Left at the Fork

the road | the food | a new direction

Author: Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle (Page 4 of 61)

There's hardly a better beer for drinking outdoors on a sunny summer afternoon than a Hofbräuhaus-brewed Original Lager, here served in half-liter steins.

Checking in at: Hofbräuhaus Newport, Newport KY

October 17, 2017 / / 0 Comments

The beer at Hofbräuhaus was a real blast from the past for us. Most of you are probably too young to remember the days before microbrewing. Believe it or not, there was once a pretty simple choice for budding beer drinkers: standard American bland lagers or, if you wanted something with flavor, imports, usually from Germany. Those German beers, like Beck’s and Lowenbrau, were good, but when microbrewing became a thing in America, we all left them in the dust for the fresher local beers, brewed in hundreds of different styles. Continue reading

The two-meatball bowl with marinara sauce. We chose one beef and one chicken parm meatball. They also had something called RWB, which was a beef meatball with sundried tomatoes and Cajun seasoning. Other available sauces included parm cream and Buffalo. We tend to be poultry skeptics in dishes where beef or pork are the norm but, we have to admit, we really loved the chicken parm meatball. Vibrant marinara as well.

Taste of Cincinnati, Cincinnati OH, May 27th through 29th 2017

October 16, 2017 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Either you love urban street festivals or you don’t. They’re not for everyone. We’re street festival veterans and you can put our names down among the lovers. In our New York days in the ’70s, we’d never miss the annual Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy, or the Ninth Avenue International Food Festival. It usually takes years of festival-going to learn each festival’s strengths and weaknesses. Continue reading

Shrimp Capri: with artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and a white wine marinara

Checking in at: Villa Barone, Robbinsville NJ

October 15, 2017 / / 0 Comments

The place was absolutely mobbed Saturday night! Never seen it this busy. Villa Barone has a tendency to be a noisy restaurant — there’s no carpeting — but when it’s filled to the max, and there are people waiting for tables, it is absolutely deafening in here. They were running a bit behind — although we had a reservation we still had to wait almost half an hour for a table. We didn’t really care much about that — we’re pretty easygoing — and what can you do if folks linger? Continue reading

Double Chocolate Chip is sure to scratch your chocolate itch.

Graeter’s, Clifton, Cincinnati OH

October 14, 2017 / / 0 Comments

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It doesn’t seem that long ago  — if you wanted to sample Cincinnati’s great home-grown ice cream, you had to visit Cincinnati. Louis Graeter began selling ice cream in 1868 and, over the ensuing decades, the Graeter’s company expanded, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that the company pushed out to the wilds of Kentucky and Columbus with franchised stores. That’s also when they began making their ice cream available in supermarkets. Continue reading

A 5-way means spaghetti, beans, chili, chopped raw onions, and shredded cheese. If you are new to Cincinnati's downscale culinary ways, the enormous haystack of shredded cheese atop the chili and coneys can be stunning.

Skyline Chili, Clifton, Cincinnati OH

October 13, 2017 / / 6 Comments

REVIEW

If you’re coming to Cincinnati for the first time, you undoubtedly intend to sample the famous Cincinnati chili you’ve heard so much about. Have you done lots of research? Do you have time and transportation? Then you’ll probably wind up at one of several well-regarded independent chili shops. Otherwise, you’ll be dining close to your hotel, which means you’ll receive your initiation at one of the almost two hundred Skyline Chili restaurants in the city and suburbs. Continue reading

Two summer super-refreshers: Peach Dodo Gose and Puma Pilsner

Checking in at: Rhinegeist Brewery, Cincinnati OH

October 12, 2017 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Cincinnati has a long history as a brewing town. In the old German-settled neighborhood known as Over-the-Rhine, at the turn of the 20th century, there were 38 breweries. The largest of them was Christian Moerlein Brewing. Eventually, they would all go out of business, leaving hulking manufacturing facilities and warehouses behind. Continue reading

Are cheese coneys an appetizer, a side dish, or the main course? Yes!

Chili Time, St. Bernard OH

October 11, 2017 / / 2 Comments

REVIEW

It was 1943 when Pete Vidas opened Chili Time on Vine Street in the Cincinnati enclave village of St. Bernard. Of course, chili was on the menu but Chili Time was by no means a chili-only establishment. The burgers, especially the big production Timeburger and Big Time, were famous, far if not wide. Eventually, Chili Time moved across the street to its present location. Continue reading

Underneath that mound of whipped cream is a peanut butter sundae made with vanilla soft serve.

