August 28, 2008
From Serious Eats
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 27, 2008 at 5:45 PM
Sure, it's a rundown of the best rotisserie bird joints in Los Angeles, but everyone can benefit from the tips this article lays out on what to look for in a spinning chicken.
Golden Chicken Rule No. 3: Go at peak hours. Be there when the place is operating at full tilt even if you are not planning to eat your chicken right then. Don't go at 3 in the afternoon to find two lonely birds circling the chicken Ferris wheel probably since 11 a.m.
You won't catch me clucking about this advice.
Related: I Like to ______ With Leftover Rotisserie Chicken
From Slice
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 27, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Photograph by *sim* on Flickr
You've heard of wood-oven and coal-oven pizza, but now there's lava-rock-oven pizza. In Princeton, New Jersey, next to the Sam's Club there, is a pizzeria using an oven filled with lava rock, in an attempt to achieve superhot, even cooking temps. New Jersey Monthly has the deets on Magma Pizza:
Order a slice, and you’ll get a strange oval shaped thin crusted pizza. Try it, and you’ll realize [owner Gabe Mahayni] may just have found the secret. The pizza is light from the grill, no grease or drip, just great flavor so each bite leaves you wanting more. The pies are round, and compellingly fresh as well. The calzones, and everything else is constructed before your eyes, and ready in a flash.
Magma Pizza
445 Nassau Park Boulevard, Princeton NJ 08540 (map)
609-452-8383
magmapizza.net
From Serious Eats
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."
From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 27, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Of all the New York City lines I've waited in, Nathan's, in Coney Island, has to be the worst.
The line at the Shake Shack is long but efficient, though in the end, you get a damn fine burger.
Di Fara's "line" (which is really more of a "crush") is long and inefficient, but at least you get the Dom DeMarco Show while waiting and some damn fine pizza as a result.
Lines at Magnolia? Whatever. For all its charms, Sex and the City never held that much sway with me, and I refuse to wait even two minutes for a cupcake.
Lines at Nathan's are something else entirely. There are multiple queues, and you never seem to pick the right one. Some are long, and some are short. They are all inefficient. The view is unremarkable at best (a dirty and shuttered Surf Avenue) and unpleasant at worst (a shirtless guy's sweaty back). And in the end, you get a nothing-special hot dog that costs $3.25.
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From Slice
Posted by Daniel Zemans, August 27, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Burt's Place
8541 North Ferris Avenue, Morton Grove IL 60053 (map); 847-965-7997
Pizza Style: Deep-dish
The Skinny: Run by the iconic Burt Katz, a legend in Chicago pizzadom, Burt's Place features a deep-dish pie with a caramelized crust similar to Pequod's (no surprise, as Katz founded that pizzeria as well). There's a little too much caramelization going on and less cheese than is normal in most deep-dish pies, but Burt's is still worth checking out.
Burt Katz, creator of the caramelized crust, is probably the best known pizza chef in Chicago. In his career, he has owned four different pizzerias here. Inferno was already established in Evanston when Katz bought into it in 1963. Two years later, Katz sold Inferno (which no longer exists), and opened Gulliver's in Rogers Park on the city's far north side. In 1971, he was done with Gulliver's (which is still open) and opened Pequod's (reviewed here on Slice), which he kept for 15 years before burning out and selling it. In 1989, he had the pizza itch again and opened Burt's Place in Morton Grove, where he and his wife, Sharon, have been making and serving pizzas (usually with no help) for nearly 20 years.
Unlike most legendary pizza chefs, Katz did not travel throughout Italy, work his way up under a master pizza-maker, grow up in a family pizza business, or even go to culinary school. All he did was develop a very good crust; use high-quality, fresh ingredients; and proceed to turn out pizza after outstanding pizza for the next 45 years and counting. How iconic has Katz become? When Saveur magazine devoted an issue to Chicago, it put a slice of Burt's pie on the cover. The folks at LTH Forum, which in my opinion is the best website out there related to food in Chicago, have anointed Burt's Place as one of their Great Neighborhood Restaurants.
