the road | the food | a new direction
We’re pretty confident in saying that no one is going to travel to the picture-perfect village of Woodstock, Vermont to eat a sandwich in a 24-hour gas station convenience store. No matter what we say here. And that’s probably as it should be. Still, our first experience with an Amato’s Italian sandwich was better than we expected. Quite good, in fact. First, the backstory: Continue reading
Bissinger’s chocolate arrived in St. Louis, from Europe, in the 1920s and they’re still going strong. They recently opened a new downtown facility in a former railroad depot. Watch the video for a look inside. Continue reading
Mel-O-Dee is a locally popular family style restaurant that’s been serving Broasted chicken to the Dayton area since 1965. In addition to the chicken, they offer a daily specials roster of old-fashioned home-cooking favorites like chicken and dumplings and Swiss steak, along with a homemade soup of the day. We passed on the chicken, not being big fans of the pressure-frying technique, but just about every table in the restaurant on one busy Saturday evening was laden with plates and platters of chicken, and it sure did look good. If we’re in the area again, we may have to give it a try. Continue reading
Pizano’s Pizza and Pasta will be opening their first restaurant outside of the Chicago area in late spring, in Milwaukee, at 1150 North Water Street. Pizano’s, which began in 1991, now has six restaurants. The mini-chain was founded by Rudy Malnati, Jr., son of Rudy Malnati Sr. of Pizzeria Uno fame (and who may or may not have invented deep-dish pizza), and half-brother to Lou Malnati. Continue reading
Let’s deal with first things first. As soon as you are seated comfortably in the Rochester Cafe, whether you’re there for breakfast or lunch, ask for a slice of Vermont Maple Cream Pie. And ask them to bring it right away. The graham-crusted smooth cream flavored with local syrup (and, yes, extract, but added with a light hand) comes topped with whipped cream and a sprinkle of maple sugar. It’s fantastic! Share with your tablemates, if you must. You won’t regret this one bit of self-indulgence. Continue reading
If you live near one of the Puckett’s Grocery restaurants in Nashville, Columbia, and Franklin, in Tennessee, you may find the day just got easier and, depending on your cooking skills, the food may have just improved, too. All three Puckett’s will be serving a midday Thanksgiving buffet dinner for $25 per adult. They’re also offering takeout that, by our Northeast standards, looks more than reasonably priced: they’ll roast or (even better!) smoke an 18-20-pound turkey for $75 (deep-fried for $90). Smoked pulled pork will run about $10/pound. Great sounding sides are also available, including cornbread dressing and broccoli and rice casserole. Check out their Thanksgiving takeout menu and procedures here. Continue reading
Give us good pancakes made with farm fresh berries, and a bottle of locally produced maple syrup, and we will spend the rest of our day with smiles on our faces. And that’s just what happens to us at the Apple Dumpling Cafe inside the farm market at the Apple Hills farm. Continue reading
When Shake Shack comes to Chicago and Billy Goat goes to Washington, and the Big Apple gets a Garrett’s, and Marshall Field’s is now Macy’s… does it all become less special? Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune takes the opportunity, with the arrival of Shake Shack in the Windy City, to look at the effect of all this regional homogenization. Continue reading
Dining in Central New Jersey generally offers a choice of Italian, Italian, and… oh, yes, Italian. There are plenty of take-out Chinese restaurants, many mediocre pizzerias, and a light sprinkling of other cuisines but the Italian offerings are overwhelming. So why is it next to impossible to find a decent Italian restaurant around here, especially since Trenton’s Chambersburg district lost its Little Italy identity? We don’t have the answer to that question but there’s no denying that, hard as we’ve tried, we have not found an Italian restaurant around here to call our own, something not very expensive or formal, but with solidly good food. Until we dined at Villa Barone. Continue reading
