Honestly, we don’t do the late-night food thing often. I’m well-aware that we’re six to 10 years too old for that. But sometimes it’s 1:30 am in Northampton and you’ve had two Blue Moons at the Toasted Owl and a tiramisu martini at the Tunnel Bar and you smell delicious burgers cooking. And that’s when Local Burger looms in front of you like a munchie oasis.
Amazing Tuna, or American Tango?
This was meant to be a straightforward blog entry/review of our Saturday night visit to Osaka in Northampton. Osaka is hands-down one of the best sushi restaurants in the area, and it’s always a treat to eat there. But through one small misstep, my husband and I were served a sushi roll that contained each of our most reviled foods. What are the odds?
Leggo my Eggos: The country faces a shortage of frozen Eggo waffles after fall rainstorms interrupted production at two of the plants that make them, according to Kellogg Co. The shortage is expected to last until the middle of next year.
College students arrested after not paying tip: After refusing to pay a ‘mandatory 18% gratuity’ on a $73 bill, two students that were part of a group of eight visiting a Pennsylvania pub were arrested on theft charges.
The two students claimed they received terrible service, that they fetched their own silverware, had to ask for soda refills from the bar and waited over an hour for their salad and wings. The bar claims its 18% gratuity policy is printed on its menu and all of its receipts. A court date is scheduled for December.
New menu items: Vermont-cheddar mac and cheese at Panera, Caramel Brulee Latte at Starbucks, chicken and tuna sandwiches in selected Dunkin’ Donuts markets (Boston and Springfield, Mass. excluded.)
McDonald’s gets makeover in NY: The Golden Arches in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan is the first in the country to ‘undergo a sleek, European-style makeover.’ The restaurant features free Wi-Fi and hip art-deco decor.
Local dining news and reviews: Hook & Ladder in Hartford, Avon Old Farms Hotel in Avon, Taqueria Tavern in West Hartford, Connecticut restaurants serving Thanksgiving meals. In Massachusetts: Publick House in Sturbridge, The People’s Pint of Greenfield.
My two cents: For about $20, picked up a ton of spices (including coarse sea salt and a Tuscan blend), a 25-oz. bottle of organic extra-virgin olive oil, a jar of Emeril marinara sauce, a squeeze-bottle of lemon juice, a jug of V8 Splash, coffee filters and cans of coconut milk at Ocean State Job Lot. While it’s certainly not the prettiest or best-organized store in the world, you can find some serious deals if you dig deep. They also have a half-shelf full of gluten-free and specialty flours and ingredients.
Did you know that Thanksgiving is the biggest wine holiday of the entire year? Stores sell more wine for Turkey Day than any other day on the calendar. If you’re looking for the perfect vino to sip along with your turkey, stuffing, potatoes and desserts, we’ve got your expert answers here.
(Many thanks to wine gurus Michael Quinlan of Table & Vine in West Springfield, Mass. and Michael Votto of Votto Vines in Cheshire, Conn. for sharing their expertise.)
Working on a piece about Thanksgiving wines for later today/early tomorrow, but here’s a few tidbits of utter food absurdity for you in the meantime:
Coolio launches cookbook, dubs himself ‘Ghetto Gourmet’
Rapper Coolio has entered the ‘celebrity chef’ fray, releasing a cookbook “Cooking with Coolio” that features such recipes as Chicken Lettuce Blunts and Cold Shrimpin’. (Thank you, THANK YOU, Boston.com, for posting the extended interview on your blog.) Among the best quotes:
“I am the Ghetto Gourmet, and my style of cooking is ghetto fusion. Instead of saying African-American and Asian, I say Blasian. Instead of saying urban and Italian, I say Ghettalian.”
“Salt was more expensive back in the day. We used to use salt to trade. You could trade for [darn] gold, for silk, you could trade spices for women.”
“You can cook some Kobe beef and I can cook some beef straight out of Compton, and you’d be hard pressed to make your [stuff] taste better than mine. My [stuff] is going to fall off the bone.”
Chicago Sun-Times publishes White Castle stuffing recipe
Somewhere in New Jersey, Harold and Kumar rejoice. and get REALLY high.
From the brilliant minds of J&D’s, who also created Bacon Salt, Baconnaise, Bacon Pop (popcorn) and Bacon Ranch dressing. We were big fans of bacon-product hilarity in the Courant newsroom. I just want to know why I didn’t discover these envelopes before I sent out all my wedding thank-you notes Tuesday…
Leeanne Griffin is a freelance writer and food enthusiast.