Good eats
No, this is not a post about Alton brown. Actually, I think Steve H probably can cook as well as Alton, if not maybe better. I know I can.
Actually, I’m talking about eating on the road- prompted by this post by Kim Du Toit.
I have been more or less living on the road for twenty years. I have had a bucketload of fast food- in fact, a lot of it is part of the reason for my swelling midsection. I have decided if I must eat another burger of any description I will scream.
Now, I don’t mean homemade burgers, but I make ’em good. I mean any chain food- including applebees, chilis, etc.
I want to eat at a restaurant that serves food. Not someplace that microwaves single serving pseudomeals.
Last couple weeks I’ve been staying in a suite with a kitchenette, and this week some damned trade show is in town so I can’t. Tonight I dug around until I found a little restaurant in a strip mall. A place where you can see the kitchen from almost every table. A place that has no microwave.
I ordered the Veal Marsala. It lacked toasted pine nuts of being absolutely perfect. it came with a fine salad and some fresh (still warm, in fact) bread. THis place is only open for dinner. I will be back.
Food- real food, I mean, should be cooked. THe ingredients should be fresh. The cooks should taste it. The staff should eat there. The owner should care how his food tastes. The customers should want to come back.
Consider yourself lucky if there are two restaruants in your town that are like this.
When Kim and Connie were gracious enough to stop by Chez Og on their trip back from Michigan last summer, I took them to Tiebels for lunch.
Tielbels has been a fixture of the town forever. I didn’t take the Du Toits there because I wanted to take them someplace elegant, I wanted to have them eat a good meal. They certainly made it seem like they enjoyed it- though they are far too gracious hosts and guests to say otherwise.
What decent restaurants are in your area? let me know, you never know when I might show up there.
23 comments Og | Uncategorized
Og, forget about decent restaurants, you’re eatin here when you come down.
That’s an invitation I’ll gladly take, because it’s clear y’all can cook.
I can heartily recommend the Mesa Verde at the Denver airport.
See Travel Blogging: The $830.80 Chicken Dinner.
Mmmm. Chicken!
Ouch, USC. That is one spensive lunch.
The Italian Patio in Champaign, Il
Maxi’s Barn and Spirits. Most excellent prime rib (or whatever other kind of cooked chunk of beef you could want), huge baked potatoes, big fresh salad. It’s the place I choose almost every year for my birthday.
Great food, laid back “barn” atmosphere. The waitresses wear overalls.
Pine nuts? Who are you, Og, Ewell Gibbons?
My favorite in town is a burger place–Fat Mo’s. Their 27-oz Deluxe burger is tits.
One of the best places I ever ate is just outside Decatur, AL. A place called Dot’s. So-called “soul food” (which is blackspeak for good ol’ Southern cooking).
Zuni’s in Highland has decent lasagna and gnocchi, and if I remember right, the Quest by your crib was really good in the day.
And it’s TEIbel’s. You keep inverting the i and the e. But the reason they’ve stayed in biz so long is that they’ve made few changes to the menu — with good reason. Ain’t nothin’ better than their perch.
If you’re in Seattle, check out Beth’s Cafe. Open 24-7. Makes 12 egg omelettes, and other food that’s so, so very tasty.
If you’re in Coeur d’Alene, ID, check out The Breakfast Nook. Only open for breakfast and lunch. All the food is homemade, and damn good. My buscuits and gravy (buttermilk buscuits made that morning, warm and soft, mmmmmm!) was darn near overflowing my plate, and it wasn’t a small plate.
If you’re in San Juan, come to my house and let my wife show off her culinary skills. She enjoys doing that anyways, and I’m getting fat.
I gotta run more, I guess.
The “old” Great Bear (as opposed to the “new” one at the resort).
The Great Bear Brewing Co. is the farthest-North brewpub in the U.S. (unless there is one in Fairbanks or Nome…), and not only do they brew some AWESOME beers and barleywines (their flagship brew is a blond ale called “Valley Trash”) their menu is out of this world. The basic “Great Bear” burger is a monster sandwich, with real fresh vegetables, served with the best fries on the planet. Their dinner menu has been relocated to the former Mat-Su Resort, but it includes Thai, Italian, and German selections, all done to a perfect turn. Huge portions, awesome side dishes, and beautiful, appetizing presentation make it the best place to eat north of San Francisco.
We have this little place that just opened about 5 miles from us. It’s called Texas BBQ – excellent meat, and the very very best coleslaw I’ve ever eaten. (you get 2 sides orders with a platter dinner – my husband and I get 2 sides of coleslaw each) Not fancy, but it’s wonderful.
The owners are there and they go around and chat with everyone. We usually sit at the bar which is fun. I think we’ll head over there on Saturday so we can eat great food and watch at least part of one football game.
Next time you head down here, we’re taking you to Momma’s Daughters.
Home cooking that can make Grandma envious.
Oh, just to let ya know, my night time IP is blocked from commenting.
Dick, email me with your IP. mhardig at aol dot com.
I can cook anything, so you’re always welcome here. If you’d rather be seen in public with me (may be safer), it’s the Apogee Pub you. Even the employees don’t know where the owner gets his bacon (literal), but the grub is fantabulous! And the drinks aren’t so bad either ;)
I have to travel half the state of NC. The eastern half that is, a little poorer than the western half. I have found that some of the best food can be found in places that my wife would not enter in an Abrams tank. One thing I look for, believe it or not, screen door hooks on bathroom doors! Seems that indicates more money spent on the food than almost anything else. Been eating in places like that for 25 years, never had a problem of any kind except for a growing gut.
“You keep inverting the i and the e.”
Only because I know it bugs you.
Well, if you’re ever on biz in Miami I’ll take you to Joe’s Stone Crab in South Beach – in my humble opinion the best seafood joint this side of the ocean.
Shithead.
hehe!
My kitchen is always good, and you are welcome here Og. Otherwise I would recommend the Milwaukee Grill, Nee’s Taste of Thai, and Cozumel. Fabulous restaurants, one and all…
I’m in Singapore. Almost everywhere is good eats. We live to eat; it’s our national past time. :)
If you can get over the gut-busting flight, when are you and the OgWife popping by?
Silly boy; Teibel’s was excellent — just the kind of comfort food we crave on the road.
I still prefer home cooking, though.