Rare Smart Wino Cat!

My black cat Pumpkin is one of about five truly smart cats in the world, and loves red wine. Mrs. Rantwick and I have long enjoyed the inexpensive red wines of Chili, "Gato Negro" among them...

Pumpkin looks much like this cat and she is the first and only cat we've ever had (and we've had quite a few) with a taste for the grape. She is also abnormally intelligent for a cat. I say "for a cat" because cats are generally stupid.

Cat lovers everywhere are gonna hate me now, but sorry, it's true. Don't get me wrong; I love cats. I love dogs more, but cats are cool. They can be affectionate and warm and pleasant to stroke as though you are a super villain, plus they are easy to care for and don't flip out if you're gone for a couple of days. They are good at convincing humans like me to love and feed them, but I believe that is largely our own doing. Many people believe that cats kind of play "hard to get", which is why we fawn over them. I think the reality is that they simply don't have enough brains to do anything unrelated to their immediate physical needs. They're not aloof or feigning indifference; they just aren't thinking anything at all most of the time.

Anyway, turns out our smart cat Pumpkin, who surprised us by self-teaching herself to "sit" for a treat when she watched us working with the dog, is also a wino. Here's a video... you're gonna want the sound up, because you are also in for a musical treat.

Please know that Mrs. Rantwick had no involvement in the production of that wonderful video. She would never exploit the little Rantwicks or the cat in such a manner. She would never agree with me that cats are stupid either. I, however, am a bad parent who is cool with my children singing along with me about wine drinking cats. For the record, the Rantwick children quite like our creation and had fun doing it and so far Pumpkin sticks to licking the "legs" on the side of the glass and never dips right into the wine. In any case, we would never let her actually drink up. We do love her, after all.

I might post something worth reading sometime soon. Or not. Please come back and check.

R A N T W I C K

Pad Thai from Pho Haven

This Pad Thai is not from Pho Haven. It is just a picture of Pad Thai, origin unknown.

Pad Thai is one of my worst weaknesses. I love it. I crave it pretty much all the time. Good Pad Thai is something to celebrate and eat as often as possible. Pad Thai, by the way, is usually either Chicken or Seafood combined with spicy rice noodles, strips of tofu, bean sprouts and usually a few other vegetables. I have tried several times to make Pad Thai at home. My efforts haven't come close to the quality or deliciousness of good restaurant Pad Thai. I have given up on making it at home because others are just so good at it.

A restaurant called Pho Haven opened up a while ago, specializing in Vietnamese food. Despite being a Vietnamese place, they offer pad thai on their menu. It is way closer to my house than any other good Pad Thai source that I know of. I tried their Pad Thai for the first time last week and it was outstanding, the best I've had in London. The tofu was sliced nice and thin and perfectly prepared, and the veg had a fresh crispness to it that is often lacking.

Ever since I had that Pad Thai from Pho Haven, I have been a little bit obsessed about keeping my supply safe. I have not seen a lot of people eating there in the evenings, despite reading generally good online reviews for the place. Perhaps they do a great lunch or takeout business. I hope so. As we all know, making a go of it in the restaurant business is hard. I am calling on every Londoner who reads this to try Pho Haven. I'm sure most of what they make is great. It is a small, nicely decorated restaurant located near Commissioners and Wellington. It is the kind of place I would happily go on a date; tasteful but not snooty.

Pho Haven

519 686 3838

http://www.phohaven.com/

The good people at Pho Haven have no idea that I am writing this and I have not received any consideration for this review / recommendation. My motivation for asking you to go there is completely selfish. I just don't want the supplier of my personal culinary crack to go away.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

PS - If anybody is in possession of a good Pad Thai recipe, pass it on. I'll think of it as insurance against a shortage.
PPS (Nov 23 Update) - Hey look, I found a video! This gives an idea of what the restaurant looks like inside. It would seem that they already knew that the Pad Thai was awesome...