By no means am I going to bitch about the fact that I've been going balls to the wall since we've been back from San Francisco. Remember all the wonderful things I was going to share from our trip to San Francisco? Yeah, well it's taken a back seat to a) getting primer on the outside of my unpainted home before it gets too cold to do so, and b) the perfect work storm comprised of a finishing one project, starting two more, and traveling like a son-of-a-b.
The bride is actually flying out tomorrow and meeting me in Philly for the weekend. BTW, feel free to rob my house, everything of value is either on a plane to the east coast or is being cared for by my mother-in-law. One caveat: you'll have to get past my neighbors watchful eye. She sees and hears ALL.
If I have any regrets, it's that October has been so full of stuff that I really haven't had the opportunity to cook much during, this, my favorite time of year. In fact, I haven't had time to get my hair cut. I'm beginning to resemble Chewbacca. (Damn, Chewy hasn't made it spell check.)
Just a few quick notes:
Due to the fact that I have this fear that something might happen to me on one of my trips, Regina and I always go out to eat or do something special before I leave. Actually, this time we were both leaving on Sunday - she to San Diego and I to Boston. At any rate, we went to Downtown 140 and I'm happy to report that the place is in the very capable hands of Don Triskett. If you go, you have got to try the Ohio Pork Chops with smoked sweet potato , crisp pork belly, brussels sprouts, cider reduction. My good food karma came through for me big time. Every component of this dish was excellent on its own, but screamed "fall on a dish" when put together. I'd like to think I make good pork chops, but these were phenomenal.
I'm not as high on Michael Symon as others are, but I was very sorry to hear that Bar Symon will close this weekend. Of all of his restaurants this was my favorite. I thought it was a good value and the menu - although relatively small - was comprised of stuff I like to eat. The fried chicken was the cat's ass. I certainly hope that shows up again soon. I think the other shitty part to this whole saga is that those who live in that immediate area are going to continue to have to drive for good grub -sucks big time for them.
The next time we meet, I should be able to stay home for an entire week and actually post some stuff for a change.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Pinkarons (Pink Macarons) for Breast Cancer Awareness Month
By: Mrs. Dino-O-Mite!
This month is my first foray into the MacTweets Mac Attack Challenge. When I saw that we were to make pinkarons (pink macarons) in honor of October being breast cancer awareness month, I was instantly inspired! I got the lofty goal in my head to make macarons in the shape of the pink breast cancer awareness ribbons. As you can see I eeked out one set before deciding that it was harder than it looked and reverted back to “traditional” round macarons.
The filling for these pink gems is comprised of butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and my favorite mixed berry jam. The addition of the jam to the frosting created the prettiest pale purple-pink color!
So, here’s to my mom, aunts, grandmother and women everywhere who’ve been affected by breast cancer. Make sure you get your mammograms and keep up with regular visits to your doctor. You can find out more info here and here.
This month is my first foray into the MacTweets Mac Attack Challenge. When I saw that we were to make pinkarons (pink macarons) in honor of October being breast cancer awareness month, I was instantly inspired! I got the lofty goal in my head to make macarons in the shape of the pink breast cancer awareness ribbons. As you can see I eeked out one set before deciding that it was harder than it looked and reverted back to “traditional” round macarons.
The filling for these pink gems is comprised of butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and my favorite mixed berry jam. The addition of the jam to the frosting created the prettiest pale purple-pink color!So, here’s to my mom, aunts, grandmother and women everywhere who’ve been affected by breast cancer. Make sure you get your mammograms and keep up with regular visits to your doctor. You can find out more info here and here.
This Ain't Your Father's Vietnam
Make sure to check here for more San Francisco posts
There are some things that have been written, and written, and written about - The Slanted Door is one of them. There is no shortage of people who have shared their blow by blow accounts about the intricacies of the night's experiences. If this is your sort of thing you can read here, here (called Yummo! *eyes rolling*), and here. They appear to be very detailed and photographed.
The Slanted Door, in case you haven't been, is a sleek Vietnamese eatery located on the water, at the Ferry Building. The Slanted Door is to San Francisco what Babbo (or Babbo's, as my boss calls it) is to New York City. The reservations are a pain, word among the city's visitors is out (and has been for quite some time), and the prices are commensurate with its reputation and locale. (Most people fail to factor in that a view of the water with the Bay Bridge twinkling in the background doesn't exactly come for free.)
The Million+ Dollar View from Outdoor Patio
As an appetizer we ordered the Barbecued Willis Ranch Pork Spareribs with honey-hoisin sauce which made my Top 10 Things I Consumed in SF list. These were perfectly cooked and had a nice crispy skin to go with the firm but tender pork lightly coated in the sweet sauce.
Still partially full from our lunch at Tony's Pizza Napoletana we opted for one more appetizer (Grilled Pork Sausage Stuffed Monterey Squid with cilantro, basil, chili and lime), and one entree (Cellophane Noodles with fresh dungeness crab meat). This squid was a very well balanced dish that knocked back the spiciness of the sausage and chili with the acidity of the lime and coolness of the herbs.
My least favorite was the muted flavors of the noodles and crab. There wasn't a whole lot of crab - but then again I didn't expect there to be at $18.
Is The Slanted Door worth a visit? I think it is - even if you only go there once. While the prices are not exactly cheap, it isn't prohibitively expensive. Location, views, and decor all cost money, and when you have packed house most nights it makes it that much easier to charge a premium.
The Slanted Door
1 Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 861-8032
www.slanteddoor.com
There are some things that have been written, and written, and written about - The Slanted Door is one of them. There is no shortage of people who have shared their blow by blow accounts about the intricacies of the night's experiences. If this is your sort of thing you can read here, here (called Yummo! *eyes rolling*), and here. They appear to be very detailed and photographed.
