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The LBC/File
3/20/2009
The Manhattan Cask Ale Festival kicks off today at Chelsea Brewing Company in Manhattan with 45 ‘real ales’ on hand for your beer-drinking enjoyment.
The event runs through Sunday and is “pay-as-you-go,” as in: you pay by the pint, or half-pint, as it were.
DOWNLOAD: the beer list here.
I ain’t supposed to be working today, so I’ll just leave you with a link to a previous cask ale post on the LBC.
–CP
Whoopie pie, Keene, New Hampshire.
3/18/2009
During a visit to New Hampshire in the fall I encountered the Whoopie pie.
My brief experience with this dessert snack left me with the distinct impression that people in New Hampshire must be crazy.
When asked what – exactly – the filling of a Whoopie Pie is made of, the guy at Beaver St. Market in Keene told us, “you know, the regular whoopie pie filling.” As we pressed him for a more detailed list of ingredients, he gives it up: powdered sugar and Crisco. At this point I should disclose that I hate most frostings when used in excess and the thought of a cake sandwich with about a cup of vegetable shortening-based frosting just really seems ridiculous and disgusting.
Apparently The Grey Lady feels differently, featuring the Whoopie pie on the cover of its Dining & Wine section this week. The Times cites that everybody, even Magnolia Bakery, the epicenter of the cupcake revolution, now produces them. To be fair, the more gourmet offerings in New York look to be more appetizing than the New Hampshire convenience store version.
Not to knock New Hampshire or anything. Live Free or Die and all that.
–CP
3/16/2009
You’ve seen the sign off of I-95 in Fairfield but if you haven’t pulled off on Black Rock Turnpike for a dog at Super Duper Weenie, you don’t know what you are missing. I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a hot dog guy; at restaurants and even back yard barbecues – you all know – I’m going for a cheeseburger, but Super Duper is the one extraordinary exception.
Guy Fieri’s Food Network show, Diners Drive-ins and Dives, which recently featured Norwalk’s Valencia Luncheria [watch here], will air a segment about Super Duper Weenie tonight at 10 p.m.
The ingredients are first rate; the dogs are a locally made beef/pork mix with a super-crisp natural casing, the toppings are all fresh and while I normally can’t handle relish, their homemade version is fantastic. [The first time I ordered at Super Duper I was chided for asking for no relish, but I'm I was talked into it.]
Super Duper is no stranger to television – they are featured in PBS’ perennial summer favorite, “A Hot Dog Program – and if anyone is considering doing a show on French fries they should head straight to here. The fries, thin, perfectly fried to a little past golden brown and expertly seasoned, are excellent. Some of the best fries that I have had in Connecticut. Really. [I'm kicking myself that I don't have a photo of a basket of these, but check them out on Jane and Michael Stern's Roadfood]
Locally, there is a rivalry going between Super Duper and Rawley’s, in downtown Fairfield. Rawley’s is decidedly more old-school and they deep fry their hot dogs. While it certainly has its charm, I’m not really a fan.
A WORD OF WARNING: It really is a lunch place and they close at 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday, weekend hours are longer. I tend to forget this and am often dissappointed to find the establishment shuttered leaving me with an unsated hankering for a Chicago dog.
–CP
3/7/2009
CALEXICO: WOOSTER AND PRINCE, SOHO, NEW YORK
It’s finally warm enough to wait in line for 15-minutes for a burrito from the Calexico cart in SoHo. The brothers from San Diego, who took top honors at the 2008 Vendy Awards, serve up California style tacos, burritos and quesadillas at Wooster and Prince Streets in Manhattan.
RECOMMENDED: Carne asada burrito and a Toronja Jarritos, $10.
–CP
3/06/2009
Outlaw country legend and American icon Willie Nelson is set to perform at The Palace in Stamford next month. [Tickets go on sale today]
According to The Smoking Gun, during a recent tour Willie and company required – among other things – a ton of organic fruit and vegetables, juices, milk, “local or regional dishes requested. Few to no fried foods,” two dozen free-range eggs and “butterfly cut organic free range pork chops.”
I can’t imagine what a local Stamford specialty dish could be, but I’m guessing he’s not going to go for the sausage and hot oil pie from Colony.
–CP
OVERHEARD AT MY LAST WILLIE CONCERT (HOLLYWOOD BOWL), I KID YOU NOT: “What is that smell? I smelled that at Ziggy Marley last week.”
ABOVE: 14 grams of a Kenyan peaberry in my favorite ceramic cone dripper today in the Advocate photolab.
3/2/2009
Have you ever poured a cup of your morning coffee and thought to yourself, I detect a hint of lemongrass with subtle blueberry undertones, a silky mouthfeel and clean finish?
THIS ONE’S FOR YOU:
The Connecticut Coffee Society, a local Meetup.com-based group, is holding its first coffee cupping of 2009. This meeting’s featured topic: water composition.
Yeah, I know, but before you take a pass, if you haven’t been to a cupping before here is your chance. Cuppings are an industry-standardized way to assess coffee quality and while all the slurping, sniffing and note-taking may seem daunting to beginners, its actually sort of interesting.
Local roaster Donny Raus runs the group and I’m sure he will be providing some of his coffee for sampling and discussion.
WHERE AND WHEN: Columbus Park Trattoria, Stamford, Saturday, March 28, 3:30 P.M., $5
SIGN UP: HERE
–CP
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