Super Bowl Sunday in Newspaper Food Sections
Apartment Therapy: The Kitchen's Nationwide Food Section Roundup for today is all Super Bowl Sunday, featuring Washington D.C., Indiana, Oregon and Wisconsin. The Oregon eats are pretty fancy!
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Entries from Serious Eats tagged with 'Wisconsin'
No More Bar Cars on Chicago's Metra Lines
As contracts with "refreshment car" vendors run out (the last one expires Friday), the regional rail network has chosen not to renew them: "The commuter rail line has decided to shut down its rolling taverns, ending an era that hearkens back to the days when executives in gray flannel suits climbed aboard club cars and lubricated the journey home with martinis."
Roadfood Roundup: Chili
We asked our friends Jane and Michael Stern over at Roadfood.com to give us their top five chili picks. Here are their choices, with tasting notes.
DOT'S | 3 West Main Street, Wilmington VT 05363 [map]
Year after year Dot's takes the People's Choice First Prize in the New England chili cook-off; and while Southwest chiliheads wouldn't even recognize it as their beloved bowl of red, this true Yankee chili is terrific. It is listed on the menu as "Jailhouse Chili," but it's most respectable. Beefy, thick with beans, spicy but not ferocious, it comes as a cup or bowl under a mantle of melted cheese. Originally reviewed by Michael Stern on Roadfood.com
REAL CHILI | 419 East Wells Street, Milwaukee WI 53202 [map]. 414-271-4042
Real Chili serves bowls of chili mild, medium, or hot, with spaghetti or beans, or spaghetti and beans. The full and complete arrangement is known as the Marquette Special. (The original Real Chili parlor has long been a favorite of Marquette University students.) The degree of heat is determined by the amount of meat; i.e. more meat equals more heat. The meat is ground fine, brilliantly spiced, and deliciously oily. It goes atop layers of noodles and beans; and on top of the meat is piled a large fistful of shredded cheese (melting from the heat). You can also get sour cream and raw onions as a garnish. Every bowl comes with a side dish of oyster crackers to crumble on top or to eat as a sort of palate-cleanser between bites of chili.
This true downtown chili parlor (of which the original branch is at 1625 West Wells Street, 414-342-6955) is the sort of beanery once fairly common in big cities throughout the region. With the exception of Cincinnati, where chili has remained a bona fide mania, most of the Midwest has forgotten its chili passions; and old-time chili parlors are a rarity. That is one reason we are so enamored of Real Chili.
Granted, heartland chili gets little respect from gastronomes who prefer the southwestern kinds, but even for the Texas-style chili purist, Real Chili is an inspiring and enjoyable adventure in declasse dining. Sit at a counter or at one of two communal tables with backless stools and accompany your chili with beer or cherry Coke. A super-fast, friendly staff dole out second helpings at half price of the first, and if you need a bumper sticker for your car, there is always a stack of them at the cash register. A while ago, we got one that said, "REAL CHILI: IT'S NOT JUST FOR BREAKFAST ANYMORE." Recently, the bumper stickers have proclaimed Real Chili "A MILWAUKEE LEGEND." Originally reviewed by Michael Stern on Roadfood.com
Hamburger America: 'Solly's Grille'
This clip is an excerpt from burger documentary Hamburger America by filmmaker and burgermeister George Motz. The complete video is available on DVD at Mr. Motz's website, HamburgerAmerica.com