When Shake Shack enters a new market they always select some quality local ingredients for their menu. We noted previously how, in Chicago, they are offering concretes made with Chicago’s Bang Bang Pie and Glazed & Infused doughnuts, and they are also offering Vienna Beef hot dogs. There are two other local twists on the menu. Another concrete incorporates a chocolate bar made with Hawaiian black sea salt, burnt sugar caramel, and 70% cacao dark chocolate, from Chicago’s high-end chocolatier Vosges Haut-Chocolat. And there’s a Publican Pork Sausage, made by Chicago’s Publican Quality Meats, a high-quality butcher and lunch spot. The sausage is topped with Shack’s cheese sauce and crispy-fried, ale-marinated shallots. The Chicago Shack opened yesterday. Continue reading
Are you searching for that little, unknown, out-of-the-way mom-and-pop restaurant serving home-style New Mexican food? Then you should have come to Sadie’s 50 years ago. Today’s Sadie’s is huge and extremely popular. The portions are beyond huge and what’s on the plate is most definitely restaurant food. But if flavor is what you are after, you will be very happy at Sadie’s. Continue reading
Sara Roahen has compiled, for New Orleans Magazine, the most comprehensive comparative analysis of fried chicken in New Orleans that we’ve ever seen. We’ve grazed around the Crescent City many, many times, and even enjoyed some spectacularly good fried chicken. Yet somehow we never quite accepted the city as a fried yardbird mecca. Ms. Roahen said it best: ” [W]hen offered a choice in this town surrounded by water, I’ve historically chosen catfish or shrimp or oysters when in the mood for something fried. I now know that fried chicken isn’t only a safe bet, especially in our most community-oriented neighborhood restaurants, but often the best choice of all.” Continue reading
After a late breakfast at Woody’s, we thought we’d stroll around town until Swal Dairy opened for the day. Little did we know that this was Swal’s last day of the season. And little did we know that on the last day of the season, Swal dishes out a free scoop of their homemade ice cream to anyone who shows up! Sometimes, the stars align just right. Continue reading
The Smith House in Dahlonega, Georgia is an inn with a history. The house was built atop a vein of gold that remained unmined because the 19th-century town fathers did not want the noise and disturbance to the town that mining would bring. Today, The Smith House is famous for the generous feasts they put out daily. You might want to give some thought to spending your Thanksgiving here, when The Smith House pulls out all the stops. Here’s what will be on this year’s Thanksgiving menu: Continue reading
Carmen’s Deli has achieved a measure of national fame from a visit by The Next Food Network Star winner Aaron “Big Daddy” McCargo, Jr. His sandwich of choice for The Best Thing I Ever Ate was a Carmen’s cheese steak with fried onions and cherry peppers. That combo is now listed on the menu as the Big Daddy, and we gave it a try (“we” being Bruce and the ayersian couple of Chris and Amy). It was quite alright, with plenty of meat, but it didn’t blow us away. Needed more onions and cheese, and the peppers were sparse and too timid. Better than average but not LAF-worthy. Continue reading
The Cherry Hut has been known for things cherry in northern Michigan since 1922. The restaurant in Beulah has closed for the season but, as is the usual practice, they keep a storefront open in nearby Bensonia where folks can purchase jams, jellies, candies, dried cherries, and anything else that they can stick cherries into. They’ll also ship those products. Unfortunately, up until this year, they never offered their famous cherry pies for sale once the restaurant closed in October. This year, for the first time, the Bensonia store will offer The Cherry Hut’s cherry pies! Continue reading
The Vermont State Fair’s origins go way back to 1846, when it was known as the Rutland State Fair. Thirteen years later the fair moved to Rutland County Park, where it’s been held ever since. It didn’t become known as the Vermont State Fair until 1972, 126 years after that first fair! The owner of the fair property deeded it to the fair under the condition that an agricultural fair be held every year on the grounds. Otherwise, the property reverts to the heirs of the original owner. But the Vermont State Fair has been in trouble lately. Continue reading
The Portland Pie Co., based in Portland, Maine, was founded in 1997. PPC offers four kinds of dough, including basil, wheat, garlic, and beer, and exotic combinations of toppings. They also like to be good community citizens. They work with area groups by often designating one evening, usually a Thursday, when they donate a portion of their receipts to a designated charity or community group. Usually the donation is something like a buck a pizza. Continue reading
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