The Slanted Door, in case you haven't been, is a sleek Vietnamese eatery located on the water, at the Ferry Building. The Slanted Door is to San Francisco what Babbo (or Babbo's, as my boss calls it) is to New York City. The reservations are a pain, word among the city's visitors is out (and has been for quite some time), and the prices are commensurate with its reputation and locale. (Most people fail to factor in that a view of the water with the Bay Bridge twinkling in the background doesn't exactly come for free.)
The Million+ Dollar View from Outdoor PatioStill partially full from our lunch at Tony's Pizza Napoletana we opted for one more appetizer (Grilled Pork Sausage Stuffed Monterey Squid with cilantro, basil, chili and lime), and one entree (Cellophane Noodles with fresh dungeness crab meat). This squid was a very well balanced dish that knocked back the spiciness of the sausage and chili with the acidity of the lime and coolness of the herbs.
My least favorite was the muted flavors of the noodles and crab. There wasn't a whole lot of crab - but then again I didn't expect there to be at $18.
Is The Slanted Door worth a visit? I think it is - even if you only go there once. While the prices are not exactly cheap, it isn't prohibitively expensive. Location, views, and decor all cost money, and when you have packed house most nights it makes it that much easier to charge a premium.
The Slanted Door
1 Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 861-8032
www.slanteddoor.com
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Tony's Pizza Napoletana
Make sure to check here for more San Francisco posts
There was a time that you could count on one hand the number of establishments cranking out wood fired Neapolitan pizza. In Peter Reinhart's book American Pie the only Neapolitan that is referred to is Pizzetta 211. [It should be noted when I took Reinhart's class back in June he said it probably wasn't worth the trip to solely try the pizza - they aren't exactly located in the thick of things.]
In Ed Levine's book Slice of Heaven, exactly three San Francisco pizzerias are mentioned (A16 which was closed for remodeling, the previously mentioned Pizzetta 211, and Tommaso's which didn't exactly get a ringing endorsement by Levine).
As I looked at the travel map that we had been compiling over the course of the last year, I found myself saying, "For a place that doesn't have much in the way of pizza, there sure are a bunch of pizza places on this map." Our first stop was going to be Tony's Pizza Napoletana.
Apologies for the lame picture. I accidentally erased the originals.
Tony Gemignani's restaurant is actually right next door and connected to Tony's Coal-Fired Pizza and Slice House. Between the two establishments he cranks out like five different styles of pizza (Classic American, Classic Italian, Roman, Sicilian, and Napoletana).
For me the attraction was that Gemignani had actually won the 2007 Best Pizza Margherita in the World Pizza Cup in, get this, Naples, Italy. He was the first American and non Neapolitan to ever win the award.
We arrived in San Francisco just in time for lunch...well....maybe the ass end of lunch. Since there wasn't a whole lot of eating going on during our morning flight, to imply we were starving when we landed would be an understatement.
We dropped our bags off at the the Le Petit Auberge and headed straight to North Beach (thankfully all downhill), to Tony's Pizza Napoletana. The restaurant ended up being about half a block from the hotel (Washington Square Inn), we stayed at the last time we were in SF.
The restaurant itself is certainly a casual place that welcomes both locals and tourists. The walls are lined with subway tile and the interior is tastefully decorated. There were thankfully no kitschy murals of Old Napoli painted on any of the walls. The restaurant is bisected by a wall, the wood fired oven and pizzaioli are on one side, the entrance and bar on the other. I would try to snag a table on the oven side of the restaurant.
As sacrilegious as it is, my wife is averse to pizza margherita. We wanted to order the truffle pizza but fell victim to the small window between white and black truffle season. They were willing to give us a pizza that was "truffle-esque" (sans truffles and instead drizzled with truffle oil) at a greatly reduced price. We instead ordered the New Yorker (muzz, hand crushed tomato sauce, pepperoni, sausage, ricotta, chopped garlic & oregano).
Since I lost out on the option to get the margherita I felt the abundance of toppings kind of overshadowed the dough. If there's one thing I noticed it's that Tony's garlic, whereever the hell it is from, brings the spice. I can't say for sure how much water I consumed that day, but the garlic was certainly whipping my ass all the way up to dinner.
The cornicione is texturally spot on. Each bite offers a soft pillowy mouth feel, with the light crisp that you would expect from being cooked in the high heat of a wood fired oven. My only criticism is that the dough hand a touch of blandness to it that I wasn't quite expecting.
My overall impression is that Tony's is certainly a worthy pizza destination. I found that the numerous pizza spots that I would stop at in the coming days would be as successful in putting together the total pizza like they did here at Tony's.
If you are putting together a pizza map (and I suggest you do), or even just a San Francisco eating map (which I also suggest you do), Tony's Pizza Napoletana needs to be put on both. I just wish I had more time, and stomach room to try the other four types of pizza.
Tony's Pizza Napoletana
1570 Stockton Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 835-9888
tonyspizzanapoletana.com/
Tony's Coal-Fired Pizza and Slice House
1556 Stockton St
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 835-9888
www.internationalschoolofpizza.com
There was a time that you could count on one hand the number of establishments cranking out wood fired Neapolitan pizza. In Peter Reinhart's book American Pie the only Neapolitan that is referred to is Pizzetta 211. [It should be noted when I took Reinhart's class back in June he said it probably wasn't worth the trip to solely try the pizza - they aren't exactly located in the thick of things.]
In Ed Levine's book Slice of Heaven, exactly three San Francisco pizzerias are mentioned (A16 which was closed for remodeling, the previously mentioned Pizzetta 211, and Tommaso's which didn't exactly get a ringing endorsement by Levine).
As I looked at the travel map that we had been compiling over the course of the last year, I found myself saying, "For a place that doesn't have much in the way of pizza, there sure are a bunch of pizza places on this map." Our first stop was going to be Tony's Pizza Napoletana.
Apologies for the lame picture. I accidentally erased the originals.For me the attraction was that Gemignani had actually won the 2007 Best Pizza Margherita in the World Pizza Cup in, get this, Naples, Italy. He was the first American and non Neapolitan to ever win the award.
