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Street taco trio as served at the MGM Grand's Hecho en Vegas

A Taste of Tucson’s El Charro in Las Vegas

March 14, 2015 / / 1 Comment

The Flores family has run Tucson’s legendary (since 1922) Sonoran restaurant El Charro since 1992. If you’ve ever enjoyed a chimichanga you can thank El Charro for inventing the dish (or so they say). The Flores family opened a restaurant in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at the tail end of 2013. It’s called Hecho en Vegas and, while it is not a branch of El Charro, it features many of the Flores’ recipes, and certainly the Flores family’s way around the kitchen can’t help but inform their MGM Grand project. See more in the KVOA piece below:
KVOA | KVOA.com | Tucson, Arizona

Al's #1 Italian Beef began on Taylor Street in Chicago's Little Italy.

Is Al’s #1 Italian Beef on Taylor Better than All Others?

March 14, 2015 / / 0 Comments

We were reading a chicagoist story in which the writer notes with amusement how the new Texas edition of Al’s #1 Italian Beef has been such a local hit that they’ve repeatedly run out of food. They point out, sort of in passing, that only the original Al’s, in operation since 1938 on Taylor Street, actually roasts the beef in-house. All the others (including the only one we’ve ever been to, in River North) get their beef from a commissary. And that, presumably, makes a difference. If chicagoist says it’s so we’ll accept it although we don’t really know for sure if that’s true. We thought the Italian beef we’ve enjoyed at Al’s on Ontario was extraordinary. Our question: is the original even better?

The Cozy Corner has been one of Memphis' top barbecue establishments since it opened in 1977.

Memphis’ Cozy Corner New Temp Home Across Street

March 13, 2015 / / 0 Comments

When the great barbecue restaurant Cozy Corner of Memphis suffered a fire in January, it appeared that it would be many months before Memphians would again enjoy the products of their pit. Not so, Cozy Corner fans! Starting Tuesday, Cozy Corner’s pits will be across the street in the newly opened Encore Cafe, which specializes in things like smoothies and veggie wraps. Said Encore owner Monroe Ballard, “We’re helping a neighbor in need.” There’s some good karma. Stop by Encore for some great Memphis barbecue and be sure to thank Mr. Ballard with, say, a smoothie purchase. Goes great with Q!

The Key Lime Pie Co. of Key West uses real Key limes in their pies.

Best Key Lime Pie in the Florida Keys

March 13, 2015 / / 3 Comments

A more than decent Key lime pie can be made with regular supermarket limes, but if you want to experience the pie at its transcendent best, try one made with the very rare Key limes. The best place to do that is, naturally, in the Florida Keys. Here are six of the best Key lime pies to be found in the Keys, in all sorts of styles. Some are topped with meringue, some with whipped cream. At some of these places you can get a frozen wedge on a stick dipped in a chocolate shell and, at one, you can have your pie deep-fried. Us, we’ll stick to the straight wedge, unfried and unfrozen.

The Jewbano, from the Comfort Diner on New York's Lower East Side

The Jewbano Has Arrived!

March 13, 2015 / / 0 Comments

“I was so nervous about the name that I emailed my rabbi.” That’s Ira Freehof, owner of the newly opened Comfort Diner on New York’s Lower East Side, speaking about his Jewish/Cuban mashup. Said the rabbi, “It’s in good humor — it’s OK.” The Jewbano starts with a roll from nearby Kossar’s Bialys. The roll is stuffed with pastrami from Katz’s around the corner, pickles from The Pickle Guys up the street, roast turkey, Swiss cheese, and deli mustard. Then it’s grilled in a press like a regular Cubano. Now that sounds like good eating! Read more about Comfort Diner in this Jewish Daily Forward story.

That's a Cream of Nectar and pineapple Sno-Bliz at Hansen's of New Orleans. You can usually expect to wait in a line to get yours.

New Orleans Restaurants Worth Waiting in Line For

March 13, 2015 / / 0 Comments

For which of New Orleans’ many great restaurants would you wait in line? The New Orleans Times Picayune asked its readers that question, and ten places passed the 50% threshold. Most waitable? 70% of respondents said they’d be willing to wait for a table at Galatoire’s, which is pretty much the only way you’ll eat there unless you want to reserve an upstairs table. Jacques-Imo’s came in second at 68%, and Hansen’s Sno-Bliz, where the wait is expected but relatively brief, came in third, as 67% said they’d get in line for a syrup-soaked Sno-Bliz.

Maple Madness, Across Ohio, March 14th and 15th, 21st and 22nd 2015

March 13, 2015 / / 0 Comments

45 maple stops. Two weekends. It’s the Ohio March Maple Madness Driving Tour, as sugaring operations across the state have joined together to present Ohio maple at its finest. Each of the 45 stops will participate in their own way. Here are some of the maple activities you’ll experience depending on which sugar houses you visit: taste sap fresh from the trees and syrup fresh from the evaporator, enjoy an AYCE pancake breakfast, take a sugaring tour, enjoy a hayride or horse-drawn wagon ride, purchase maple products, listen to live music, or enjoy maple products by a fireplace. Sample maple candy, try maple biscotti, a maple latte, or maple wine. See how maple candy and maple cream are made. Continue reading

Dining Across Door County WI

March 12, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Door County, that little pinkie of Wisconsin that juts out to separate Green Bay from Lake Michigan, is known as the Cape Cod of the Midwest. It’s a popular tourist destination with a distinct Scandinavian bent, and some unique dining opportunities. You can find fresh cherries growing throughout the region, dine on Swedish pancakes with lingonberries at a restaurant with goats grazing on the sodded roof, or have dinner at one of the many Wisconsin supper clubs. One meal you should not miss is one of the area fish boils! Read more about dining in Door County here.

