The Great Pumpkin

The Great Pumpkin Sundae

I broke tradition last week when I traveled to Philadelphia and ate dessert at the BEST ice cream shop in the United States, the Franklin Fountain. You see, I'm addicted to their Maple Walnut ice cream waffle sandwich (topped with whipped cream, of course). I get it every time I go there. However, when we visited this past summer, the manager told us about their "Great Pumpkin Sundae." He described it as Pumpkin ice cream, salted pecans, caramel sauce, whipped cream and malt powder and it was only available in the Fall. He made it sound so good that for a brief moment I wished that I was transported from 90 degree, sweltering Philly weather into the crisp, chilled autumn air just so I could have that sundae.

Well, I was lucky enough to get to The Franklin Fountain this October and I had to try the Great Pumpkin Sundae. In a word, fantastic! When I returned home I immediately went to work on re-creating their masterpiece...I'm still toying with finding the best Pumpkin Pie ice cream recipe. While there, I did snag a jar of their Caramel Sauce (along with 3 jars of Peanut Butter sauce for use on other sundaes). I made my own salted pecans and whipped cream (absent from this photo)and topped it off with the malt powder. This combo is great and tops plain old pumpkin pie any day. Thank you Franklin Fountain for spoiling me!

The Zilla is a Thrilla!

I think as a child everyone has an image in their head as to what communion tastes like. The Catholics believe it is body of Christ.

The body of Christ?!?!? Well, if that's the case it's got to taste good, right?

Wrong. If I was served bread like that at a restaurant - it would be sent back. Who came up with the recipe? Better yet, who said, "That's it. That's the master recipe, dude! Every Sunday for the rest of your life - right there!"

Obviously the whole thing can be a bit confusing for a youngster. The bread doesn't actually taste like bread. And the idea of taking a Christ, popping him in your mouth, and then chewing on him can be a bit unsettling.

So what did I think it tasted like? As a casual observer one can see that the host is this light and airy sort of disk. In fact, there really isn't much taste to it all. *Darn!*

It took me until my thirty-eighth year to finally figure out what I thought the body of Christ should taste like - the chicharrones from Ryan Farr at 4505 Meats!

I had heard rave reviews about the 'Zilla Dog at the 4505 Meats stand at the Ferry Building Farmers Market. Since it is my duty to hunt such things down, I slapped my money down and walked away marveling at how I was going to attack this beast.

The 'Zilla is a Thrilla

The 'Zilla Dog consists of an uncured bacon filled hot dog, topped with kimchi, money sauce, and the body of Christlike 4505 chicharrones. Let me start with the hot dog. I'd be interested in trying the dog on its own just because the deliciousness of the other elements overshadowed it. The kimchi was not the rough cut clumsy stuff you typically see people serving - the rendition served here is cut into thin strips similar to that of a cole slaw. Thankfully they utilized the leafier parts of the cabbage which didn't take up a lot of space. The money sauce is....well...money. I lost the notes on what was in it, but it's very complimentary to the whole creation.

....and then there's the chicharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrones. (You damn well better be rolling your tongue when you say it, too.)

Big woop, dude, thy're pork rinds. So what?

If you order pork rinds, chicharrones, cranklins, whatever you want to call them, they're typically dusted with some sort of spice and then served. (They're also usually very obnoxious in size.) Like the kimchi, these were cut into a scalable size relative to the hot dog (one inch strips that were no longer than maybe three inches ) -very bite sized and easily eaten. But the flavor of these were unlike any I'd had before. It was a very subtle combination of sugar and seasoning. They hit your tongue and then seemingly melted away.

After finishing the dog I made a beeline for the individual bags of porky deliciousness and savored them one at a time. As I sat and watched the stroller tide roll into the market and gum up the foot traffic, I thought, "Damn, now this is what communion should taste like!"

Bag Full O Pork Skin

If you're coming to San Francisco make sure you check the website to see what classes he's offering. I missed a sausage making class by two days that would've been awesome to go to. The farmers market is only on Thursday and Saturday, so make sure you set aside one of those days for lunch plans.

If you'd like to buy some of the 4505 chicharrones or even the hot dogs, Bi Rite Market sells them.

4505 Meats
1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94111
www.4505meats.com



Bi Rite Market
3639 18th St
San Francisco, CA 94110
www.biritemarket.com

Native Clevelander Andrew Carmellini

Ask most people around here to name a native Clevelander who has won both a James Beard award as well as made a headline appearance on Iron Chef, and most will tell you Michael Symon - which would be correct. But if you asked them to name the second one they might not know who you were talking about. I can't say that I'd blame them since he hasn't worked in this town in quite a while. This person is, of course, Andrew Carmellini.

I'm not going to go into too much detail, since I've raved a few times before about this guy. He heads up the venerable Locanda Verde in NYC and wrote a cookbook aptly named Urban Italian. I've attached a really well done article that goes out to all Padua alumni (my wife). It's a very well written article with references to Dante Boccuzzi, some Cleveland restaurants, and in one of the photos is Shaker's own Karen DeMasco (Craft of Baking and creator of the unbelievably awesome Maple Budino).

