country Western Family Comedy Variety Hour. Then there’s a brother and sister pair of dachshunds, Sigfried (owned by Brutus) and Sigmunda (owned by Annabellee). Annabellee dreams of getting the heck out of there, sings a duet with her dachshund about it, and then she and her father race those dachshunds to determine whether she can strike off on her own. And then there’s Julie, who lives on a wymyn’s commune, and when her son, Jeremy, turns 18 and can no longer live there because he’s now a man, she ties him to the last mountain lion in Texas so he can learn all the things she wasn’t able to teach him. And then …

And then …

Well, this is pretty pointless. Because telling you the bare outlines of the plot tells you very little. So how about giving a look and listen to that first scene I described above? (more…)

World Horror Con 2011 is over—but it’s never too soon to think about World Horror Con 2012. And what I really mean by that is—it’s not to soon to see what Adam Richman of Man v. Food has in store for us all in Salt Lake City.

Some of you who were at World Horror last weekend and at World Fantasy in October were dragged along with me on my Man v. Food triathlons. So be warned—if you plan to be in Salt Lake City March 29-April 1, 2012 for next year’s WHC, here’s where you might be roped into going.

Get ready for the Hell Fire Challenge! (Which for a horror convention will seem quite appropriate.)

Sunday at the World Horror Convention began in the middle of the night, which is appropriate, I guess, for a horror con. But the things that went bump in the night weren’t vampires or werewolves, but instead those damned frat boys, who for whatever reason decided to begin moving furniture from one hotel room to another at around 3:45 a.m., drunkenly bumping into walls as they carried box springs while shouting directions at each other. When I phoned the front desk, the immediate answer I got was, “I’m sick of these complaints. I’m calling the PD.” Whether the police ever arrived, and what they might have done when they got there, I have no idea, because I turned up the fan to block the noise and struggled to get back to sleep. Which, after 45 minutes or so, I was finally able to do.

After I woke, packed, and checked out, I headed to the 10:00 a.m. “Zombies Mega-Panel,” a 90-minute celebration of the living dead moderated by Joe McKinney and featuring me, RJ Sevin, Julia Sevin, Joe R. Lansdale, and John Skipp. (And Brian Keene, too, whom we pulled onstage about halfway through.) But before we began, I tossed out a couple of dozen glow-in-the-dark zombie finger puppets to get people in the mood.

It turns out that Lee Thomas also had something planned to get people in the mood—a video which was played before any of us began talking about why we loved zombies so much. Thanks for warming up the crowd, Lee! Check out what we all saw in Austin.

As soon as the panel ended, I ran off with my only willing victim … er, volunteer … Liz Gorinsky, to the Cathedral of Junk, which I already told you about, after which I dropped Liz back at the hotel and headed to the airport … where I discovered the con was not yet over.

I had lunch at the airport branch of the Salt Lick, which as you might expect wasn’t quite as good as its Driftwood branch (no ribs!), but was still some of the best airport food I’ve had in awhile. And then when I wandered toward my gate, I bumped into this motley crew …

That’s Derek Clendenning, Gord Rollo, and Eunice Magill, and since the pic was taken by Michael Kelly, you can see that World Horror was the con which wouldn’t die. I hung out with these guys as long as I could, but eventually I had to board my flight to Dulles. But WHC wasn’t over then either, as I happened to overhear the person in front of me mention the word “horror,” and when I asked, learned he was Henrik Sundqvist, one of the artists who had displayed work in Austin. We chatted a bit, until my exhaustion overtook me (damned frat boys!) and I slept for most of the flight.

And that was my World Horror Con!

Well … there is one more thing I have to tell you about—my Friday night outing to the Rude Mechanicals production of the play “I’ve Never Been So Happy.” But I’ll leave that for another day …