the road | the food | a new direction
The bayfront in Newport is where all the action is, split about 50/50 between the fishing industry and the tourist industry. There are plenty of restaurants, including the original Mo’s and a branch across the street, and a couple of locals-only fishermen bars and groceries. At either end of Bay Boulevard sit the best of the seafood restaurants: Local Ocean in the east and the awkwardly named Ocean Bleu @ Gino’s near the western terminus (more about that name later). Continue reading
Pusties, riggies, and hats: if those words mean nothing to you, you’re not a Utica native, in which case you should make a point of visiting Upstate NY to sample some classic regional Italian-American food. Riggies refer to the Utica fave chicken riggies, aka rigatoni. Hats are the pasta known elsewhere as orecchiette, often served baked in tomato sauce. Pusties are the subject at hand. Continue reading
The Italy we encountered, from Rome north to Florence, is pretty much devoid of street food as we know it in urban America. Which is not to say that Italians don’t love to snack on the stroll, because they obviously do. They just don’t snack from street carts, and the menu is limited mostly to gelato and pizza, purchased from storefront shops and bakeries. There’s one notable exception to this pattern. Continue reading
Smack in the middle of the industrial/residential area west of the White River is a working man’s bar that serves an unforgettable double cheeseburger. The glass-brick-fronted Workingman’s Friend draws crowds at mealtimes, but our visit on a Monday night found the bar empty save for a small group of men quietly sipping beers and ignoring a TV tuned to a ballgame. We ordered Buds and double cheeseburgers from the no-nonsense bartender, who then went into the kitchen to prepare our meals, as we brought our beers to a table. Continue reading
Located in a strip mall. No place to sit; take-out only. They make nothing but hot dogs. Want something on the side? Have a drink and a bag of chips. Nothing else is available. Yet there’s a line of people waiting to pick up their bags of 8, 10, even 12 dogs to go. Service is quick and businesslike at the small counter, but this place, with its quirky personality, does not in any way resemble a chain restaurant. Continue reading
Palermo street-snacks in Brooklyn! Yes, in the Italian neighborhood of Carroll Gardens, Ferdinando’s serves Sicilian specialties not commonly seen on this side of the Atlantic. Continue reading
Le Chien Noir is a French-styled bistro (with Belgian leanings) that serves such classics as onion soup, steak frites, and mussels. But what really attracts us to Le Chien is its sophisticated take on North American favorites, which can be accompanied by a bottle from the selection of Canadian wines and beers. Continue reading
In the Buffalo world of wings, there’s Anchor Bar, which everyone in America knows about, there’s Duff’s, which everyone in Buffalo knows about, and then there’s just about every other restaurant and bar in the city (where most Buffalo wings are actually consumed). Continue reading
Hoagies and heroes: regional terms for the same food item, yet so very different. The Philadelphia hoagie is served on a long roll, just like a hero, but the distinguishing feature is the lettuce/tomato/onion garnish, along with some combination of oil and/or vinegar and/or Italian spices. Lettuce/tomato/onion is so integral to a hoagie that it’s practically the definition. If you order a cheesesteak hoagie, it means you want your cheesesteak topped with LTO. If you want a hoagie without one of the three vegetables you have to specify that explicitly, i.e., Italian hoagie no onion. Continue reading
Sometimes LAF meals can be found in obscure shacks unknown to anyone beyond a five-mile radius. But not always. Take, for example, Teibel’s (pronounced Tee’-bls). Teibel’s is a local institution, well-known in the area as the place to celebrate those passages in life that often call for a banquet hall. While not particularly dressy, people arrive looking quite neat and presentable. These are the upstanding citizens of Schererville and beyond. Continue reading
When we travel, we are tourists. We willingly accept that label, because it’s a simple fact. But like many tourists, we don’t always want to be around too many of our own kind. Myran’s Maison de Manger (Myran’s Eating House), in Arnaudville, is just the place for those times when you want to be the only outsider in the joint. It’s a local restaurant (not a “Cajun” restaurant) that tries to appeal to local tastes. Continue reading
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
Do you really love catfish? Do you enjoy working for your dinner? If so, Whitey’s Fish Camp is the place to try fried catfish that have not been farm-raised. These beauties are caught wild, then fried up whole (but headless and skinless), and brought to you until you tell your waitress to stop. Continue reading
There’s not a lot of variables in a Philadelphia cheesesteak. In its classic configuration there’s a roll, meat, cheese, onions, and garnishes. While there’s some play in each of the five variables there’s really not much a cheesesteak joint can do to clearly stand out from the crowd, despite what most writers on the subject would have you believe. Some are better than others, sure, but we find that the day-to-day and month-to-month variation from the same joint is greater than the variation between joints. Which means your favorite today might not be your favorite if you compare tomorrow, or next month. So don’t get too bent out of shape seeking out the one place that someone claimed makes the best. Go to any of the dozen or so places frequently named and you’ll likely enjoy the results. Continue reading
If you spend a significant amount of time in Buffalo, it doesn’t take long to notice the large number of candy and ice cream shops scattered about the region. Buffalonians evidently have a penchant for eating sweets, and that’s good news for LAFers. Continue reading
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
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
Built in the late 19th century, Old Country Store was, in fact, an old country store. Today, it is a country restaurant serving a classic Southern buffet for very little money. Pull off Highway 61 in the tiny town of Lorman, north of Natchez, and park in front of what you would swear is part of a movie set depicting Mississippi circa 1920. Yet this is no movie set, or modernized, made-to-look-old theme restaurant. Continue reading
Like many other folks who visit Vermont, we like to stay in inns and B&Bs. That presents a major obstacle to dining at places like Up for Breakfast, which really only serves breakfast. It stays open until 12:30 p.m. during the week and 1:30 p.m. on weekends, so your best bet if you want to enjoy both your inn breakfast and Up for Breakfast is to try to hit the restaurant on the weekend. Have an early breakfast at the inn, then plan for a second, lunchtime breakfast here. But weekends are also the busiest time for the upstairs eatery, so put your name on the waiting list about an hour before you’d like to dine. Continue reading
Why does ice cream taste better in New England than anywhere else in the country? We don’t have an answer, but as long as we keep travelling the area, we’ll keep tasting. There are boutique, one-shop stores offering superb hand-crafted renditions, and there are small companies that also turn out a product superior to the national brands. Gifford’s is one such Maine-owned ice cream maker that buys its cream locally and sells all over New England. Gifford’s premium ice cream has an honest flavor that we never tire of. Continue reading
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