My first time to a Broken Yolk and the experience was on par with Denny's. The food was brought out fast, the meal was under $10, and my choice probably was enough calories for half the day. The ham and egg breakfast sandwich was as good as any I've had. The scrambled eggs were cooked but not dry, the ham was smokey deli style, and the sourdough was grilled fresh. Hash browns were crunchy and even well salted. No complaints
Dick’s Smoke Wagon, Big Pine. While I didn’t get a chance to head to the East Side of California over the summer, I was lucky enough to break away during the winter. However, that means going “around the horn” through Mojave. There are benefits to this route, one being the Indian Wells Brewery in Inyokern the second includes driving through the towns of Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine and Bishop.
Big Pine, gateway to the Palisades Mountain Range and the Ancient Bristlecone Forest is home to one more local treasure, Dick’s Smoke Wagon. Driving North, on the East Side of Main Street in Big Pine is a large mobile trailer parked on a concrete slab. The trailer is familiar to me, but it’s out of place. This trailer has been parked in Bishop for as long as I can remember. So why is it parked here in Big Pine and why is it parked next to what appears to be a renovated commercial kitchen?
I approach the trailer, walk up the ramp and talk with the sole occupant. After a ‘hello’ the man in the trailer rolls right into telling me the finishing times of each of the things he’s smoking, ribs, ribs, ribs; all several hours away from tender completion. Not good for my time schedule. “But if you’re here for lunch, I’ve got all my sandwiches ready, along with beans, coleslaw, and home-made jalapeno poppers.” Oh yes, I’m ready for lunch.
I proceed to order the bbq pulled pork sandwich with bbq baked beans and a vinegar based coleslaw. But is this a sandwich? The bottom of a small white dinner roll is placed in the middle of the center island of the take-away container and covered with a heaping portion of pork, bbq sauce, and topped with simple slivered cabbage. The top of the bun is laid to rest on the mass of pork. It is as though Dali has influenced the construction and inspiration for the surreal pork sandwich. The perfect unblemished little bun riding on top of pork carnage, underneath, the bun’s other half, immersed in a sea of bbq sauce and pork. Technically a sandwich, meat sandwiched in between two pieces of bread, yet unworkable as a sandwich eaten with your hands. Adding to the total experience and scene, a converted mobile trailer with smoke billowing from the front, parked on an industrial concrete slab, with a view of the snowcapped Sierra Nevada range. A surreal masterpiece!
Normally, people get lazy when they pull pork and allow large hunks of fat to mix in with pure meat. Not at Dick’s Smoke Wagon. Pure meat in my sandwich. The sauce is tangy, not too sweet, with nice spice notes. It’s a balance moment, all the aspects of great sauce. The beans and slaw were very tasty. The coleslaw had more vinegar than mayo, crispy, well integrated and offered a bit of cutting acid to the sweet bbq sauce and the richness of the pork.
I chatted with the pit master a bit after eating my sandwich. We discussed who made the Smoke Wagon, the development of the commercial kitchen, and the upcoming trout season. Before I continued my drive, I figured I’d ask if I could take a bottle of his BBQ sauce.
“Excuse me. Do you bottle your sauce?”
“No, just make it fresh each day depending on what I think I need. If I bottle it, it wouldn’t be fresh would it?”
Now how can I disagree with that?! I hope my readers can make it to Big Pine and try Dick’s Smoke Wagon. They are also on FACEBOOK.
An unexpected guidebook treat, Jack’s Café in Cuzco for breakfast.
How can you screw up breakfast even when it comes with the room? By serving 3 day old bread, stinky cheese, and barely enough other items to choose from to get my day started, hence my trip down the block to Jack’s.
I’d probably walked by Jack’s 10 times while in Cuzco. It’s on the corner of the main drag in the San Blas neighborhood. I’d actually stopped in briefly on my first day for some coca tea. Over-rated that coca tea. Anyway, Jack’s seemed like a decent place. Jack’s has an espresso machine and Guinness and serves breakfast all day.