Annie’s Ice Cream, Jim Thorpe PA

October 10, 2017 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

We prefer driving trips to flying trips. It’s true that the “getting there” eats into the “being there” time, but we are diehard proponents of the old saying, “Getting there is half the fun.” We enjoy the driving itself just fine but we take it slow, stopping often along the way wherever and whenever we please. Sometimes we stop for local sights, or a state park, or a bit of local history. Most of the time, though, we stop for food. Continue reading

“CROP @1401” WATERMELON-TOMATO SALAD: Bourbon Glazed Shaved Pork Belly, Red & Yellow Watermelon, Sweet Jersey Tomato Salad with Local Honey-Red Wine Reduction. This was the best course of the afternoon. The watermelon and tomatoes were perfect, and the shaved pork belly was wondrous, better than any lardo we had in Italy. Most of those among us were fat-phobes, which meant extra pork belly for the rest of us!

Dinner in the Vineyard, Wagonhouse Winery, South Harrison NJ

October 9, 2017 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

A very pleasant surprise! We really didn’t know what to expect from a dinner hosted by the South Jersey Wagonhouse Winery when we signed up, but certainly not one as enjoyable and accomplished as the one prepared by Chef James Malaby. Chef Malaby’s own restaurant is named blueplate (lower case theirs), which can be found about five minutes up the road from Wagonhouse in the community of Mullica Hill. Continue reading

A full-size malted milk (that's what they call 'em) contains a quart (!) of ice cream.

Convention Grill, Edina MN

October 8, 2017 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

The food is good at Convention Grill. Very good, in fact. But it’s not the best part of the 1930s-era art deco burger-and-malt joint. We love the old, original short-order grill up front as you enter, the mirrored main dining room with red-and-white checked plastic tablecloths and black-and-white floor tile, the uniformed waitresses who tend to customers with old-fashioned concern. We’ll go further and say that the woman who served us one Labor Day at lunchtime was simply the finest waitress we have had anywhere, at any time. Continue reading

Eggs Benedict and their famous hash browns at 3A? Why not?

Seattle Classic 13 Coins Relocating

October 7, 2017 / / 0 Comments

After 50 years, the one-of-a-kind, 24/7 Seattle classic, 13 Coins, will be moving from the South Lake Union area this fall. Their building will be torn down for new development. The new site, at South King and 2nd Avenue South, is in Pioneer Square. The transition will be immediate – the new location will open as soon as the old one closes. Whether it’s eggs Benedict and hash browns you crave, or a bucket of Manila clams and sautéed fresh scallops, 13 Coins will be ready to satisfy you without a break in service.

Tater tots? Cheese curds? No, it's Minnesota's own Spam, fried up as Spam curds! They are crunchy on the outside, soft and almost creamy within, and very salty.

Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul MN, August 24th through September 4th 2017

October 6, 2017 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Let us tell you a little story: years ago, while we were waiting for a flight out of Austin, TX, we stopped into the airport Dickey’s Barbecue Pit (yes, we know, what can we say?) for something to eat. As we were waiting for our food, a businessman-looking fellow walked up:

African-American kid taking orders: Can I help you?

Businessman (with that unmistakably cheerful uffda accent, pointing at a smoked sausage):  Let me have one of those red weenies on a stick!

Kid (looking confused): Excuse me?

Businessman: Put one of those red weenies on a stick for me, willya?

Kid sheepishly looks left, right, behind him, then turns back to his customer with a helpless look on his face: I don’t understand what you’re saying. Continue reading

Murray's Smoked Beef Sandwich is new for 2017. Murray's is a classic old Minneapolis steakhouse, founded in 1946. This is not smoked beef in either the Montreal or Texas senses. It's a roast beef sandwich that has a pleasingly smoky edge, like the beef picked up flavor from the grill. It's a terrific sandwich of good beef on a roll slathered with garlic butter, sided by super-crunchy and thick seasoned potato chips. Loved it.

