Roadfood Digest

A trip to the Iowa State Fair allowed me to check off Stops 6 and 7 on my list of 100 things in Iowa to eat before I die. Although I had tried Bauder Pharmacy’s  peach ice cream (#34) once before, it somehow tasted better when eaten under the hot sun on the fair midway. The ice cream tastes more natural than it does bold, which is why many fans will forego more readily available imitators until summer rolls around. In addition, the corn dog from Campbell’s Concessions (#36) immediately won my vote as the top item on a stick…both within and outside of the fairground gates. Campbell’s batter was thick, flavorful, and perfectly crunchy—a true fair delight!

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I was sad when I got to the Detroit airport for a trip back east because I had spent all my time eating around Ann Arbor (not that there's anything wrong with that), leaving me no chance to enjoy a  Coney at Lafayette and/or American, the side-by-side weenie shops that have defined heartland Coney goodness for decades. Lucky me, my flight departed from the A Concourse, not far from gate 24, where National Coney Island has an outpost that starts serving the Detroit signature dog at 5am. Ah, bliss: a "Coney Special," which is a snappy little frank topped with chili, mustard, and onions, plus more spicy ground beef, all in a supersoft steamed bun. I had mine gilded with melted cheese. As is true of all classic Coneys, no single ingredient is great, but this is a whole package that completely transcends the ignominy of each of its parts.

A new Shake Shack, in NYC, opens at 366 Columbus Avenue, near 77th Street, next month (October).  See the news in New York Magazine.  The photo above is of the original Madison Square Park location (at 23rd Street); see Stephen Rushmore Jr.'s Roadfood.com review.

Tourist stops in Le Mars, Iowa (known as The Ice Cream Capital of the World) feared a drop in business this summer, what with the high gasoline prices, and the completion of the Highway 75 bypass that allows north-south travelers to avoid passing through town.  Turned out business has been as good as ever!  North-south traffic through town has dropped, but east-west traffic has increased.  And “staycation” visitors have boosted business at places like Bob’s Drive-Inn and Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor.  Read Magdalene Biesanz’s story in the Le Mars Daily Sentinel.

That’s a Bob’s hot dog pictured above, with loosemeat topping.  Michael Stern, in his Roadfood.com review of Bob's, says "these dogs are natural-casing beauties with a real snap to their skin."  See also the Roadfood.com review of Blue Bunny.

Christopher Hirst writes about his pursuit of the perfect hamburger for London’s The Independent.  Along the way he throws in a good deal of history and research.  Some of the keys to a good burger: lots of fat, and added water.  Did you know that a third of Americans will have eaten ground beef in the previous 24 hours?  And that, in Great Britain, Burger King serves something called The Burger, which consists of Japanese Wagyu beef with white truffle, onion tempura prepared in Cristal, and Pata Negra ham?  It will run you £95.  Now that’s a Whopper!

Pictured above is a hubcap burger from Cotham’s Mercantile in Scott, Arkansas, from Michael Stern’s Roadfood.com review.

Kim Severson of The New York Times practically traces a Roadfood.com route through central New York, visiting a slew of Roadfood favorites (although Roadfood is never mentioned), including Jim’s BBQ in Candor (Roadfood.com review; see photo below), Dinosaur in Syracuse (Roadfood.com review), Sharkey’s in Binghamton (Roadfood.com review), Doug’s Fish Fry in Skaneateles (Roadfood.com review of the Cortland location), the Ithaca Farmers Market (Roadfood.com review; see photo above), and the Cornell Dairy Bar (Roadfood.com review)!  She might have added more than the very few seemingly token eateries that Roadfood hasn’t already written about, to help make it look at least a little more legit… nonetheless, it’s a fun read.

Bill Cosby eats free.  All others pay cash.  Mr. Cosby told the Washington Post about Ben’s Chili Bowl half-smokes: “You can describe it the same way a wine connoisseur would be able to tell difference between a pinot noir and a merlot."  Ben’s Chili Bowl celebrated 50 years of half-smokes this week with a show Thursday night at the Lincoln Theatre in D.C. featuring Mr. Cosby and Roberta Flack.  And yesterday, there was a block party celebration in front of Ben’s with Mayor Fenty and Ben’s founder Ben Ali.  Read all about Ben’s Chili Bowl in The Washington Post.  Here’s a companion piece in the Post.  And here’s a Washington Post photo gallery of Ben’s.  And Aamer Madhani here writes a post-block party ode to Ben’s for The Swamp, the Chicago Tribune’s Washington blog.

See the Roadfood.com reviews of Ben’s Chili Bowl.

When we recently polled the readers of Roadfood.com about their favorite clam dish, fried clams was the decisive winner over second place clam chowder.  Out of the 1152 people who voted, only five chose clam hash, no doubt because few people have ever had the good fortune to sample it.  As far as we know, the only restaurant that serves clam hash is Pat’s Kountry Kitchen (Roadfood.com review) in Old Saybrook, CT, where it is the house specialty.  If you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Pat’s at breakfast time, we urge you to get a plate, and ask for it cooked crisp.  Assuming you enjoy clams, you won’t regret it!

The title of this post describes the burnt ends sandwich, pictured above, that can be found at L C’s Bar-B-Q in Kansas City, Missouri.  Crispy, drippy, and luscious can also describe this impossibly overstuffed “sandwich” and you’d be hard-pressed to find burnt ends any better in Kansas City.  Jane and Michael Stern tell Lynne Rossetto Kasper that L C’s is ready to take its place alongside the other Kansas City greats in the pantheon of definitive KC barbecue.  Where do they tell her this?  Why, on The Splendid Table, Lynne’s savory weekend radio show, of course!  If you can’t tune in this weekend, you can listen online.

Check out the Roadfood.com reviews of L C’s here.

 

Yakisoba noodles are big at the Oregon State Fair in Salem.  How big?  Last year, over 14,000 pounds of the noodles were sold to the 357,000 people that attended the fair!  This being Oregon, local wines and microbrews also take center stage, at the Beer Garden and the Oregon Wine Patio, where local cheeses are also available.  Don’t miss the stand operated by the Oregon Dairy Women, where you can enjoy their famous thick, rich, soft-serve ice cream.  They are said to make some kick-ass shakes, too. More...