Posted by Ed Levine, November 21, 2006 at 8:41 AM
I really want to know. As most of you probably know, mine is pie. But I recognize that others may feel differently.
In a nod to my friends at Eater, I am establishing a morning line on which food will be voted ELE readers' favorite:
Pie: 2-1
Stuffing: 3-1
Mashed Potatoes: 3-1
Turkey and Gravy: 5-1
Cranberry Sauce: 8-1
Sweet Potatoes: 10-1
Green Vegetables: 500-1
So vote for one of the following:
Turkey and Gravy:
Stuffing: Stuffing runs a close second to pie for me. What's not to like about stuffing? What other food can so easily contain bread, butter, and sausage in every bite?
Cranberry Sauce or Cranberry Conserve to fancy-pants Foodies
Sweet Potatoes: I make mine with maple syrup and loads of butter and heavy cream.
Mashed Potatoes: I make the Al Forno mashed potatoes courtesy of George Germon and Johanne Killeen in Providence, RI.
Green vegetables: Am I influencing the vote by not having a picture of a green vegetable? You decide. I know it's hard to believe, but some people look forward to the green vegetables served at Thanksgiving as an antidote to all the other fat-laden deliciousness served. Personally I think the only way to rescue green vegetables is with bacon, sausage or other pork products.
Pie: Really, is there anything better on this earth than a great piece of pie?
Posted by Ed Levine, November 15, 2006 at 9:46 AM
What's the best piece of pie you've ever eaten?
Karen Barker, pastry chef and co-owner of the Magnolia Grill, 1002 Ninth Street, 919-286-3609, Durham, NC), makes the best pies I've ever eaten. Karen made all the pies for a pie breakfast at a Barbecue Conference I went to a few years ago In Oxford, Mississippi, and I'm afraid I singlehandedly decimated her supply of pies. She wrote a terrific cookbook a few years ago, and tomorrow or the next day I will put her pie recipe up on Ed Levine Eats.
In New York, as I mentioned yesterday, my two favorite pie bakers are Two Little Red Hens (1112 8th Ave. (11th St.), Park Slope, 718-499-8108, 1652 2nd Ave. (85th St.) 212-452-0476, and Yura & Company, 1650 Third Ave. (92nd St.),212-860-8060. If you haven't ordered your pies for Thanksgiving this year, and you live in New York, get your pies from one of these places.
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Posted by Ed Levine, November 6, 2006 at 6:46 AM
Food Glossies Trumped by a "T"
I'm a compulsive reader of the food glossies: Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, and Saveur. Aren't you? Each has its virtues, though I can't say that any one of them really speaks to me. I like Gourmet's food politics stories and some of its writers (Jane and Michael Stern, John T. Edge, Calvin Trillin), but I don't share Ruth Reichl's enthusiasm for hiring as many novelists as she can to write stories for her. I used to look forward to reading Pete Wells' column in Food & Wine, but now that he's gone I'm sure I'm going to find Food & Wine's penchant for celebritizing everything (It's the In Style of food magazines) a little hard to take. I wish Bon Appetit had a funkier, more real voice and take on everything, but I don't want it to become Saveur, which takes realness to unnecessary, unusaable heights.
This obsession I have with the food glossies makes it all the more surprising that the Times magazine supplement, "T," this past Sunday put out an issue that was essentially another food glossy, albeit with a stylish and stylized bent, that was compulsively, pleasurably readable in a way that the food glossies rarely are.
The highlights of the issue: Sara Lyall's piece on London restaurant critics, Heidi Julavits' (yes I know she's an acclaimed young novelist)
funny and wise story on the groundbreaking year-round greenhouse growers in Maine, Toby Cecchini's piece of Schaller & Weber's double-amoked bacon (he thinks it's so good it should be declared a controlled substance), and a funny piece about breakfast in Los Angeles. Of course the LA breakfast piece would have been a lot better without the two Hollywood types telling us they eat at the Beverly Hills every morning. Now there's a breaking bit of news. In fact Los Angeles is a very good breakfast town, and would it have killed someone to call Irene (Sherry) Virbila of the LA Times to ask her for her five favorite breakfast spots in LA.
I haven't even mentioned the best part of yesterday's issue of "T."
There are contributions by two first rate food bloggers, Graham Holliday of Noodle Pie, and Clotide Dusoulier of chocolateandzucchini Of course the Times doesn't even print the urls of their blogs, but that's another story.
What's your favorite food glossy? Tell me why.
