Glens Falls by Jack Tiggleman

The days adventures began with a bowl of cereal and some Chocolate Milk from Battenkill Valley Creamery. It wasn't exactly yesterday's life-changing meal, but sometimes even professional chefs get lazy. We ended up in Lake George by late afternoon (look above), and those adventures shall be shared in next post.

I kid, I kid, the real reason we didn't have breakfast was because we wanted to go to the Chocolate Mill for lunch, where co-owners and chefs Jessica and Frank Vollkommer head the kitchen. Frank Vollkommer of TCM, according to Suvir, is one of only 12 living Certified Master Pastry Chefs, any one of 3 Americans amongst them.

As much as I wanted to chow down on one of these chocolate delicacies as soon as we walked through the door, we had to get lunch first. Not that I'm complaining.

We all started with the soup du jour, which was the potato soup. We all agreed it was excellent, and the bread was quite good too. It was the perfect combination.

One of my favorite foods is BBQ pulled pork sandwich, and the one I had at TCM was extraordinary; the BBQ sauce was the perfect balance between sweet and spicy, the onions provided a nice crunch, and the pork itself was phenomenal. They make the breads in-house. This one had hominy in it that added nice texture and taste.

Suvir got the cuban bean cake with rice and salad. It was made even tastier with the addition of summer squash pickle.

Along with the meal, I also had some of the best GInger Ale of my life, from Boylan Bottleworks. It was the perfect compliment to a great lunch, with the kind of flavors a large corporation couldn't match. 

After we all finished up our lunch, it was finally time for the main event: the desserts.

We all split these four extravagant pastries, and each was mind-numbingly delicious in its own unique way.

The cherry pistachio cake was splendid.    

I learned about the German Chocolate Cake from a site called Foursquare, where you can 'check-in' to places and learn tips left by other people about what to get, what to do, etc. And I am not exaggerating to say that this was one of the best pastries I have ever had.  

Mattie got the blueberry tart, and I'm lucky that I even got this picture because she gobbled it down at light speed.

The chocolate cupcake was my idea, and let me tell you: it was by far the greatest cupcake I've ever had. The chocolate buttercream was perfection, and there was even more of that stuff inside of the cupcake itself.

The final pastry was the Lemon Tart, and it was as amazing as all of the others, if not more.

We also had these two cookies, and they also could be found under the dictionary for the word 'Perfection'.

While we were walking back to the car, I told my mom she should go to Best Nails for their winter special, you know, since it is SUMMER. 

Just from writing about all of this food, I am starving. So come back later for part two of our adventures at neighboring Lake George.

Comments

[Craig Tiggleman]

Jack,

Wow, yet another insightful and fun post! You guys sure have had the culinary tour around New York! I am so happy for you. I miss you and love you, see you soon!

Dad

[Jack Tiggleman]

Great post, Jack! I'm so happy that you have blogged about our adventures in New York State. It is a great trip diary for all of us to remember the great fun and food that we shared together. On another note, I loved that soup and am wondering if maybe Suvir can arm wrestle it out of the chef at the Chocolate Mill? Can't wait for you to write about our day in Vermont and the Kobe steak dinner Suvir prepared for us...xoxo Mom (and those reading glasses sure do make me look old!!)