Target Field, Minneapolis MN

October 5, 2017 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

We sat next to a family who drove in from Kansas City, only to see their beloved Royals take a 17 – 0 drubbing from the hometown Twins. Why, at the end of the second inning it was already 10 – 0. The kids were devastated. Dad was working overtime giving them a Philosophy of Baseball lesson, there’s always tomorrow, on any given day any team… something that’s instilled in Mets fans like ourselves at birth. What do Americans do when the going gets tough? Eat! They couldn’t have been in a better place for that. Hope Mom & Dad have well-paying jobs. Continue reading

The McGregor VFW has been opening the Saturday festivities with a wild rice pancake breakfast for years.

Wild Rice Days, McGregor MN, August 31st through September 4th 2017

October 4, 2017 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

It’s funny to consider the luxury foods of your childhood. Of course, that all depends on the era, and the part of the country, in which your childhood falls. For us, that would be the proverbial ’60s in the Northeast. What were the luxuries to us? Port-wine stained cheese spread in ceramic crocks, from WisPride and Kaukauna Klub; little metal-lidded glasses of refrigerated Sau-Sea baby shrimp cocktail in sauce; Rice-A-Roni wild rice pilaf. Continue reading

The Woman's Exchange Tea Room's popular caramel brownie is only 55 cents this Thursday, in honor of the tea room's 55th anniversary.

Special 55-Year Anniversary Prices This Week at Memphis Woman’s Exchange

October 3, 2017 / / 0 Comments

If we lived in Memphis we’d have our lunch plans set for tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday, because the Woman’s Exchange Tea Room is celebrating their 55th anniversary by offering lunch on Wednesday, October 4th, for $5.55, and dessert on Thursday, October 5th, for 55 cents. Wednesdays at the Tea Room feature a fried chicken breast, while Thursday’s dessert is usually their super-luscious caramel brownie. Stop by and help them celebrate!

Marshmallow malt par excellence!

Bridgeman’s, Duluth MN

October 2, 2017 / / 1 Comment

REVIEW

Bridgeman’s roots go back to 1883, when Henry Bridgeman sold fresh milk door-to-door in Duluth. His sons, Chester and Roy, went into the ice cream business 53 years later. Over the next 81 years, Bridgeman’s became a familiar name around Minnesota. There was a time when you could count on getting Bridgeman’s ice cream at your local drug store counter and, later in its history, stop in for malts at one of the many Bridgeman’s stand-alone ice cream shops. Continue reading

The pastie, here in Iron Range mining country, is homemade, with a delectable crust.

Wilbert Cafe, Cotton MN

October 1, 2017 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Everyone in the restaurant business these days has an angle – you know, artisan pizza, or 23 ways with mac and cheese, or Korean/Spanish fusion. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, per se, but it ends up being all about the food or the novelty. There’s no soul, unless it’s in the food itself, which is very often quite good. We happen to be partial to restaurants with a history, cafes that grew up with the communities they serve. Enter Wilbert Cafe. Continue reading

Bear tracks are first cousin to turtles.

Great! Lakes Candy Kitchen, Knife River MN

September 30, 2017 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

The North Shore may have lost a smoked fish house but they gained a candy store! Mel’s Fish, the old-time source for smoked fish in Knife River, was purchased in 2007 by sisters Pamela Matson and Patricia Canelake, who used their grandfather’s candy recipes and Mel’s old refrigerated fish case to open Great! Lakes Candy Kitchen. (Grampa Gust’s Canelake’s Candies still operates today in Virginia, MN.) Continue reading

Ode IPA is citrusy with an unusually restrained bitterness for an IPA.

Checking in at: Castle Danger Brewery, Two Harbors MN

September 29, 2017 / / 0 Comments

There’s actually a place called Castle Danger — it’s a community about 10 miles up the shore from Two Harbors, and that’s where the brewery was founded in 2011. When they expanded, they moved to Two Harbors. Like Bent Paddle in Duluth, you see a lot of Castle Danger available in bars and restaurants around here. Continue reading

This is old-school, lakeside shack smoked fish, meaty and pungent with smoke. The well-tanned specimen above is a section of Lake Superior whitefish.

Russ Kendall’s Smokehouse, Knife River MN

September 28, 2017 / / 1 Comment

REVIEW

There was once a time when Minnesota’s 160-mile North Shore of Lake Superior was dotted with fish smokehouses from Duluth to the Canadian border. Betty’s Pies actually began as a family fishhouse. Mel’s Fish of Knife River was sold in 2007 and became Great! Lakes Candy Kitchen. Lou’s, up the road in Two Harbors, closed in 2013. Continue reading

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