REVIEW
Composta di melanzane e pomodor in emulsione di basilico: molded eggplant and tomato in a basil oil
Il Conte Matto, Trequanda, Siena, Tuscany, Italy
Category: 4 Cars (Page 2 of 3)
Gelateria Dondoli, San Gimignano, Siena, Italy
Forno Campo de’ Fiori, Rome Italy
Philadelphia Soft Pretzels, Inc., Philadelphia PA
REVIEW
Maybe you’ve tried those butter-sopped mall pretzels, or the smoky (and too often dry and stale) New York City street cart pretzels, but until you’ve eaten one in Philadelphia you haven’t had soft pretzels at their best. Most people pick them up locally from a convenience store, or in brown paper bags from a street vendor, and they’re quite alright, but if you really want to see how good they can be, head straight for the bakery. Continue reading
Portland Farmers Market, Portland OR
REVIEW
We have a particular fondness for farmers markets, even the three vendor kind found by the side of the road in small towns. They provide an opportunity to enjoy real, local food presented in-season, by folks who usually care deeply about the products they offer. Most will readily chat up anyone showing an interest. It’s both inspiring and reassuring to hear the enthusiasm of these craftspeople working outside of the mass-production system. Continue reading
Seaside Restaurant and Crab House, Glen Burnie MD
REVIEW
The dining room is packed and virtually every table is covered with brown paper and Callinectes sapidus in various stages of disassembly. These are old-hand locals, capable of locating the choice crab nuggets while devoting only half their attention to the hard-shelled creatures, the other half devoted to watching their beloved Orioles clobber the Red Sox on one of the TVs perched on the walls around the dining room. We love tearing apart steaming hot Old Bay-plastered crabs as much as the next guy but, today, we’re feeling lazy, and tired from the long drive. So crab cakes it is, without shame. Continue reading
Food at Fishers Station, Victor NY
REVIEW
If you choose to eat at Food at Fishers Station, you will wait in a line. Absolutely, no doubt about it, you will. If it’s your first time, and you let that be known, you’ll receive all kinds of info from your fellow standees: “they always have a special called 2-2-2, which is supposed to be two pancakes, two eggs, and two sausage patties; when it arrives there are usually way more than two pancakes, and they’re the best pancakes you’ll ever have”; “oh, great, now it’ll be even harder to get in” when we let slip that we might write about it on the net; “everything they make here is fantastic.” It’s all true. Continue reading
Harold’s New York Deli, Edison NJ
REVIEW
Harold’s Deli is a large, brash restaurant that serves enormous portions of food. Don’t be fooled by those comically large servings; quantity is not all at Harold’s. Owner Harold Jaffe, once of the legendary Carnegie Deli in New York, sells some of the finest Jewish deli dishes to be found in the New York City area. Continue reading
Fiore’s Deli, Hoboken NJ
REVIEW
We (meaning Bruce, along with Chris and Amy of ayersian fame) made our way up to Fiore’s counter, where we asked for the special hero of the day: house-roasted beef and gravy with house-made mozzarella on Hoboken bread. Anything else? We eyed gorgeous mozzarella braids directly in front of us, both regular and smoked. Half a braid, please. The gentleman at the counter informed us that it would be just a few minutes — the new batch was almost finished, and it needs to cool down a bit in order to “set.” Continue reading
Upperline, New Orleans LA
REVIEW
The famous Creole restaurants of New Orleans – Galatoire’s, Brennan’s, Commander’s Palace, Antoine’s, Arnaud’s – are long-operating, historic institutions. Some of them, like Galatoire’s, are among the finest restaurants in the country, while some of the others are less so, but what they have in common is a traditional approach to Creole cooking. Upperline also serves Creole food and we think it is as necessary to a visitor’s survey of Creole cuisine as the best of the old-line restaurants, but it’s only been around since the 1980s and it takes a more modern approach to Creole cooking. Continue reading
Vienna Beef Factory Store, Chicago IL
REVIEW
When we think of Chicago hot dogs we think of Vienna Beef, the Chicago company that produces the snapping-good garlicky franks used all over the city. Wouldn’t it be something if you could actually visit the factory and get a Chicago dog right there? Well, it turns out you can! Continue reading
Donkey’s Place, Camden NJ
REVIEW
How has this escaped our notice through the decades of living in The Garden State? Here in Camden is one of the great cheesesteaks to be found anywhere, in a soulfully satisfying setting to boot. Continue reading
REVIEW
Shoreline candy shops are a dime-a-dozen, and few are worthy of any serious attention (though, for sure, we’ve purchased our share of pastel-colored taffy, and tooth-achingly sweet fudge). An exception is Monica’s Chocolates, located a few hundred feet from the Canadian border in the Maine town of Lubec. Lubec is probably best known to travelers as the point at which one crosses by bridge to Campobello Island. Let it hereafter be also known for world-class chocolate. Continue reading
Green Dragon Farmers Market, Ephrata PA
REVIEW
One cannot help but be skeptical when confronting a “real” Amish anything in Pennsylvania Dutch country. This area has more than its share of cheap attempts to cash in on the Amish people who do in fact still live here, and the stream of visitors hungry for some contact with Amish culture. Most of these places seem about as authentic as an Arkansas merman. Continue reading
Local Ocean Seafoods, Newport OR
REVIEW
If you plan to spend time in Newport, Oregon, you plan to eat seafood. Local Ocean Seafoods is the best seafood restaurant in Newport. Ergo… Continue reading
De Lorenzo’s Tomato Pies, Robbinsville NJ
REVIEW
Start with one of America’s finest pizza makers: De Lorenzo’s Tomato Pies on Hudson Street in Trenton, NJ. Add a selection of salads and a bathroom (there was none on Hudson). What do you get? The finest pizzeria in New Jersey, and one of the top ten in America, De Lorenzo’s Tomato Pies in Robbinsville, NJ. Yes, Robbinsville may be the suburbs, and the new restaurant sure is spacious and modern, but the pizzas that emerge from those ovens are identical to the ones formerly served on Hudson Street. Continue reading
Co., New York NY
REVIEW
We first fell in love with Jim Lahey’s pizzas at his Sullivan Street Bakery, back when it was actually doing business on Sullivan Street (it moved to Hell’s Kitchen in 2000). We would devise any sort of pretext for passing by the bakery, where we’d stop in for a slice of his extraordinary potato pizza or pizza bianca. So we were thrilled when, in 2009, Mr. Lahey opened Co. (pronounced company), his first actual pizza shop. Continue reading
L C’s Bar-B-Q, Kansas City MO
REVIEW
In the ongoing and certainly never-ending debate over which KC Q joints reign supreme, and which have passed their prime, let us nominate LC’s in the former category. For our money, LC’s is one of the greats, in Kansas City or anywhere.
The Dorset Farmers Market, Dorset VT
REVIEW
We’re suckers for farmers markets, both at home and when we travel. We love to cook, so when we’re home we focus on the just-picked produce piled in colorfully billowing mounds on the tables and in baskets. We love to eat, so when we travel, we wistfully ogle the fresh fruit and veggies but focus our serious attention on the local cheeses, breads, wines, juices, pastries, and prepared foods. Continue reading
Carabé, Florence Italy
REVIEW
From the left: apricot, “fruit salad,” banana, melon, and fig. It’s all called “gelato,” but the quantity of dairy greatly varies, depending on the flavor and gelateria. Fruit flavors tend to have less milk, and the flavors we tried had little or none; they seemed to be, essentially, sorbets or cremolatas.