We arrived in San Francisco just in time for lunch...well....maybe the ass end of lunch. Since there wasn't a whole lot of eating going on during our morning flight, to imply we were starving when we landed would be an understatement.
We dropped our bags off at the the Le Petit Auberge and headed straight to North Beach (thankfully all downhill), to Tony's Pizza Napoletana. The restaurant ended up being about half a block from the hotel (Washington Square Inn), we stayed at the last time we were in SF.
The restaurant itself is certainly a casual place that welcomes both locals and tourists. The walls are lined with subway tile and the interior is tastefully decorated. There were thankfully no kitschy murals of Old Napoli painted on any of the walls. The restaurant is bisected by a wall, the wood fired oven and pizzaioli are on one side, the entrance and bar on the other. I would try to snag a table on the oven side of the restaurant.
As sacrilegious as it is, my wife is averse to pizza margherita. We wanted to order the truffle pizza but fell victim to the small window between white and black truffle season. They were willing to give us a pizza that was "truffle-esque" (sans truffles and instead drizzled with truffle oil) at a greatly reduced price. We instead ordered the New Yorker (muzz, hand crushed tomato sauce, pepperoni, sausage, ricotta, chopped garlic & oregano).
Since I lost out on the option to get the margherita I felt the abundance of toppings kind of overshadowed the dough. If there's one thing I noticed it's that Tony's garlic, whereever the hell it is from, brings the spice. I can't say for sure how much water I consumed that day, but the garlic was certainly whipping my ass all the way up to dinner.
The cornicione is texturally spot on. Each bite offers a soft pillowy mouth feel, with the light crisp that you would expect from being cooked in the high heat of a wood fired oven. My only criticism is that the dough hand a touch of blandness to it that I wasn't quite expecting.
My overall impression is that Tony's is certainly a worthy pizza destination. I found that the numerous pizza spots that I would stop at in the coming days would be as successful in putting together the total pizza like they did here at Tony's.
If you are putting together a pizza map (and I suggest you do), or even just a San Francisco eating map (which I also suggest you do), Tony's Pizza Napoletana needs to be put on both. I just wish I had more time, and stomach room to try the other four types of pizza.
Tony's Pizza Napoletana
1570 Stockton Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 835-9888
tonyspizzanapoletana.com/
Tony's Coal-Fired Pizza and Slice House
1556 Stockton St
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 835-9888
www.internationalschoolofpizza.com
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Bites in the Heights Pt II
Make sure to check here for more Cleveland posts
Since I really didn't feel like making the last Bites in Heights post 14 miles long, I decided to just break the thing up into two parts. I find that three is about the limit before people start to say, "You know, I'm getting tired reading this stuff, damn. How many is he going to cram in here?" So here's the smaller portion of the two part post that I think might be more interesting than the previous one.
Anybody here ever heard of a place called Melt Bar & Grilled? Oh, you have?
Did you hear they have a new location on the east side? You know that, too?
Then I don't have to tell you about the wait? Or how Guy Fieri drove the final nail in coffin?
Well, this isn't a review about all that stuff. Quite frankly, I've decided to game the system...sort of. You see, I haven't actually eaten at the east side location since it opened. I have, however, waited in line for carry-out.
For me the sandwiches are just way too much food to eat - even for dinner. I actually like the soups and vegetarian sides that Matt Fish and his staff put together. Melt does a fantastic job of providing daily updates of their specials on Facebook. They've been doing some fantastic glazes with snow peas. The servings are enough for two people.
Some have completely written off Melt, but I feel the specials are worth ordering to go (just call ahead a half hour before you plan to pick it up).
Melt Bar & Grilled
13463 Cedar Rd
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 965-0988
www.meltbarandgrilled.com
If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I'm always looking for decent hot dog places. The Dog House over in Coventry puts out as good a Chicago dog as I've had here in Cleveland. Cooked on the flat top, these dogs are the best I've had on the east side. There's also an Italian beef sandwich that is served here that I've heard good things about, but haven't tried. I will say I'm not a fan of the fries.
The Dog House
2767 Euclid Heights Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106
(216) 321-0717
I've been making regular stops at Mama Joyce's while out for lunch. The specials they offer are extremely reasonable. The fried chicken is a favorite of mine. Mama Joyce's does a lot of fried chicken and fish, but unlike Angie's, they do a very good job of ventilating their kitchen.
I will note that this is more a carry out place. I talked to Jeff their cook and he had was doing ribs on Sundays for a period of time. I've included a scan of the cards with the menu. If you're in the neighborhood you've got to give this little place try.
Mama Joyce's Soul Food Cafe
2238 Lee Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 371-3100
Since I really didn't feel like making the last Bites in Heights post 14 miles long, I decided to just break the thing up into two parts. I find that three is about the limit before people start to say, "You know, I'm getting tired reading this stuff, damn. How many is he going to cram in here?" So here's the smaller portion of the two part post that I think might be more interesting than the previous one.
Anybody here ever heard of a place called Melt Bar & Grilled? Oh, you have?
Did you hear they have a new location on the east side? You know that, too?
Then I don't have to tell you about the wait? Or how Guy Fieri drove the final nail in coffin?
Well, this isn't a review about all that stuff. Quite frankly, I've decided to game the system...sort of. You see, I haven't actually eaten at the east side location since it opened. I have, however, waited in line for carry-out.
For me the sandwiches are just way too much food to eat - even for dinner. I actually like the soups and vegetarian sides that Matt Fish and his staff put together. Melt does a fantastic job of providing daily updates of their specials on Facebook. They've been doing some fantastic glazes with snow peas. The servings are enough for two people.
Some have completely written off Melt, but I feel the specials are worth ordering to go (just call ahead a half hour before you plan to pick it up).
