Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Black and anywhere from 185 degrees down to room temperature.

When I asked for cheesesteak guidance from the staff at Ultimo Coffee, they suggested I deviate from the norm and try the dry rubbed sliced rib-eye sliders on the menu at South Philly Tavern - just up the block. Good call - they blow away any cheeseteak I've had in Philly or elsewhere.

Gish I wish Glenn Susser's "Melt!" in Jersey City had survived. He had a couple of sandwiches that woudl easily have made this list including one that had smoked turkey, horseradish cheese and some kind of fruit chutney. The sandwiches were all on Balthazar bread and cooked perfectly on a panini grill. I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Pickled pig's foot from a jar on the back shelf in a dark, dusty old tavern. Been there... ate that.... can't give it high grades. I actually like the pickled eggs that are in the jars in some old-timey taverns but apart from corned beef I don't car for pickled meats. But I have been there. I would be willing to try pig's foot in a soup or stew - sounds good.

Ummm... as I am wont to say when someone waxes poetic and rhapsodic abotu a particular obscure coffee: how does it taste?

Spiced is far less of an offense than "flavored." In all cases I think people are better off adding flavor syrups or powders to brewed coffee than they are buying one that is pre-flavored. That being said.... if the coffee is good enough it should taste mighty fine with nothing at all added to it.

Good recap indeed. I really appreciate the fact that the importance of commerce - i.e. profitable and sustainable business for all members of the chain - is stressed. There's plenty of pie-in-the-sky discussion among coffee and espresso enthusiasts. It's not a bad thing but most of us can't grow and process our own coffee, can't get it from local farmers, and also don't have to face the challenges of making a labor and cost intensive small cafe business a viable enterprise. It's refreshing to see some constructive dialogue about these challenges.

I'm curious to know if any of you Georgians have tried Johnny's New York Style Pizza or Johnny Brusco's New York Style Pizza

http://www.johnnyspizza.com/home.php

It's a chain/franchise operation, but the recipes and name came from a single location independent here in my hometown of Syracuse NY. It was the first really good pizza I ever tried, back when they opened in Syracuse in 1973, and I drove deliveries for them for awhile. The original is still open and still making a great, classic NYC/Staten island style pie. I'm curious to know if the quality survived the trip south and the corporate growth. It's not coal oven or "artisanal", but the local one here is still a great rendition of classic NYC slice pie (which is hard to find in NYC these days ind decent quality.)

@HeartofGlass - TJ's is not remotely close to Wegman's in any way. Picture a place no more than 1/10 to 1/15 the size of Wegman's, with a cherry picked selection of key "upscale items", most private labeled, and the majority at prices well below what Wegman's or Whole Foods would charge for the branded version of a similar product.

Short version: If you know what Aldi's is... just picture a store about 2X the size, same concept, but with upscale stuff instead of commodity items. TJ's and Aldi's have the same parent company.

You might find a good quality baking chocolate - far better than Baker's Best but not quite as good as Vahlrona or Scharfen-Berger... but at 40% less than the "name" brands. Ditto for specialty nuts, dried fruits organic salsa, certain cheeses etc. In general, the products are not better than you'll find at Wegman's or WF, and the selection is limited - but if they have stuff in categories you happen to like - there are bargains to be had.

Chocolate covered coffee beans? Yes - they'll have them at about $6 per pound vs the $10 to $12 you'll pay everywhere else.

I can no longer get this breakfast where I live (central NY state), as the one Jamaican place that was open for breakfast is now long gone, but I love salted codfish with ackee and some collaloo on the side. More recently I tried bananas and mackerel as a breakfast dish that can be made with more readily available ingredients. The Jamaican migrant workers who pick fruit in our local apple orchards make this as a breakfast dish and I had a chance to try some. Very tasty.

If you are still brewing from a can of coffee purchased last year (that's what your posts states), then I think you may be less fussy than many of us are. I've never been a fan of Starbucks coffee because there's a burnt undertone to the flavor profile. The Pike Place is less offensive to me than their darker heavier-bodied roasts but still not pleasant to drink. If you want a reasonably priced supermarket coffee then try Eight O'Clock French Roast. I think it's better than Starbucks and it's about $3 per pound cheaper.

Not sure where you are located in TX but if you can find some fresh coffee roasted by Brown Coffee of San Antonio, then I think you will be in for a pleasant surprise. I roast my own and also buy from some independent roasters including Stumptown, Ecco Caffe, Intelligentsia, and Counter Culture. Most of my consumption is espresso but lately I've been brewing a Honduran Tortuga from Intelligentsia and it's spectacular - very fruity, rich, and the taste keeps getting more complex as it cools off. I've also been a enjoying a Yemen Haimi that I roasted myself a few months back and froze. It's a bit wild and very complex - not everyone's ideal cup but I love it.

Two suggestions:

1) Buy a good quality burr grinder - a Solis electric at about $100 - $110 or a Hario or Zassenhaus manual hand model at about $45 - $75. Start buying whole bean coffee and grinding fresh before brewing each batch. It is the single biggest improvement anyone can make to their home brewed coffee (other than buying better quality beans)

2) Split up the newly acquired fresh roasted whole bean coffee into individual zip-loc freezer bags - each with enough coffee for a couple days worth of brewing. Freeze and then pull a bag at a time out the night before you need it. fresh whole bean coffee will stay in pretty good shape for about six months if you do this.

I'd be more inclined to trust in how it tastes than whether an MRI shows a difference in penetration.

Matouk's Caribbean hot sauce. Funky green yellow color and a texture a bit like a thin marmalade. It has Habanero pepper and mango among other things. Very, very hot but with plenty of flavor.