the road | the food | a new direction
Brian Gazda became the Executive Chef at the restaurant at Simon Pearce Glass in Quechee, Vermont in June 2013. The local newspaper Valley News spends time with Chef Gazda as he works with the restaurant’s staff to prepare for a day’s service. Continue reading
We tend to think of farmers markets as a source for locally grown tomatoes and corn, sweet and pristine berries picked that morning, and root vegetables still caked with moist soil. So a farmers market in Pennsylvania steel and coal country, in December, would turn up little of interest, right? Not so! Continue reading
If you plan to be in Memphis for Thanksgiving you might want to leave the turkey to one of the local barbecue shops. Many of them are offering smoked turkeys for Thanksgiving pickup. Check this story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal that runs down the Thanksgiving offerings at area restaurants. It’s not all barbecue but those are the ones that interest us the most. The Bar-B-Q Shop is offering 12- to 14-pounders for $45.95. 12- to 14-pounders at Central BBQ are running for $39.99. Germantown Commissary‘s smoked turkeys will cost you $41.95 up to $69.95, depending on the size. Continue reading
The remnants of Hurricane Irene passed through Vermont, along the Connecticut River valley, on August 28th, 2011. The storm dumped massive amounts of rain on the region, swelling creeks and streams to powerful torrents which washed away bridges and businesses that were unlucky enough to lie in their paths. One such business was the White Cottage Snack Bar, a Woodstock summer tradition since 1957. We’d seen pictures of the damage to the White Cottage and, five weeks after Irene, we had a first-hand look at the devastation. It was clear to us that the White Cottage’s days were over forever. What do we know? It was back in business for summer 2012! Continue reading
St. Elmo Steak House, an Indianapolis landmark since 1902, is famed for their jumbo shrimp cocktail with explosive cocktail sauce. We’ve had it and, yes, it’s everything they say it is. But nine pounds of it in eight minutes? That’s what Joey Chestnut did last year to set a world record and win the World Famous St. Elmo Shrimp Cocktail Eating Championship. This year’s event takes place on December 6th, and Joey Chestnut will be on hand to defend his title. Read the details here. Continue reading
They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and we suspect “they” are from Portland. Portland is a breakfast hound’s paradise, filled with restaurants that open in the early AM, and close after lunch. One of our favorites is a high-energy, stylish but casual place called the Bijou Cafe. Continue reading
One of our favorite all-time festivals is going on right now. The Wurstfest, in New Braunfels, Texas, is a German/Texan celebration of beer, sausage, and music. The eating, for carnivores, is spectacular, much of it supplied by the New Braunfels Smokehouse, which produces those sausage kabobs you see pictured at the top of this post. In all, the NB Smokehouse expects to sell over 40,000 pounds of sausage at the Wurstfest. Read more about the New Braunfels Smokehouse and the Wurstfest in The Herald-Zeithung. The festival continues through Sunday the 16th. Continue reading
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
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