Posted by Ed Levine, September 24, 2006 at 10:04 AM
Mimi Sheraton had an update on Napa dining a couple of months ago in the Times. She mentioned the obvious choices, Bouchon French Laundry, but I wished she had focuses on more casual dining:
Here are my choices for eating in Napa:
Terra: 1345 Railroad Ave., St. Helena, Ca. 707-963-8931 Intelligent, graceful, and very tasty California cooking with Asian influences served in a relaxed, low-key setting by chef Hiro Sone and his pastry chef wife Lissa Doumani.
Taylor's Refresher: An institution that features excellent burgers (including a very fine Tuna version), shakes, and fries.
Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, 1327 Railroad Avenue, St. Helena, 707-963-1200.
Posted by Ed Levine, July 19, 2006 at 2:51 PM
Chocolate bars at Pierre Marcolini, a chocolatier from Belgium. I first had his chocolates at his shop in Paris. I always lean toward more bittersweet, not more than 70%, not waxy, i love the variety of beans that he uses.
Eating and drinking at the food bar at Bella Vitae: I love the fried lamb meatballs, puntarelle in season, radicchio wrapped in pancetta.
I love the mussels at Bar Jamon and the octopus. I especially love them when I can get one of the 12 seats in the joint.
Posted by Ed Levine, July 12, 2006 at 7:57 AM
In a move I wholeheartedly approve Boston Magazine sent writer Erin Byers to eat 20 lobster rolls in three weeks. I can do the math. That's just about a lobster roll a day.
The winners:
B&G Oysters 550 Tremont St., 617-423-0550. She calls it the "world's most perfect lobster roll." It's 8 ounces of lobster meat with a lemon-garlic mayo, chive and celery.
Neptune Oyster 63 Salem St., 617-742-3474. This is Byers' warm lobster roll of choice. She describes it as "warm butter-basted claw and tail meat with drawn butter and butter-soaked brioche." I sense a butter theme present in this particular sandwich.
Posted by Ed Levine, May 25, 2006 at 7:32 AM
Having just come from a thoroughly disappointing meat at NY's latest attempt at a clam shack, Ditch Plains, I began to ruminate on how much I love fried clams.
With Memorial Day, the official start of the fried clam eating season, just around the corner, here is my absolutely incomplete guide to eating fried clams in the NYC area, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, with a southern Maine spot thrown in for good measure.
The descriptions of the clams themselves will be minimal. As I discovered a couple of years ago when I went on a ten clamshack eating adventure with Dave Pastnernack, the chef of Esca, fried clams are either really good (sweet, nutty, crisp and greaselessly fried with no breading other than flour) or they're not. And even the best clam shacks don't put enough salt into the frying mixture. One more important note: I've found that if you ask that the clams be put on a plate instead of one of those impossibly cute cardboard clam boxes, the result is clams that stay crisp and crunchy. Those "cute" boxes are actually a dastardly form of fried clamicide, because the fried clams end up steamed and soggy when they're piled on top of each other. And no fried clam meal is complete without an ice cream or frozen custard for dessert. Even bad ice cream tastes great after eating fried clams.
NYC and vicinity:
- Mary's Fish Camp: Mary Redding is a highly trained serious chef, so it's no surprise that her fried clams are excellent, crunchy and clammy and delicious. Will somebody who's been to the Brooklyn location of MFC please let us know how it is? {246 W. 4th Street, New York, NY}. 646-486-2185.
- Pearl: They don't ordinarily have fried clams at Pearl, but the fried oysters are so good I keep hoping they'll get around to frying up some clams as well. Maybe if we all keep asking for them, Rebecca Charles will give in and put fried clams on the menu. {18 Cornelia St., New York, NY}. 212-691-8211
- Johnny's Famous Reef: The fried clams are good, but it's the amazingly vibrant, multi-cultural scene that is most alluring about Johnny's. Just make sure you go on a nice day. Beware of the extremely aggressive seagulls. They'll steal a clam right out of your hand (they don't even need a fork). {2 City Island Ave, City Island, NY}. 718-885-2086.
- Bigelow's: This quintessential Long Island clam shack is really just one horseshoe counter. Bigelow's is where big-time chefs like Alex Lee (former executive chef, Daniel) and Dave Pasternack go for their fried clam fix. The clams here are fabulous, and so is the french fry draining ritual. They take the french fries out of the fryer when they are done, put them in a white cloth napkin, and shake them all around like the hokey pokey. The fries themselves are standard frozen french fries, but with this kind of floor show it doesn't matter. {79 N. Long Beach Rd., Rockville Center, LI}. 516-678-3878.
