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!

“The Best Delicatessen in America”

“The best delicatessen in America!”  Those were Jane Stern’s provocative words when she recently appeared with Michael Stern on Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table to discuss Harold’s New York Deli, of Edison, NJ.  Lynne sounded skeptical but we totally agree with Jane’s enthusiastic assessment.  She continues: “Harold’s . . . hit every single taste memory on the mark.”  Michael is impressed with the super-light matzo balls, and they both rave on about the rich chicken stock that forms the basis for chicken-in-the-pot.  You can listen to their Splendid Table segment, or the whole show, online.  And be sure to check out the Roadfood.com review of Harold’s.

Pepe Pizza Artifact

Gathering material for our forthcoming Popular Plates pizza magazine, we came upon this blotter (for when people filled pens with ink) printed in 1938, the year after Frank Pepe moved from his original location (now The Spot) to the current address next door. The “delicious Italian food” headline is interesting because as far as anyone knows, there was nothing served other than Neapolitan tomato pies and clams on the half shell. Note the closing time! We asked Frank’s grandson Francis Roselli if the late hours were to accommodate second-shift workers and he replied that grandpops stayed open that long because, at the time, Wooster street was a thriving neighborhood and the pizzeria was a place people came to socialize as well as to eat.

Taco City

San Antonio, TX is a city with hundreds of worthy taquerias, almost all of them using fresh, homemade flour tortillas.  Jane and Michael Stern talk about one of their favorites, Taco Taco, on this weekend’s episode of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table.  Michael recommends a weekend visit, when you’ll be able to enjoy the unbelievably juicy and tender barbacoa, as pictured above, from the Roadfood.com review of Taco Taco.  You can hear The Splendid Table on your local public radio station, or you can listen to the Sterns’ segment, or the whole show, online.

Buy ‘Em By The Sack

Invented in Kansas at The Cozy Inn (Roadfood.com review) in the 1920s (or possibly by White Castle around that same time, also in Kansas), sliders have become a craze in America, although to look at what are called sliders these days, you’ll have a feeling that you’re not in Kansas anymore.  Pretty much anything served on a miniature bun is tagged as a slider.  Jane and Michael Stern appeared on this past weekend’s episode of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table to discuss sliders and, traditionalists that they are, they focus on four places that engage in fundamentalist slider cuisine.  You can hear their segment, or the entire episode, online.

“The Best Boudin Sausage Anywhere In Cajun Country”

“The best boudin sausage anywhere in Cajun country,” says Michael Stern about the boudin from T-Boy’s Slaughterhouse of Ville Platte (is it really necessary to note that this is Louisiana?).  Jane and Michael Stern recently appeared on Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s radio show The Splendid Table to discuss the delectables to be found at T-Boy’s: the talk is principally about boudin but Jane adds a shout-out for T-Boy’s incredible cracklins.  T-Boy sent a batch to Roadfood.com’s Blue Plate Award dinner in New Orleans earlier this year and, let us tell you, they are one of the most delicious things to be consumed on this planet.

You can listen to Jane and Michael Stern’s segment, or the entire Splendid Table episode, online.  Also, take a look at the Roadfood.com review of T-Boy’s.

Fresh Whitefish, and Their Livers

At extreme northernmost Wisconsin, in the town of Bayfield, Maggie’s serves ultra-fresh whitefish.  They also serve that harder-to-find local specialty, fresh whitefish livers, which Michael Stern says has a bright taste that little resembles the livers from land-based creatures.  Not a fish-liver lover?  Jane Stern raves about Maggie’s four-cheese burger.  You can hear the whole story on this week’s episode of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table.  The show aired this past weekend but you can listen to the Sterns’ segment, or the entire show, online.  And be sure to check out the Roadfood.com review of Maggie’s.

Put on Your Buffet Pants at Whitey’s

Jane and Michael Stern visit with Lynne Rossetto Kasper this weekend, on her radio show The Splendid Table, to talk about all-you-can-eat wild catfish at the Florida fish camp known as Whitey’s.  Unlike most catfish found in restaurants around the country these days, Whitey’s catfish are not farm-raised, and it makes a big difference in the eating quality.  Specify large specimens, for big forkfuls of juicy meat, or small cats, which old-timers enjoy bones and all.  You can listen to The Splendid Table on your local public radio station, or catch the Sterns’ segment, or the whole show, online.  The photo above comes from the Roadfood.com review of Whitey’s.

“There’s Something About New Englanders and Their Hamburgers”

The title of this post is a quote from Jane Stern, as she describes that unique relationship New Englanders often have with the concept of customer service (serving hamburgers, in particular, but many other things too).  Once they’ve decided the right way to do something, good luck getting them to do it your way!  In the case of White Hut, off of the MassPike in West Springfield, MA, you will be guided towards ordering your hamburger WITH cheese, and WITH sauteed onions.  In this case, take their guidance - they really do know best.  The discussion took place on this weekend’s episode of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table.  You can hear the Sterns, or the whole show, online.  And check out the Roadfood.com review of White Hut.

The Ideal Bar, Says Stern, Stern, and Kerouac

Jack Kerouac, in a 1970 Esquire story, called the M&M Cigar Store, in Butte, MT, the ideal bar.  Jane and Michael Stern agree.  At least, they once agreed – the Roadfood.com review of the M&M has been archived.  Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s radio show, The Splendid Table, last weekend re-aired the Sterns’ piece, from last year, about the M&M.  It’s fun – give it a listen.  Or listen to the entire episode if you’d prefer.