the road | the food | a new direction
We found Esposito’s, not far from the NJ/NY border, to be a thoroughly ordinary New Jersey pizza joint with one exception: service is unusually attentive and caring. Nothing we sampled was less than OK, mind you, but neither did anything rise above that level, although the food looked particularly good. Better ingredients would do wonders for the place. As it is, if we lived nearby we might stop in on occasion, but it doesn’t rise to LAF levels. 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
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.
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
If you haven’t spent much time in non-Disney Florida since the 1960s, you wouldn’t recognize it. Old, kitschy Florida has almost completely disappeared. Even now, the last vestiges are rapidly being replaced by the brand new. It’s no longer the state of glass bottom boats, the Weeki Wachee mermaids, and Jackie Gleason (although, except for Jackie Gleason, those still exist, if barely). For a sense of what’s been happening, see John Sayles’ film Sunshine State. Continue reading
Woodside Farm calls their ice cream “Farm Fresh,” and this is literally true. The ice cream they make and sell is produced from milk provided by the Jersey cows right here on their farm. This ice cream is extraordinarily thick and dense, with an almost chewy texture. It’s not too sweet, and as it warms up it softens rather than melts into a puddle. The milk from the small Jersey cows on this farm is especially rich in butterfat and protein, and the resulting ice cream, no matter which flavor you choose, tastes most of all of dairy richness. This is among the finest ice creams we’ve ever had the pleasure of spooning into, but its creamy intensity might be too overwhelming for daily consumption. Continue reading
Connecticut is packed with LAF-worthy pizzerias. The bar has been set awfully high. Can it be possible that Harry’s Bishops Corner clears that bar? With room to spare, based on the Fra Diavolo pie we enjoyed.
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
Here’s our idea of a perfect Vermont evening: we first drive to Lebanon, New Hampshire, pick up a growler or two of Dooryard Cider from Farnum Hill Ciders, then drive north of Woodstock, towards Pomfret, on winding dirt roads through the forest until we reach Cloudland Farm. We arrive earlier than our reservation so, on a pleasant summer evening, we sit in rockers on the porch as the kind folks at Cloudland bring us glasses. Continue reading
Many have claimed that Pizzeria Bianco serves the best pizza in the land. As it’s also been one of the most difficult restaurants in which to secure a table, for years we’d been unable to see for ourselves what all the commotion is about. Things have changed. Hours have been expanded to cover midday, and Chris Bianco opened a second restaurant in Phoenix, and a third in Tucson, so that it is now possible to join in the fun without enduring an hours-long wait in the Arizona desert sun. Continue reading
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
Migas, a savory amalgam of eggs scrambled with torn bits of corn tortillas and perhaps some combination of chiles, onions, tomatoes, cheese, and/or meat, is the breakfast dish of Austin. Its fame is justified, and no visitor to Austin should neglect it, but even more popular, if less glamorous, is the breakfast taco. 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
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
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
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
© 2024 Left at the Fork
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