Left at the Fork

the road | the food | a new direction

Author: Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle (Page 42 of 61)

During City Hall renovations one of Lexington's original barbecue pits was uncovered.

A Piece of Lexington NC Barbecue History Uncovered

March 17, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Here’s some exciting news for those with a passion for America’s culinary history. Workers renovating a part of Lexington (NC) City Hall were surprised to uncover a series of barbecue pits. Researchers have determined that the pits date to the early 1950s and belonged to Alton Beck, who ran Lexington’s first barbecue restaurant. The city has changed their renovation plans as they intend to preserve and highlight this important piece of city history. Lexington today is known across the country as one of the epicenters of great American barbecue. Read more on the uncovered barbecue pits here.

A perfect smoked fish platter at the incomparable Barney Greengrass - clockwise from far right, that's nova (salmon), whitefish, sable (black cod), and sturgeon

Yes, You Can Still Enjoy Jewish Cuisine in NYC!

March 16, 2015 / / 1 Comment

No, there is no longer a Jewish deli on every street corner, and yes, the descendants of the original Jewish immigrants have long since assimilated. Be that as it may, the cuisine of New York City still retains some of the identity of its early Jewish settlers, just as the cuisines of all its immigrants over the centuries have forever been imprinted upon the New York City palate. You can enjoy hand-carved deli at Katz’s and appetizing at its finest at Russ & Daughters, or feast on kosher steak at Le Marais or, believe it or not, kosher sushi at Butterfish. Read about these and other New York City Jewish restaurants here.

As you tear open the oil-stained paper, that distinctive fish and chips aroma escapes.

Don’s Fish & Chips, Brockville ON Canada

March 16, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

If you plan to spend some time strolling around Brockville in southeastern Ontario (a terrific idea), make sure you also plan to be on West Water Street around lunchtime, for it is here you will find Don’s Fish & Chips, a traditional take-out only chip shop. Continue reading

The great migas breakfast taco from San Antonio's Taco Taco, which made it past the first round in the breakfast taco bracket

San Antonio Breakfast Taco Madness Bracket

March 16, 2015 / / 0 Comments

If you know San Antonio, Texas well you may want to take part in the San Antonio Madness breakfast taco bracket assembled by mysanantonio.com. If you don’t know San Antonio well enough to participate, but plan to visit at some point, you might want to use the bracket as a way to scout out your future San Antonio breakfasts. They’ve already eliminated the first 16 entrants, and Round Two voting is taking place today.

Voodoo Coming to Austin

March 16, 2015 / / 0 Comments

At the end of 2014 Voodoo Doughnuts said they planned to open a store east of Denver. They wouldn’t narrow it down any further. Well, they recently announced their new Voodoo and, as many expected, they’ll be landing in Austin, Texas. The address will be 212 East Sixth Street. As for time frame, all we know is “sometime in 2015.” Austin, as in Keep Austin Weird, sounds like a perfect city for Voodoo.

Clam chowders will be awarded Judges Choice and Peoples Choice honors.

Razor Clam Festival & Seafood Extravaganza, Ocean Shores WA, March 20th through 22nd 2015

March 16, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Between North Bay and the Pacific Ocean, at the southern tip of Washington’s Point Brown Peninsula, sits the city of Ocean Shores. It is here, and up and down the coast, where you’ll find the unique and much prized razor clam. This weekend, from Friday March 20th through Sunday March 22nd, Ocean Shores celebrates its seaside provender with the ninth annual Razor Clam Festival & Seafood Extravaganza. Continue reading

Here's the view you'll get as you head towards your table at The Salt Lick of Driftwood, TX.

LAF in the A.M. March 16th, 2015

March 16, 2015 / / 0 Comments

A Morning Menu of LAF-Style Food News and Stories to Begin Your Day

HAPPY NATIONAL ARTICHOKE HEARTS DAY!

Is TX’s Salt Lick “The Best Damn Barbecue” in the Country?

Original Nu-Way of Macon GA Destroyed by Fire

Pepe’s of New Haven Finally Coming to Boston

“What Slow Smoked Pork Should Taste Like”

“What Slow Smoked Pork Should Taste Like”

March 16, 2015 / / 0 Comments

The Brick Pit of Mobile, Alabama begins by “loading up the massive smoker with 30 or so 8-9 pound Boston butts that will undergo some 25-30 hours of smoking at about 225 degrees.” Pitmaster Bill Armbrecht uses no seasoning at all, other than that which the smoke from pecan wood provides. The pork is hand-pulled and served with sauce on the side. That’s what David Holloway of al.com named The Best Thing I Ate Last Week. Read his writeup of The Brick Pit here.

