Shucked To Order Apizza

Pizza fanatics are generally well-acquainted with Connecticut’s glorious fresh clam pizzas.  There’s nothing like them anywhere else.  Oh, sure, you can find clam pizzas elsewhere.  Most of them use canned clams, a few of them may use fresh clams, some even label them as New Haven-style, and we’ve never found one that even vaguely resembles the classic Connecticut pie.  But Zuppardi’s Apizza (Roadfood.com review) of West Haven has raised the bar even higher: they shuck the clams for your pie when you place your order!  Jane and Michael Stern appeared on Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table this past weekend to talk about Zuppardi’s, and you can listen in online.  Here is the Sterns’ segment, and here is the whole show if you’d prefer.  One more note: if you order a clam pie, don’t ask for mutz!

Blossom Deli of Charleston, WV to Close Saturday

The Charleston Gazette is reporting that the Blossom Deli of Charleston, West Virginia will be shutting down after Saturday’s lunch service.  Owner Bill Sohovich plans to discuss his reasons for closing the restaurant on Wednesday, but Charleston’s mayor noted that business has been particularly slow lately for downtown restaurants.  In his Roadfood.com review Michael Stern said, “An Art Deco dairy bar restored to gleaming perfection, the Blossom Deli is an upscale eatery with beautiful steaks, seafood, vegetarian dishes, and one heck of a good hot fudge sundae.”

New Parasol Owners Hope For Early October Reopening

The new owners of the now-closed Parasol’s Bar in New Orleans hope to have it reopened by early October, according to this story in The Times-Picayune.  John and Thea Hogan recently purchased the locally, and nationally, beloved Parasol’s, and Mr. Hogan says they will be keeping things pretty much as they’ve always been: “I know how New Orleans people are after having been married to one for a while.  You don’t mess with their stuff.”

Parasol’s Closes Today; Tracey’s Opens Tomorrow

Today is the last day of Parasol’s Bar (Roadfood.com review) in the Irish Channel section of New Orleans.  Jeffrey and Jaimee Carreras have been running Parasol’s for the last 12 years, and over the years have turned the humble bar into the city’s premier po-boy joint.  The building has been sold and the new owners want the Carreras out.  All is not lost, however, as the Carreras have landed down the street at 2604 Magazine.  They will call their place Tracey’s, which was the original name of Parasol’s.  The whole Parasol’s staff will be moving along with the Carreras, as will the menu of po-boy classics.  And opening day is tomorrow, believe it or not.  We’re anxious to hear reports from anyone who gives Tracey’s a try.

You can read the details of the move on the Parasol’s website, although we are not certain how long that info will remain up after the sale and move takes place today.

Six Sensational Sandwiches

Pictured above is a pig sandwich at A&R Bar-B-Que in Memphis, honored in a story Embassy Suites asked us to write for the Business Balance website about Six Sensational sandwiches across the country. You can check out the story here; and just so you know, we perforce excluded hot dogs and hamburgers and even lobster rolls, considering each of those a category unto itself.

Pres Goes Roadfooding

President Obama paid a visit to New Orleans yesterday to mark the five-year anniversary of Katrina, and to give a speech at Xavier University.  You can read all about it in your local newspaper.  But this is Roadfood, not CNN, so what we really want to know is, where did he eat?  And the answer is the famous po-boy purveyor known as Parkway Bakery (Roadfood.com review), which we ranked a close second to Parasol’s (which closes tomorrow, and will reopen a few blocks away as Tracey’s on Wednesday) during a springtime po-boy tour of the Crescent City.  What did he get?  The glorious shrimp po-boy, which overflows with snapping-fresh, perfectly cooked critters.  Evidently, his concern for his waistline prevented him from ordering the surf-and-turf po-boy.  Read more on this CNN blog.

Askov Fair and Rutabaga Festival

There are festivals galore dedicated to corn or apples, seafood or sausage, and we’re all for them, but c’mon, how often do you get to attend a festival that celebrates the lowly rutabaga?  That’s what the town of Askov, Minnesota does each year and this year’s festival is taking place this very weekend (8/27/10 – 8/29/10).

It’s too late for the parade but there’s still plenty of time to enjoy the exhibits and crafts, museums, dancing, contests, live bands, and tonight’s fireworks.  Best of all, in our book, is the food, led by the famous æbleskiver & rutabaga sausage stand.  Æbleskivers are little Danish baked pancakes, more spherical than flat, served with jam.  Rutabaga sausage is, well… your guess is as good as ours but we assume pork sausage that incorporates the root vegetable.  Both sound interesting and delicious.  There’ll also be fair food both common, like corn dogs, and more regional, such as cheese curds, brats, and pork chops.  And there will also be a beer garden.  The festival closes with tomorrow morning’s pancake and sausage breakfast, put on by the Lions.

For more info, see the Askov Fair and Rutabaga Festival website, where you’ll also see recipes for all sorts of rutabaga delicacies, such as Rutabaga Pudding and Ontario Rutabaga Spice Cake.

White House Sub Shop Opening in Trump Taj

Some people go to Atlantic City for the gambling, or “gaming” as the industry likes to call it.  Some, like us, go because that’s where the White House Sub Shop is (Roadfood.com review).  For those who would like to do both, there is good news: the White House Sub Shop will be opening their first branch in the Trump Taj Mahal in the spring of 2011, according to pressofAtlanticCity.com.  The new location will attempt to duplicate the look and feel of the Arctic Avenue original.

A Local News Report on the Jigger’s Diner Closure

Anchor Bar Debuts at New York State Fair

Anchor Bar (Roadfood.com review), Buffalo’s inventor of the Buffalo wing, will make it’s debut at the 2010 New York State Fair, which opens this Thursday.  The legendary wings will be served in the Horticulture Building, according to a story in syracuse.com.  Something else caught our eye in that syracuse.com story, unrelated to Anchor Bar: a change in state law will permit the wine tent to sell 10-ounce glasses of New York State wine, and customers can walk around the fair with their glasses of wine.  Ten ounces.  That’s almost half a bottle!