If you haven't picked up Urban Italian, I suggest it even if you just read the stories. There's a tale that involves the Italian countryside, mushrooms, and prostitutes that is priceless. Besides telling a good story, AC can write the hell out of a recipe. I made these pork chops a few years ago and just love them.

I have to say that I'm very excited about the news of the new restaurant opening next month (The Dutch), as well as the upcoming cookbook (American Flavor).

I know it's hard, but try not to hate on him for the Yankees cap (one of the pictures in the article).

Click here for the article

San Francisco Joe

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A post about Joe Montana? Not quite (although Regina did see him shopping a Whole Foods in SF).

No, this is actually about my morning vacation coffee hunt - San Francisco Edition.

I drink two cups of coffee a day. By cups I'm not referring to measuring cups, but two separate acts of either buying or making coffee. So when I'm on vacay there's a fairly high probability that I'm going to sample a decent variety of the area's coffee shops.

Like most junkies of the java, I need a quick hit to get me started in the morning. Often times I find myself pounding the pavement for my coffee crack unbathed and disheveled.

While we were staying at the Le Petit Auberge, the Blue Bottle Cafe down at the Mint St location was really the only place I was interested in going. If you haven't been, you've got to stop in just to see the elaborate coffee making stuff they have at that location. Monday through Friday morning lines can be excruciatingly long.

I felt their cappuccino was better than their drip coffee relative to other high end coffee houses. The staff is very focused on what they're doing and seems aloof to the fact that people want things to move faster. Any gripe will more than likely fall on deaf ears. "It takes as long as it takes", seems to be the order of the day. I only went to Mint St. on the weekend and lines were certainly much shorter in the morning.

Blue Bottle Cafe
66 Mint St
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 495-3394
www.bluebottlecoffee.net



If you want long lines on the weekend just head down to the outlet down at the Ferry Building. I was in line for what was easily 20-30 minutes. If you simply want a coffee I would encourage you to go to one of the kiosks around the building. If not, be prepared to wait a while. The outpost inside the Ferry Building actually has two counters and the lines are still monster. The Mint St. location (if it's on your way to the market) is a better bet on the weekends (I think).

Blue Bottle Coffee
1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 983-8000



The hipster-centric Four Barrel Coffee down in Mission gets a lot love from local coffee heads. I found the staff friendlier than Blue Bottle. I only went here once but found the drip coffee to be comparable to Blue Bottle. Was there a noticeable difference between the two? If there is, I didn't notice. The interior of the space is a made of rough hewn wood and industrial steel, with a music volume and selection that sets a great vibe.

Four Barrel Coffee
375 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 252-0800
www.fourbarrelcoffee.com




When we moved to the Parker Guest House over on Church St, I decided to give Philz Coffee a shot. As you walk into the store you're not really sure where the line starts or how exactly to pay. After sitting back and watching for a few minutes, it becomes obvious that you have to go to the counter where the baristas are. After getting over the initial shock of all the different coffees and the price ($3.50 I think), I was walked through the process by barista.

She made the drip coffee right there in front of me and when finished asked if it suited my taste. Judging by her question I'm guessing Philz will either redo it or somehow adjust the taste. I had the Tesora which reminded me a lot of the Corsica blend from La Colombe in Philadelphia. The pleasing chocolatey flavor never left that slight bitter charred flavor at the back of your tongue that you seem to get with so many of these higher end coffees. This particular blend seemed to match the comfortable familiarity you felt just being in the store itself.

The staff here is by far the friendliest of everywhere I went. The girl at the bakery counter saw I had just been to Dynamo Donut and had a three minute conversation about their infamous Monte Cristo (the sandwich not the cigar) doughnut. She's heard about it, but never actually had one because they're always out of them by the time she gets off of work.

The interior is classic coffee house. A large, well used seating area sits off to the left of the entrance. The coffee making area and bakery case are to the right. There's something about Philz that makes you feel comfortable. Maybe it's the lack of hipsters. Maybe it's the friendly staff. While the prices are all on the high side, they all seem to be in the same ballpark.

While I didn't have any bad experiences at any of these coffee shops, I thought Philz was bar far the best tasting and friendliest service. I don't need someone to act like my best friend when ordering a cup of coffee, but the experience is greatly enhanced when you're able to have a sincere exchange with the person behind the counter. Philz Coffee was the hands down winner for me. If 24th St is not near where you are, there are also locations in the Castro, SOMA, and City Hall.

Philz Coffee
3101 24th St
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 282-9155
www.philzcoffee.com

Asshole Deep in Work

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.

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 Ain't Your Father's Vietnam

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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

Tony's Pizza Napoletana

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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

Bites in the Heights Pt II

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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

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:

• 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.
  

Everything has its place - and if it has to do with food and travel it was covering up my immediate living space.

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