Here's the view you'll get as you head towards your table at The Salt Lick of Driftwood, TX.

Is TX’s Salt Lick “The Best Damn Barbecue” in the Country?

March 16, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Owner Scott Roberts of Driftwood, Texas’ Salt Lick says his restaurant has the “best damn barbecue” in the country. Sure, he may be a tad biased but he’s not alone. The writer of this Business Insider story about The Salt Lick says it’s the place to go if you have time for just one restaurant in Austin. What started as the most rustic of Texas barbecue pits has grown over the decades into a very comfortable, almost upscale (as barbecue restaurants go) sit-down eatery. While we wouldn’t go so far as to call it Texas’ finest, we think any barbecue tour of Texas is incomplete without a visit to The Salt Lick.

Briny, salty, garlicky, juicy, oily, toasty, chewy... Pepe's New Haven, CT white clam pizza is the perfect food!

Pepe’s of New Haven Finally Coming to Boston

March 16, 2015 / / 0 Comments

In the on-again, off-again saga of Pepe’s Pizzeria‘s entry into the Boston market, the latest news is that Pepe’s (of New Haven, Connecticut, and America’s greatest pizzeria) really has found a home and really is coming. Last year, they had intended to set up shop in Brookline, until the occupant of the space they were moving into decided not to vacate. The location they found to replace it is in Chestnut Hill, in the mall, in the space formerly occupied by Papa Razzi. We relayed the news here last month but it sounded very tentative at the time. This news sounds more certain. Opening date is sometime this fall.

Mustard, onions, chili, slaw - the classic Nu-Way configuration

Original Nu-Way of Macon GA Destroyed by Fire

March 15, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Nu-Way, which has served chili- and slaw-topped weiners to Macon, Georgia residents for 99 years, was destroyed by fire Friday morning. The inside and roof were totally destroyed, but the shell and facade may be salvageable. Greek immigrant James Mallis started Nu-Way in 1916 and, since then, the weiner joint has expanded to nine Nu-Ways in and around Macon. The original is said to be the second oldest hot dog restaurant in the country. Nu-Way’s owners say they intend to rebuild.

Noodle soup with vegetables was an effective and enjoyable midwinter tonic.

Ya Ya Noodles, Skillman NJ

March 15, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

We visit the somewhat decrepit Montgomery Cinemas pretty often because it’s the only place less than an hour’s drive from home that shows independent and foreign films. It’s not that we never noticed Ya Ya Noodles, in the same shopping center as the theater, before. It’s just that virtually every Chinese restaurant we’ve been to in central New Jersey seems to have been stamped out by a single Take-Out Chinese Factory. The food sent forth from these places ranges from dismal to just decent enough for delivery. We don’t remember what exactly finally brought us through Ya Ya’s front doors but we are surprisingly glad we did so. Continue reading

Iowa Rabbit Festival, Iowa LA, March 20th and 21st 2015

March 15, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Easter’s coming! The secular aspects of the holiday are filled with cute little rabbits, from chocolate bunnies to the Easter Rabbit herself. So why not round up the kids and take them to the Iowa Rabbit Festival, which was begun in honor of the only rabbit processing plant in the region (now long gone)? The little ones will love the rabbit cook-off, won’t they? In what seems to be intentionally and deliciously perverse timing, the 29th Iowa Rabbit Festival takes place this year on Friday, March 20th and Saturday, March 21st in the town of Iowa, LA. Note that Iowa refers to the town; the state, appropriately enough, is Louisiana, where folks know their ways around the kitchen with the furry little animals. Continue reading

One of the keys to a good Hot Brown is real roast turkey, not deli slices.

LAF in the A.M. March 15th, 2015

March 15, 2015 / / 0 Comments

A Morning Menu of LAF-Style Food News and Stories to Begin Your Day

 HAPPY NATIONAL PEARS HELENE DAY!

Top 20 Food Cities in the U.S.A.

Rich Farm Ice Cream of Oxford CT Opens Today!

