#68: Vacation Tamales
by: March 05, 2007
A hearty south-of-the-border "Hola" from here in sunny Mexico, where, resplendent in cheap sunglasses, I'm about to hunker down for a vacation week spent entirely prone on sand.
Blogs : CHOW Tour: North America
#67: Chow Tour Redux (or, Lots and Lots of Millet)
by: March 02, 2007
I've been back home for a while now, steaming millet, leeks, and organic Swiss chard, and generally recovering. It's time to wrap up nine weeks on the road, and to account for nearly 8,000 miles driven (plus many more flown) and several hundred restaurants, bakeries, and noshes sampled in 16 states and three Canadian provinces. To quote Johnny Cash, I been everwhere, man. I been everywhere. (Except, that is, for the Midwest, Southwest, Pacific Northwest, etc. ... future trips all!)
#66: The Enchanted Misty Mountain of Tea and Excrement
by: March 01, 2007
After several days spent unbudgingly horizontal, I've segued from my slimming diet of Gatorade and Pedialyte to a heartier regimen of BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast). I'm relatively strapping with good health and decide to take my scheduled flight to San Francisco. A change of venue will do me good! At the very least, it's an opportunity to switch my diet from BRAT to "BART":http://bart.gov/.
#65: Big Dog Down
by: February 28, 2007
A horrendous stomach flu is ravaging the West Coast, and my digestive tract is ground zero. After waking up violently ill with high fever, I somehow manage to trek from my hotel to a nearby 7-Eleven to pick up an array of stomach medications and electrolyte-rich sports drinks.
#64: Adopted by Fijians, Moved by Koreans, and a Defense of Apple Pan
by: February 27, 2007
It's showtime at Fiji Market (10305 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, California; 310-559-9218). As I recounted in "report #63":http://www.chow.com/tour/2216, I'd arranged with the disembodied husband of a smiling Fijian grocery counterwoman for said wife to whip me up some Fijian victuals. I arrive at the appointed hour and find husband (in the flesh!) and wife giddy about this unfamiliar transaction, which seems to have broken up the doldrums of market management.
#63: Chowus Interruptus En Route to L.A.
by: February 26, 2007
We're off to California! Swimmin' pools! Movie stars! (cue banjo music). The goal had been to more or less do the continent in a little over two months, but that proved impossible. I couldn't move faster than I did and still find finds. In fact, I'm surprised that I found as much as I did, given the frenetic pace. But what's needed here is some regional balance (and, of course, East L.A. fish tacos), so here I am, winging my way westward.
#62: Magical Lebanese Time Portal Bakery
by: February 23, 2007
Boulangerie Zaatar (151 rue de Castelnau Est, Montreal, Quebec; 514-274-4775) may be the find of the week. To all appearances, it's a generic little Middle Eastern bakery. The owner, a sad-eyed older Lebanese gentleman, keeps an extremely low profile. There's nothing about the shop's exterior or interior, in the speech or manner of the proprietor, or in the display or range of his wares to indicate that anything special is going on here.
#61: Astounding Macrobiotic (Not a Typo!)
by: February 20, 2007
Aux Vivres (4631 Boulevard St. Laurent, Montreal; 514-842-3479) is both macrobiotic and enormously delicious. That's a radical statement, I know. For some perspective, consider that Googling "macrobiotic" and "enormously delicious" yields not a single result.
#60: Refreshed Troops Wallow in French Fries
by: February 12, 2007
This was a day of transition, as one group of overfed, exhausted, cranky chowhound friends headed home and was replaced by fresh, zippy, happy eaters.
#59: A Meal in Pitch Blackness
by: February 08, 2007
I thought I'd read somewhere that this hotel had an 80-foot water slide. This was a huge draw for all of us, particularly Joel, who had his heart set on splashy fun. With great eagerness and extraordinarily unattractive swimsuits, we descended to the hell that is the Springhill Suites swimming area-- the smallest, meanest pool you've ever seen, situated in a moldering basement.
#58: Montreal: The Chowhound's Promised Land
by: February 07, 2007
I intend to finish off this leg of the tour with several days in Montreal, one of the world's best food cities. Here's what I wrote about Montreal a few years ago ...
#57: 36 Sublime Hours in Newfoundland
by: February 06, 2007
First of all, it's pronounced "New-fund-LAND." The standard mnemonic offered by locals is, "You must underSTAND we're in NewfoundLAND!" One cannot overstate the importance of not merely stressing that last syllable, but of more or less clobbering it. The key to acceptance by locals is a good, hearty bellowing of that third syllable. I'm not kidding.
#56: Peanut Butter Burgers, French Fry Titans, and Bye-Bye "Streak"
by: January 29, 2007
I'm staying at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront, a terrific and underpriced new hotel with surprisingly good room service and a fun, lively bar. Best of all, it's right on the waterfront, an irresistible part of Halifax. One can amble for hours among pleasant shops along a scenic harbor rife with tugboats and hardworking mariners.
#55: Halifax: Faux Turks and Primordial Corned Beef Hash
by: January 28, 2007
Cape Breton Island is shut tight for the season, so I'll be hunkering down in Halifax for the next few days. If I'd arrived just a week or two earlier, there'd have been many more Maritime options, but the prospect of eating seal meat in the Magdalen Islands, et al., will have to wait for another trip.
#54: A Tale of Two Restaurants (or, Yin 'n' Yang in Nova Scotia)
by: January 27, 2007
I've traversed Nova Scotia, trading the bucolic salty south shore for the bucolic salty north, where I scored a surprisingly inexpensive room ($125 Canadian) at hoity-toity Blomidon Inn (195 Main Street, Wolfville, Nova Scotia; 877-542-2291). Ah, sweet shoulder season. Look at this joint and tell me: Can life possibly get any quainter?