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From A Hamburger Today
Posted by JWFROMNJ, August 27, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Editor's Note: A few weeks ago, J. G. Wallace, a former food-service professional, avid cook, devout foodie, and newspaper food writer, contacted AHT about Powers Hamburgers in Fort Wayne, Indiana. "Powers is an often overlooked player on the slider scene," he wrote. "They come very close to Hackensack's White Manna, and I am qualified to say that since I grew up in Bergen County, New Jersey. My wife is from Fort Wayne and we now live 20 miles outside of Fort Wayne. I went to Powers and got some great pics, and enjoyed what many locals call onion burgers with meat. Would you be interested in a write-up?" Of course we were, and here it is. Thank you, J. G.! Burgermeisters, have at it!
Powers Hamburgers
1402 S Harrison Street, Fort Wayne IN 46802; (at West Brackenridge Street; map); 260-422-6620
The Short Order: The approximately 2-ounce sliders are generously topped with grilled onions and optional American cheese (nothing else), and served on a potato roll.
Price: Hamburger, $0.85 (double, $1.60); cheeseburger, $0.95 (double, $1.80)
By J. G. Wallace | What I am about to write may seem like burger blasphemy to some of AHT's readers, but as a New Jersey native, burger fanatic, and obsessive "foodie," I'm prepared to say Powers Hamburgers in Fort Wayne, Indiana compares very well to White Manna in Hackensack, New Jersey, both in terms of the actual slider, atmosphere, and overall experience. Is it possible, you ask, for there to be a Nirvana-like hamburger experience in a mid-sized Midwestern city best known to many Americans as the home of M*A*S*H's Major Frank Burns? To be fair, Fort Wayne also hosted the first night baseball game under lights, was the former home of the Detroit Pistons—then called the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons—and once had a mayor named Harry Baals (you can't make this stuff up).
More Than 60 Years of History
Before you say it's not possible for a Hoosier slider shack to be compared to one of America's best and most famous burgers, just talk a walk with me to 1402 South Harrison Street in downtown Fort Wayne. It's in the old downtown business district, across the street from the U.S. District Federal Courthouse. Over the years many businesses have moved away from the center city as the city expanded, but Powers Hamburgers has stood steadfast since 1940. The small white Art Deco style building with black trim and black and white awnings hasn't changed much since it opened. The Powers Hamburger story begins in that same period of burger history that spawned places like White Manna, along with White Mana in Jersey City, White Castle, and the slider in general.
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From Serious Eats
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 27, 2008 at 7:30 AM
Starbucks is trying out its new Clover brewing system in Beantown. The Clover is the $11,000 coffee machine that uses vacuum-press technology and computerized brewing cycles custom-calibrated to bean type to make single-pour cups of joe. The machine is lauded by coffee geeks, who say it brings out subtle flavors that are masked by conventional brewing methods.
The Boston Globe says about 30 Starbucks locations in the Boston area will get the units for testing, debuting there September 9. It's of particular interest to the company to test in Boston, as the city is rival Dunkin' Donuts' home turf. Clovers debuted yesterday in Seattle and will also appear in San Francisco on an unspecified date.
But you don't have to wait till your Starbucks gets one. There a a number of independent coffee shops worldwide (but mostly in the U.S.) that have them. Find one near you and try it.
Have you tried a Clover-brewed cuppa joe? I've tried a few bean varieties at a coffee shop near my house. So far, I actually could taste hints of blueberry in an Ethiopian bean I had but found a couple of the other varieties I tried too bitter. (I'm sorry, I can't remember which ones at the moment.)
Also note: Clover-brewed cups are way more expensive than typical drip coffee. Some people find it worth it, others don't. I'm on the fence. It's a nice treat once in a while. Do you or would you shell out the bucks for it?
From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Ed Levine, August 26, 2008 at 11:30 PM
Photographs by Robyn Lee
Sushi Azabu
428 Greenwich Street, New York NY 10013 (between Vestry and Laight streets; map); 212-274-0428
Service: Very attentive, if you're one of the only people at the sushi bar
Compare It To: Blue Ribbon Sushi, Sushisay
Must-Haves: Red snapper collar, medium fatty tuna
Cost: A minimum of $75, if you want the best-quality fish
Grade: B
In New York, the search for the perfect sushi meal—not too expensive, the highest-quality fish, perfect sushi rice—is like the search for the Holy Grail. That's because sushi restaurants and experiences tend to fall into two distinct boxes, moderately priced sushi palaces like Tomoe Sushi, and high-end orgasm-inducing sushi establishments like Kuruma Zushi, Sushi Yasuda, and, of course, Masa.