Connecticut:
- Lenny's Indian Head Inn: The clams are superfine at this cool spot in Branford right on the water. Don't confuse it with the four Lenny and Joe's Fish Tales locations, which are more commercial endeavors and not as good. {205 South Montowese St., Branford CT}. 203-488-1500.
- Sea Swirl: This is our family stop on the way to the Cape. It's about a seven minute detour off I-95. The clams are delicious, the fries are skippable, and the onion rings are the side of choice. Excellent soft ice cream for dessert with intriguing dip flavors like capuccino. {30 Williams Ave., Mystic, CT}. 860-536-3452.
I have also had good fried clams in Connecticut at the Clam Castle, {1324 Boston Post Rd., Madison, CT}, 203-245-4911 and at Johnny Ad's, {910 Boston Post Rd., Old Saybrook, CT}. 860-388-4032.
Massachusetts:
- Christies: One of Dave Pasternack's fish suppliers turned us on to Christies. It's not much to look at, an old box of a place on a depressing street overlooking the water, but the fried clams are excellent, and for once, properly salted. The best thing about the place is its proximity to Logan Airport. If you don't get lost, as we did, you can get to the airport in twenty minutes. {17 Lynnway, Lynn, MA}. 617-397-9957.
- The Clam Box: Everyone rhapsodizes about the Clam Box, and though it's very good, I didn't see what distinguishes the place from all the other fried clam spots in and around Essex and Ipswich. Beware of long, long lines at the Clam Box. {246 High St., Ipswich, MA}. 978-336-9707.
- Woodman's: The claim at Woodman's is that on July 3, 1916, Lawrence Dexter "Chubby" Woodman was frying a batch of his homemade potato chips at his stand on the road from Ipswich to Gloucester when he either accidentally knocked a clam into the fryer or got an inspiration for a line extension. Ninety years later Woodman's has become the equivalent of a fried clam theme restaurant, complete with frozen drinks and a line of merchandise that includes t-shirts, umbrellas, mugs and visors. The clams are certainly good, but the reconstituted lemon juice you see all over the place is a real bummer. Skip the clam cakes, which are a sodden, heavy disaster. {121 Main St., Essex, MA}. 978-768-6057.
- J.T. Farnham's: Farnham's is an actual shack that overlooks the Essex Salt Marsh that many clams that end up in fryers are harvested from. Pleasant view, very fine fried clams. {88 Eastern Ave. Essex, MA}. 978-768-6643.
- Essex Seafood: You don't come for the view at Essex Seafood, which is of the parking lot. They fry the clams here a little longer, so they end up a lovely dark brown color, which is quite appealing. {143 Eastern Ave., Essex, MA}. 978-768-7233.
- Oxford Creamery: Our friends the Kaisers live right down the road from the Oxford Creamery, which serves an excellent fried clam roll and fine local ice cream. {98 County Rd., Mattapoisett, MA}. 508-758-3847.
- The Bite: I have probably had more fried clams at the Bite than any place else on this list. The clams are excellent (though they do come in the dreaded box) and the bite fries are delicious, irregularly shaped chunks of fried new potato. The only problem with the Bite is its location in Menemsha Harbor, which has become one of the tourist spots on the Vineyard. So there's always a long line at the Bite, and there's only two picnic tables to eat at. We often get our clams and take them to the beach right up the road from the Bite. Basin Road, Menemsha, MA. 508-645-9239.
- Sandy's Fish and Chips: Sandy's adjoins John's Fish Market. Again, there's really no place to eat the clams except for one picnic table in the parking lot., State Rd. Vineyard Haven, MA. 508-693-1220.
Maine:
- Bob's Clam Hut: Bob's is a legendary clam shack that is now surrounded by outlet malls. Not very romantic, but those shops sometimes come in really handy. 315 Route 1, Kittery, Maine. 207-439-4233.
The New York Times recommended four clam shacks recently, and I must admit I haven't been to one of them. I'm going to try and hit The Clam Shack in Falmouth, Harbor, this weekend.
I recently received a copy of New England's Favorite Seafood Shacks, by Elizabeth Bougerol. The book is a lot of fun, and it's filled with tons of information (it has every place mentioned here except Christies, but it does suffer a tad from the "everything is great" school of romantic, funky food writing. Sometimes we food lovers need a discouraging word in books like this so that we believe the author is discerning. That same affliction inhabited a similar book by Brooke Dojny that came out a couple of years ago.
I'm sure I missed a bunch of places. Please, ELE readers, fill in the gaps in this woefully incomplete list.