#53: Dashing Up to New Brunswick
by: January 18, 2007
My logistical skills have been falling well short of Prussian military standard. Assigned to, essentially, meander for weeks on end, I've lost my organizational chops.
#52: What Is Real and What Is Shtick?
by: January 17, 2007
I could relate to most of Maine, but once I reached Machias, way up in the Down East - where stews are soups, stew/soups consist of magical thin milk, and strawberry pie is deliciousness from another galaxy-- I started feeling very off the map. But yet more strangeness awaited me as I continued northward.
#51: Belfast and Up North to Down East
by: January 12, 2007
Virginia may be for lovers, but Maine is for cookie lovers. I haven't had a bad cookie since I entered the state, and, sure enough, the ones at Weaver's Bakery (101 Main Street, Belfast, Maine; 207-338-3540), an otherwise unexceptional luncheonette, were charming, unaffected, and irresistible.
#50: Midcoast Maine in Pain (and Big Score in Damariscotta)
by: January 11, 2007
Heading northward, I stopped at the legendary Red's Eats (Main and Water streets, Wiscasset, Maine; 207-882-6128). They're a landmark for lobster rolls, though opinion seems extraordinarily divided. A sizable number of Mainers seem to feel that Red's makes an undistinguished lobster roll that's been highly overrated by clueless tourists.
#49: Portland's Greek Pizza Sleeper, Plus Stealth Somali
by: January 10, 2007
Sometimes the biggest finds are obvious places that are undervalued by locals. No one in Portland doesn't know Bill's Pizza (177 Commercial St., Portland, Maine; 207-774-6166). But no one in Portland seems to fully recognize the majesty of their pies. Sometimes it takes an outsider to point out taken-for-granted brilliance.
#48: Before and After Portsmouth, New Hampshire
by: January 08, 2007
I didn't have a chance to eat in Portsmouth itself. All chowconnaissance was executed on my way in and out of town. I've merged both legs into this one gigunda report.
#47: One of America's Most Fascinating Undiscovered Restaurants
by: December 20, 2006
I first visited Lowell years ago, hunting for Cambodian and Laotian food. I'd heard that many Southeast Asian immigrants lived in the area, but drove for hours without finding a single restaurant.
#46: Seafood Saturation
by: December 20, 2006
The plan is this: to zip frenetically around Rhode Island's jagged shoreline, trying bites of seafood here and there, while attempting to remain relaxed and seashoreish about it all. This is the gorgeous peak of Indian summer, and I aim to bask in balminess throughout my intense chowconnaissance.
#45: Time Out for Pork
by: December 19, 2006
Soares Restaurant (190 Alden Street, Fall River, Massachusetts; 508-324-0800), a.k.a. Benevides Restaurant, was a nice find for real Portuguese home cooking, as opposed to the Portuguese-American fare found over near New Bedford, Massachusetts.
#44: Brazilian Buffetification (but Great Bacon)
by: December 15, 2006
Back to the center of the universe, Magic Oven. I need to explain that Brazilian bakeries don't just make sweets. They do plenty of pastries, cakes, breads, and puddings, but also salgadinhos (little salty hors d'oeuvres), sandwiches, and juices.
#43: Time Machine Steakhouse and Killer Szechuan
by: December 14, 2006
While I've always viewed Framingham as a Brazilian wonderland, I've also been aware of other nationalities. Obviously there's wonderful Dakshin, and there also used to be a very good south Indian place right in the Framingham train station. But other ethnicities have caught my peripheral vision on previous visits, so while continuing to try to hit every Brazilian café in town (I've already strafed a bunch but haven't yet found greatness worth reporting), I've decided to challenge myself to find treasure that's neither Brazilian nor Indian.
#42: What You Call Sprawl, I Call Heaven
by: December 14, 2006
I've been infatuated with Framingham, Massachusetts, for years. To Bostonians, this is a boring boonie amid undifferentiated sprawl-- an area to drive past quickly on the Massachusetts Turnpike. But I love sprawl in general-- the tastiest nuggets can often be found therein-- and Framingham in particular, which at some point in the past few years turned shiningly Brazilian. I've spent only a few tantalizing hours in this town, on my way to other destinations, but have long dreamed of settling in for a few days of serious exploration. This CHOW Tour is my big chance!
#41: A Memo to My Employer
by: December 13, 2006
Today, I let everyone down: you, the Chowhound and CHOW brands, and the entire CNET family. I have not just eaten badly, which would be forgivable, but I allowed myself to be sucked into a bad eating experience with eyes wide open. I failed to remove myself from an eatery unbecoming of a chowhound. I ordered against intuition. I frittered away a great big wad of company money. And I kept throwing good money after bad.
#40: Cambodian Karaoke, Cider Doughnuts, and a Trampling by Stallions
by: December 11, 2006
I was invited to a Cambodian lunch at Floating Rock Restaurant (144 Shirley Ave, Revere, Massachusetts; 781-286-2554), by my friend Chris, whom I cajoled into trying a durian milkshake. For those who don't know, durian is a hyper-stinky sulphurous fruit, but it's nicer in milk shakes ... a little.
#39: Day After Wine Tasting: Movin' Slow
by: December 07, 2006
I was a little late checking out of Chateau Jack-and-Thelma this morning, as was George Sape. George is one of my heroes. He has far too many interests and hobbies spilling out of his overextended life as a top corporate lawyer, but he's always ready to plunge intrepidly into yet another.