Absolutely some of the fluffiest pancakes around, no doubt. Along with crispy bacon and a solid café latte, Jack’s was worth every penny walking off hotel for breakfast. They offered me plenty of extra butter and syrup as well. It was too early for me to think about food pictures, so instead I’ll throw in a picture of one of the main churches in Cuzco.
I’ve talked about the guidebook experience all too often. Like too many bumper stickers on the back of a Mercedes, restaurants that plaster guidebook approvals on their front door are cause for suspicion. Surprisingly, Samana Wasi while recommended in both Fodor's and Rough Guides, didn’t decorate with guidebook bumper stickers and drove more like an fleet F-150 than a Mercedes, dependable and with no frills.
I ordered the trucha (trout) fried whole, perfectly de-boned and topped with a slightly spicy mayonnaise or crema combination. The trout came with the double-starch combo of white rice and patatas fritas, along with a small side salad for 18 soles, about $6. What’s to detail here? Not much, just the simple fact that not a single bone was in the trout and it was perfectly fried, not always easy to find here in the States.
Other than a really loud television playing horrible music videos just above the table, Samana Wasi was a great lunch after a hearty hike up the ruins of Pisac and the perfect spot to seek shelter just as the skies opened up for a thunderstorm.
Sometimes the guidebook is right on.
When global backpackers are tired of local cuisine after a grueling 6 weeks in a foreign country they go straight for fusion food. Hailed as a great place for Asian rice dishes by the guidebooks, nothing of the sort was found at Al Grano. I couldn’t figure out if the food simply wasn’t good or if there is laziness in the kitchen. We ordered a plate of mixed vegetables, a lamb curry dish which came with vegetables, some steamed rice, and a bowl of cilantro soup.
As Cuzco is part of the ‘backpacker scene’ I understand that vegetarian and world fusion restaurants have their place. Al Grano is no exception. The aire of backpacker permeated the place. I’ve done enough sleeping in my car and camping around the US to know a backpacker place when I step into one. Remember readers, I don’t stay exclusively at posh resorts and hotels. Bargain Global Backpacker Restaurant shouldn’t be synonymous with poor quality, vegetarian, and bulk human fuel. Unfortunately, it often is.
Lamb curry isn’t that difficult to make and at the very least, it should be flavorful. Bland is the easiest way to describe the dish. And look at the pool of water in the plate! Flavorless. I even tried to enhance the color in my photo with online photo editing software to bring something other than a brownish-grey hue into view. I poured the two condiments offered all over my dish and was begging for some spice to go with it (condiment 1 below). The vegetables were a horrific tragedy, steamed to anemic paleness. The white rice was fine, at least it was cooked properly. The soup certainly tasted of cilantro, but was thin and once again underseasoned. As expected, lower quality was compensated with high volume. There was a lot of food delivered for 30 soles. Drinks comprised the bulk of the bill, with water and beer costing more than the food.
So I have a concept for a restaurant in a UNESCO World Heritage Site, think Fuzio combined with Panda Express, and Olive Garden…Fusion Panda Garden and we love less discriminating vegetarian budget global backpackers who are really tired of eating tasty local cuisine but have a huge budget for beer and cigarettes!
I’d rather eat McDonald’s. If you’re in Cuzco, skip Al Grano and go eat somewhere that serves local food.
If someone can explain this, I would appreciate it. I found these breads being sold at the Arequipa Terminal Terreste before dawn. Why would I want to eat bread with the faces of a Ken Doll and Speed Racer on it? Why?
Full tasting menu, complete with a white truffle supplement and tour of the kitchen. The entire brigade cleans down the kitchen afterward for classic esprit de corps. Service was crisp from what arguably was a young staff. I think this proves that you don’t need 20, 30, 40 or 50 years’ experience to run a successful and efficient dining room. What you need is a willingness to work and to be the best, yet understand your limitations and find other staff to compliment your own shortcomings. I had touches at the table by just about every staff member that evening, even other servers from other tables; never hustled or disingenuous. Even the bussers cleaned tables quietly and efficiently. No finished dish sat on my table for more than 30 seconds and whoever was within walked distance cleared the plate; restaurant manager to busser. Excellent service and attention to detail in the front of house.