Melt Bar & Grilled
13463 Cedar Rd
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 965-0988
www.meltbarandgrilled.com
If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I'm always looking for decent hot dog places. The Dog House over in Coventry puts out as good a Chicago dog as I've had here in Cleveland. Cooked on the flat top, these dogs are the best I've had on the east side. There's also an Italian beef sandwich that is served here that I've heard good things about, but haven't tried. I will say I'm not a fan of the fries.
The Dog House
2767 Euclid Heights Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106
(216) 321-0717
I've been making regular stops at Mama Joyce's while out for lunch. The specials they offer are extremely reasonable. The fried chicken is a favorite of mine. Mama Joyce's does a lot of fried chicken and fish, but unlike Angie's, they do a very good job of ventilating their kitchen.
I will note that this is more a carry out place. I talked to Jeff their cook and he had was doing ribs on Sundays for a period of time. I've included a scan of the cards with the menu. If you're in the neighborhood you've got to give this little place try.
Mama Joyce's Soul Food Cafe
2238 Lee Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 371-3100
Monday, October 4, 2010
The Anatomy of a Food Vacation
There was a time that my work space at home was nothing but piles of magazines containing endless bookmarks on places of interest for out-of-town dining or food related stops:
I found that one of the biggest downfalls to pile making was the disorganization of it all. You've been hoarding this information for months, if not longer. The end result is a lot of piles: you've got a San Francisco pile (huge), an NYC pile (also huge), a Portland pile, and a miscellaneous pile of random places that were totally mixed together. So you're ready to head out of town to San Francisco and the week before you leave, you decide to start sifting through all of your Bay Area stuff. After ten minutes you've slogged about a quarter of the way through this insane stack of shit and decide maybe you should pack first. Realizing you don't really want to do that either - you choose to do the logical thing and go on Chowhound to look for more stuff.
The night before your flight comes. You've now decided that you'd better get it together and develop some kind of itinerary. Paralyzed by the fact that you have no idea where these places are in relation to each other, and that the weather forecast says it's going to be in the 80's (yes the 80's in San Francisco) for the next five to seven days, you realize you are screwed. You have no idea where the hell your going or whether or not to put your complete trust in the weather man and pack *gulp* lots of warm weather clothes. You decide to do the next logical thing - wing it. It worked in college, right?
Afraid that the weather man was playing a joke of LeBron Jamesian proportions, you pack as though it's not going to be in the 80's for the next seven days (It wasn't. It was in the 90's for a couple of those days). You spend the next seven days walking up and down the streets of San Francisco going to shops you really don't feel like going to and eating at places you really don't feel like eating at. Not realizing that nowhere in this town will you find air conditioning, you end up spending the better part of a week suffering from a severe case of swamp ass. It's on the flight home that you begin to kick yourself knowing your trip could have been sooooo much better if you would have been able to dislodge your head from your ass long enough to make a sensible itinerary. If only you had your act together.
My New Year's resolution was to get myself organized. It's September...just in time for me to make good on that resolution.
It just so happened that during a brief [and by brief I mean no longer than a 4 to 90 minute] workday internet interlude - I stumbled upon the almighty Google Maps.This wondrous little tool allows you to catalog all of those little places that you see during the course of your magazine or newspaper reading, television watching, or internet trawling. Any possible scrap of pile making medium can be put into a map, with any kind of theme, for any kind of geographic area, complete with notes on how you found it and links to where you found out about it.
Google maps was about to make my travels a whole lot easier...
Feel free to watch the tutorial here.
You can actually collaborate with other people on maps, as well. Regina and I pretty much added and subtracted stuff from the San Francisco map over the course of the last few months. All you have to do is give the person permission to collaborate and you're ready to go. Maps can also be made public or private. Often times people will ask me where to go in certain cities and I just email them a link to the map so they can see it.
Sunshine and 88
As our trip got closer we began to organize the individual stores, restaurants, and activities into more localized areas so we could spend a day or two in a neighborhood instead of haphazardly crisscrossing the city. This turned out to be a huge time saver because you could see just how close or far apart some of these places really were.
You can organize it anyway you'd like, but we decided to do ours chronologically (see the left hand column of the screen). We basically organized it by day (only downside - I wish there was a way to put a header in between certain areas to separate them by day).
The chronological order worked out great when I opened it up on googlemymaps on my iphone. While mymaps on the iphone doesn't maintain the different icons you use on your regular Google map, it does locate all of them on a map so you can use it to navigate to those locations. There's also another app I've been playing around with called UpNext 3d that has some promise...too bad I found it after the trip.
I realize that most people aren't as fanatical as I am when it comes to this stuff, but I think regardless of whether you're a zealot or not, Google Maps is the perfect vacation planning tool.
This ended up being our map for last week's trip. Most anything near bottom of the list, we didn't get to, or was closed due to renovations or a day off. With the exception of Hawai'i (which is pretty damn easy to plan for due to the relatively small number of restaurants), this was by far our most organized and enjoyable vacation ever.
I would suggest viewing the larger map since smaller one is pretty hard to read.
View San Francisco in a larger map
- Page upon page of torn out magazine articles with dining suggestions
- Hand written notes showing where to get your hands on the greatest chicharrones ever created
- Scraps of paper vaguely outlining the existence of an ice cream shop named after characters from Are You Being Served? - selling a most interesting flavor called "Jesus Juice"
- Whole sheets of paper listing "The 150 Perfect Places to Have a Beer"...and we aren't even getting into all of the minutia that can be found on my hard drive.
I found that one of the biggest downfalls to pile making was the disorganization of it all. You've been hoarding this information for months, if not longer. The end result is a lot of piles: you've got a San Francisco pile (huge), an NYC pile (also huge), a Portland pile, and a miscellaneous pile of random places that were totally mixed together. So you're ready to head out of town to San Francisco and the week before you leave, you decide to start sifting through all of your Bay Area stuff. After ten minutes you've slogged about a quarter of the way through this insane stack of shit and decide maybe you should pack first. Realizing you don't really want to do that either - you choose to do the logical thing and go on Chowhound to look for more stuff.