A Taste of Tucson’s El Charro in Las Vegas

Is Al’s #1 Italian Beef on Taylor Better than All Others?

One of the keys to a good Hot Brown is real roast turkey, not deli slices.

Top 20 Food Cities in the U.S.A.

March 15, 2015 / / 0 Comments

The list is presented by Travel + Leisure, and chosen by their readers, as the best “food snob” cities but it doesn’t appear that any sort of pretentiousness is part of the equation. These seem more to be the 20 cities for people whose primary travel activity is eating, and that includes us. The list begins at #20 with Seattle. Louisville, at #16, gets recognition for the Hot Brown sandwich invented at The Brown Hotel. #15 New Orleans (#15! Wow!) topped the survey for fine dining, like Brennan’s, and sandwiches, such as the great ones served at Parkway Bakery. NYC is #10 and Cleveland (!) is seventh. Best food city in the U.S.? Houston!

Two layers of well-smoked pork ribs - a mighty plate of food

South Street Smoke House, Lafayette IN

March 14, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

We’re always on the lookout for good barbecue when we travel, due in part to our residence in the barbecue-deprived Northeast (and partly because we simply love all kinds of barbecue). The often Southern-seeming Midwest state of Indiana is a good place to look. For instance, in Lafayette we found good barbecue at the South Street Smoke House, located by the railroad tracks, on the main drag heading east out of the city. Continue reading

Folks crave the maple doughnuts made each year by the Mill Gap Ruritans.

Highland Maple Festival, Monterey and McDowell VA, March 14th and 15th, 21st and 22nd 2015

March 14, 2015 / / 2 Comments

Let’s start with doughnuts. Maple doughnuts. As fried and glazed by the Mill Gap Ruritans. These pastries are a passion among Highland Maple Festival veterans. You’ll see a long line of folks waiting for their chance to purchase a pair, or a dozen, or multiple dozens. If it’s you first time at Virginia’s Highland Maple Festival (this is the 57th annual edition), which is going on this weekend and next weekend, you might want to make those maple doughnuts your first priority, as they stop selling at 1 p.m. Or would you rather begin your day with a stack of plain or buckwheat pancakes topped with local syrup? Choices… Continue reading

Rich Farm's Snicker's ice cream

Rich Farm Ice Cream of Oxford CT Opens Today!

March 14, 2015 / / 0 Comments

For those of us who reside in the northeastern United States, it seemed as if it might never arrive but, finally, there are hopeful signs of spring’s imminent arrival! Here’s one of them: today, about a half hour after this post goes up, Rich Farm Ice Cream of Oxford, CT opens for the season. We love all kinds of ice cream in all kinds of settings but we have to say that our favorite setting of all is homemade ice cream eaten on the grounds of a dairy farm. And that’s exactly what you’ll find at Rich Farm.

Street taco trio as served at the MGM Grand's Hecho en Vegas

A Taste of Tucson’s El Charro in Las Vegas

March 14, 2015 / / 1 Comment

The Flores family has run Tucson’s legendary (since 1922) Sonoran restaurant El Charro since 1992. If you’ve ever enjoyed a chimichanga you can thank El Charro for inventing the dish (or so they say). The Flores family opened a restaurant in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at the tail end of 2013. It’s called Hecho en Vegas and, while it is not a branch of El Charro, it features many of the Flores’ recipes, and certainly the Flores family’s way around the kitchen can’t help but inform their MGM Grand project. See more in the KVOA piece below:
KVOA | KVOA.com | Tucson, Arizona

Al's #1 Italian Beef began on Taylor Street in Chicago's Little Italy.

Is Al’s #1 Italian Beef on Taylor Better than All Others?

March 14, 2015 / / 0 Comments

We were reading a chicagoist story in which the writer notes with amusement how the new Texas edition of Al’s #1 Italian Beef has been such a local hit that they’ve repeatedly run out of food. They point out, sort of in passing, that only the original Al’s, in operation since 1938 on Taylor Street, actually roasts the beef in-house. All the others (including the only one we’ve ever been to, in River North) get their beef from a commissary. And that, presumably, makes a difference. If chicagoist says it’s so we’ll accept it although we don’t really know for sure if that’s true. We thought the Italian beef we’ve enjoyed at Al’s on Ontario was extraordinary. Our question: is the original even better?

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