Remember the tornado potato? That strange spiral-cut potato that's skewered and deep-fried? The street-food treat found in Seoul, South Korea? It did a whirlwind tour of the web in 2007, when the blog Superlocal posted a photo of it. (And, yes, we blogged it, too.) It looks like the tornado potato has finally made it Stateside. It'll be available at the Minnesota State Fair this year (August 27 through Labor Day), but I caught sight of one this week on the boardwalk in Wildwood, New Jersey, which is basically all state-fair food all the time (at least during the summer tourist season). [What it looks like, after the jump ...]... More

When Mitzy Budiono of Yummy in the Tummy emailed me to ask if I could be one of her macaron tasters, my first thought was, "HOLYCRAPYES" It was like a dream come true, except it was a dream I would've never even thought of because the idea of a macaron taste tester is too glorious to be real. To assure me that her macarons would be worth my while, she sent me a photo of them and a link to her blog post about taking a pastry class with Pierre Hermé. Pierre Hermé? The macaron master? Creator of the most delicious pastries I have ever eaten? Count me in. To ensure the macarons' freshness, she came up from her home... More

Stay away from Roy Rogers' fried chicken. Far away. Last weekend I had the unfortunate experience of eating at a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. While the obvious thing to do when having to make a decision between Nathan's, Arthur Treacher's, and Roy Rogers is to go hungry, I chose Roy Rogers. "It's fried chicken—how bad could it be?" I asked myself. Pretty bad, considering that I vowed to never eat at Roy Rogers again after that experience. If only there had been a Popeyes instead of Roy Rogers—then my New Jersey Turnpike meal would've been less loathsome. Paula Marantz Cohen of Drexel University's online journal The Smart Set discovered that Popeyes makes some "damned good" food for... More

Photograph courtesy of Town Hall Deli You say "sloppy joe" in Lunch Lady Land, and only one thing comes to mind. Say it in South Orange, New Jersey, and you're talking about a whole different sandwich—no ground beef, no hamburger bun, and no worry that today's sandwich was yesterday's meatloaf. In South Orange, the sloppy joe is a much more serious concoction. Three slices of bread, any two meats, Swiss cheese, and my two favorite sandwich condiments of all time: coleslaw and Russian dressing. And there's no better place to get one than the Town Hall Deli.... More

I spent last week at the Jersey Shore, mostly in the Wildwoods, but with a quick trip down to Cape May for half a day or so. As suggested by Serious Eater Mydree here, I tried The Lobster House for lunch. And, as Serious Eater GoodbyeOhio suggested, I did the take-out window and ate on the dock instead of doing sit-down service inside the restaurant. I'd never had a fried soft-shell crab sandwich before, but this one hit the spot. It was light-seeming despite the frying and just meaty enough. Served on a squishy white hamburger bun with a cool lettuce leaf and a couple thinly sliced tomatoes, it was worth the cab ride from the bus station. And... More

I hate sweet breakfasts, yet when I visit the Wildwoods in New Jersey, I feel compelled to eat an apple fritter from Britton's Gourmet Bakery each morning for that all-important first meal of the day. The apple fritter here is pretty near perfect, with a crisp exterior and a moist but not gooey interior studded with bits of tender apple. And they have just the right amount of icing—enough for added sweetness but not so much that your fingers stick together. Be sure to get there early, though. Not even three generations of family on duty at any given time can keep the fritters in stock much past noon. Don't take my word for it? Ronald Reagan himself wrote... More

By now you've either seen last night's Sopranos or the news coverage this morning of what was the series finale. If, like me, you were wondering where the infamous final scene took place, where it was that the cinematographer lingered so lovingly over those onion rings, Jason Perlow of Off the Broiler enlightens us: Holsten's in Bloomfield, New Jersey: Opened in 1939, going there is literally like being sent back in a time machine to observe the social habits of pre-WWII and 1950’s American youth. The menu of ice cream treats and food items it serves are totally retro. This is not by design like one of the newer established 50’s chains like Johnny Rockets or Cheeburger Cheeburger, but... More

There was a fascinating story on NPR that got lost in the shuffle in the days leading up to the holidays. On December 22, the network aired a piece on Bobby Egan, a Hackensack, New Jersey, barbecue-joint owner who for many years has been an unofficial go-between for North Korea and the United States. According to the story by Adam Davidson, Mr. Egan, owner of Cubby's BBQ Ribs, fell into the role in the 1980s, when some friends of his, Vietnam veterans, asked for his help in dealing with POW-MIA issues. Mr. Egan began assisting them, traveling to Vietnam several times and eventually making friends with the country's Communist officials. The Vietnamese took a shine to Egan and mentioned him... More