the road | the food | a new direction
If you find yourself near the southern shores of Lakes Erie or Michigan, in the states of Ohio or Indiana, look for a place that serves up the local lake perch. It’s not hard to find in these parts, but try to find a spot that uses fresh, not frozen, fish. One of our favorites is the New Sandusky Fish Company in Ohio. Continue reading
Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory is one of the most understated ice cream parlors we’ve ever visited. It’s basically a counter inside a small historic old building. There’s little need for ice cream-themed razzle-dazzle inside when the stunning Brooklyn waterfront serves as an incomparable dining room outside. Continue reading
If you’re out for breakfast in Montana, one thing we guarantee you’ll find on the menu are cinnamon rolls, probably made in-house. In our experience, they are as mandatory as biscuits in a Southern café, a situation which makes us very happy. We love cinnamon rolls! Continue reading
Most of what we sampled at The Chowda House was good; some was mediocre. It’s good enough, though, to warrant a return visit to explore more of the menu. That name almost kept us away. It’s a pretty good rule of thumb that when a restaurant uses cutesy names like “chowda” instead of chowder, you’re dealing with a strictly-for-tourists joint. But that rule is violated here. Not that Red Bank is any kind of tourist magnet to begin with but Chowda House, across the street from the train station, is fairly unobtrusive and not in the choicest part of town. If they want to survive they’ll have to click with locals and commuters. Continue reading
Joe Tess sells carp. Not for stocking the pond in your Japanese garden, but for eating. Most Americans do not consider carp much of an eating fish (although it does find its way into gefilte fish), but here in Nebraska and the surrounding states, it’s an inexpensive treat. Especially when someone else does the cleaning and cooking. Continue reading
The Bozeman, Montana airport not only serves the college town of Bozeman, but is also a popular point of arrival for those planning a trip to Yellowstone. Bozeman is additionally, as far as we can tell, the only destination in Montana to which east coast residents can get a non-stop flight. Whatever the reason you find yourself at Bozeman Yellowstone International, we recommend the following course of action upon arrival: drive about 30 miles west (practically next door in Montana terms) to the tiny town of Willow Creek and dine in a 1910 saloon. Continue reading
Mammy’s Cupboard is a classic piece of vernacular architecture and, as such, is well worth a visit for that reason alone. How often do you see a restaurant in the shape of a mammy? She’s been spruced up, and made ethnically vague: if you mixed all the different peoples of the world in a jar, and shook them up, you might get today’s Mammy. But here’s the kicker: this Esperanto mammy serves some superlative pies and cakes! Continue reading
The best fried clams in America can be found in the Ipswich-Essex area of Massachusetts, but it’s not the only place to find good fried clams. The hand-breaded whole-bellied clams fried up by Lobster Claw, while not quite at Ipswich level, can more than hold their own against most challengers. These clams are not as gushy and sea-briny as those at The Clam Box, but they are far superior to the fried clam strips found in most parts of the country. Lobster Claw’s clams are probably a good entry point for novices who approach the consumption of the entire clam with some trepidation. Continue reading
We love to try the local cuisine when we travel — we’re LAFers, after all! — but it would be nice to have at our fingertips a list of the best burgers, dogs and, perhaps, pizza, wherever we might be. So, while we crave steamed crabs plastered with Old Bay, crab cakes with big pearlescent lumps, and Maryland crab soup with a kick, we also enjoy the occasional palate refresher when we’re in Baltimore, and a hunk of crusty, flame-cooked beef, as served by Kooper’s Chowhound Burger Wagon, fits that bill perfectly. The trick is in finding it. Continue reading
Dellveneri’s is an inconspicuous neighborhood bakery about a block off Rutland’s main north-south drag. The Sunday morning we showed up there wasn’t much other than doughnuts for sale (and some great-looking bakery pizza), but those doughnuts looked good. Three of the four doughnuts we tried were just OK, superior to Dunkin’ but not LAF-worthy. That fourth doughnut, however, was special. Continue reading
The hours are brief and variable, the menu limited (and, likewise, variable), so it’ll take at least a little forethought and checking to pay The Wild Fern a visit. The small effort required, however, will be more than repaid, for this is one of the most unique restaurants in Vermont. Calling it a restaurant, in fact, doesn’t feel quite right, because it’s about as close as you can get to stepping into someone’s personal vision (that of Heather Lynne) without actually trespassing. Her blog states, “No Hostile Vibrations!” Yes, you have entered Crunchy Vermont. Continue reading
You are a tourist, staying in a French Quarter hotel. You don’t have a car (or maybe you’d just like to stroll the Quarter and duck into a restaurant for dinner). You’re not in the mood to dress up. You don’t want to spend a lot of money. You are not asking for the ultimate examples of the local specialties, but neither are you a LAF rube (did we hear someone say the Court of Two Sisters?) You just want some good things to eat, in pleasant surroundings, with a bit of that French Quarter glow. Continue reading
A little-discussed feature of Indy cuisine is the frequency with which stew is encountered on local menus. This homely dish is found in taverns and sandwich shops often enough for one to assume the local folks have a particular fondness for the stuff. One great place to sample it is at John’s Famous Stew, in the working-class section of Indy west of the river. Continue reading
Let’s face it: Kevin’s Hamburger Heaven, with its grease-stained parking lot and semi-industrial neighborhood location, looks like a dump. But don’t be fooled: inside, Kevin’s is surprisingly spiffy. This supreme 24/7 grease joint has been open since 1988 and gives the appearance of a much older eatery. The waitresses are diner veterans: efficient, no-nonsense ladies who will take good care of you. There are a few tables, but the counter stools give the best view of the short-order action. Continue reading
The 4 Aces is an original Worcester Lunch Car, #837 to be precise, but you won’t really know that until you step inside, because the red clapboard house built over and around the lunch car almost completely obscures it. Once inside, you’ll be comforted by the classic sight of a 1950s diner, with original tile floor, if such sights comfort you, as they do us. You can step beyond the confines of the original diner to other dining rooms but why would you ever want to do that? Continue reading
We’re always on the lookout for cinnamon rolls, and The Duffeyroll Cafe in Denver makes a particularly good one. Duffeyrolls have only a passing resemblance to goop-filled and icing-laden modern mega-rolls. A Duffeyroll cinnamon roll is light-textured, almost like a croissant. It’s a little crisp on the outside, and veined with just enough, but not too much, cinnamon and sugar. 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
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
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
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
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