wanderingjew
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Total Posts:
6769
- Joined: 1/18/2001
- Location: East Greenwich/ Warwick, RI
- Roadfood Insider
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RE: Italian sandwiches
Mon, 06/30/08 3:36 PM
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quote:Originally posted by FrankBooth quote:Originally posted by wanderingjew quote:Originally posted by FrankBooth quote:Originally posted by tiki quote:Originally posted by wanderingjew quote:Originally posted by MetroplexJim And frankly, I am amazed to see anything Italian north of Rhode Island  ; I thought all they had in Maine was "lobstah ruhls"! They need places for the locals to eat, remember the locals are laughing at "touristas" who are eating the lobster rolls. and PAYING for those lobsta rolls!!!  Can someone please explain to me on what you all base this idea that Mainer's don't eat lobster rolls? i am married to a mainer, raised her entire life in maine, and i can tell you that she eats lobster rolls with abandon. she went to wiscasset high school and grew up in the next town over and red's was/is still an institution. yes, tourists line up for those lobster rolls, but mainers can be found eating there all the time too (including my mother in law and wife, both of whom are real mainers). the only reason i can see not eating those lobster rolls as a mainer is if one couldn't afford the high ticket price for a lobster roll, but i can guarantee you that plenty of mainers are eating hamburgers, "steak" sandwiches, fried haddock sandwiches, fried fish, and all the other goodies from red's. so i humbly ask for further explanation on why people think mainers don't eat lobster rolls. this has not been my experience at all... thanks fb Davydd and I had a similar conversation about Scandinavian Food/Hot Dish, etc in Minnesota- he argues that its far and few between (even though I had no problem finding it when I last visited in 2006 and competely disagree with his opinion on that) When I was at Reds waiting for them to open up- There was a huge line- and not one local was on the line, everyone was from out of State- I'm sure Mainers do eat lobster rolls, however they pick up the lobster at the local market and make it themselves... Don't get me wrong, I'm a "tourista" and I love lobster rolls- whether its for tourists or not I'm still gonnna get one Similar analogy for the Kosher/Jewish Delis in New York- You'll rarely find a local at Katz's or the Carnegie- they're all tourists- Many of my Jewish Friends in the NYC area are in their 40's and haven't been to these Deli's since they were little kids when grandma and grandpa took them- Even now they rarely/if ever eat Jewish stuff (except a bagel here and there) and will only go to the Kosher Style local deli (that's if there are any left in their neighborhood) when mom and dad are back in town from Florida. But the food is still outstanding and it doesn't stop me from going. an interesting perspective. being a jew born and raised in NYC, i still go to jewish delis all the time- and katz's and carnegie are places i would never go (not because they are too touristy, though they are, but because the quality of the food is SO poor these days compared to the golden era of my youth when both were spectacular). the new 2nd ave is FILLED with jews eating gribenes, chopped liver, specials (one of the only places you can get real specials), chicken in the pot, matzoh ball soup, etc., including my wife and children and anyone else i can cajole into joining us. so maybe it is that the locals know the places to go for the best quality and freshest product. but in the case of red's, i can tell you that in my experience of spending months and months up at my wife's childhood home and trying just about every single lobster roll i could find in maine, and that's a lot, that in my humble opinion and the opinions of an awful lot of mainers we know, that Red's lobster roll is the best of the best- prepared SO perfectly, lobster is so fresh, never overcooked, never chewy or mealy, always plentiful, snapping fresh lobster that barely needs the accompanying butter. you can get great fresh lobsters just about anywhere in maine in the summer, but lobster rolls are fickle. Red's has the advantage of HUGE turnover, very small overhead (read portapotties and only a few plastic picnic tables), the lobster is obviously prepared off site and brought to the restaurant a number of times a day. i challenge you to show me a better put together lobster roll in the state of maine- places like sea basket, harraseeket, have great lobster rolls, but they seem to fall one step short of the genius of Red's, imho. so tourists or not, i eat tons of them when possible and so do all my mainer family members... we just know WHEN to go to Red's (8:30 p.m any night but saturday and never a line). enjoy fb I'm not disagreeing, Reds puts out a fine lobster roll.... And you're correct about the 2nd Avenue Deli- probably my favorite of the NYC deli's, however most of it's local patrons (there are tourists that do go there) are over the age of 65.... If you were take my social network of jewish friends, and the jewish folks that they know and so one and so on and so on- we're probably talking about tens of thousands people- and honestly- none of them frequent the Jewish Deli's- even if you check out the local ones on Long Island- it's all senior citizens that are there.
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