The night before your flight comes. You've now decided that you'd better get it together and develop some kind of itinerary. Paralyzed by the fact that you have no idea where these places are in relation to each other, and that the weather forecast says it's going to be in the 80's (yes the 80's in San Francisco) for the next five to seven days, you realize you are screwed. You have no idea where the hell your going or whether or not to put your complete trust in the weather man and pack *gulp* lots of warm weather clothes. You decide to do the next logical thing - wing it. It worked in college, right?
Afraid that the weather man was playing a joke of LeBron Jamesian proportions, you pack as though it's not going to be in the 80's for the next seven days (It wasn't. It was in the 90's for a couple of those days). You spend the next seven days walking up and down the streets of San Francisco going to shops you really don't feel like going to and eating at places you really don't feel like eating at. Not realizing that nowhere in this town will you find air conditioning, you end up spending the better part of a week suffering from a severe case of swamp ass. It's on the flight home that you begin to kick yourself knowing your trip could have been sooooo much better if you would have been able to dislodge your head from your ass long enough to make a sensible itinerary. If only you had your act together.
My New Year's resolution was to get myself organized. It's September...just in time for me to make good on that resolution.
It just so happened that during a brief [and by brief I mean no longer than a 4 to 90 minute] workday internet interlude - I stumbled upon the almighty Google Maps.This wondrous little tool allows you to catalog all of those little places that you see during the course of your magazine or newspaper reading, television watching, or internet trawling. Any possible scrap of pile making medium can be put into a map, with any kind of theme, for any kind of geographic area, complete with notes on how you found it and links to where you found out about it.
Google maps was about to make my travels a whole lot easier...
Feel free to watch the tutorial here.
You can actually collaborate with other people on maps, as well. Regina and I pretty much added and subtracted stuff from the San Francisco map over the course of the last few months. All you have to do is give the person permission to collaborate and you're ready to go. Maps can also be made public or private. Often times people will ask me where to go in certain cities and I just email them a link to the map so they can see it.
Sunshine and 88You can organize it anyway you'd like, but we decided to do ours chronologically (see the left hand column of the screen). We basically organized it by day (only downside - I wish there was a way to put a header in between certain areas to separate them by day).
The chronological order worked out great when I opened it up on googlemymaps on my iphone. While mymaps on the iphone doesn't maintain the different icons you use on your regular Google map, it does locate all of them on a map so you can use it to navigate to those locations. There's also another app I've been playing around with called UpNext 3d that has some promise...too bad I found it after the trip.
I realize that most people aren't as fanatical as I am when it comes to this stuff, but I think regardless of whether you're a zealot or not, Google Maps is the perfect vacation planning tool.
This ended up being our map for last week's trip. Most anything near bottom of the list, we didn't get to, or was closed due to renovations or a day off. With the exception of Hawai'i (which is pretty damn easy to plan for due to the relatively small number of restaurants), this was by far our most organized and enjoyable vacation ever.
I would suggest viewing the larger map since smaller one is pretty hard to read.
View San Francisco in a larger map
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Quick Bites in the Heights
Make sure to check here for more Cleveland posts
Lately I've been more inclined to try places that I've driven past a hundred times, but never actually stopped at. I've heard about the patio at Lopez Bar and Grill as being an exceptional place to enjoy a margarita on a balmy summer evening. A Touch of Italy sits across Chagrin Blvd from the Heinen's I go to every week - yet I've never stopped. Mama Joyce's Soul Food serves daily lunch specials during the week with prices that give you serious pause for thought. Clyde's Bistro & Barroom has - to the dismay of some and the glee of others - received a face lift. All worthy candidates, yet repeatedly jilted.
There are no more excuses. Step aside Menu 6 (some big time restaurant.com deals here). You'll have to wait Dante. Chinato? Back of the line.
It's time to roll up my sleeves, crawl into the mine, and dig up some diamonds.
Clyde's Bistro & Barroom is an old dining car that has been recently updated and perhaps gussied up a bit from its past incarnations. Judging by what I had read there were some mixed opinions on what they had done to the old lady. Admittedly I had never seen the building dressed in the clothes of her former self, but I will say that the food here does match the decor. Clearly the whole diner thing was not working at the location. In the end it is about making money.
Clyde's serves a similar menu to what you might find at Champp's (yeah, they're special - they get two p's). The menu is a full on mixture of american and comfort foods. Portions are large enough to where a normal person is able to finish their entree and not feel like they just gained ten pounds. Not that there are to0 many patio kind of days left, but Clyde's does offer a patio that is pleasantly guarded from the traffic noise on Lee Rd.
On the night we went, the median age appeared to be somewhere in the range of 60-65. This isn't an dig on the establishment - just an observation. I'm hoping the place isn't empty in the winter when they all go to FLA.
I recommend the Cubana Panini. Should you feel so inclined to go there is a good deal on restaurant.com gift certificates for Clyde's here.
Clyde's Bistro & Barroom
1975 Lee Rd
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 321-7100
www.clydesbistrocleveland.com
I'm not sure why I've never felt the need to go to Lopez Bar and Grill at Cedar Lee, but the beautiful summer night presented the prime patio weather. Feeling the need to try something new, Regina suggested going to Lopez. She had never been - and neither had I - so Lopez it was.
The first thing I noticed as we walked through the front door was the decor. A southwest color scheme is put forth, but without all of the kitschy touches one would typically expect at a Mexican restaurant. The patio is integrated into the physical restaurant via opened doors and windows. Typically in Cleveland, the dining room and the patio are two very separate areas due to the cold weather we have here, but Lopez does a nice job of combining the two.
