Sumner County in Kansas is the Wheat Capital of the World. Wellington, Kansas is the county seat of Sumner. So it stands to reason that if you’re going to have a wheat festival, there’s no better place than Wellington. Wednesday, July 8th begins the 115th annual edition of the Kansas Wheat Festival, which runs through Sunday the 12th. The five festival days are jam-packed with events: Continue reading
Month: July 2015 (Page 4 of 4)
Vito’s Deli, Hoboken NJ
REVIEW
For most of the 20th century, Hoboken, NJ was primarily an Italian-American enclave. Like many other Northeast industrial cities, Hoboken fell on hard times from the 1950s forward, losing over half its population, until late-century gentrification took root. Throughout it all, some of the classic Italian bakeries and delis, such as Fiore’s, survived, and others, like Dom’s bakery, sprouted with the city’s rebirth, carrying on this Hudson River city’s Italian heritage. In the latter category is Vito’s Deli, one of Hoboken’s premier sandwich makers. Continue reading
Not Grilling? Head out for the Best Dogs and Burgers
Not everyone will be grilling this holiday weekend, but most everyone will still want to partake in the 4th of July tradition of burgers and dogs. Larry Olmsted, writing for USA Today, surveys his favorite spots in America to consume beef and pork in disc and tube form, from the site of the annual Independence Day hot dog eating contest, Nathan’s of Coney Island, NYC (though we quibble with his description of Nathan’s dogs as “better-than-average but not-quite-great.” If you get a Nathan’s frank in natural casing — the casing’s important — you are enjoying one of the world’s greatest dogs) to Santa Fe Bite‘s (yes, in Santa Fe, NM) truly superlative green chile cheeseburger. Have a look.
HAPPY NATIONAL CHOCOLATE WAFER DAY!
It was 1973 when Grand Bay, Alabama revived an early 20th-century local tradition and put on the first Grand Bay Watermelon Festival of the modern era. The festival is courtesy of the local Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and it begins today, with free admission, at 3 p.m. On the 4th, there’s a $5 per vehicle charge for the 8 a.m. till 4 p.m. festival but admission comes with all the locally grown, ice-cold watermelon you care to eat! Continue reading
Morrison’s Restaurant, Kingston ON Canada
Giordano’s Arrives in Minneapolis Later This Month
National expansion continues apace: Giordano’s brings its deep-dish Chicago pizza to Minneapolis on July 15th. The restaurant will be located at 2700 Hennepin Avenue South. Look for Giordano’s soon at a city near you!
HAPPY NATIONAL ANISETTE DAY!
What’s a raspberry festival without raspberries? Why, that would be the Hopkins Raspberry Festival in Minnesota! When the festival began, in 1934, the area was surrounded by raspberry farms. The farms are long gone and, while the festival continued to be held, the raspberries eventually disappeared from the raspberry festival as well. In 2009, for the 75th edition of the raspberry festival, they experimented with bringing the raspberries back – pints of berries were sold all over the festival, just like in the old days. But the gesture towards a new tradition didn’t take. Continue reading
Louie’s Foot Long Hot Dogs, Tonawanda NY
REVIEW
There are a surprising number of foods that are either unique to the Buffalo area (locally referred to as Western New York or WNY) or are simply particular favorites of Buffalonians. Everyone knows about hot-sauced wings and beef-on-weck. The wings you can today get all over the country but, oddly, the weck never made it out of the city. Continue reading
5 Rabbit Cerveceria, the first Latin microbrewery in the U.S., located in a Chicago suburb, brewed an exclusive beer for Rebar, a Trump Hotel Chicago bar. That is, until Donald Trump opened his mouth. 5 Rabbit severed their ties to Rebar, which left them with a load of kegs of Rebar beer. In swooped Gino’s East, who will purchase those kegs, sell the beer at Gino’s East restaurants, and donate the proceeds from sale of the beer to Chicago’s International Latino Cultural Center. No word yet on whether Gino’s will continue to use the founder’s new name for the beer, Chinga tu Pelo. Silver linings and karma in action!
Ballard SeafoodFest, Seattle WA, July 11th and 12th 2015
The fishing community of Ballard, a Seattle neighborhood that sits alongside Puget Sound, got together with the local Elks to hold a salmon barbeque dinner in 1971 to raise money for the Chamber of Commerce. That dinner has since grown into the two-day Ballard SeafoodFest, drawing over 60,000 people to what was once a center of Scandinavian-American salmon fishermen. This year’s festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, July 11th and 12th. Continue reading
California has the distinction of holding the summer’s first state fair (state fair geeks are aware that Florida’s fair, held in February, is the first of the calendar year). The California State Fair is one of the more popular state fairs as well, drawing almost a million people over its 17 days. This year’s edition opens in Sacramento on Friday, July 10th and runs through Sunday, July 26th. Continue reading
HAPPY NATIONAL GINGERSNAP DAY!