So when I started reading a lot of internet chatter about, yes, another "secret, under-the-radar" sushi joint with no sign frequented by Japanese business people, I must admit it piqued my interest. Blog posts touting Sushi Azabu had the sushi chef at the highly regarded 15 East sending his customers to Sushi Azabu.
A tip from a highly skilled sushi chef was all I needed to hear.
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From Serious Eats
Posted by Allison Hemler, August 26, 2008 at 5:30 PM
Photograph by roboppy on Flickr.
Aggressive olive farming techniques for cheap, mass-produced olive oil now means extreme water shortages in Italy, Greece, Spain, and Portugal. Farms that produce the low-priced oils are driving out the small olive farmers who produce the quality goods—and are also leading to other "serious environmental problems" such as soil erosion.
Inappropriate weed-control and soil control, combined with the inherently high risk of erosion in many olive-farming areas, is leading to desertification on a wide scale in some of the main producing regions.
If these irresponsible farming methods continue, we might be demanding for butter instead of olive oil at our favorite restaurants.
From Serious Eats
Mike Steinberger at Slate reports on quality French winemakers who have been rejected by the disorganized government-run AOC system: "More and more, the market is treating AOC status as simply a geographic indication—a wine's birth certificate. French officialdom should do likewise."
From Serious Eats
Posted by Carey Jones, August 26, 2008 at 11:15 AM
So often, the key to the perfect meal is simplicity.
On Nantucket Island, the Straight Wharf Fish Store is a local's one-stop shop for all things aquatic: lobsters, scallops, and cod just out of the waters outside. Resident fishmaster Walter (with a Red Sox cap on and a matching accent) supplies the freshest of the day’s catch to professional and amateur chefs alike. But he doesn’t just sell by the pound—he’ll fry you lunch right there on the dock.
Soft shell crab sandwich; fish sandwich.
The soft shell crab sandwich:
1. Procure crab. 2. Fry in pan. 3. Put on bun.
Or the radically different fish sandwich:
1. Fillet fish, usually cod. 2. Fry in pan. 3. Put on bun.
Tuna sandwich, swordfish sandwich—you get the idea. On a butter-toasted roll, with a glob of homemade tartar sauce and a few salty chips, it’s the best lunch in town. Especially when enjoyed on the dockside picnic tables right out the door. Just watch out for the seagulls. (They get mean when jealous.)
Straight Wharf Fish Store
4 Harbor Square, Nantucket MA 02554 (map)
508-228-1095
From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Nick Solares, August 26, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Apple Pan
10801 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90064 (map); 310-475-3585
The Short Order: Plump, succulent, and tender quarter pound burgers made with toasted, squishy buns are generously topped with lettuce, cheese, pickles, and mayonnaise. They're arguably the finest example of the California-style burger
Want Fries with That? Crispy and delicious, they're worth getting
Notes: Closed on Mondays. Tue.-Thu. and Sun., 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Back in 2005 Hamburger Hadley reported on the the venerable Apple Pan in West Los Angeles. It has since been featured in George Motz's Hamburger America—rumor has it that the idea for Motz's film and subsequent book originated at Apple Pan's counter over a burger. As the newest member of the AHT staff, I considered it a rite of passage to make Apple Pan a destination when I recently visited Los Angeles.
An Eatery That Takes You Back in Time
Nothing has changed since Hadley's visit—the Apple Pan remains exactly as he described. In fact, I doubt that much has changed at the Apple Pan since it opened back in 1947. At that time the Apple Pan was surrounded by the citrus groves and family farms that blanketed the undulating terrain of what was then rural West Los Angeles. A riding stable used to be located just across the street—a lady that I struck up conversation with at the counter remembers taking lessons there as a child and then heading over to the Apple Pan for burgers. She confirmed that absolutely nothing has changed at the simple ranch-style building in the ensuing years. On the other hand, almost everything else in the vicinity has transformed from rural to urban—the massive Westwood Pavilion Mall located across the street towers above the Apple Pan and rows of houses have replaced the rows of orchards.
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