Left at the Fork

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Category: New Hampshire

The leg on Hart's Turkey Farm's dinner plate comes from a 35-pound bird!

Turkey America

November 20, 2015 / / 0 Comments

As Thanksgiving approaches each year, foodie articles begin to pop up bemoaning the so-called flavorless turkey accompanied by starchy and sweet dull sides. We cry Scrooge (or whoever the embodiment of Thanksgiving humbuggery is)! We love the sides and we adore the flavor of the bird — and make no mistake about it, turkey HAS flavor, although it may take an unjaded palate to appreciate it. Label us unjaded, because we don’t limit our turkey feasting to the fourth Thursday of November. And neither, apparently, does Larry Olmsted, as evidenced by his survey, for USA Today, of eateries across America that do right by the bird all year round. Continue reading

The brand new Polly's Pancake Parlor

Polly’s Pancake Parlor Opens May 16th, Totally Rebuilt

May 15, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Polly’s granddaughter, Kathy Cote, along with her husband Dennis, has operated Polly’s Pancake Parlor of Sugar Hill, New Hampshire in the same 65-seat carriage shed that Polly used to serve her customers on day one in 1938. Last year they decided it was time to make the change: that shed would be torn down and a new, larger facility would be built in its place. Longtime customers were apprehensive about the change, but the Cotes let out a big sigh of relief when they heard from loyal fans, “It’s just like the old one only bigger.” They open Saturday, May 16th. Read more about Polly’s on the New Hampshire Public Radio website.

The ethereal cream puffs are filled with gobs of cream. We were told the filling is pure whipped cream, but our palates told us that the cream is stabilized with either pastry cream or gelatin, both of which are just fine with us.

Tripoli Bakery, Lawrence MA

March 26, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Tripoli Bakery is a decades-old Italian/American bakery in the old Italian section of Lawrence. Most Northeast industrial cities have such a neighborhood, in varying stages of transition, and there’s usually a bakery or two that remain open. Some of these bakeries maintain the old traditions while others have seen better days. Tripoli is one of the good ones. Continue reading

Briny, salty, garlicky, juicy, oily, toasty, chewy... Pepe's New Haven, CT white clam pizza is the perfect food!

LAF in the A.M. February 8th, 2015

February 8, 2015 / / 1 Comment

A Morning Menu of LAF-Style Food News and Stories to Begin Your Day

HAPPY NATIONAL MOLASSES BAR DAY!

New Haven’s Pepe’s Opening in Boston Mall

A Look Inside the New Shapiro’s Fashion Mall Deli

Sweet New Hampshire

Mike Hardin, Hodad’s Owner, Has Died

Continue reading

"The Donut" is a meal in itself! They take one of their giant plain donuts, split and grill it, then top it off with whipped cream and local maple syrup.

4 Aces Diner, West Lebanon NH

November 19, 2014 / / 2 Comments

REVIEW

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

Stop in at Farnum Hill Ciders, bring a growler or purchase one there, and get it filled with dry cider from the keg after tasting what's available that day.

Farnum Hill Ciders, Lebanon NH

November 15, 2014 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

Cider is experiencing a renaissance in the U.S. By cider, we’re referring to hard cider, fermented apple juice, not the fresh-pressed sweet brown juice sold in plastic jugs in the fall (which we also love, particularly if it’s that ever-more-rare unpasteurized stuff). Hard cider’s golden age in America was colonial times, when it was easily made at home, on the farm. Interest died out long ago, and only very recently has America’s interest in hard cider been piqued. Now it seems as if every major brewery has a bottled cider offering. They tend to be sweet and simple, with flavors that lean more towards Jolly Ranchers than real apples. Continue reading

Bissinger's turkey

LAF in the A.M. November 9th, 2014

November 9, 2014 / / 0 Comments

A Morning Menu of Stories We Think You’ll Find Interesting

Take a Look Inside the New Bissinger Factory


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

Dahlonega's Smith House is an inn built on a vein of unmined gold. They are famous for the bountiful spread of country cooking served daily.

LAF in the A.M. November 3rd, 2014

November 3, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Gold and Fried Chicken

The Smith House in Dahlonega, Georgia is an inn with a history. The house was built atop a vein of gold that remained unmined because the 19th-century town fathers did not want the noise and disturbance to the town that mining would bring. Today, The Smith House is famous for the generous feasts they put out daily. You might want to give some thought to spending your Thanksgiving here, when The Smith House pulls out all the stops. Here’s what will be on this year’s Thanksgiving menu: Continue reading

The Nor'Easter from New England's Portland Pie Co

LAF in the A.M. November 1st, 2014

November 1, 2014 / / 0 Comments

A Morning Menu of Stories We Think You’ll Find Interesting

Eat Pizza, Drink Beer, Help the Community

The Portland Pie Co., based in Portland, Maine, was founded in 1997. PPC offers four kinds of dough, including basil, wheat, garlic, and beer, and exotic combinations of toppings. They also like to be good community citizens. They work with area groups by often designating one evening, usually a Thursday, when they donate a portion of their receipts to a designated charity or community group. Usually the donation is something like a buck a pizza. Continue reading

Fried seafood at Markey's is utterly grease-free. The clams are excellent but the scallops are superlative.

Markey’s Lobster Pool, Seabrook NH

October 31, 2014 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

In the far northeastern corner of Massachusetts, around Ipswich and Essex, you’ll find the best fried clams in America. Head about 18 miles up the coast, to Maine, and you’ll begin to find America’s finest lobsters. So doesn’t it seem reasonable that those short 18 miles between the Massachusetts and Maine coasts would be an equally rich source for great seafood? Yet, have you ever heard of anyone heading to New Hampshire for seafood? Well, that’s not quite what we did, but we did stop in Seabrook on the way to Maine, where we found worthy fried clams and lobster rolls that are well-known to locals but mostly a secret to visitors passing by on the interstate. Continue reading

The Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York City has a constantly changing, but enormous, inventory of oysters.

LAF in the A.M. October 26th, 2014

October 26, 2014 / / 0 Comments

A Morning Menu of Stories We Think You’ll Find Interesting

Oysters and Beer in Brooklyn

There are now three franchises of New York City’s venerable Grand Central Oyster Bar: in Newark Airport, in Tokyo, and, since December of last year, in Brooklyn. Currently, the Brooklyn location is running a special fall beer and oyster pairing menu. Four oysters with four five-ounce beers sounds like a great idea and, at $14.95, a great deal too. Read about Kate Kolenda’s experience with the pairings at The Daily Meal. Continue reading

Tables at Polly's are set with pure maple syrup, maple cream, and maple sugar. Dress your cakes to your heart's content!

Polly’s Pancake Parlor of NH Expanding, Moving to Year-Round Operation

October 6, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Polly’s Pancake Parlor in Sugar Hill, NH, founded in 1938, is the premier pancake spot in New England. They make their own maple cream and maple sugar, grind the organic grains for their buckwheat, corn, and whole wheat pancakes, and make a stupendously good topping, known as Hurricane Sauce, of apples cooked in maple syrup and butter. There are only two negatives that we can think of: it’s very popular but seats only 65, and it closes from October until spring. And that’s about to change. Continue reading

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