the road | the food | a new direction
When talk turns to that unique Creole/Italian cuisine of the New Orleans area, Mosca’s is always the first (and sometimes only) place to be mentioned. There’s good reason: it’s wonderful. Add two stars if you really, really love garlic. But Mosca’s is not the only game in town, and garlic is not the only way the Creole/Italian game is played. 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
Visit just about any Midwestern city and you’ll find at least one 19th-century German restaurant still operating and thriving. German cuisine may have been the most out-of-fashion food in the country for ages (although, lately, it’s showing signs of life), but we find it hard to resist a visit to these great old dining halls. The Rathskeller is Indy’s oldest restaurant (open since 1894), and can be found in a building originally known as Das Deutsche Haus, a German social club. Continue reading
“See Your Food.” That’s Valois’ motto, and a curious one at that until you realize that it’s a cafeteria, where you have the opportunity to see your food before you order it. And as in all cafeterias, you have to fight back the urge to pile your tray with more food than you can eat. Continue reading
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
Robert Anthony is a Yachats-based fisherman. He owns the F/V Liberty II and uses it to fish for halibut, crab, salmon, and albacore. You can eat the creatures he catches at his tiny restaurant on Highway 101 in Yachats, across the street from the Green Salmon coffeehouse, or stop by to pick up the raw ingredients if you prefer to do the cooking yourself. 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
Taylor Gro. is a legend in these parts, and nationally, too. It closed down a while ago, but a new owner took over, and today it’s thriving. We never had the opportunity to visit the previous incarnation, but it couldn’t have been any more fun than today’s version. Continue reading
A regional taste recently made its first appearance on our LAFÂ radar, at White Farms Ice Cream in Ipswich. One of their flavors is called Frozen Pudding, which we assumed was some sort of chocolate pudding-pop-like flavor. We didn’t try any. Then we saw it on other Eastern Massachusetts ice cream rosters so, curiosity piqued, we finally asked someone about it. Continue reading
The food at The Lobster Shack is good, in fact very good, but you can find better along the Maine coast. It’s not an undiscovered gem. In fact, there always seems to be a long line at the order counter. And the prices are a little higher than what you’ll find further up the coast, reflecting its proximity to the city of Portland. So why do we think The Lobster Shack is required eating for the visiting LAF pilgrim? Continue reading
Here’s an idea for your next New Orleans trip: stop in at an historic pub with a French connection and enjoy a British cocktail along with a sandwich invented a few blocks away, have some Creole food on the side, and finish up with an Italian dessert. This can only be the Napoleon House, at the corner of Chartres and St. Louis in the Vieux Carré. 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
Things are a little quiet here at Stanley’s after the lunch rush, so bartender Guy comes over to chat and do a little standup for the four of us. After every politically incorrect joke, each one filthier than the last, he slaps Sue’s brother Dave’s back and exclaims, “What! Ya killin’ me!” We like Guy. After he leaves to tend to other matters, owner Wanda, well into her 80s, sidles over, rolls her eyes, and sighs, “He’s a pain that no pill can cure.” Continue reading
Never underestimate the power of good brown gravy. Blanketing a hot roast beef sandwich, served as a dip alongside crisp, salty fries, and of course pooled in the crater of a volcano of mashed potatoes, brown gravy can make or break a diner meal. Continue reading
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
All things considered, we think Danny’s Diner is the most Binghamtonian place for breakfast in the Southern Tier. Staffed almost completely by women, this Depression-era Sterling diner is remarkably gleaming and shipshape. These folks serve basic diner renditions of eggs, hash, potatoes, toast and coffee at low, low prices and dish out a warm and friendly rendition of diner sass. Continue reading
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
Take a former USC quarterback who has completed his two years of missionary work for the LDS church, and place him in a pizzeria in a wealthy suburb of Las Vegas. This does not sound like a promising formula for pizza greatness. Yet that is exactly what owner Brad Otton has achieved at Settebello. Continue reading
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