Best Stoner Cuisine in D.C.

March 12, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Now that marijuana is (sort of) legal in Washington, D.C., the blog DCist presents a timely story on the best stoner cuisine in the District. For instance, as seen in the video above, try a U Street Taco. You start with a chili-topped half-smoke from Ben’s Chili Bowl, then take it down the street to a pizzeria that sells giant slices. Wrap half-smoke, bun and all, in pizza, and voilà! U Street Taco. Or try one of the homemade Pop Tarts from Ted’s Bulletin. Or fried chicken and bacon sandwiched between halves of a maple brioche donut bun topped with buttered pecans at GBD!

If nothing else on Pearl's menu was edible, we'd still return for the feather-light biscuits alone.

Pearl’s Place, Chicago IL

March 12, 2015 / / 0 Comments

REVIEW

We’ve been posting here at LeftAtTheFork.net lately about the disappearing kosher deli, but let us not forget that many of the same forces that are hitting old-fashioned Jewish cuisine hard — assimilation of the customer base, dying off of the generation that embraced these restaurants, modern health-consciousness, the younger generation’s rejection of the previous generation’s ways — are having a similar effect on the old-style African-American cuisine known as soul food. The situation isn’t as dire but, as the Chicago Sun-Times documented in a 2011 story, soul food restaurants have been closing rapidly in Chicago. Continue reading

Make your own pancakes in Florida.

Do You Want to Prepare Your Own Food at a Restaurant?

March 12, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Presumably, one of the reasons you go out to a restaurant for a meal is to get out of the kitchen. So it seems a little strange to cook your own food once you get there, yet that seems to be a growing trend. The Old Spanish Sugar Mill and Griddle House in De Leon Springs, Florida has been putting their customers to work for some time, pouring, garnishing, and flipping their pancakes on a grill in the center of the table. You’ll also find eateries where you’ll grill your own steak and even fix your own cocktail. At least someone else does the dishes and grocery shopping! Read more about the trend here.

Maple Sugar Festival, Kalamazoo MI, March 14th through March 15th 2015

March 12, 2015 / / 0 Comments

The Kalamazoo Nature Center celebrates their 50th annual Maple Sugar Festival this coming weekend, March 14th and 15th. Start your visit with a pile of pancakes drenched with Michigan maple. Follow that up with a maple sugar tour through the woods with a naturalist, which departs every 15 minutes. At the DeLano Homestead you can see how sugaring was done in the 19th century, take a horse-drawn wagon ride, and observe blacksmithing, spinning, and fiber art demonstrations. When you catch your second wind, enjoy some ice cream topped with more of that sweet elixir. Continue reading

True French-style baguettes from Standard Baking Co. of Portland ME

LAF in the A.M. March 12th, 2015

March 12, 2015 / / 0 Comments

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

HAPPY NATIONAL BAKED SCALLOPS DAY!

An Interview with Owners of Portland’s Standard Baking

Sweet Water Cafe Part of Marquette Restaurant Week

VA’s Orlean Market Owner Takes On Partners, Plans Changes

NOLA’s Boucherie Moved Around Corner; Plans for Old Space

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The sampler covered all seven of their tap offerings this evening. From left: Gose, Amber Ale, German Pilsner, Porter, Bengal Gold I.P.A., Lent Beer, Nutt's Brown Ale.

Checking In at: Triumph Brewing Company, Princeton NJ

March 11, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Triumph’s beer is pretty good but the food is best left untouched. Add to that the fact that one of us does not enjoy the culinary wasteland of Princeton, NJ and the result is we don’t visit Triumph Brewing very often. But we found ourselves in town, at the art museum, with visitors from NYC, so here we were, sitting at the bar, beers in hand, plate of sloppy, so-so nachos in front of us. Continue reading

Fresh spiny lobster tail

Original Marathon Seafood Festival, Marathon FL, March 14th through 15th 2015

March 11, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Coral and black stone crab claws with mustard sauce… fresh lobster tails… fried fillets of mahi mahi… steamed and spiced Key West pink shrimp… ceviche and fritters of conch… all these prized sea creatures, and many more, are caught locally in the waters around Marathon in the Florida Keys, and they’ll all be available (along with lots of ice-cold beer) at the 39th annual Original Marathon Seafood Festival on March 14th and 15th. If you love fresh, local seafood this is one festival you want to get to eventually. Continue reading

A trio of dogs from Ted's Hot Dogs - yes, mac and cheese is now a topping option!

LAF in the A.M. March 11th, 2015

March 11, 2015 / / 1 Comment

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

 HAPPY OATMEAL-NUT WAFFLES DAY!

Food Giants of Buffalo Program

Q&A with GM of New Dedham MA Shake Shack

Photo Tour of George’s Coney Island Lunch of Worcester MA

Oxford OH Graeter’s Opening in May

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