I don't remember her name but our server was very attentive. (You'd know her if you saw her because her arms were incredible for a woman her age. Just sayin'.) If I had any gripe it was that the margarita was a little skimpy for the price (half off from 5-9 on Tues. + Thurs). What wasn't skimpy was the unbelievable size of the guacamole sampler. This behemoth of an appetizer consists of traditional, bacon + pineapple, and blue cheese + sage - my favorite being the bacon + pineapple. This could easily be shared by four people.
Arriving with eyes bigger than my stomach and ordering my entree before I saw the size of the appetizer, I went with the pulled pork "wet burritos". This combination of spicy pork, black beans, and jack cheese was presented in such a way that there was a good ratio of meat to tortilla. Nothing makes a carnivore angrier than an out of whack M:T ratio that is heavily skewed toward T. Combined with the appetizer and a skimpy margarita, the burritos tested my stomach's bounds and made for a beautiful summer night.
Lopez Bar and Grill
2196 Lee Rd
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 932-9000
www.lopezonlee.com
Lately I've been more inclined to try places that I've driven past a hundred times, but never actually stopped at. I've heard about the patio at Lopez Bar and Grill as being an exceptional place to enjoy a margarita on a balmy summer evening. A Touch of Italy sits across Chagrin Blvd from the Heinen's I go to every week - yet I've never stopped. Mama Joyce's Soul Food serves daily lunch specials during the week with prices that give you serious pause for thought. Clyde's Bistro & Barroom has - to the dismay of some and the glee of others - received a face lift. All worthy candidates, yet repeatedly jilted.
There are no more excuses. Step aside Menu 6 (some big time restaurant.com deals here). You'll have to wait Dante. Chinato? Back of the line.
It's time to roll up my sleeves, crawl into the mine, and dig up some diamonds.
Clyde's Bistro & Barroom is an old dining car that has been recently updated and perhaps gussied up a bit from its past incarnations. Judging by what I had read there were some mixed opinions on what they had done to the old lady. Admittedly I had never seen the building dressed in the clothes of her former self, but I will say that the food here does match the decor. Clearly the whole diner thing was not working at the location. In the end it is about making money.
Clyde's serves a similar menu to what you might find at Champp's (yeah, they're special - they get two p's). The menu is a full on mixture of american and comfort foods. Portions are large enough to where a normal person is able to finish their entree and not feel like they just gained ten pounds. Not that there are to0 many patio kind of days left, but Clyde's does offer a patio that is pleasantly guarded from the traffic noise on Lee Rd.
On the night we went, the median age appeared to be somewhere in the range of 60-65. This isn't an dig on the establishment - just an observation. I'm hoping the place isn't empty in the winter when they all go to FLA.
I recommend the Cubana Panini. Should you feel so inclined to go there is a good deal on restaurant.com gift certificates for Clyde's here.
Clyde's Bistro & Barroom
1975 Lee Rd
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 321-7100
www.clydesbistrocleveland.com
I'm not sure why I've never felt the need to go to Lopez Bar and Grill at Cedar Lee, but the beautiful summer night presented the prime patio weather. Feeling the need to try something new, Regina suggested going to Lopez. She had never been - and neither had I - so Lopez it was.
The first thing I noticed as we walked through the front door was the decor. A southwest color scheme is put forth, but without all of the kitschy touches one would typically expect at a Mexican restaurant. The patio is integrated into the physical restaurant via opened doors and windows. Typically in Cleveland, the dining room and the patio are two very separate areas due to the cold weather we have here, but Lopez does a nice job of combining the two.
I don't remember her name but our server was very attentive. (You'd know her if you saw her because her arms were incredible for a woman her age. Just sayin'.) If I had any gripe it was that the margarita was a little skimpy for the price (half off from 5-9 on Tues. + Thurs). What wasn't skimpy was the unbelievable size of the guacamole sampler. This behemoth of an appetizer consists of traditional, bacon + pineapple, and blue cheese + sage - my favorite being the bacon + pineapple. This could easily be shared by four people.
Arriving with eyes bigger than my stomach and ordering my entree before I saw the size of the appetizer, I went with the pulled pork "wet burritos". This combination of spicy pork, black beans, and jack cheese was presented in such a way that there was a good ratio of meat to tortilla. Nothing makes a carnivore angrier than an out of whack M:T ratio that is heavily skewed toward T. Combined with the appetizer and a skimpy margarita, the burritos tested my stomach's bounds and made for a beautiful summer night.
Lopez Bar and Grill
2196 Lee Rd
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 932-9000
www.lopezonlee.com
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Trattoria on the Hill
Make sure to check here for more Cleveland posts
First a pet peeve of mine: small parking lots where they insist on valeting the car and then park it ten steps away from the entrance to the restaurant. I understand if you want to charge me to park. That's fine, parking is at a premium in this area (not quite as bad as the North End of Boston), but they should be allowed to charge for the parking. BUT, when I finish dinner and have to wait behind two other parties when my car is so close I could fart on it - I get irritated. Just put somebody at the entrance to the parking lot (like they do at L'Albatros) and charge what you need to charge and be done with it .
I ordered the breaded veal special of the evening with a side of veg and pasta. The veal spent way too long in the fryer or pan or whatever they cooked it in. (Judging by the way it was breaded I'm guessing fryer.) Very tough and greasy. The pasta was cooked just the way I like it, but there was a TON of sauce on it. In general I think most of what they serve here is sauced with a very heavy hand. Giving them the benefit of the doubt; perhaps that's the way their customers prefer it, which in the end does have a major affect on what stays on the menu and how it's served.
Dessert had quite the selection: Cannoli, Cassatta Cake and the ubiquitous Tiramisu. With the wide variety at Presti's and the gelato at Anthony's (I recommend trying both), we decided to walk our dinner off and get some gelato.
