Posted by Zach Brooks, May 28, 2008 at 2:00 PM
You may be aware of the fact that Jamaica was at one time a British colony, and as a result much of the country grew up enjoying English style afternoon tea. I didn't, and perhaps that bit of knowledge would have made finding a place like the Pineapple Blossom Tea Room in Miami, Florida much less of a surprise to me than it was. A tiny little restaurant situated in a fairly unlikely part of of Miami, the Pineapple Tea Room is run by Jamaican chef Frances Brown and serves up a menu of elaborate tea services (complete with freshly baked pastries) side-by-side with a full offering of salads and wraps, combining the flavors of multiple countries under the Jamaican theme of "out of many, one people."
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Posted by Gina DePalma, May 19, 2008 at 8:30 AM
Last week, I took a little lunchtime trip to Frascati, one of a handful of little towns in the Castelli Romani, a culturally rich area just southeast of Rome shadowed by the Alban Hills and dotted with volcanic lakes. Thanks to a direct commuter train, I was there in only 30 minutes, and at the very appealing price of €1.90 (US$2.96) each way.
Frascati is home to a number of grand villas built by some of Rome's most powerful and wealthy families as retreats from the city's sweltering streets. Most of Frascati's day tourists make a beeline straight from the train station to visit the elaborate gardens of Villa Aldobrandini (right), the largest of the estates. I headed in the opposite direction, climbing a steep stone staircase to get to the compact center of town.
After wandering up and down the narrow, cobbled streets, I reached the Piazza del Mercato. As the name implies, it is ringed with the kind of stores that meet the daily needs of residents: an alimentari, a few bakeries, the butcher shop, and a place for household odds and ends. But at the far end of the circular piazza, I paused, gasped, and beheld "Leda, La Regina della Porchetta."
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Posted by Zach Brooks, May 14, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Add beets, and you have got an Aussie Burger.
Is there anything greater than the breakfast burger? I love a decent burger, and if you top it with an over easy egg, something magical happens. And that magic is called egg yolk, covering your burger in gooey goodness. Last week I sampled the breakfast burger from Goodburger (a slightly upscale, NYC burger chain) along with some co-workers, one of whom remarked, "Add some beets to this, and you've got an Aussie Burger." Come again? Beets? Now that sounds like something I could get into.
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Posted by Zach Brooks, May 7, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Photograph from the blog 'We Are Never Full'
In France, if you order a "sandwich américain," what you'll end up with is a chopped beef, hamburger-like substance, topped with french (ironic right?) fries, and stuffed into a baguette. It is unclear whether the name comes from the notion that french fries are now fully associated with America (rather than Belgium, where they are probably from), or whether the French just consider us gluttons—either way, I'm not ashamed to admit that the sandwich sounds amazing (and I'd be happy to shout that out while waving a giant American flag).
Even better though, is a variation on the sandwich américain, where the hamburger is replaced with merguez sausage, and served from a street cart. Vendors can be found dishing out the delicious merguez frites, as they're called, on the streets of Paris, from stalls at flea markets, or at the fireworks display in Carcassone, which is where Amy and Jonny from the blog We Are Never Full discovered this Moroccan inspired, French treat.
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