The highlight of the night had to be the presentation and selections of the truffles. Four oversized white truffles were presented in a large lacquered wood box, a true present to the eyes, nose, and eventually the palate. Bravo. The wine pairing was also spot on, with insightful and helpful comments from the staff about potential wine options with each course. Again, high marks.
One mis-step not on the menu below, the gnudi bonus course. I have to mention it, because the staff asked me about the dish. The gnudi was the least well thought out of the courses. The gnudi itself was well seasoned and cooked. The issue was the amount of other items on the plate that seemed not to have a clear direction or design to complement each other. As I've mentioned before, Italian food is simple and the more simple, the margin of error increases. If the gnudi dish was treated as beautifully as the hare or lamb, the meal would have been flawless.
I look forward to my next trip to Boston. I'd eat at Menton without hesitation. Easily, the best meal of the year and the best service.
My first time to Spiaggia, despite my many visits to the Windy City. Honestly, the service was a bit rocky that night. Lots of initial confusion as to what wine was available and what wine pairing for the tasting menu, much less the ability to order the meal. Probably a good 25 minutes before the order was taken and wine served. Service items aside, a good exploration of balsamico and its usage. The dish with the farm egg and the duck were my favorites of the evening.
However, this exploration of Italian cuisine only brought me back to Osteria Gia Sotto L'Arco in Carovigno, Puglia one of the finest meals I've ever had.
DEGUSTAZIONE DI ACETO BALSAMICO TRADIZIONALE DI REGGIO NELL EMILIA
RICOTTA FRESCA CON FICCHI E MIELE E SABA
Fresh ricotta, honey roasted black mission figs and saba
RILLETTE DI SALMONE CON BARBABIETOLE E CONDIMENTO BALSAMICO AGRO DI MOSTO
Wild Pacific King salmon rillette with roasted tri color beets, baby chives and Condimento Balsamico Agro di Mosto
POMODORINI, RUCOLA E UOVO E CONDIMENTO BALSAMICO SAN GIACOMO
Nichols Farm cherry tomatoes, crispy yellow polenta, Vandeboom Farm red egg, arugula and Condimento Balsamico San Giacomo
RAVIOLI DI MAIALE CON PAGLIOLAIA, CIPOLLE E FAGIOLINI E CONDIMENTO BALSAMICO ESSENZA
Braised pork filled ravioli, crispy dewlap, caramelized onions, baby green beans and Condimento Balsamico Essenza
RISOTTO BIANCO AL PARMIGIANO REGGIANO E ACETO BALSAMICO TRADIZIONALE ARAGOSTA D.O.P.
Creamy Acquerello risotto, Parmigiano Reggiano and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale Aragosta D.O.P.
ANITRA ARROSTITA CON MELANZANE E UVE E ACETO BALSAMICO TRADIZIONALE ARGENTO D.O.P.
Wood roasted honey lacquered duck breast with Michigan grapes, charred eggplant puree and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale Argento D.O.P.
BOMBOLINI CON FRUTTI DI BOSCO E CIOCOLATO BIANCO E ACETO BALSAMICO TRADIZIONALE ORO D.O.P
Italian style doughnuts, balsamic zabaglione, vanilla gelato, Nichols Farm apples, raspberries, white chocolate and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale Oro D.O.P.
Restaurant 555 in Portland, Maine was one of the better meals of the summer vacation. I've attached the menu for review. We sampled "Snails in a Pail, Blueberry Salad, Grilled Caesar with extra anchovies, Truffled Mac and Cheese, and the Fish in Paper. We paired our meal with a delicious Hanzell Chardonnay that evening.
Recent Comments