Roadfood Cross-Continental, Day 1

From start to finish, Day 1 afforded an incredible tour of the Roadfood highlights of three states. We began our day by breaking donuts with Michael Stern at Dottie's Diner in Woodbury, Connecticut. Even though we've had Dottie's cinnamon donuts several times, we are nonetheless taken aback by their superior quality each time we take that first bite. Energized by sugar and caffeine, we proceeded to take on the congested mess that is I-95 through NYC and NJ. Several hours and stiff legs later, we met Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle in Bordentown at Mastoris Diner for the only-in-New Jersey pork roll and egg sandwich. Described by Chris as a “mix between bologna and luncheon meat,” its crispy crust together with a fried egg and slice of cheese more than satisfied our fully-developed post-breakfast hunger. After noting that there were a few bites of room left in our stomachs, the four of us headed over to Steve's Prince of Steaks for a genuine Philly Cheesesteak “wiz wit” (Cheez Whiz with onions). Upon Bruce's recommendation, we also added homemade roasted hot peppers to the mix, which elevated this simple sandwich to the next level. We washed the sandwich down with a chocolate soda, pinky swore Bruce that we would not leave Philly without stopping at Tony Luke's, and then met up with our friends Chris and Sarah for dinner. Although we were tempted by several sandwiches on the menu, we knew that we faced being voted off the Roadfood Island if we didn't try the Pork Rabe Italian...and thank goodness we did. The flavors of roasted pork, garlicky broccoli rabe, and sharp provolone melded together beautifully and when heaped on crusty locally-made bread, made for one of the greatest sandwich experiences of our collective life. Delighted by our day of good food and even better companionship, we drifted off to sleep with visions of Primanti Bros. dancing in our heads...