the road | the food | a new direction
We’re impressed: Brasserie L’Oustau de Provence does reasonably capture much of the French brasserie experience. The bright, country-French Provencal-styled restaurant hits most of the old French country classics; this is not the spot for cutting edge cuisine. That’s not what a brasserie is about. Continue reading
There’s no shortage of great breakfast spots in Chicago, many of which can be found all over the net. Let us add one of our favorites to the mix, Andersonville’s m. henry. Their motto is “chow for now,” which apparently refers to a modern food sensibility that focuses on locally sourced and organic provisions and healthy eating. But, clearly, taste comes first here because the breakfasts we’ve tried have been sensational. Continue reading
Alright, let us get all the lame puns out of our system before we begin: we are devout fans of the heavenly cheesecake from New Skete; it’s divine. You’ll find nun better. Eating a slice is a religious experience. Our cheesecake prayers have been answered. (Deep breath.) Had enough? So have we. Continue reading
The northeast coast of Florida is one of the country’s great shrimping regions, and it’s said to be the birthplace of the commercial shrimping industry. The specific variety of shrimp pulled from the sea varies with the time of year, and we won’t pretend to understand all the differences between them. What we found during a March trip through the region were shrimp that were uniformly soft and dry, with fugitive flavor. Not among our favorites, though they are much loved by others. The best we found were served at O’Steen’s in St. Augustine. Continue reading
Harold’s is our favorite New York deli, and has been for years. But we were struck during this meal by just how much corned beef and pastrami can vary at almost all good Jewish delis from visit to visit. When you go to Katz’s in New York, the counterman gives you a piece to taste when he begins to carve your sandwich. Sure, he does this because it’s tradition, and it encourages tips, but the idea is for you to decide if you like that particular piece of meat. The implication, of course, is that they vary enough to make a difference. Continue reading
The Quaker is a diner for diner lovers. The brick-exterior little restaurant was built in 1931 by Aristides “Harry” Bassilakis, and the diner appears little changed from those early days (there’s a 1930s photo of the Quaker floating around on the net, and you’d be hard-pressed to identify any physical changes). It is run today by descendents of Mr. Bassilakis. Continue reading
A new donut shop opened near us, run by a woman named Rebecca who attended the Culinary Institute of America. Her tagline: “Home of handcrafted donuts.” All the donuts are of the yeast-raised variety. The filled donuts are sliced open, not injected. These are clearly superior to chain donuts, but we do have a few issues with them. The filled donuts could use a little more filling. They appear well-filled but all the filling is loaded in the front, open half of the donut. We like the cream filling, which tastes like marshmallow and is particularly light and fluffy, far superior to the greasy filling in chain donuts. Continue reading
Ted’s Hot Dogs is a regional mini-chain with locations in the Buffalo, NY suburbs of Amherst, Cheektowaga, Lancaster, Lockport, North Tonawanda, Orchard Park, Tonawanda, Williamsville, and Tempe. Wait a minute, Tempe? As in Arizona? Why is one, and only one, branch of Ted’s in Tempe? Well, oddly enough, this Tempe location is the one with the most direct ties to founder Theodore Spiro Liaros. Ted’s son Spiro (who passed away in 2013), was the president of Ted’s Hot Dogs, and opened this Ted’s when he moved to Arizona. Continue reading
Captain Dunkin’s Scottish Ale is the polar opposite of an IPA: a little sweet, very malty, low hops, and supremely delicious on a frigid evening. One of us also tried a gin and tonic made with gin they make (season) right here. Interesting touch of rosemary. All the food was good or better; Trap Rock is becoming one of our favorite New Jersey restaurants. Continue reading
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