My new favorite way to celebrate St. Patrick�s Day

Potatoes and Guinness. Cliché? Certainly. But a satisfying, rib-sticking, darn tasty cliché.

The Flying Goat ’s McClellan Rocks Spuds are nothing more than potatoes done simple and right. Six palm-sized spuds come to the table, split down the middle and topped with a spicy chili sauce (on three) and arugula pesto (on the other three). They’re baked with a little salt on the skin, which adds a pinch of extra flavor for those of us who were raised to believe the lion’s share of nutrients live in nature’s wrapper. There’s a happy little pile of fresh greens in the midst of all this potato goodness – which I believe is also arugula, with a light dressing. Honestly, I didn’t care what it was … it tasted good so I ate it.

In fact, I ate everything. Every last potato and all the green stuff. And I washed it all down with a couple pints of Guinness. Afterward I felt slightly ashamed, mainly because my friend Michelle and I both had Saturday night dinner plans, and so, had planned to duck in for a quick afternoon pint and a light snack before heading on to our “real” meals.

Those plans changed when we each put in an order for spuds. And those plans became laughable when we each cleaned our plates.

Next time, I’ll share the potatoes with at least one other person. And I’ll order all six of them with the spicy chili sauce. Yeah, it’s that good.

The Guinness, which comes to the table with a lucky little shamrock stamped into the luscious foam, I’ll keep to myself.

You can find The Flying Goat at 3318 W. Northwest Blvd.