My guess is the attraction at Trattoria on the Hill or Roman Gardens is that the food is your typical red sauce Italian American fare that everyone here in the US equates to as "Italian". Admittedly, Trattoria does serve up monster portions for a very affordable price. If you like that sort of meal then I think you will most certainly enjoy your visit here. I found the service to be very cordial and attentive - the waiter had the accent to boot If you're looking for something similar to what you'd find in Italy I'd keep looking. I'm always happy when a place is packed. It means some sector of the dining public is very happy with the food that's being served - even if it isn't my thing.
Trattoria on the Hill (Roman Gardens)
12207 Mayfield Rd
Cleveland, OH 44106
(216) 421-2700
www.trattoriaromangarden.com
First a pet peeve of mine: small parking lots where they insist on valeting the car and then park it ten steps away from the entrance to the restaurant. I understand if you want to charge me to park. That's fine, parking is at a premium in this area (not quite as bad as the North End of Boston), but they should be allowed to charge for the parking. BUT, when I finish dinner and have to wait behind two other parties when my car is so close I could fart on it - I get irritated. Just put somebody at the entrance to the parking lot (like they do at L'Albatros) and charge what you need to charge and be done with it .
I ordered the breaded veal special of the evening with a side of veg and pasta. The veal spent way too long in the fryer or pan or whatever they cooked it in. (Judging by the way it was breaded I'm guessing fryer.) Very tough and greasy. The pasta was cooked just the way I like it, but there was a TON of sauce on it. In general I think most of what they serve here is sauced with a very heavy hand. Giving them the benefit of the doubt; perhaps that's the way their customers prefer it, which in the end does have a major affect on what stays on the menu and how it's served.
Dessert had quite the selection: Cannoli, Cassatta Cake and the ubiquitous Tiramisu. With the wide variety at Presti's and the gelato at Anthony's (I recommend trying both), we decided to walk our dinner off and get some gelato.
My guess is the attraction at Trattoria on the Hill or Roman Gardens is that the food is your typical red sauce Italian American fare that everyone here in the US equates to as "Italian". Admittedly, Trattoria does serve up monster portions for a very affordable price. If you like that sort of meal then I think you will most certainly enjoy your visit here. I found the service to be very cordial and attentive - the waiter had the accent to boot If you're looking for something similar to what you'd find in Italy I'd keep looking. I'm always happy when a place is packed. It means some sector of the dining public is very happy with the food that's being served - even if it isn't my thing.
Trattoria on the Hill (Roman Gardens)
12207 Mayfield Rd
Cleveland, OH 44106
(216) 421-2700
www.trattoriaromangarden.com
Friday, September 10, 2010
What about Bob's? (Yeah, that's the name of the business.)
Baby StepsI've heard nothing but great things about a little sandwich shop in Willoughby. They were pretty busy when I visited, so I didn't want to bother someone about the genesis of the establishment's name. The only thing that comes to mind is Bill Murray's OCD character in the '80's movie What about Bob.
Though the menu has 10 different sandwiches on it and 10 different wraps the prices are pretty easy to remember: $3.99 for a 12" $6.99 for a 24". As is my usual custom when trying a place for the first time, a straight forward signature sandwich like the Bob's Ultimate Original Sub was ordered.
The crew of four or five work together like a well oiled machine to crank out these monsters. WAB's? does a huge lunch business so efficiency is an absolute must. Probably two minutes after I placed my order the sandwich was wrapped and ready to go. I had to get back home, so I didn't stay there and eat. They have 3 or 4 tables that have a lawn furniture look to them (so do the chairs), with a television running in the corner.
The first thing you notice about these sandwiches is the heft. As I opened the wrapper the next thing that jumped out at me was the beautiful french baguette they serve. I don't know if they make their own bread or not, but the quality of the bread is almost in the same league as Sarcone's Deli and Primo's Hoagies in Philly. (Both make their own bread so it's not out of the realm of possibility that WAB's? does as well).
How in the HELL am I going to eat all of that?I can't say that I understand the name, but the next time I stop I'll ask about it. As far as hoagie style sandwiches go, WAB's? pretty much smashes everything else I've had in Cleveland. If there IS a better sub, I'd like to see it.
What about Bob's?
38233 Glenn Avenue
Willoughby, OH 44094
(440) 951-9700
Thursday, September 9, 2010
No false advertising at Compola's Tasty Pizza
Make sure to check here for more Cleveland posts
As far as I'm concerned the west side has the east side beat hands down in pizza. Up until last Saturday, Geraci's was really the only pie on this side of town that I would put in my Cleveland top five. (I don't count Crostatas because they're Neapolitan.)
Ever the optimist, I've soldiered on and continued the pizza quest here on the east side. Since we were staying in and wanted to watch the newly arrived Paris, Je T'aime from Netflix (great movie BTW twenty different five minute short films about love in Paris), we wanted something that would hold up to the drive home. I had heard nothing but good things from people about Compola's Tasty Pizza on Mayfield Rd so we decided to give it a try.
Tasty Pizza, as it's commonly referred to, has dine in as well as carryout and delivery. The dining room is a a series of tables with wooden benches and chairs. While certainly not the kind of place to park your ass for hours on end, it is by no means a dive.
Mushroom, Onion, Bulk Sausage on left
Pepperoni, Bulk Sausage and Bacon on right
After paying $15.25 for a 12" with three toppings on each side (pepperoni, bulk sausage, and bacon on my half - onions, mushrooms, and bulk sausage on Regina's half), I hopped in the car and sped home. As is always the custom, I place the pizza in the boot of the car to keep any pieces from falling out during the drive back. I don't know what is, but I usually find one or two slices missing if the box sits on the passenger seat. Don't let this happen to you. Secure that stuff!
We queued up the movie and dug into the box. I like Geraci's a lot, but this pizza had much of what I like about Geraci's and none of what I don't like about them. For me it all starts with the crust. If the crust sucks it doesn't matter what you put on top - the whole thing is going to taste like supermarket dreck.
Tasty makes a dough that has a moderate chew to it, but doesn't have the crunchy edges that destroy the roof of your mouth. (Think age 10... bus comes in five minutes... you wolf down an entire bowl of Cap'n Crunch in three...you spend the entire ride to school tonguing the tattered remains of skin hanging from the roof of your mouth.) The bottom has a brown crispy coating that lends a little bit of crispiness to the pleasantly chewy dough.
The cheese and the sauce are moderately applied. Some people like pizza that is loaded with cheese that when lubed with a lot of sauce slides right the crust - leaving you with a big old hunk of cheese and pepperoni dangling past your chin. Tasty puts enough cheese and sauce to where it clings to the dough anchoring the toppings in place - nice and clean-like.
The toppings were actually very good, too. The mushrooms are fresh (not out of can), which Regina doesn't typically like due to their chewiness, but these were really thin and may have been sauteed. The onions were quartered and thinly sliced which evenly distributed the flavor throughout the slice. My slices were decidedly salty which has a tendency to happen when you have that much cured meat you're half the pie.
I absolutely loved this place. If you look at the list on the upper right you'll see that Compola's Tasty Pizza is the new #2 on my list of "Best Pizza Americana in Cleveland". If you're within striking distance of Richmond and Mayfield Rds in Lyndhurst, you have got to try this little pizzeria.
Update: October 15th, 2010
We ordered a 12", and 14" was accidentally made. Perhaps it was an off night, but the crust was a bit out of control (very thin toward the middle and very puffy and doughy around the edges). I think the 12" might be the best incarnation of this particular pizza. If you do order their sausage, make sure you order the bulk sausage. The regular sausage is thinly cut and tucked under the cheese. I thought the bulk was above average.
Update: November 3rd, 2010
We ordered the 12" and the world balance was restored. The crust was king and the pie disappeared in 20 minutes flat. While waiting for my pizza I noticed the row of coolers against the wall. Tasty has a rather extensive lineup of conventional beers as well as craft beers from, but not limited to, Dogfish Head, Founders, Tröegs, Flying Dog, and Great Lakes ($3 a bottle). If there's one thing nearly every pizza shop across the country lacks, it's a decent selection of suds that aren't created by the Evil Empire. Just one more reason to head over to the this gem on Mayfield Rd.
Compola's Tasty Pizza
5101 Mayfield Rd
Cleveland, OH 44124
(440) 449-1252
www.compolastastypizza.com
As far as I'm concerned the west side has the east side beat hands down in pizza. Up until last Saturday, Geraci's was really the only pie on this side of town that I would put in my Cleveland top five. (I don't count Crostatas because they're Neapolitan.)
Ever the optimist, I've soldiered on and continued the pizza quest here on the east side. Since we were staying in and wanted to watch the newly arrived Paris, Je T'aime from Netflix (great movie BTW twenty different five minute short films about love in Paris), we wanted something that would hold up to the drive home. I had heard nothing but good things from people about Compola's Tasty Pizza on Mayfield Rd so we decided to give it a try.
Tasty Pizza, as it's commonly referred to, has dine in as well as carryout and delivery. The dining room is a a series of tables with wooden benches and chairs. While certainly not the kind of place to park your ass for hours on end, it is by no means a dive.
Mushroom, Onion, Bulk Sausage on leftPepperoni, Bulk Sausage and Bacon on right
We queued up the movie and dug into the box. I like Geraci's a lot, but this pizza had much of what I like about Geraci's and none of what I don't like about them. For me it all starts with the crust. If the crust sucks it doesn't matter what you put on top - the whole thing is going to taste like supermarket dreck.
Tasty makes a dough that has a moderate chew to it, but doesn't have the crunchy edges that destroy the roof of your mouth. (Think age 10... bus comes in five minutes... you wolf down an entire bowl of Cap'n Crunch in three...you spend the entire ride to school tonguing the tattered remains of skin hanging from the roof of your mouth.) The bottom has a brown crispy coating that lends a little bit of crispiness to the pleasantly chewy dough.
The cheese and the sauce are moderately applied. Some people like pizza that is loaded with cheese that when lubed with a lot of sauce slides right the crust - leaving you with a big old hunk of cheese and pepperoni dangling past your chin. Tasty puts enough cheese and sauce to where it clings to the dough anchoring the toppings in place - nice and clean-like.
The toppings were actually very good, too. The mushrooms are fresh (not out of can), which Regina doesn't typically like due to their chewiness, but these were really thin and may have been sauteed. The onions were quartered and thinly sliced which evenly distributed the flavor throughout the slice. My slices were decidedly salty which has a tendency to happen when you have that much cured meat you're half the pie.
I absolutely loved this place. If you look at the list on the upper right you'll see that Compola's Tasty Pizza is the new #2 on my list of "Best Pizza Americana in Cleveland". If you're within striking distance of Richmond and Mayfield Rds in Lyndhurst, you have got to try this little pizzeria.
Update: October 15th, 2010
We ordered a 12", and 14" was accidentally made. Perhaps it was an off night, but the crust was a bit out of control (very thin toward the middle and very puffy and doughy around the edges). I think the 12" might be the best incarnation of this particular pizza. If you do order their sausage, make sure you order the bulk sausage. The regular sausage is thinly cut and tucked under the cheese. I thought the bulk was above average.
Update: November 3rd, 2010
We ordered the 12" and the world balance was restored. The crust was king and the pie disappeared in 20 minutes flat. While waiting for my pizza I noticed the row of coolers against the wall. Tasty has a rather extensive lineup of conventional beers as well as craft beers from, but not limited to, Dogfish Head, Founders, Tröegs, Flying Dog, and Great Lakes ($3 a bottle). If there's one thing nearly every pizza shop across the country lacks, it's a decent selection of suds that aren't created by the Evil Empire. Just one more reason to head over to the this gem on Mayfield Rd.
Compola's Tasty Pizza
5101 Mayfield Rd
Cleveland, OH 44124
(440) 449-1252
www.compolastastypizza.com
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